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Ecology > Final Exam > Flashcards

Final Exam Flashcards

1
Q

What is succession

A

gradual change in plant and animal communities in an area following a disturbance

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2
Q

What is disturbance

A

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

Five characteristics:

  • frequency* (how often)
  • size (how big)
  • intensity* (how hot, how hard)
  • severity (how much death)
  • residuals (what survived)
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3
Q

Whats the different between primary and secondary succession?

A

Primary succession occurs on newly exposed rock / geologic substrates (lava flow)

Secondary succession occurs where the previous soil and some organisms still remain (logging event)

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4
Q

What is a climax community

A

Late successional community that remains stable until disrupted by disturbance (The forest grown back after a landslide)

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5
Q

Whats a seral species

A

Seral species are intermediate successional species

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6
Q

How does diversity change with succession?

A

Diversity increases with succession

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7
Q

How did soil organic content, moisture, nutrient availability, and pH change with succession in Glacier Bay

A

organic content, moisture increased while pH and most nutrient availability went down

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8
Q

How does clearcutting affect nutrient loss?

A

Clearcutting substancially increased nutrient loss

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9
Q

What is the biomass accumulation model? What are its stages?

A 
{RATS}
- Reorganization: (10-20 yrs) 
forest loses biomass and nutrients
- Aggradation: (100-200yrs)
Ecosystem reaches peak biomass
- Transition: 
Biomass stabilizes or declines from peak
- Steady-State: 
Biomass fluctuates around mean
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10
Q

What are the three processes that drive succession?

A

Facilitation
Tolerance
Inhibition

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11
Q

how does facilitation work

A

Colonizers modify the environment so it becomes less suitable for themselves and more suitable for species of later successional stages

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12
Q

how does tolerance work?

A

Species with superior competitive abilities replace competitors

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13
Q

how does inhibition work?

A

Early occupants modify the environment in a way that makes it less suitable for others (direct competition)

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14
Q

is succession linear? what do you mean?

A

No, it does not move linearly from pioneers to intermediates to climax organisms.

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15
Q

what are alternative stable states? What is hysteresis?

A

Other possible states of an ecosystem that would be stable that are dependent on the presence or absence of a strong indicator.

Which is a species who loss is likely to cause a large change in the community structure

Represented by a ball moving from one valley to another. One valley has more of a dip than the other

Hysteresis is the idea that moving from point A to B may require more or less energy than moving from B to A

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16
Q

What is a strong interactor?

A

a species who loss is likely to cause a large change in the community structure

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17
Q

Whats the difference between stability, resistance, and resilience?

A

Stability: absence of change

Resistance: ability to maintain structure and function in face of disturbance

Resilience: ability to recover from disturbance

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18
Q

Whats the shifting mosaic steady state model?

A

describes an entire landscape in which patches of that landscape are at different successional stages

these are not exactly equal, but are actually oscillating around a mean over a long period of time.

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19
Q

How diverse is the Amazon river basin?

A

One hectare of the Amazonian rainforest contains more plant species than all of Europe.

Fish diversity is greater than the entire Atlantic Ocean.

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20
Q

how much forest has been cut down in the past 50 years in the Amazon?

A

15% has been cut down and converted to pastureland, roads, towns, and mines

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21
Q

what is a patch? what is the matrix?

A

A matrix is an island that is isolated by dissimilar habitats

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22
Q

What characteristic do we use to think about habitat patches?

A

hmm

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23
Q

whats the deal with habitat corridors?

A

to connect the fragmentations so the animals are able to move through their habitats

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24
Q

at the most basic level, what drives landscape structure?

A

geologic processes

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25
Q

What are ecosystem engineers?

A

hmm

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26
Q

what do you think about beavers?

A

hmm

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27
Q

how could beavers increase nutrients in the area where they live?

A

hmm

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28
Q

what is biogeograpghy?

A

Biogeography is the study of patterns of species composition and diversity across geographic locations.

