Macroecology Flashcards
What is macroecology?
A way of studying relationships between organisms and their environment at a large spatial scale that involves characterizing and explaining statistical patterns or abundance, distribution, and diversity
What is biogeography?
Science that attempts to document and understand spatial patterns of biodiversity at a large spatial scale
What is ecological niche modeling?
An attempt to predict species geographic distribution ranges, including expansion and retractions based on information of species current distribution and nice requirements, and spatial information
What environmental factors are considered in environmental niche modeling?
Macroclimate
-mean annual temp
-precipitation
Why should we predict potential invaded areas?
Know where to focus monitoring programs to detect and remove the invader
What are control options?
Trap animals
Market animals as food
Why is trapping animals difficult?
Species reproduces fast and has broad environmental niche, can occur in large populations and spread fast
Why is marketing animals as food difficult?
Ethically controversial and populations can occur in polluted waters
What are the limitations of ecological niche modeling?
Focuses on realized niches, does not consider the fundamental niche
Even harder to model rare species because we will have few observations from which to gather environmental data
What are other applications of ecological niche models?
Can be used to direct researchers to areas in which rare species may be found
Can predict movements/extinctions/immigrations/ under future environmental conditions
What can be considered an island?
Any portion of isolated habitat
-mountain tops
-lakes
-habitat fragments
What are species richness patterns?
Species richness increases with island area
Species richness decreases with island isolation
Why is there a relationship between area and species richness?
Larger areas:
-likely have more resources
-can support larger populations, less vulnerable to extinction
-have greater niche diversity
What is species richness like on marine islands?
Species richness on islands decreases with increasing distance from the mainland
What can species richness on islands be modeled as?
A dynamic balance between immigration and extinction of species
When are immigration rates highest on islands?
Highest on new islands because every species arriving is new
When do immigration rates on islands decrease?
Declines as species accumulate on islands until all p;possible species present on the island
Why do extinction rates rise with an increasing number of species?
More species create bigger pool of possible extinction
As number of species increases, population size of each likely to decrease, increasing risk of extinction
As the number of species on island increases potential for competitive interactions will increase
What is the point of equilibrium between immigration and extinction?
Predicted number of species for an island
Immigration and extinction rates are equal
Species compositions can turn over but species number stays constant
How does species richness relate to latitudinal gradients?
Species richness generally increases from middle and high latitudes to the equator
Most groups of organisms are more species-rich in the tropics than they are at higher latitudes
What are the time and area effects of latitudinal gradients?
Tropical ecosystems are generally older and disturbed less frequently
Tropics include greater area of both land and water
Temperatures more uniform across a range of tropical latitudes
