Part 10: Behavior and Ecology Flashcards
Instinct
Inborn, unlearned behavior; sometimes triggered by releasers (environmental signals); the inherited “circuitry” that directs and guides behavior
Fixed action pattern
Particular type of innate behavior that is not reflex but is not conscious decision
Learning
Change in behavior brought about by an experience
Imprinting
Form of learning that occurs during a critical period, usually early in he organism’s life
Critical period
Short time frame when imprinting occurs
Classical conditioning
An organism comes to associate one thing with another, even if the events are independent, because of a common factor
Associative learning
The kind of learning that takes place in classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Trial and error learning, animal’s behavior determines whether it obtain a reward or punishment, animals learn to behave a certain way for he reward
Habituation
Animal learns not to respond to a stimulus when stimulus is repeated over and over with no consequences
Insight
Reasoning, ability to figure out behavior that generates a desired outcome
Circadian rhythms
Internal sense of time that determines when an organism will do certain things like eat and sleep, daily cycle
Pheromones
Chemical signals between members of a species that stimulate olfactory receptors and ultimately affect behavior
Agonistic behavior
Aggressive behavior that occurs as a result of competition for a resource
Dominance hierarchies
Pecking orders, occur when members in a group have established which members are the most dominant, reduced competition when hierarchy is determined
Territoriality
Common behavior when food and nesting sites are in short supply, usually makes will establish and defend personal territories to protect resources
Altruism
Unselfish behavior that benefits another organism in he group at the individual’s expense because it advances the genes of the group
Photoperiodism
Plants flowering in response to changes in the amount of daylight or darkness
Tropism
Turning in response to a stimulus
Phototropism
Plants bend toward sunlight
Gravitropism
Stems grow against gravity, roots grow with it
Biosphere
The entire part of the world where living things exist (I.e. Not the center)
Ecosystem
Interaction of living and no living things
Community
Organisms of different species that live in the same area
Population
Group of individuals from a species that live in the same area and interbreed
Biomes
Large subdivisions of the biosphere, massive areas that are classified based on climate and plant life
Tundra
Northernmost regions
Grasses and wild flowers
Permafrost, short growing season
Deer, lemmings, foxes, owls
Taiga
Northern forests
Conifers
Cold, long winters
Caribou, wolves, moose, bear, rabbits, lynx
Temperate deciduous forests
NE and mid-E US, W Europe
Deciduous trees
Moderate precip., warm summers, cold winters
Deer, wolves, bear, small mammals, birds
Grasslands
Mid-W US, Eurasia, Af., S Am.
Grasses
Hot summers, cold winters, unpredictable rainfall
Prairie dogs, bison, foxes, ferrets, grouse, snakes, lizards
Deserts
W US
Cacti, drought-resistant plants
Arid, low rainfall, extreme diurnal temp. Shifts
Jackrabbits, owls, kangaroo rats, lizards, snakes, tortoises
Topical rain forests
S Am.
High biomass, diverse plants
High rainfall and temps., impoverished soil
Sloths, snakes, monkeys, birds, leopards, insects
Carbon cycle
Carbon is recycled throughout ecosystems, many other cycles like it
Producers
Photosynthetic, make their own energy
Decomposers
Break down organic matter into simple products, usually fungi and bacteria
Niche
An organism’s particular position or function in a community
Food chain
Describes the way different organisms depend in each other for food
Primary consumers
Organisms that directly feed on producers, herbivores
Secondary consumers
Feed on primary consumers
Tertiary consumers
Top of the food chain
10% rule
Only 10% of the energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next, the other 90% is used by the original organism
Ecological pyramid
Represents the energy flow, biomass, and numbers of members within an ecosystem
Behavior
How organisms cope with their environments
Mutualism
Both organisms benefit from the other’s presence
Commensalism
Host organism is not affected, hosted organism benefits
Parasitism
Organism harms host
Carrying capacity
Max number of individuals of a species that a habitat can support
Population density
How many organisms of a species exist divided by the area they cover
Density-independent factors
Factors that affect population regardless of the density of population
Density dependent factors
Factors that affect the population as a result of its density
Exponential growth
Occurs when a population is in an ideal environment, growth unrestricted, plenty of resources, no disease or predation
Logistic growth
Population becomes restricted in size because of limited resources
R-strategists
Make lots of potential offspring so that there is an excess population and the species has a greater chance of survival, even if any given individual doesn’t
K-strategists
Make few offspring, but each has a good chance of survival
Ecological succession
The predictable procession of plant communities over a relatively short period of time, decades or centuries
Primary succession
The process of ecological succession where no previous organisms have existed
Pioneer organisms
Organisms that are capable of living where no other organisms live, and make life possible for other organisms
Sere
The entire sequence of a type of plant arriving in an area to when it is replaced by other, larger kinds of plants
Climax community
Final sere community
Secondary succession
When a new community develops where one has been but was destroyed
Greenhouse effect
Increasing of atmospheric concentrations of CO2 warm the earth, global warming
Ozone depletion
Chlorofluorocarbon pollution results in pollution and destroys ozone layer, which protects from UV
Acid rain
Pollution collects in the atmosphere and then returns to the earth as acid in rain, which lowers the pH of aquatic ecosystems and prevents organisms that create nutrients for plants from making the nutrients
Desertification
Overgrazing leads to ecosystem becoming like a desert and reduces available habitats
Deforestation
Forest clearing leads to habitat loss and changes weather and flood patterns
Pollution
Toxic chemicals in the environment, cause defects and health problems
Biomagnifiaction
Any toxins in the lower trophic levels increase in concentration and result in greater problems in the higher ones
Reduction in biodiversity
Extinction of potentially useful plants and animals
