Biology Final

Question 1

Population structure

Answer 1

Defined by patterns of mortality, age distributions, sex ratios, dispersal.

Question 2

Suvivorship curve

Answer 2

Summarizes pattern of survival in a population

Question 3

Life tables

Answer 3

Bookkeeping device to track births, survivorship, and deaths in populations

Question 4

Cohort life table

Answer 4

Identify individuals born at same time and keep records from birth (easy to interpret, but often difficult or impossible to collect these data)

Question 5

Static life table

Answer 5

Record age at death of many individuals over narrow window in time (requires accurate estimate of age at death)

Question 6

Age distribution

Answer 6

Calculate difference in proportion of individuals in each age class (assumes differences in numbers from one age class to next due to mortality and assumes population stable in size)

Question 7

Sex ratio

Answer 7

Relative frequency of each sex type in population.

Empirically, find most populations have sex ratio near 1:1

Question 8

BIDE

Answer 8

Birth -any process that produces new individuals in the 
population 
Death
Immigration into population.
Emigration out of population.

Question 9

Density-dependent factors

Answer 9

Influenced by population density (e.g. competitors, predators, disease)

Question 10

Density independence factors

Answer 10

Do not vary with population density. e.g., floods, extreme temperatures

Question 11

Fecundity schedule

Answer 11

Birthrates for females of different ages

Question 12

Net reproductive rate (R0)

Answer 12

Average number of offspring produced by an individual in a population per generation

Question 13

Generation time

Answer 13

Average age at which female gives birth to offspring (i.e. time it takes to go from seed to seed or egg to egg)

Question 14

Logistic population growth

Answer 14

Exponential growth curve modified to include biotic limitations on population growth

Question 15

Intraspecific competition

Answer 15

Among members of the same species

Question 16

Interspecific competition

Answer 16

Among members of two species

Question 17

Resource limitation

Answer 17

Limited resources, space, etc. leads to interference competition and exploitative competition

Question 18

Interference competition

Answer 18

Direct aggressive interaction between individuals

Question 19

Exploitative competition

Answer 19

Competition to secure resources first

Question 20

Competitive exclusion principle

Answer 20

Complete competitors cannot coexist

Question 21

Fundamental niche

Answer 21

Range of conditions under which species can survive

Question 22

Realized niche

Answer 22

Range of conditions under which species typically found

Question 23

Character displacement

Answer 23

Competition between species living together (sympatry) can evolve differences between them, though they are nearly identical living apart (allopatry)

Question 24

Exploitation

Answer 24

Interaction between populations that enhances fitness of one individual while reducing fitness of the exploited individual

Question 25

Herbivores

Answer 25

Consume live plant material but usually do not kill plants

Question 26

Predators

Answer 26

Kill and consume other organisms

Question 27

Constitutive (plant defenses)

Answer 27

Produced continuously, regardless of environment

Question 28

Induced (plant defenses)

Answer 28

Increase rapidly in response to herbivore damage

Question 29

Consumptive effects

Answer 29

Direct effects of predation on prey populations through capture and consumption of prey

Question 30

Non-consumptive effects

Answer 30

Changes as consequence of predator presence, even when prey not killed (e.g. high blood cortisol levels known to increase with stress and shifts in morphological traits, stress-physiology, altered behaviour)

Question 31

Aposematic colouration

Answer 31

Bright colouration in prey that advertises fact prey have toxin or are distasteful in some way

Question 32

Müllerian mimicry

Answer 32

Several species of toxic/noxious animals share similar warning colouration. This can enhance learning by predators, thereby reducing predator risk for mimics

Question 33

Batesian mimicry

Answer 33

Nontoxic species exhibits colouration similar to that of noxious species living in same area

Question 34

Symbiotic relationships

Answer 34

Organisms which benefit one another live in close proximity to each other

Question 35

Mutualism

Answer 35

Interactions between individuals of different species that benefit both partners

Question 36

Facultative mutualism

Answer 36

Species does not require mutualistic partner for survival

Question 37

Obligate mutualism

Answer 37

Species is dependent on mutualistic relationship

Question 38

Disease

Answer 38

Atypical condition in living organism that cause some sort of physiological impairment

Question 39

Community

Answer 39

Association of interacting species inhabiting some defined area

Question 40

Community structure

Answer 40

Includes attributes such as number of species, relative species abundance, and species diversity

Question 41

Guild

Answer 41

Group of organisms that make a living in similar way

Question 42

Species diversity

Answer 42

A combination of the number of species and their relative abundance

Question 43

Species richness

Answer 43

The number of species found within a community is one of the most fundamental aspects of community structure

Question 44

Alpha diversity

Answer 44

Measure of local diversity

Question 45

Beta diversity

Answer 45

Measure of the differences among communities within the region or landscape

Question 46

Gamma diversity

Answer 46

Measure of regional or landscape diversity

Question 47

Dominance

Answer 47

One or a few species are substantially more abundant than other species in community

Question 48

Species richness

Answer 48

Number of species in the community

Question 49

Species evenness

Answer 49

Relative abundance of species. Can be thought of inverse of dominance

Question 50

Ecological services

Answer 50

Processes and resources of value to humans provided | by ecological systems. These processes and resources are typically called ecological functions

Question 51

Ecosystem function

Answer 51

Process within an ecosystem such as biomass production, nutrient cycling, or carbon sequestration. If function is diminished, so too is the quality of the service