Module 1: Introduction to Biogeography Flashcards
Biogeography
The study of the distribution of organisms AND the processes responsible for the patterns
Ecology
The study of the INTERACTIONS of organisms with other organisms and their environment
Ecological Biogeography
Characteristics of species and populations;
include life history, demography, and interactions with biotic and abiotic environment
Biogeomorphology
The influence of organisms on characteristics and changes in landforms and vise versa
Vegetation Dynamics
Changes in patterns of plant populations and communities through time due to processes such as climate change and disturbance
Example: Short-term: fire, long-term: climate change
Landscape Ecology
Examines the INFLUENCE of spacial heterogeneity and CHANGE IN THE LANDSCAPE on ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES such as distribution and flow of energy, materials, and individuals in the environment
Historical Biogeography
Origins, dispersal, environments, and speciation in the past.
-Where did an organism come from and how did it get to where it is today?
Taxonomic/evolutionary Biogeography
Reconstructing relationships among taxa
- often using biochemical, morphological, or genetic markers
- -often with inferences made about isolating factors that led to divergence of species
Paleo-Environmental Reconstructions:
Palynology:
Dendrochronology:
Packrat middens with macrofossils:
Uses techniques that provide surrogate information from which inferences about characteristics and changes in past environments are made
Palynology: uses pollen build up over time to find where species lived + when
Dendrochronology: uses tree rings to tell history
Packrat middens with macrofossils: packrats collect plant material and make nests, which can tell us about history
Cultural Ecology
Includes domestication,
subsistence technology, cultural uses of plants and animals
Conservation Biology
Includes human impacts on the biosphere and how existing biological resources can be preserved (relevant to ecological and cultural biogeo)
Spatial Scale
Can range from local (an ephemeral ring) to global (climate influences)
Temporal Scale
Scale over TIME, can range from modern (effects of wildfire succession) to paleo-historical (reconstructions of past environments)
Hierarchical Scale
Scale based on hierarchy: from individuals (like seeds) to populations, communities, landscapes, ecosystems and biomes
Uniformitarianism
The physical processes that operate at the Earth’s surface are governed by physical laws that have acted consistently through time + don’t change
