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Ecology > Final Exam > Flashcards

Final Exam Flashcards

(107 cards)

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1
Q

Community

A

association of interacting species inhabiting some defined area

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2
Q

community ecology

A

study of collective properties in the structure of multispecies biological assemblages

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3
Q

Issues of community definition

A

Co-occurrence: Minimum property of community; species co occur

Recurrence: same group of organisms will occur with the same species

Communities tend toward dynamic stability: stable around given point

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4
Q

one view of a community: Individualistic school

A

only co-occurrence needed

collection of populations with similar environmental requirements

abstraction of continuously varying vegetation

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5
Q

Superorganism school

A

tightly coevolved in evolutionary time

important in ecological time

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6
Q

Hypotheses for higher species richness in tropics

A
  1. Time theory hypothesis: rate of evolution higher
  2. Competition Hypothesis: time for evolution to have occurred undisturbed is higher
  3. Colonization hypothesis: rate of colonization after glaciation limiting in temperate zone
  4. Climate stability hypothesis: Tropics less seasonal, more constant food resources, niches, specialization
  5. Spatial heterogeneity: high richness with more habitats
  6. Predation hypothesis: greater species specific predation
  7. Productivity hypothesis: productivity increases more levels in web
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7
Q

species richness

A

number of species in a defined area

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8
Q

Species diversity

A

the number of different species present in an ecosystem and relative abundance of each of those species.

species richness and equitability

more evenly distributed= more diversity

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9
Q

Community structures

A

absolute and relative abundance of species in a community

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10
Q

3 major structuring forces of communities

A

interspecific competition , predation, disturbance

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11
Q

keystone species

A

species whose activities control structure of food web

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12
Q

keystone predator

A

eats competitively dominant prey and controls community structure

psistar starfish

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13
Q

Disturbance

A

Any relatively discrete event in time that disrupts ecosystem, community or population structure and changes resources, substrate availability, or the physical environment

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14
Q

Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis (IDH)

A

Highest species richness when disturbance is in the middle; not too much or too little disturbance

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15
Q

succession

A

non seasonal, directional, and continuous pattern of colonization and extinction on a site by a population of species

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16
Q

climax community

A

vegetation formation resulting after many years of development
endpoint of succession

Predictable , local extinction

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17
Q

3 successional processes

A

Facilitation, Tolerance, inhibition

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18
Q

Facilitation successional process

A

organisms make environment for other organisms to come in and makes it less favorable for itself

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19
Q

Facilitation -glacier bay Alaska

A

when glaciers move, it leaves behind rock, moss breaks down rock converting it to soil
- moss outcompeted by fireweed, willows, alder trees bringing in nitrogen for plants

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20
Q

facilitation in Poorly drained soils

A

Invasion of sphagnum moss in areas of poorly drained soils in early stages of forest
- acidifies water so trees die
- creates bogs

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21
Q

Tolerance

A

Later species outcompete earlier ones but early species don’t make environment more favorable for later species

species sequence is from colonization ability, growth, competitive ability

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22
Q

primary v secondary succession

A

primary: occurs on bare sediments
- glacier retreat, lava flow

secondary: existing vegetation disturbed and replaced
- fire

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23
Q

tolerance- sand dunes

A

grasses established after blowout
grasses outcompeted by willows, pines, oak forests

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24
Q

Inhibition

A

Each species inhibits colonization by subsequent species
- species at site first will hold it until external force disrupts it

External force disrupting system is required for succession to proceed
- Autogenic: within system
- Allogenic: outside system

