Ecology Flashcards
(91 cards)
1
Q
Ecology
A
The study of how organisms interact with each other and affect and are effected by their environment
2
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Ecosystem
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Group of populations found within a given locality plus the non-living environment around them
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Population
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The total number of a single species of organisms found in a given ecosystem
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Community
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Populations that interact with each other in a particular ecosystem
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Biosphere
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The part of the Earth that includes all living things. Atmosphere, Lithosphere, and Hydrosphere
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Lithosphere
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GROUND
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Hydrosphere
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Water
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Q
Habitat
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Where species live
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Biotic
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Living factors that are needed to sustain a habitat. (Food sources, predators)
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Abiotic
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Nonliving factors that are needed to sustain a habitat. (Weather, temperature, soil feature)
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Niche
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The role a species plays in a given ecosystem
12
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Energy cycle
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Food chain or webs. How energy is moved around.
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Biogeochemical cycle
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Water cycle, carbon cycle, etc.
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Food chain
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Look at book
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Producers
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Photosynthetic organisms
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Primary consumers
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Herivores
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Secondary consumers
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Feed on primary consumers
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Trophic Levels
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The levels of a pyramid in a food chain
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Autotrophs
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Produce their own food
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Each trophic level is greater in…
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Biomass (total mass of organisms) than the level above it
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Second trophic level
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the Second tier of the pyramid
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Food web
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A more correct and complicated depiction of a food chain
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Hydrologic Cycle
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Water cycle (see picture). Clouds, run off, transpiration, evaporation, rain, etc.
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Greenhouse gas
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a Gas that keeps heat in the atmosphere
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Nitrogen fixing
Combining nitrogen with either hydrogen or oxygen mostly by nitrogen-fixing bacteria and lightning. produces ammonium (NH4+)
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Nitrification
Further breaking down Ammonium into Nitrites or Nitrates. NO2- and NO3-
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Nitrate
NO3
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Volcanoes produce
Nitrogen compounds
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Ammonification
The decomposition of dead plants and animals into ammonia NH3
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Denitrification
Braking down Nitrates into Nitrogen
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Fossil Fuels
Natural gas and stuff. When burned produce carbon
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Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria form ammonium, ammonia, and nitrate and nitrites that plants can use. Then animals eat them. Denitrification releases nitrogen into the atmosphere which fixed. Animals also die and decompose back into ammonium.
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Carbon Cycle
SEE PICTURE. Animals release CO2 that is burned in their body when the breathe and die and when fossil fuels are burned. Animals get Carbon by eating producers and other consumers.
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Phosphorous Cycle
Mostly occurs from erosion and decomposition. Organisms use it in ATP and NADP.
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Natality
Birth Rate
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Mortality
Death rate
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Limiting Factors
Determine how much a particular population in a community is able to grow. (Abiotic and Biotic)
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Abiotic Factors (Limiting factors)
Non-living, fire, pollution, sunlight, soil properties, temperature, etc.
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Biotic Factors (Limiting Factors)
Reproductive span, Sexual maturity age, Food, Competition, predator-prey relationships, symbiosis, overpopulation, etc.
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Homeostasis
Dynamic balance achieved within an ecosystem functioning at optimum level. Death rate and birth rate are equal
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Density
Number of organisms per area
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Density-independent factors
Abiotic limiting factors. The rockiness of a cliff.
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Density-dependent factors
Biotic limiting factors. Food supply
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Carrying capacity
Growth rate is level. Death rate = Birth rate.
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Range
The total area occupied by a species. Usually populations have more density at center than edges of range.
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3 ways of Dispersion
Moving In and out of an area. Emigration, Immigration, Migration.
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Emigration
Permanent one way movement out of the original range
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Immigration
Permanent one way movement into a new range
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Migration
The temporary movement out of one range into another and back
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Competition
When two or more species living in the same area eat some of the same preys.
