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Ecology Lecture > Exam 1 > Flashcards

Exam 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

what is ecology?

A

the scientific study of interactions among organisms and their environment

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2
Q

where does the word ecology come from?

A

oekologie - combined Greek words for “household and knowledge”

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3
Q

who is the father of ecology?

A

German scientist, philosopher and physician Ernest Haeckel

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4
Q

what is environmental science?

A

interdisciplinary field that draws concepts, expertise, and tools from natural and social sciences

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5
Q

whats the difference between ecology and environmentalism?

A

environmentalism is a political and ethical movement to improve the quality of the natural environment. ecology is just the science behind it.

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6
Q

what are the levels of biological organization from atom to biosphere?

A

atom, molecule, macromolecule, cell, tissue, organ, orgasn system, organism, population, community, ecosystem, biosphere

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7
Q

what did joseph h connell do?

A

studied the effects of intraspecific competition and predation on populations of a barnacle species on the rocky shores of Scotland

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8
Q

what did jane goodall do?

A

she was the first to document tool-use by a non-human in the wild and to find out that chimps hunted.

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9
Q

what are the 4 domains of scientific advancements?

A
  • observations
  • models
  • controlled experiments
  • field experiments
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10
Q

what are microcosms and mesocosms?

A
  • Microcosms are artificial, simplified ecosystems that are used to simulate and predict the behaviour of natural ecosystems under controlled conditions
  • A mesocosm is an experimental tool that brings a small part of the natural environment under controlled conditions.
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11
Q

whats the difference between the “focus” and “extent” of a research design?

A
  • focus is from the interference space from which each datum applies in an analysis
  • extent is from the interference space from entire data collection applies in an analysis
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12
Q

what is the fundamental and realized niche?

A
  • Fundamental niche: the set of resources a population is theoretically capable of using under ideal conditions
  • Realized niche: the resources a population actually uses.
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13
Q

what causes changes to fundamental niches?

A 
BAD
-competition
-predation
-disease and parasitism
-recruitment limitation
GOOD
-resource enhancement
-recruitment enhancement
-predation refuge
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14
Q

what is the grinnellian niche?

A

the ultimate distributional unit which each species is held by its structural and instinctive limitations.

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15
Q

what is the eltonian niche?

A

the status of an animal in its community…its place in the biotic environment

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16
Q

what is the hutchisonian niche?

A

an n-dimensional hypervolume…defined on axes representing all of the ecological factors relative to the species

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17
Q

what are the major determinants of global climate?

A
  • shape
  • revolution
  • rotation
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18
Q

how does precipitation relate to air temperature?

A

the hotter it is, the more precipitation

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19
Q

what is albedo?

A

solar radiation that a surface reflects

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20
Q

what is sensible heat loss?

A

exchange of kinetic energy via conduction (molecules in direct contact) or convection (air movement) that involves a temperature change.

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21
Q

what affects do vegetated and deforested areas have on climate

A

vegetated areas soak up more solar radiation, so they have more latent heat loss.
deforested areas soak up less solar radiation, so they have less latent heat loss.

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22
Q

what are ocean currents driven by?

A

surface winds and modified by Coriolis effects

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23
Q

what causes upwellings?

A

wind

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24
Q

what is the difference of orders for streams?

A

first order is the source. when 2 of these diverge, they create a second order stream ect.