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25
Tolerance- rocky intertidal
Algal density highest for boulders of intermediate size which require intermediate force to be overturned Stable environment will be unchanging Unstable environment evoke successional change
26
Factors that determine biome
Annual precipitation temperature
27
Temperate deciduous forest
Cold winters, local variations, abundant understory more species rich than coniferous
28
Coniferous
short humid summers, long cold winters, large temp variation many predators - lynx, bobcat, wolverine prey - hare
29
Temperate Rainforest
lot of rainfall, seasonal variation mixture of conifers and deciduous
30
Tundra
many lakes, bogs low precipitation low biological diversity simple vegetation
31
primary consumers
plants who do photosynthesis
32
secondary consumers
herbivores who eat primary consumers
33
Grasslands
Enough precipitation to support grasses not trees tall grass in humid wet environments and short grasss praries fires mice, grasshoppers, buffalo
34
Savanna
Grasslands with scattered trees less rainfall dry summer wet winter fire high biodiversity
35
shrubland
Short densely branching shrubs long dry hot summers mild rainy winter fire
36
Deserts
Drought year round-- less than 10 in rain/year Hot deserts in tropic of cancer and capricorns cold deserts burrowing animals, not many plants
37
rain shadow effect
as weather from the ocean travels towards a mountain, it rains and cool air descends creating a desert in the region of a rain shadow
38
Types of deserts
rain shadow effect cold ocean desert Landlocked desert
39
Tropical rainforest
a lot of precipitation high species richness tall straight trees medicines many insects
40
aquatic v marine
aquatic: freshwater marine: saltwater
41
Lentic v lotic
lentic: bodies of water without current lotic: bodies of running water
42
limnology
inland bodies of water
43
temporary ponds
only around in spring water retained for short period of time when snow melts
44
springs
spring fed pond: springs come up to surface geothermal pools: very hot with bacteria living
45
volcanic lake
calderas: empty volcanoes fill with water
46
Tectonic lakes
formed by tectonic plate shifts
47
Glacial lakes
formed by receding glaciers kettle lakes
48
Seasonality of lakes
Spring: isothermal (same temp 4C throughout) and lake turnover- mixes Summer: Wind and sun warms surface water and there is a stratified lake zones - Warmer on surface, cooler as you get deeper (4C) Fall: lake turnover with wind, cooler temps mixes epilimnion and hypolimnion isothermal Winter: with colder temps, surface water freezes, and warmer deeper
49
Lake zones in Summer
Epilimnion- warmer surface, oxygen rich Metalimnion - thermocline Hypolimnion- cooler, oxygen poor -- decomposition dominates
50
dimictic lakes
mix twice a year- spring and fall otherwise ice would form on bottom
51
limnetic zone and organisms
open area of water that light can penetrate down primary producers: planktonic: drift in current - phytoplankton nektonic: can swim against current primary consumers: zooplankton epilimnion: biological material source hypolimnion: sink for material
52
profundal zone
deep part of lake with little light
53
benthic zone
bottom of lake with bottom dwelling organisms
54
littoral zone
shallower area where light can penetrate to bottom of lake
55
oligotrophic v eutrophic
Oligotrophic: nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorous) poor Eutrophic: nutrient rich - hypereutrophic- too much nutrients dystrophic: bogs
56
Human eutrophication
Human activity increasing rate of eutrophication
57
dystrophic
describes bogs and fens
58
compensation depth
Where photosynthesis= respiration
59
bogs - where they're formed
wetlands where organic matter accumulation exceeds rate of decomposition low nutrients formed where precipitation exceeds evaporation , poor drainage, cool temps
60
trophic cascade hypothesis
manipulating one level of food web affects other aspects of food web
61
Algal blooms
oxygen depletion in ponds causes fish to die off
62
approaches to algal blooms
adding herbicides- kill algae temporarily but lead to cycle adding zooplankton not cost effective biomanipulation: controlling lakes by adding to top of food web- fish decrease algae population
63
Trophic cascade experiment
eradicate invasive rainbow smelt fish population by adding GELIs to keep lake mixed so the fish can't survive because they only reproduce in cold temps
64
fens
primarily grasses instead of sphanum moss not acidic
65
Succession of lakes
Eventually fill in from bottom by vegetation, plants growing on bottom Goes from aquatic to terrestrial process Non seasonal, directional
66
4 dimensions lotic systems
longitudinal lateral vertical time
67
longitudinal dimension
upstream to downstream changes expected to see in rivers pools: deep, slow moving runs/glides: smooth, fast moving riffles: shallow, turbulent, fast moving rapids: steep, coarse substrates, fast moving
68
lateral dimension
exchange of material from river to terrestrial environment as you go across the stream wetted channel: portion containing water even during low flow periods active channel: actively filled with water by average stream flows riparian zone: outside channel; transition between aquatic environment and upland terrestrial environment denoted by vegetation tolerant to water floodplain: fluvial surface created by infrequent floods
69
Vertical dimension
