Chapters 1, 7, 8, 9, 10 Flashcards
(131 cards)
1
Q
Ecology
A
The Scientific study of how organisms affect and are affected by other organisms and their environment.
2
Q
What species is considered to be “biological indicators” of environmental problems?
A
Amphibians
3
Q
Why are amphibians good indicators of environmental problems?
A
Their skin is easily permeable- pollutants can pass through
Their eggs have no protective shell
They are exposed to pollutants and UV in both wet and dry environments
4
Q
Controlled experiment
A
Experimental groups are compared with a control group that LACKS the FACTOR BEING TESTED
5
Q
Replication
A
Performing each treatment more than once
6
Q
What does replication in an experiment do?
A
Reduces the possibility that results are due to a variable that was not measured or controlled in the study
7
Q
What happens when people alter one aspect of the environment
A
It causes other changes that we do not intend or anticipate
8
Q
Ecology (def. #2)
A
Ecology is the scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment.
9
Q
Ecology (def. #3)
A
Scientific endeavor, not environmental activism
10
Q
Ecology (def. #4)
A
The study of interactions that drive the distribution and abundance of organisms
11
Q
Environmental Science
A
the natural sciences with the social sciences and focuses on how people affect the environment and how to address environmental problems
12
Q
What do ecological studies usually emphasize?
A
individuals
populations
communities
ecosystems
13
Q
What do ecologists study?
A
Interactions across many levels of organization
14
Q
Population
A
A group of individuals of a single species that live in a particular area and interact with one another
15
Q
Community
A
an association of populations of different species in the same area
16
Q
biotic
A
living
17
Q
abiotic
A
physical components
18
Q
Ecosystem
A
A community of organisms plus their physical environment
19
Q
Landscapes
A
areas with substantial differences, typically including multiple ecosystems.
20
Q
what is the world’s biosphere composed of?
A
All the world’s ecosystems
21
Q
What is a biosphere?
A
all living organisms on earth, plus, the environments in which they live.
22
Q
What do ecologists evaluate competeing hypotheses with?
A
observations, experiments, and models
23
Q
What are the different methods ecologists use?
A
Observational studies in the field
Controlled experiments in the lab
Experiments in the field
Quantitative models
24
Q
What are the two scales of studies?
A
spacial scales and temporal scalees
25
Organisms life history
Record of events relating to its growth, development, reproduction, and survival
26
Life history characteristics include
Age and size at sexual maturity
Amount and timing of reproduction
Survival and mortality rates
27
Life history strategy of a species
overall pattern in average timing and nature of life history events
28
Life history events is shaped by the way the organism divides its time and energy between
Growth
reproduction
survival
29
Although all organisms produce offspring, what two characteristics vary?
Number and size of offspring
30
Semelparous
species have a single reproductive event (can be many offspring - but all at once)
31
Iteroparous
species can produce multiple times
32
itero
to repeat
33
pario
to beget
34
r-selection
selection for high population growth rates; an advantage in newly disturbed habitats and uncrowded conditions.
35
R-selection (def.)
the intrinsic rate of increase of a population
36
K-selection
Selection for lower growth rates in populations that are at or near K; advantage in efficient reproduction is favored.
37
K-selection(def.)
Carrying capacity for a population
38
Conditions of r-selected organisms
short life spans
rapid development
early maturation
low parental investment
high reproduction rate
39
Conditions for k-selected organisms
Long-lived
develop slowly
late maturation
invest heavily in each offspring
low reproduction rates
40
Fitness
genetic contribution to future generations
41
Trade-offs
Organisms allocate limited energy or resources to one function at the expense of another
42
What are some investments considered trade-offs?
Energy
Resources
Time
Loss of other activities
43
Example of trade-off
Species without parental care, resources are invested into propagules
44
lack clutch size
Maximum number of offspring a parent can successfully raise to maturity
45
True or False: Dispersal will not reduce competition among close relatives but will allow colonization of new areas
False: Dispersal will reduce competition and allow colonization of new areas.
46
True or false: Dispersal can allow escape from areas with diseases or high predation
True
47
Dormancy
State of suspended growth and development in which an organism can survive unfavorable conditions.
48
Why are small seeds, spores, eggs, and embryos best suited for dormancy?
Less metabolic energy is needed to stay alive.
49
Sequential Hermaphroditism
Changes in sex during course of the life cycle
50
Behavioral Ecology
The study of the ecological and evolutionary basis of animal behavior
51
Proximate causes
How the behaviors occur
52
Ultimate causes
why the behaviors occur; evolutionary and historical reasons
53
What 4 key factors are necessary for natural selection to operate?
Variations among traits
heritable
reproductive
survival
54
True or false: Animals make behavioral choices that enhance their energy gain and reduce their risk of becoming prey.
True
55
What factors effect finding food?
How much energy
How difficult it is to get food
56
optimal foraging theory
Animals will maximize the amount of energy gained per unit of feeding time and minimize risk involved
57
What does foraging theory assume?
That natural selection acts on the foraging behavior of animals to maximize their energy gain
58
In the equation P=E/t what does P stand for?
Profitability of a food item
59
In the equation P=E/t, what does E stand for?
Energy
60
In the Eequation P=E/t, what does t stand for?
time an organism spends obtaining the food
61
True or False: an animals success in acquiring food increases with the effort it invests
True
62
Marginal value theorem
was developed to address the question of how must an animal decide whether to stay in a patch or not?
