Lecture 16: Intro to Ecology Flashcards
what is ecology?
- it is the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their environment
Dumb down:
- the study of how living things interact with each other and their surroundings. understanding the connections between life and the places it lives
What do interactions between organisms and their environment influence?
3 examples
- The number of species in an area
- Nutrient cycling
- Population growth
what are two closely related sciences?
ecology and evolutionary biology
ecology has a long history of what type of science?
DESCRIPTIVE science
modern ecology is what type of science?
experimental science
things that happen in nature over ____ ____ can lead to changes over _____ _____.
short periods; long periods
what is the reason as to why mice traits (like having camouflage) are more common now?
ecology
what is the difference between BIOtic and Abiotic?
BIOTIC: living organisms
- plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, humans
ABIOTIC: non-living organisms. chemical and physical factors
- sunlight, water, temperature, soil, air
what are the 3 levels of ecology study?
- Organismal ecology
- Population ecology
- Community ecology
what does Organismal Ecology refer to?
looks at how INDIVIDUALS BEHAVE (behavioural), FUNCTION (physiological), and ADAPT (morphological) to their surroundings alone
what does population ecology refer to?
studies groups of the same species living together (like a herd of deer), and what affects their population number and traits
what does community ecology refer to?
looks at all the species living together in one area and how they interact with each other and what shapes the overall community:
- predation (hunting), competition, disease, and disturbance (ex, flood)
what does an ecosystem consist of?
all the abiotic and biotic factors in one area (non-living and living things)
what does ecosystem ecology study?
the energy flow and cycling of chemicals among the abiotic and biotic components in an ecosystem
what is the “rule of 10”?
when energy moves up the food chain, only 10% of the energy is passed on to the next level
lets say the producers created 10,000 kcal of energy, how much energy of that 10,000 kcal will be transferred to the next level, primary consumers?
10% of 10,000 kcal = 1,000 kcal
what does “patchiness” refer to?
each landscape is like a mosaic of different “patches” (areas with unique characteristics)
what do landscape ecologist study?
- how energy, materials, and living things move between patches
what does landscape ecology deal with?
the array of ecosystems and their arrangement in a geographic region