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29
Q

How does species richness vary with latitude?

A

Lower latitudes have more diversity than higher latitudes

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30
Q

what are gamma, alpha, and beta diversity?

A

Gamma : al the species contained within a region

Alpha: diversity resulting from species physiology and interactions with other species

Beta: change in species number and composition from one community type to another

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31
Q

how is regional diversity related to local diversity?

A

Regional diversity is within areas with uniform climate

Local diversity is equivalent to a community

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32
Q

why does seabird diversity not follow the typical latitudinal pattern?

A

Seabirds have highest diversity at high latitudes, this is correlated with marine productivity

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33
Q

What drives the latitudinal species richness patterns we see?

A
  • More stable climate at tropics, time to grow

- Also higher latitudes experience glaciation, which disrupts species diversification

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34
Q

what is the species-area relationship?

A

species richness increases with area sampled

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35
Q

What is ETIB? What two main factors does it consider?

A

Equilibrium Theory of Island Biogeography:

  • the number of species on an island depends on a balance between
    • immigration or dispersal rates and extinction rates
    • distance from mainland species pool and island size
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36
Q

why would those two factors for ETIB affect species richness?

A

Island Size: mainly controls extinction rates
- pops on small island have higher chances of going extinct

Distance from mainland controls immigration rates
- distant islands should have a lower immigration rate than nearer islands

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37
Q

What are edge effects?

A

The individuals of a population, say a stand of trees, that are at the edge of the fragmentation will experience the most intense effects

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38
Q

What are ecosystem services? How do we rely on rainforests?

A

Ecosystem services include things like food, medicine, fuel, tourist destinations. We rely on rainforests

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39
Q

What is a community? What is community structure? Membership?

A

Community: association of interacting species inhabiting some defined area

Often defined by their physical or biological attributes (functional group)

group of closely related species (taxonomic affinity)

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40
Q

What is a guild?

A

group of organisms that all make their living in the same fashion

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41
Q

What are lognormal distributions?

A

Bell shaped curves showing species abundance

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42
Q

whats the difference between species richness and evenness?

A

Species richness = number of species in the community

Species Evenness = relative abundance of species proportional to others

Richness is a count
Evenness is a ratio

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43
Q

Whats the Shannon-Weiner diversity index? know how to calculate it

A

oke

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44
Q

What are Hmax and E? Know how to calculate them

A

oke

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45
Q

What are rank abundance curves? Know how to read them

A

portray relative abundance and species diversity within a community by plotting relative abundance of species against their rank in abundance

Lower slope = greater evenness
Richness = total number of species

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46
Q

How are diversity and environmental complexity related?

A

Species diversity increases with environmental complexity.

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47
Q

How are phytoplankton a paradox in regards to environmental complexity?

A

They live in relatively simple environments and compete for the same nutrients, yet many species coexist without competitive exclusion.

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48
Q

What is a cosmopolitan species?

A

Found in a wide variety of habitats

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49
Q

How is soil diversity related to animal diversity?

A

Soil diversity ->plant diversity -> animal diversity

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50
Q

How is the intermediate disturbance hypothesis?

A

intermediate levels of disturbance promote higher diversity

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51
Q

How is the intermediate disturbance hypothesis related to boulder size?

A

The boulders in the inter tidal area that yielded the most biodiversity were those that had intermediate amounts of disturbance

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52
Q

How do prairie dogs increase diversity?

A

Creating mild disturbance

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53
Q

What is the shifting mosaic stead state model?

A

That the landscape is a bunch of shifting pieces that can exist in alternative steady states

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54
Q

How does diversity respond to competition at different levels of disturbance?

A

Maximum species diversity when disturbance level and rate of competitive displacement are equal at intermediate levels.

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55
Q

What is the diversity-stability theory?

A

a long standing idea in ecology is that species richness is positively related to community stability.