63
What other factors could affect the costs of foraging?
Predators
abiotic challenges
64
What do anti-predator behaviors include
Those that help detect prey
avoid being seen
prevent attack
or escape
65
Sexual Selection
Individuals with certain characteristics gain an advantage over others of the same sex solely with respect to mating success.
66
teerritories
areas that they defend against intruders
67
Handicap hypothesis
Male that can support a costly and unweildy ornament is likely to be a vigurious individual whose overall genetic quality is high
68
Sexy son hypothesis
The female receives indirect genetic benefits through her sons, who will themselves be attracted to females and produce grandchildren
69
Monogomy
a male with only one female. This pairing may last for one or more breeding seasons. In many cases, both parents care for the young
70
Polygyny
One male mates with multiple females in a breeding season. The male may gain access to these females directly or indirectly. Female provides most-to-all parental care
71
Polyandry
One female mates with multiple males in a breeding season. The female may defend these males directly or indirectly. the male will provide most-to-all parental care
72
Promiscuity
both males and females mate with multiple partners in a breeding season.
73
Distribution
Geographic areas where individuals f a speecies occur
74
Abundance
number of individuals in a given area
75
What are important factors in calculating distribution and abundance?
Harvesting and conservation
76
Dynamic
distribution and abundance can change over time and space
77
True or false: Populations are not dynamic entities that vary in size over time and space?
False: Populations are dynamic entities that vary in size over time and space.
78
population
group of individuals of the same species that live in a particular area and interact with another
79
What are the interactions within a population?
competition and sexual reproduction
80
What is abundance reported as?
Population size or density
81
Density
Number of individuals per unit area
82
single genetic individual
ganet
83
ramet
includes members of a ganet that are genetically identical and may even be competing with each other
84
what are the limitations of distributions and abundances?
habitat stability
historical factors
dispersal
85
Other factors that affect distribution and abundance
Disturbance
Historical factors
Dispersal
86
Disturbance
abiotic events that kill or damage some individuals, creating opportunities for other individuals to grow and reproduce
87
true or false: dispersal limitations can prevent species from reaching areas of suitable habitat
True
88
What does dispersal of individuals in a population depend on?
Location of essential resources
competition
dispersal
behavioral interactions
89
Dispersion
Spatial arrangement of individuals within a population
90
Regular dispersion
individuals are evenly spaced
91
Random dispersion
individuals scatter randomly
92
Clumped dispersion
individuals are grouped together
93
Absolute population size
actual abundance
94
Area based counts
individuals in a given area or volume are counted
most often used to estimate the abundance of immobile organisms
95
Mark-recapture studies
subset of individuals captures and marked or tagged and then released
Used for mobile organisms
96
ecological nichee
abiotic and biotic conditions that a species needs to grow, survive, and reproducee
97
Niche model
predicts a species distribution based on conditions at locations the species is known to occupy
98
What do life tables show?
How survival and reproductive rates vary with age, size, or life cycle stage
99
Life table
Summary of how survival and reproduction rates vary w age
100
Survival rate
chance that an individual of age x will survive to age x+1
101
Survivorship
proportion of individuals that survive from birth to age x
102
fecundity
average number of offspring a female will have at age x
103
cohort life table
follows the fate of a group of individuals all born at the same time
104
Static life table
Snapshot in time: survival and reproduction of individuals of different ages during a single time period
requires estimating the age of individuals
105
Survivorship curve
Plot of the number of individuals from a hypothetical cohort that will survive to reach different life stages
106
Survivorship curve I
most individuals survive to old age
107
Survivorship curve type II
Chance of survival remains constant
108
Survivorship curve III
High death rates for young, those who reach adult hood survive well
109
In what ways can survivorship curves vary
Among populations
between males and females
among cohorts that experience different environmental conditions
110
Age structure
Proportion of the population in different stage classes
111
Age structure diagram
Shows the distribution of age and sex in a population
112
What two steps need to be calculated in order to predict population size for the following year?
1. Number of individuals that will survive to the next time period
2. Bumber of offspring those survivors will reproduce in the next time period
113
Stable age distribution
A population with an age structure that does not change
114
geometric growth
When a population reproduces in synchrony at discrete time periods
115
lambda = ?
Growth rate
116
Geometric growth =
Discrete growth
117
Exponential growth =
Continuous growth (babies at any time of the year)
118
Which unit is used for geometric growth rate?
Lambda
119
Which unit is used for exponential growth rate?
r
120
Exponential growth
When an individual reproduces continuously and generatios can overlap and the population changes in size by a constant proportion at each instant time
121
What is the unit of exponential population growth rate?
r, r= (births-deaths)/ population size
122
when do populations stay the same?
When lambda =1 or r=0
123
In the equation dN/dt=rN, what does dN stand for?
difference in population size
124
In the equation dN/dt=rN, what does dt stand for?
difference in time
125
what does e stand for?
the base of growth shared by all continually growing proceesses
126
Density independent factors
Effectts of birth and death rates are independent of the number of individuals in the population
127
Density-dependent factors
birth death and dispersal rates change as the density of the population changes
128
Population regulation
Density dependent factors cause population to increase when density is low and decrease when density is high
129
Logistic growth
population increases rapidly, then stabilizes at the carrying capacity
130
Carrying capacity
Max population size that the environement can support
131
Carrying capacity is indicated by the letter
K
