Unit 8 - Ecology Flashcards
Abiotic Factors
Nonliving factors
Biotic Factors
Living
Behavior
a response to stimuli in the environment
Innate
- inherited (instinct), automatic, and
consistent - Innate behaviors have a strong genetic component and are largely independent of environmental influences. They are instinctual and rely on responses to stimuli
Learned
changes with experience and environment; the ability to learn is inherited but the behavior develops during an animal’s lifetime
Why should organisms have innate and learned behaviors?
Natural selection favors innate and learned behaviors that increase survival and reproductive success
Simple Innate Behaviors
- Kinesis is the undirected movement in response to a stimulus
- Taxis is the directed movement towards or away from a stimulus, which can be in response to light (phototaxis*), chemical signals (chemotaxis ), or gravity (geotaxis)
- Reflexes is an involuntary and nearly instantaneous movement in response to a stimulus (e.g. knee-jerk)
Complex Innate Behaviors
- Fixed action patterns - a predictable series of actions triggered by a cue, sometimes called the key stimulus, e.g. herring gull behavior (1min), goose rolling egg into nest (1min)
- Migration - long-range seasonal movement of animals, it is an evolved, adapted response to variation in resource availability (e.g. birds flying south for the winter)
- Circadian rhythms physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a cycle and are regulated by biological clocks (e.g. sleep-wake cycle, menstrual cycle, hibernation cycle, birds singing in the morning, flowers opening
Tropism
a plant’s response to environmental stimuli
Phototropism - growth in response to light
Photoperiodism - blooming in response to light
Gravitropism/geotropism - growth in response to gravity
Hydrotropism - growth in response to water
Transpiration
Transpiration - the evaporation of water from plant leaves
Water is absorbed at the roots and travels to the leaves where photosynthesis happens (possible because of cohesion and adhesion)
Stimulus
A change in the environment that triggers a response in an organism, such as light, sound, temperature, or touch
Signaling Behavior
- A signaling behavior is an action or trait that an organism uses to communicate information to other organisms, often influencing their behavior
- It produces changes in behavior of other organisms
- Can result in differential reproductive success
Five Types of Communication Mechanisms Used in Animals and their Uses
Visual communication – Used for mating displays, warning signals, or territorial defense (e.g., peacocks displaying feathers).
Audible communication – Used for attracting mates, warning of predators, or coordinating group behavior (e.g., bird songs).
Tactile communication – Used for bonding, mating, or warning signals (e.g., bees performing the waggle dance).
Electrical communication – Used for navigation, detecting prey, or signaling (e.g., electric fish emitting signals).
Chemical communication – Used to mark territory, signal reproductive status, or identify individuals (e.g., pheromones in ants).
Cooperative behavior
- Involves teamwork between two organisms of the same species
- Increases the fitness of the organisms and survival of the population
Aposematism
- Aposematism is a warning coloration or signal used by organisms to deter predators by indicating toxicity or unpalatability
- Ex: the bright orange and black coloration of monarch butterflies, which signals toxicity from milkweed consumption
- the bold black-and-yellow stripes of poison dart frogs, which warn predators of their lethal skin toxins.
How do mammals establish territories?
- Mammals use scent markings to establish and identify territory
- Urine, feces, or secretions from scent glands
- Can contain pheromones
- Can communicate social status and ownership
- Can warn off competitors
- Can be used to attract fem
- Or they can be used to attract females
Metabolism
the sum total of the biochemical reactions that take place in an organism’s body
Metabolic Rate
- The amount of energy expended by an animal over a specific period of time (how quickly sugars are broken down to keep the organism’s cells running)
- There is a relationship between metabolic rate per unit body mass and the size of multicellular organisms - generally, the smaller the organism, the higher the metabolic rate
Ectotherms
lack efficient internal mechanisms for maintaining body temperature, though they may regulate their temperature behaviorally by moving into the sun or shade or by aggregating with other individuals
Endotherms
use thermal energy generated by metabolism to maintain homeostatic body temperatures - need to eat more
Trophic Level
a level in a food chain