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56
Q

About how much of the suns irradiance reaching the surface is used for photosynthesis?

A

2.2% about

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57
Q

How much of the suns irradiance is left over for primary productivity after plant respiration?

A

1%

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58
Q

Whats the difference between GPP and NPP?

A

GPP = total amount of energy fixed by autotrophs (gross primary production)

NPP = amount of energy leftover after autotrophs have met their metabolic needs (net primary production)

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59
Q

What is AET, and why is it a useful proxy for NPP?

A

AET = actual evapotranspiration

because there is a positive relationship between NPP and AET,

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60
Q

What is LAI, and what limits it?

A

Leaf area index

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61
Q

What is NEE, and how is it related to NPP?

A

NEE = Net ecosystem exchange

net change in carbon balance between atmosphere and an ecosystem

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62
Q

How is soil fertility related to NPP?

A

plants respond to environmental conditions, such as soil infertility, by allocating carbon to growing different tissues

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63
Q

How is climate related to NPP?

A

NPP increases as precip increases, at high levels of precip, however, there is less light
Increses with average annual temp

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64
Q

What limits NPP in marine systems?

A

Nutirnet availabilit

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65
Q

Where do we see the highest NPP in the oceans?

A
  • Nutrient run-off from land
  • sediment disturbance areas
  • upwelling areas
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66
Q

What are the latitudinal patterns in NPP?

A

hmm

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67
Q

How much of global NPP is done in the oceans? Where in the oceans does most of that occur?

A

50% in oceans

80% of that in open ocean

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68
Q

how is top-down forcing related to NPP?

A

there is more nutrients at the top layer of water

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69
Q

How can grazers increase NPP? What is compensatory growth?

A

grazers increase NPP

grazers get rid of older, taller leaves, giving more energy to new young shoots and leaves

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70
Q

What is a trophic level?

A

Hmm

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71
Q

what is detritus? What are detritivores?

A

considered 1st trophic level

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72
Q

How much of NPP ends up as detritus, typically?

A

a high amount

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73
Q

In streams and lakes, what are autochthonous and allochthonous inputs?

A

autochthonous energy is energy that is produced by autotrophs within the system

allochthonous inputs are external energy inputs

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74
Q

Why is the biomass pyramid inverted in aquatic ecosystems?

A

the primary producers have short lifespans and high turnover

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75
Q

Why dont terrestrial herbivores consume more of the available biomass?

A
  1. herbivores constrained by predators and never reach carrying capacity
  2. autotrophs have defenses against herbivores
  3. phytoplakton are more nutitious for herbivores
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76
Q

What is trophic efficiency?

A

amount of energy at one trophic level divided by amount of energy at the trophic level immediately below it.

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77
Q

How complete are food webs int heir representation of all feeding relationships?

A

hmm

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78
Q

What is a “strong interaction” in the trophic sense?

A

Hmm

79
Q

What is a keystone species?

A

hmm

80
Q

How did Mary Power investigate that concept in a river system?

A

HMM

81
Q

What are bottom-up and top-down forcing?

A

Hmm

82
Q

What is a trophic cascade? What is one example of this?

A

Hmm

83
Q

What are direct and indirect effects, when thinking about trophic cascades?

A

H,m

84
Q

How could they be opposite, direct and indirect effects?

A

Hmm

85
Q

How can exotic specie (predators in particular) affect ecosystems?

A

hmm

86
Q

What is bioaccumulation? Biomagnification?

A

hmm

87
Q

What element is the main component of plant structural compounds?

A

Hmm

88
Q

How do animals and plants typically differ in the C:N ratios?

A

Hmm

89
Q

Do all plants require the same essential nutrients? Why?

A

hmm

90
Q

How do plants/microbes and animals differ in how they attain their nutrients?

A

hmm

91
Q

How does soil structure affect how nutrients are obtained by plants?

A

hmm

92
Q

What is cation exchange capacity?

