Unit 3 Ecology Flashcards
Community
all the organisms that live together in a place
Niche
an organism ecological role “job”
habitat
it’s address or “home”
competitive exclusion
no two similar species can occupy the same niche at the same time (lions and tigers on different continents)
competition:
compete for resources, neither organism benefits
predation/paragons:
(-/+) 1 benefits
mutualism:
(+/+) both benefit
commensalism:
nothing happens
aposmatic coloration
advertise how undesirable you are as prey
millerian mimicracy
- two or more protected species look like each other
- both dangerous
coevolution in a community:
predator-prey relationships
parasite-host relationship
flowers and pollinators
keystone species:
- important regulations effect on other species in a community
- increase diversity in habitat
succession:
- transition in species composition over time
- years or decades
- usually after a disturbance
primary succession:
- begins with a almost lifeless area w/o soul
- plants and organisms begin to return and grow
- come in and start over
secondary succession:
existing community cleared but the soil is still intact
taxis
- change in direction
- automatic movement toward (positive taxis) or away for (negative taxis) a stimulus
- photo taxis/ chemotaxis
kinesis:
-change in rate of movement in response to a stimulus
abiotic factors:
- sunlight and temperature
- precipitation/ water
- soil/ nutrients
k selected:
-late reproduction
- few offspring
- invest a lot in raising offspring
(primates)
r- selected:
- early reproduction
- many offspring
- little parental care
(insects or many plants)
exponential growth rate:
happens when something is introduced to a new environment or is rebounding from a catastrophe
density dependent:
- completion: food, mates, nesting cites
- predators, pathogens, parasites
density independent:
- abiotic factors
- sunlight
- temperature
- rainfall
logistic growth rates
-populations can’t grow exponentially, they reach a carrying capacity
carrying capacity:
maximum population size that an environment can support with no degradation of habitat
tundra:
- treeless plain in the attic regions
- has a layer of soil that always remains frozen
savanna
- rolling grassland scattered with shrubs and isolated trees, typically hot
desert:
-hottest biome on earth, dry soil, very little water
taiga:
- has the largest terrestrial biome, located below the tundra
- forest and viral forest
tropical rainforests:
- found near cooler coastal areas
- it’s hot, moist, and rains all year long
first law of thermodynamics:
energy can’t be created nor destroyed
what happens to energy when it moves from one trophic level to another?
- it decreases
- as little as 10 percent moves through the ecosystem.
batesian mimicry
mimicry in which an edible animal protects itself by its resemblance to a noxious one avoided by predators
autotrophs
organism that produce their own food from the substances available in their surroundings
heterotrophs
- can’t synthesize their own food and rely on other organisms such as plants and animals for their nutrition
decomposers
- organisms that break down dead or decaying animals
eutrophication
-excessive nutrients and richness in a lake or other body of water, due to runoff land, which causes dense growth of plant life and animal death
evaporation:
the process by which water changes from liquid to a gas
condensation
vapor or gas into liquid
transpiration
the process of wager movement through a plant and it’s evaporation from aerial plants such as leaves, stems, and flowers
photosynthesis
a process by plants and other organisms to convert light energetic into chemical energry
it basically takes in CO2 and reintroduces oxygen
respiration
a chemical process in which energy is released from food substances such as glucose
nitrogen fixation
a chemical procsss by which atmospheric nitrogen is assimilated into organic compounds especially by microorganisms
biome
a large occurring community occupying a major habitat, forest,or tundra
equilibrium population
when a population is balanced
difference between matter and energy
- energy flows in one direction and becomes less and less as is flows
- matter is recycled while energy isn’t
food pyramid
a triangle diagram that represents the number of food servings to eat each day and from what food groups
biomass pyramid
a more accurate indication of how much energy is passed on at each trophic level
energy pyramid
a graphical model of energy flow in a community
different levels may represent the food chain
primary producer
Primary producers are organisms in an ecosystem that produce biomass from inorganic compounds. In almost all cases these are photosynthetically active organisms
primary consumer
herbivores, feeding on plants
secondary consumers
carnivores, and prey on other animals. Omnivores, who feed on both plants and animals, can also be considered a secondary consumer.
examples of decomposers
bacteria, fungi, some insects, and snails
What are the Major factors that control primary production in terrestrial ecosystems?
temperature and moisture
The amount of chemical energy in a consumers food that is converted to its own new biomass over a period of time is called what?
Secondary production
The process of carbon dioxide being released from plants back into the atmosphere??
Respiration
Bacteria is important in making what available to plants?
Nitrogen