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25
contrast allochthonous vs. autochthonous
- allochthonous originates from a different source. the higher the volume of water, the more debris - autochthonous is native
26
what is the hyporheic zone?
the area below the stream bed
27
what is el nino?
a point in time in which the coastal pacific waters from the americas are warmer than usual which causes bad weather
28
what are milankovitch cycles
long term variations in the orbit of the Earth which result in changes in climate over periods hundred of thousands of years and are related to ice age cycles
29
what are the terrestrial biomes
-desert -tundra -tropical rainforest -temperate grasslands -tropical seasonal forests and savannas -temperate shrublands and woodlands -temperate deciduous forests -temperate evergreen forests -boreal forests -ecotones -marine ecotones -
30
what are some examples of terrestrial biomes
analytical clustering of phylogenetic turnover of assemblages of species
31
how many of earths species are contained in the tropical rainforest?
50%
32
what determines the balance between grasses vs. woody species in tropical seasonal forests and savannas
- resource availability - fire - large herbivores
33
what significance are ants to plants?
they protect them
34
what are the dominant plants in temperate grasslands?
grasses
35
what is the climate like in temperate grasslands?
warm, moist summers and cool, dry winters. soils rich in organic matter
36
what kinds of animals live in the temperate grasslands?
large ungulate and marsupial grazers
37
what kind of climate does the temperate scrublands and woodlands have?
winter rainy season. mediterranean-type climates. fire is common... resorting is common
38
what kind of leaves are common in temperate scrublands and woodlands?
sclerophyllous leaves
39
what are the dominant plants of tropical rainforests?
broad-leaved evergreen trees with a continuous growing season
40
what are tropical seasonal forests and savannas made up of?
- tropical dry forests - thorn woodlands - tropical savannas - pronounced wet and dry seasons
41
what is the temperate deciduous forests made up of?
sufficient rainfall and soil fertility to support tree growth. sometimes an outbreak of insects
42
what are temperate evergreen forests like?
warm coastal zones to cool maritime climates. nutrient poor soils.
43
what are boreal forests like?
extreme weather and permafrost. lots of freezing except for summer. lots of carbon pools
44
what are tundras like?
arctic extreme weather with permafrost. dominated by sedges, grasses and forbs
45
what are ecotones?
transition zones between biomes or ecosystems.
46
what are some examples of ecotones?
Estuary - river/ocean junction Mangrove - shallow estuaries and mudflats with salt tolerant evergreen woody species Salt Marsh - found on shorelines carried to shorelines by rivers
47
what are the marine biomes?
coral reefs, kelp beds, seagrass beds and deep sea.
48
what are the key niche dimensions?
- energy availability - availability of other resources - physical conditions
49
whats the difference between generalists and specialists species?
generalists have a broader ecological niche
50
what do animals do to avoid stress tolerance?
``` Dormacy - reduced metabolic activity Torpor - less dormancy Hibernation - extended torpor Winter Sleep/denning Migration Acclimatization - adjustment adaptation - things like ecotypes that are populations that adapt ```
51
what determines an objects heat energy change?
energy input vs. output
52
what is an ectotherm and endotherm?
ectotherm - regulates temp with environment ex. snake | endotherm - regulates temp with internal heat generation ex. mouse
53
how do potential energy gradients flow?
from high to low
54
how do terrestrial animals balance salt and water?
- gas exchange | - renal efficiency
55
explain general concept of light-dependent reactions.
pigments harvest energy from sunlight to split water to provide electrons to generate ATP and NADPH
56
what is the light compensation point?
when a plants co2 uptake is balanced by co2 losses through respiration
57
what variables influence energy gain?
- survivorship - growth - reproduction
58
what limits photosynthetic activity?
light, temperature, nutrients and water availability
59
what is the most abundant enzyme on earth?
Rubisco
60
what cycle does aerobic respiration use?
the krebs cycle
61
how many plants are c3?
95%
62
What enzyme does photosynthesis use?
carboxylase
63
what enzyme does photorespiration use?
oxygenase
64
how do co2 levels and temperature effect the rate of respiration?
high co2 levels and high temperature will cause an increase in photosynthesis activity
65
what is photorespiration?
when oxygen is consumed and co2 is produced in plants
66
where do c4 plants like to live?
dry hot environments
67
where do CAM plants like to live?
extreme hot and dry environments. open stomata at night to achieve high water efficiency
68
how do chemosynthetic organisms obtain energy?
by oxidizing inorganic compounds to fuel calvin cycle to fix carbon cycle
69
what is adaptive phenotypic convergence?
the independent evolution of similar features in species of different lineages. creates analogous structures that have similar form or function, but that were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups. (ex.) wrens and finches look very similar but are not the same species
70
how many microbial class are located in the body in comparison to somatic cells?
10x more microbial cells than somatic cells
71
what is adaptive phenotypic divergence?
when the sexes of a given species have different physical characteristics?
72
what is adaptive phenotypic radiation?
morphological diversity among a species that leads to different species all with different characteristics
73
what is the central dogma of biology?
DNA > RNA > Protein
74
what are the mechanisms of evolution?
- mutation - genetic drift - gene flow - artificial selection - natural selection - sexual selection - female selection and male competition - phenotypic change
75
what is allopatric and sympatric speciation?
allopatric is geographical speciation. sympatric is speciation from a single ancestor while living in the same geographical location.
76
what is hybridization speciation?
when two species collide to form a new species
77
what is allometry?
the relation of organism size compared to body parts
78
what is directional selection?
an extreme phenotype is favored over other phenotypes, causing the allele frequency to shift over time in the direction of that phenotype
79
what is genetic drift?
the change in the frequency of a gene variant (allele) in a population due to random sampling of organisms
80
what is gene flow?
is the transfer of alleles or genes from one population to another
81
what is disruptive selection?
changes in population genetics in which extreme values for a trait are favored over intermediate values. In this case, the variance of the trait increases and the population is divided into two distinct groups.
82
what is stabilizing selection?
is a type of natural selection in which genetic diversity decreases and the population mean stabilizes on a particular trait value.

Ecology Lecture (4 decks)

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