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AP Environmental Science > Unit 03 > Flashcards

Unit 03 Flashcards

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Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What is a range of tolerance?

A

The limits to abiotic conditions that a species can tolerate, such as extremes of temperature, humidity, salinity, and pH

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2
Q

What occurs as you move along the range of tolerance curve?

A

survive < survive and grow = survive, grown, and reproduce = survive and grow > survive

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3
Q

What is a fundamental niche?

A

The suite of abiotic conditions under which a species can survive, grow and reproduce

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4
Q

What is a realized niche?

A

The range of abiotic and biotic conditions under which a species actually lives determines whether they are a generalist or specialized species

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5
Q

What are examples of biotic limitations?

A

competitors, predators, and diseases

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6
Q

What is a niche generalist?

A

Species that can live under a wide range of abiotic or biotic conditions

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7
Q

What is a niche specialist?

A

A species that is specialized to live in a specific habitat or to feed on a small group of species

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8
Q

Why do species go extinct?

A

When environmental conditions change and species are unable to adapt to the changes or to favorable environments, they will eventually go extinct

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9
Q

What is the average life span of a species?

A

1 million to 10 million years, with 99%of species already extinct on Earth

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10
Q

How does the fossil record help us determine the evolution of life?

A

Organic material is buried and protected by mud and other sediments. Overtime the sediments build up layers that encompass the material which allows us to get a rough estimate of how long a species lived

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11
Q

What is the definition of a mass extinction?

A

A large extinction of species in a relatively short period of time

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12
Q

How is the sixth mass extinction different from the other five?

A

The sixth extinction (2020) is being caused by human activities which will make it difficult for species to move or adapt in time to avoid extinction

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13
Q

What are population growth models?

A

Mathematical equations that can be used to predict population size at any moment in time

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14
Q

What is population growth rate?

A

The number of offspring an individual can produce in a given time period, minus the deaths of the individual or its offspring during the same period

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15
Q

What is intrinsic growth rate (r)?

A
  1. The maximum potential for growth of a population under ideal conditions with unlimited resources
  2. When conditions are less than idea due to limited resources, a populations growth rate will be lower than its intrinsic growth rate
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16
Q

What is the exponential growth model?

A

A growth model that estimates a population’s future size (Nt) after a period of time (t) based on the intrinsic growth rate (r) and the number of reproducing individuals currently in the population (N(0))

N(t)=N(0)e^(rt)

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17
Q

What kind of curve is produced in an exponential growth model?

A

J-Shaped curve that represents an initially small growth rate which rapidly increases over time

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18
Q

What are the flaws in an exponential growth model?

A

No population can experience exponential growth indefinitely as demonstrated by Gause’s experiments with Paramecium

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19
Q

What is a logistic growth model?

A

A growth model that describes a population whos growth is initially exponential, but slows as the population approaches the carrying capacity of the environment

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20
Q

What kind of curve is produced in a logistic growth model?

A

S-Shaped curve that represents the affect of carrying capacity on the population of a species

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21
Q

What does a logistic growth model assume?

A

The number of offspring produced depends on the current population size and the carrying capacity of the environment. However, it usually depends on the time of the year and the availability of food

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22
Q

What is an overshoot?

A

When a population becomes larger than the environment’s carrying capacity

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23
Q

When will a population experience a die-off?

A

A rapid decline in a population due to death which can take the population below carrying capacity of the environment

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24
Q

What are K-selected species?

A

A species with a low intrinsic growth rate that causes the population to increase slowly until it reaches carrying capacity

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25
Q

What are the typical characteristics of a K-selected species?

A 
Life span - long
Reproductive maturity - long
Reproduction - few
Offspring - few
Size of offspring - large
Parental Care - present
Population growth rate - slow
Population regulation - density dependent 
Population dynamics - stable, near carrying capacity
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26
Q

What are the issues with a K-selected species?

A

The species cannot respond quickly to extinction

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27
Q

What are R-selected species?

A

A species that has a high intrinsic growth rate, which often leads to population overshoots and die-offs

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28
Q

What are the typical characteristics of an R-selected species?

A 
Life span - short
Reproductive maturity - short
Reproduction - many
Offspring - many
Size of offspring - small
Parental Care - absent
Population growth rate - fast
Population regulation - density independent 
Population dynamics - highly variable
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29
Q

What are the issues with an R-selected species?

A

They exhibit rapid population growth that is often followed by overshoots and die-offs

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30
Q

What are survivorship curves?

A

A graph that represents the distinct patterns of species survival as a function of age

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31
Q

What is a type I survivorship curve?

A
  1. A pattern of survival over time where there is high survival throughout most of the life span, but then individuals begin to die off in large numbers as the approach old age
  2. K-selected species such as elephants, whales, and humans
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32
Q

What is a type II survivorship curve?

A
  1. A pattern of survival over time where there is relatively constant decline in survivorship throughout most of the life span
  2. corals and squirrels
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33
Q

What is a type III survivorship curve?

A
  1. A pattern of survival over time where there is low survivorship in early life with few individuals reaching adult hood
  2. R-selected species such as mosquitoes and dandelions
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34
Q

What are corridors?

A

Strips of natural habitat that connect populations

35
Q

What is a metapopulation?

A

A group of spatially distinct populations that are connected by occasional movements of individuals between them

36
Q

What is inbreeding depression?

A

When individuals with similar genotypes breed with each other and produce offspring that have an impaired ability to survive and reproduce

37
Q

Why are small populations more vulnerable to extinction?

A
  1. Inbreeding depression

2. Harsh winters and environmental catastrophes can drive populations to critically low numbers

38
Q

What are the benefits of metapopulations?

A

Can provide a species with protection from threats such as disease and extinction

39
Q

What is carrying capacity?