water can move from surface down to sediments of river water column: water surface to benthic zone benthic zone: bottom of river hyporheic zone: below current, transition between surface water flow and groundwater phreatic zone: below hyporheic zone containing groundwater
70
time dimension
rivers vary across time and space resulting in constantly changing river shape, size, content from flooding, erosion, changes to environment
71
what determined stream types
precipitation and evaporation
72
stream types
perennial: where precipitation exceeds evaporation; flow year round intermittent: flow most of the year , dry parts of the year ephemeral: only flow after rainfall event
73
watershed
any area of land that intercepts and drains rain through river system
74
stream order
method of classifying ordering hierarchy natural channels 1st order: smallest headwater stream 2nd order: 2 1st orders together low order: 1-3 order mid order: 4-6 order high order: 7-12 order
75
Sources of organic matter
autochthonous: originates within stream allochthonous: originates outside stream CPOM: coarse particulate organic matter FPOM: fine particulate organic matter DOM: dissolved organic matter
76
Upper reaches (small rivers) abiotic factors
riparian vegetation 1-3 order P/R <1 CPOM
77
upper reaches biotic factors
peanut butter cracker hypothesis: organisms eat leaves to get to biofilms shredders and collectors dominants fish require high oxygen
78
middle reaches abiotic
4-6 order CPOM breaks down into FPOM P/R >1 autochthonous dominated
79
middle reaches biotic
collectors and grazers fish tolerate high temp low oxygen
80
lower reaches (large rivers)abiotic
large rivers fpom dominate p/r<1 causing turbity
81
lower reaches biotic
more planktonic orgnanisms collectors fish tolerant of high temp low oxygen
82
river continuum concept
predicts characteristic changes from upstream to downstream
83
human influence on flood
channelization: gets water in and out of area quickly runoff into channelized streams increases flood frequency dams:modifies flow regime electricity, flood control
84
overland flow
surface runoff; water running over land into stream when solid are saturated and low permeability precipitation exceeds soil infiltration rate impervious surfaces
85
hydrograph
time it takes to rise from baseflow to maximum discharge to baseflow conditions storm hydrograph: lag time after peak of storm shorter in urbana areas
86
effects of urbanization on storm hydrograph
after urbanization peak higher, shorter lag time
87
general hydrograph patterns
high in early spring low in summer high in fall rainfall patterns spiky graph snowmelt patterns smooth graph
88
Invasive species definition
non native to ecosystem under consideration and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or enviornmental harm or harm to human health
89
causes of accidental introduction of invasive species
accidental releases - aquaculture - aquarium trade transportation - navigation channels - ballast dumping range expansion as temps warm
90
Goby
eat zebra mussels and invertebrates prefer benthic rocky habitat spawn many times a year come in through ballast water
91
Ballast water management
NOBOB-- empty ballast before entering us this impacts native species and movement of toxic materials from sediments
92
scenarios of gobys and algae
gobys reduce benthic invetebrates increasing algae gobys reduce mussels and reduce algae
93
bioaccumulate v biomagnicifcation
bioaccumulation: materials accumulate in organisms as a result of feeding biomagnification: materials that are concentrated at higher levels as you go up food web
94
PCBs
organic contaminants contaminant of fish human health problems when consumed in fish
95
Gobies and PCBs
biomagnification of PCBs evident at highest level of food chain
96
chironomids-- midges
low oxygen water energentically important-relied on by many birds as food source eggs must go through dry period invasive nuisance
97
2 approaches on how to reduce nuisance midges
Bti - lethal when ingested by insect STRIKE pellets- flood with juvenile hormone prevents insect from molting to adult
98
Bti and strike effects
Bti no affect STRIKE at reduced emergence
99
Marine derived nutrients (MDN) with salmon
nutrients from marine environment cycled in fresh water system Salmon egg, sperm, carcass provide nutrients to algae, insect feed on algae, young salmon feed on insects
100
Eltonian pyramids
Pyramid of numbers-- not good way to process pyramid of biomass-- not good to process pyramid of enegy-- cannot be inverted
101
how salmon affects midges
midges that live on rocks are affected because salmon bring a lot of MDN into freshwater when they spawn
102
climate change effects
increased sea level, water temps pH change
103
climate change effect on migratory birds
disconnect between bird migration (triggered by photoperiod) and insect availability (controlled by temp)
104
What did bluegill study show
there are habitat linked morphological and behavioral adaptations that make them better at avoiding predators a limnetic fish in a littoral environment will be subject to more predation because they aren't as well adapted
105
Crayfish and worm symbiosis study
Commenslism relationship because crayfish benefit by having worms removing large PM from their gills allowing for better survival Worms don't benefit
106
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome study
Higher density of infected rodents provides a higher baseline for future infection that can trigger outbreak when next surge in rodent population occurs
107
kettle lakes
formed by glaciers

Ecology (3 decks)

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