A

hmm

93
Q

What does ‘parent material’ have to do with soil nutrient content? How about leaching?

A

hmm

94
Q

How do detritivores release nutrients back into the cycle?

A

hmm

95
Q

Where does nitrogen come from, mostly? How is it fixed?

A

hmm

96
Q

Know the basics of the nitrogen cycle.

A

hmm

97
Q

Where does phosphorous come from, mostly?

A

hmm

98
Q

Know the basics of the phosphorous cycle.

A

hmm

99
Q

Know the basics of the carbon cycle.

A

hmm

100
Q

How does climate affect rates of nutrient cycling?

A

hmm

101
Q

How are nutrients lost from ecosystems? Where do they go?

A

hmm

102
Q

How does detritus slow this process?

A

hmm

103
Q

What is ‘nutrient spiraling’?

A

hmm

104
Q

What is the rate of mineralization?

A

hmm

105
Q

What affects rates of decomposition?

A

hmm

106
Q

How have plants changed the atmosphere, over geologic time?

A

hmm

107
Q

What’s up with radioactive cesium from Fukushima?

A

hmm

108
Q

Where does most of the mercury falling on the west coast of north America come from?

A

hmm

109
Q

What’s happening with the ozone hole?

A

hmm

110
Q

What’s happening with the nitrogen cycle?

A

hmm

111
Q

How does El Niño affect ecosystems world-wide?

A

hmm

112
Q

Why isn’t the Earth a cold, dead space rock?

A

hmm

113
Q

How do greenhouse gases work?

A

hmm

114
Q

What trends do we see in atmospheric CO2?

A

hmm

115
Q

Where is that from?

A

hmm

116
Q

How do climate models work?

A

hmm

117
Q

What are we certain about, concerning global climate change?

A

hmm

118
Q

What is the IPCC?

A

hmm

119
Q

Who wants us to doubt the findings of the IPCC?

A

hmm

120
Q

What can we do about global climate change?

A

hmm

121
Q

What are producers? Consumers?

A

hmm

122
Q

What is NPP?

A

hmm

123
Q

What is the ITCZ? What are Hadley cells?

A

hmm

124
Q

How do those things drive latitudinal climatic patterns?

A

hmm

125
Q

What are orographic effects on precipitation? How do they work?

A

hmm

126
Q

What is the Coriolis effect? How does it work?

A

hmm

127
Q

What is the ocean conveyor belt? What causes upwelling?

A

hmm

128
Q

What is El Niño? What are Milankovich cycles?

A

hmm

129
Q

What are biomes?

A

hmm

130
Q

Know how to read a climate diagram.

A

hmm

131
Q

Be able to name some basic characteristics of each biome, if given its name.

A

hmm

132
Q

What are the major zones in the ocean?

A

hmm

133
Q

What are the major zones in a stream?

A

hmm

134
Q

How do temperature changes affect enzyme performance?

A

hmm

135
Q

What is countercurrent heat exchange?

A

hmm

136
Q

How do desert plants get rid of heat?

A

hmm

137
Q

What is torpor? Hibernation? Estivation?

A

hmm

138
Q

What is water potential? What causes differences in it?

A

hmm

139
Q

How do fish osmotically regulate?

A

hmm

140
Q

What is PAR?

A

hmm

141
Q

What’s the difference between C3, C4, and CAM photosynthesis?

A

hmm

142
Q

What five elements make up most of life?

A

hmm

143
Q

What is a cecum, and why is it necessary?

A

hmm

144
Q

What is optimal foraging theory? How do we use it to think about predator decisions?

A

hhmm

145
Q

What is a population?

A

hmm

146
Q

What is genetic drift? What is fixation?

A

hmm

147
Q

What is evolution?

A

hmm

148
Q

How does evolution by natural selection work? What are the three things required for this process?

A

hmm

149
Q

What’s the difference between sympatric and allopatric speciation?

A

hmm

150
Q

What typically limits the geographic distribution of a species?