A

The maximum population size of the species that the environment can sustain

40
Q

What are the five levels of complexity and what do they study?

A

Individual: survival and reproduction - the unit of natural selection

Population: population dynamics - the unit of evolution

Community: interactions among species

Ecosystem: Flow of energy and matter

Biosphere: Global processes

41
Q

What are the five basic characteristics of populations?

A

Population size: total number of individuals within a defined area at a given time

Population density: number of individuals per unit area

Population distribution: description of how individuals are distributed with respect to one another

Population sex ratio: ratio of males to females in a population

Population age structure: description of how many individuals fit into a particular age category

42
Q

What are density dependent factors?

A

A factor that influences an individuals probability of survival and reproduction in a manner that depends on the size of the population

43
Q

What is a limiting resource

A

A resource that a population cannot live without and that occurs in quantities lower than the population would require to increase in size

44
Q

What is a density-indepdent factor?

A

A factor that has the same effect on an individual’s probability of survival and the amount of reproduction at any population size

45
Q

What did Thomas Malthus believe?

A

He believed the human population was growing exponentially while the food supply we relied on was growing linearly

46
Q

What do scientists who disagree with Malthus, believe?

A

The ability for humans to innovate in the face of challenges, means that we will continue to make technological advances indefinitely

47
Q

What factors affect human populations?

A

Population size, birth and death rates, fertility, life expectancy, and migration

48
Q

What is immigration?

A

The movement of people into a country or region, from another country or region

49
Q

What is emigration?

A

The movement of people out of a country or region

50
Q

What is crude birth rate (CBR)?

A

The number of births per 1,000 individuals per year

51
Q

What is crude death rate (CDR)?

A

The number of deaths per 1,000 individuals per year

52
Q

How do you calculate the global population growth rate?

A

[CBR-CDR]
________
10

53
Q

How do you calculate the national population growth rate?

A

[(CBR + immigration) - (CDR + emigration)]
________________________________
10

54
Q

What is doubling time and how can it be calculated?

A

The number of years it takes a population to double

70/growth rate

55
Q

What is total fertility rate (TFR)?

A
  1. An estimate of the average number of children that each woman in a population will bear throughout her childbearing years (not calculated per 1,000 people)
  2. In 2014, the TFR was 1.9 which means each women gave birth to about 2 children
56
Q

What is replacement-level fertility?

A

The total fertility rate required to offset the average number of deaths in a population in order to maintain the current population size

57
Q

What is a developed country?

A

A country with relatively high levels of industrialization and income

58
Q

What is a developing country?

A

A country with relatively low levels of industrialization and income

59
Q

What kind of replacement-level fertility is typical in a developed country?

A

About 2

60
Q

What kind of replacement level fertility is typical in a developing country?

A

Greater than 2.1 in order to account for the greater mortality in young people

61
Q

When is a country’s population stable?

A

When TFR is equal to replacement level fertility and where emigration and immigration are equal

62
Q

When will a country’s population experience a decrease?

A

When TFR is less than 2.1 and there is no net increase from immigration

63
Q

What is life expectancy?

A

The average number of years an infant is expected to live, given average life span and death rate

64
Q

In what three ways is life expectancy report?

A

Overall population of a country, for males, and for females only

65
Q

Why do men usually have a shorter life span?

A

Biological factors, hazardous lifestyle choices, and greater danger in the work place

66
Q

What is infant mortality rate?

A

The number of deaths of children under 1 year of age per 1,000 live births

67
Q

What is child mortality?

A

The number of deaths of children under age 5 per 1,000 live births

68
Q

What factors affect child survival rates?

A

Health care, adequate food supply, potable drinking water, sanitation, and moderate level of pollution are ideal

69
Q

Why might a high life expectancy and low infant mortality country have a high crude death rate

A

Better standard of living which prolongs the lives of senior citizens and disease

70
Q

What is net migration rate?

A

The difference between immigration and emigration in a given year per 1,00 people in a country

71
Q

What is an age structure diagrams?

A

A visual representation of the number of individuals within a specific age group and gender

72
Q

What is a population pyramid?

A

An age structure diagram that is widest at the bottom and smallest at the top, typical of developing countries

73
Q

What is population momentum?

A

Continued population growth after growth reduction measures have been implemented

74
Q

What kind of population would have a column shaped age structure diagram?

A

Little difference between the number of individuals in younger age groups and in older age groups

75
Q

What kind of population would have an inverted pyramid?

A
  1. Greater number of older people than younger people
  2. Total fertility rate below 2.1 and a decreasing number of females within each younger age range (Germany, Russia, Italy)
76
Q

What is the study of demography?

A

The study of statistics such as births, deaths, income, or the incidence of disease, which illustrate the changing structure of human populations.

77
Q

What is stage 1 of demographic transition?

A
  1. high birth rate, high death rate
  2. High birth rate compensates for high infant mortality
  3. Characteristic of poorer countries
78
Q

What is stage 2 of demographic transition?

A

high birth rate, rapidly falling death rate

  1. Industrialization begins access to food and improved healthcare lowers death rate
79
Q

What is stage 3 of demographic transition

A

falling birth rate, falling death rate

  1. Death drops due to improved medicine and modernization
  2. Most developed countries are at this stage
80
Q

What is stage 4 of demographic transition?

A

low birth rate, low death rate

  1. Birth rate drops to equal zero population growth
  2. If birth rate falls below death rate then population will decrease
81
Q

What is the theory of demographic transition?

A

The theory that as a country moves from a subsistence economy to industrialization and increased affluence, it undergoes a shift in population growth

82
Q

What is affluence?

A

The state of having plentiful wealth including the possession of money, goods, or property

83
Q

What is family planning?

A

The practice of regulating the number of spacing of offspring through the use of birth control

AP Environmental Science (1 decks)

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