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Competitive exclusion
The wiping out of a species in an area due to competition
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3 types of Symbiosis
When two species interact with each other within the same range. AMENSALISM, MUTUALISM, PARASITISM
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AMENSALISM
When one species is neither helped nor harmed while the other is harmed. Sheep trampling Grass.
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Mutualism
Both species benefit
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Parasitism
One species benefits but the other is harmed
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Minimal viable population size
Maintaining just enough population to keep things rolling so to speak you know?
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Community structure
What types of species are dominate, what are major climatic trends of the region and is the community open or closed?
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(ECOTONE)
Closed community. The populations occupy essentially the same range with similar distribution of density (island, pond)
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Open Community
Indefinite boundaries and variations in distribution of density
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Succession
When one community completely replaces another. It could happen after a cataclysmic event that wipes out the original population or it may occur slowly as the climate changes.
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Pioneer
The first populations that move back into a disturbed ecosystem. Very hardy species that can survive bleak conditions.
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Climax Community
A stable community that best fits the climate and soil conditions. It is in homeostasis.
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Biome
An ecosystem that is defined by its climate characteristics
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Terrestrial biomes
Exist on land
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Biogeography
The study of how photosynthetic organisms and animals are distributed in a particular location plus the history of their distribution in the past.
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Introduced species
Species that inhabit a given ecosystem because humans transported them there
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Ethology
Organism Behavioral science
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Innate Behaviors
Instincts
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4 types of Stereotyped behaviors
Taxes (Taxis), Kineses, Reflexes, Fixed Action Patterns (FAPs)
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Taxes (TAXIS)
Directional responses either towards or away stimuli
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Kineses
Changes in speed of movement of a body part in response to a stimulus
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Fixed Actions Patterns (FAP)
Complex stereotyped behaviors in response to a stimulus (Releaser or sign stimulus)
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Releaser (Sign Stimulus)
Stimulus that FAPs respond to
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3 types of Learned Behaviors
Conditioning, Habituation, and Imprinting
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Conditioning (learned behaviors)
A behavior that is taught like teaching a dog to salivate when a bell in rung. Ivan Pavlov.
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B.F. Skinner taught that.
When a particular behavior is rewarded, the individual is being conditioned to repeat that behavior
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Habituation
When you produce less and less response as a stimulus is repeated, such as being scared when driving a car.
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Imprinting
Learned behavior that occurs during a pivotal point an animal's lifespan. Like when a bird learns who its mother is.
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Social Behavior
Behavioral patterns that take into account other individuals
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Home Range
An area in which they spend most of their time
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Territory
Area that animals will defend as their own
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Sexual and Mating behaviors rely on...
Complex interactions of the endocrine, nervous, and musculoskeletal systems
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Society
An organization of individuals in a population in which tasks are divided in order to work together. Bees and primates.
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Bees divide their responsibilities based on division of labor while primates build it around the idea of
Dominance
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Altruism
Having traits that tend to serve the needs of the society as a whole in addition to its own individual needs
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Human Population Growth
A very complex study that takes into account Natality (contraception), mortality, Genetic engineering, Environmental pollution, and the other ways humans reason around many limiting factors
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Thomas Malthus
Famous human population growth scientists that recognized the the exponential properties of population growth would exhausted the earth's food supply when humans eventually overpopulated.
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4 periods of the Theory of DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION
Birth and Death rates are approximately equal allowing population to be in equilibrium. Then social evolutions like fighting disease, mass produced food, and agrarian lifestyles where families have numerous children to work the farm cause rapid population growth. Then urban societies form causing less use for lots of children but bio medical progress causes lower infant mortality rate which causes lowers birth death rate. In the 4th and final stage, industrialized nations work to lower birth rates through contraceptive practices.
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AgeAs birth rates increase, the population tends to shift toward the...
Youth
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Medical advancements make shift the population towards
the Old
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Some nitrogen-fixing bacteria live in symbiosis on the nodules of the roots of...
of legumes (Beans, peas)