A

hmm

151
Q

What is microclimate, and how does it affect species distribution on a small scale?

A

hmm

152
Q

What are the three basic patterns of distribution we see? What types of interaction would generate each one?

A

hmm

153
Q

How are continental drift and species distribution related?

A

hmm

154
Q

What’s the difference between a genet and a ramet? What kind of organism do these terms apply to?

A

hmm

155
Q

What are the four population parameters that affect density?

A

hmm

156
Q

Know how to calculate lx using a life table.

A

hmm

157
Q

What are the differences between types I, II, and III survivorship curves? What strategies do they reflect?

A

hmm

158
Q

Given all of the relevant equations, be able to calculate R0, lx, mx.

A

hmm

159
Q

What are T and r? Be able to calculate them.

A

hmm

160
Q

Be able to use the exponential growth equation.

A

hmm

161
Q

What is logistic growth? What is K?

A

hmm

162
Q

When is the growth rate highest in logistic growth models? What happens if N > K?

A

hmm

163
Q

What do semelparous and iteroparous mean?

A

hmn

164
Q

What are damped oscillations and stable limit cycles? How do they relate to τ and r?

A

hmm

165
Q

What are Allee effects? How do they work?

A

hmm

166
Q

What is a metapopulation? How are their dynamics driven by extinction and colonization?

A

hmm

167
Q

Who benefits from exploitation? How do we define it?

A

hmm

168
Q

What are herbivores, predators, parasites, and pathogens?

A

hmm

169
Q

To what factors does the modified LV equation attribute growth rate in prey populations? Predator populations?

A

hmm

170
Q

Why is there no K in these equations?

A

hmm

171
Q

What is the functional response? What is the numerical response?

A

hmm

172
Q

What is the predator satiation defense? What is masting?

A

hmm

173
Q

What are symbionts? What are parasites, mutulaists, and commensalists?

A

hmm

174
Q

What’s the difference between parasites and pathogens?

A

hmm

175
Q

What is a reservoir, a vector, and a host? What happens in each one?

A

hmm

176
Q

What are S, I, and R, and how do we use them to think about the spread (or not) of disease?

A

hmm

177
Q

What is vertical transmission? What is a latent period, when talking about pathogens?

A

hmm

178
Q

Who benefits from competition?

A

hmm

179
Q

What is the difference between interference competition and resource competition?

A

hmm

180
Q

What is a niche? What the heck is an n-dimensional hypervolume?

A

hmm

181
Q

What are fundamental and realized niches? What is niche partitioning?

A

hmm

182
Q

What is character displacement, how does it happen, and where do you expect to see it?

A

hmm

183
Q

What is facilitation?

A

hmm

184
Q

What is a mutualism?

A

hmm

185
Q

What’s the difference between facultative and obligate mutualism?

A

hmm

186
Q

Do mutualisms always pay off for both parties?

A

hmm

187
Q

What are zooxanthellae? How do they benefit corals?

A

hmm

188
Q

Types of Disturbances

A

Biotic (competition, herbivory, digging, trampling)

Abiotic (tsunamis, floods, wind, acid rain)

189
Q

Pioneer species

A

Early successional species / r-selected species

  • High dispersal + high growth rates
  • Short lived
190
Q

Intermediate Successional Species

A
  • Longer lived, woody species
  • Do well in full sun
  • Usually shade intolerant
191
Q

Climax community

A

Late successional or K-selected species

  • Shade tolerant
  • Long lived
192
Q

r-selected

A
  • small organisms
  • energy to make each individual is low
  • early maturity
  • short life expectancy
  • many offspring produced
  • type III survivorship pattern (most individuals die within a short time)
193
Q

K-selected

A
  • large organisms
  • energy to make each individual is high
  • few offspring produced
  • late maturity
  • long life expectancy
  • type I or II survivorship patterns (most individuals live near the maximum life span)

Ecology (2 decks)

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