Lectures 13-24 Flashcards
(178 cards)
1
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Symbiont
A
Organisms that live in or on other organisms
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Parasite
A
Organism that consumes the tissues or body fluid of the organism on which it lives
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Pathogen
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Special class of parasites that cause disease
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Parasitoid
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Insects whose larvae feed on a single host and almost always kill it
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Macroparasite
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Large species such as arthropods and worms
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Microparasite
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Microscopic, such as bacteria
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Ectoparasite
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Lives on the outer body surface of the host
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Endoparasite
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Lives inside their hosts, within cells or tissues, or in the alimentary canal (digestive system). Don’t eat host tissue, instead rob them of nutrients.
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Encapsulation
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Specialized cells that surround eggs or parasites increasing the difficulty of their function
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Lamellocyte
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Blood cells that form multicellular capsules around large objects
11
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Ecosystem engineer
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Can change the physical character of an environment
12
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Gongylidia
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Specialized structures produced by fungi on which the leaf-cutter ants feed
13
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Facilitation
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A synonym for positive interactions, when neither species are harmed and the benefits of the interaction are greater than the costs for at least one species
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Mutualism
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Both individuals of the interaction benefit (+/+)
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Commensalism
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Individuals of one species benefit, while individuals of the other species do not benefit and are not significantly harmed (+/0)
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Symbiosis
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A relationship in which the two species live in close physiological contact with each other, includes parasitism (+/-), commensalism(+/0) and mutualism (+/+)
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Mycorrhizae
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Symbiotic relationship between a plants roots and various fungi
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Hyphae
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Fungal roots that extend the roots of plants
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Ectomycorrhizae
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Fungus grows between root cells and forms a mantle around the root
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Arbuscular mycorrhizae
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Fungus grows into the soil, extending away from the root; and also penetrates into some of the plant root cells
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Obligate mutualism
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Not optional for either species
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Nurse Plant
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A plant whose shade creates cooler, moister conditions for juvenile plants
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Facultative mutualism
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Not obligate, or required, and show very few signs of coevolution
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Trophic mutualism
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Mutualist receives energy or nutrients from its partner
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Habitat mutualism
One partner provides the other with shelter, living space, or favorable habitat
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Service Mutualism
One partner performs an ecological service for the other
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Cheaters
Individuals that increase reproductive fitness by overexploiting their mutualistic partner
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Cleaner fish
Remove parasites from a fish (client), isn't eaten by the client because it gains more from the cleaning than it would from the energy obtained by eating that fish.
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Population cycle in Yucca plant example
If moths lay too many eggs and the larvae consume too many seeds --> Yuccas can abort flowers with too many eggs, before moth larvae hatch
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Community
Groups of interacting species that occur together at the same place and time
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Physical community
Can encompass all the species in a desert, a mountain stream, or a hot spring
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Biological Community
This approach emphasizes biotic components of the community in its name
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Taxonomic affinity
All the species from a specific taxonomic group
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Guild
A group of species that use the same resources
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Functional Group
Species that function in similar ways, but do not necessarily use the same resources
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Trophic Levels
Energetic interactions of a species
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Primary Producers
Autotrophs
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Primary Consumer
Herbivores
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Secondary Consumer
Carnivores
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Tertiary Consumer
Carnivores
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Horizontal Interaction
Non-trophic interactions such as competition
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Interaction web
They more accurately describe both the trophic and non-trophic interaction
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Community Structure
The set of characteristics that shape communities
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Species richness
The number of species in a community
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Species evenness
The relative abundance of species compared with one another
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Species diversity
Combine species richness and species evenness
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Shannon index
Used to tell us about a species diversity --> H = -1 * sum of pi * ln(pi) for all species. Pi = proportion of individuals in the ith species (abundance / total), s = number of species in the sommunity
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Rank Abundance Curve
Plot the proportional abundance of each species relative to the others in rank order
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Species accumulation curve
Species richness is plotted as a function of the total number of individuals that have been counted. Help us determine when most or all of the species in a community have been observed.
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Direct interactions
Occur between two species
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Indirect Interaction
Occur when the relationship between two species is mediated by a third (or more) species
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Trophic Cascade
Example of an indirect interaction --> Carnivore eats a herbivore resulting in a positive effect on a primary producer.
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Trophic Facilitation
A consumer is indirectly facilitated by a positive interaction between its prey and another species.
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Competitive Network
Competitive interactions among multiple species in which every species negatively interacts with every other species --> No room for any one species to dominate
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Competitive Hierarchy
One species dominates in the community
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Interaction Strength
Magnitude of the effect of one species on the abundance of another species
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Foundation species
Have large effects on other species, and thus species diversity, by virtue of their considerable abundance or biomass.
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Keystone species
Have a strong effect on community composition as a result of their roles in the community --> A large affect in proportion to its abundance or biomass. Removal of a keystone species can have a major effect on community composition
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Primary Succession
Low frequency of high intensity --> Primary succession --> Nothing surviving, new species have to colonize the area --> The colonization of habitats devoid of life
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Agents of change
Act on communities across all temporal and spatial scales
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Succession
The directional change in species composition as a result of various agents of change
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Secondary Succession
Medium frequency of medium intensity --> Some species survive and others can recolonize area --> Gradual change of species composition --> Reestablishment of a community in which some, but not all, organisms have been destroyed.
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Little successional change
Low intensity and low frequency --> A lot of species can survive
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Pioneer / early successional species
Tend to be stress-tolerant and often transform the habitat in ways that benefit their growth and that of other species
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Climax stage of succession
A stable end point emerges, composed of dominant species that persist over many years and provide stability
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Facilitation
Early species modify the environment in ways that benefit later species --> Most important drivers of early succession, especially when physical conditions are stressful
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Tolerance
Early species modify the environment in neutral ways that neither benefit nor inhibit later species
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Rocky Intertidal Zone
Largely exposed to waves between low tide & high tide --> Disturbance is created mostly by storms --> Low tides expose organisms to temp changes
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Inhibition
Early species modify conditions in negative ways that hinder later successional species
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Alternative Stable state
Different communities follow different successional paths develop in the same area under sumilar environmental conditions
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Stable Community
A community is thought to be stable when it returns to its original state after some disturbance through an agent of change.
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Hysteresis
An inability to shft back to the original community type, even when original conditions are restored. Can result in a new stable state.
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Biogeography
The study of patterns of species composition and diversity across geographic locations
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Regional scale
Areas with uniform climate; the species are bound by dispersal to that region
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Gamma diversity
AKA regional species pool --> All the species contained within a region
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Landscape Scale
Topographic and environmental features of a region. They shape rates of migration and extinction
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Alpha diversity
Local species diversity, determined by species physiology and interactions with other species. Equivalent to a community.
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Beta Diversity
Change in species number and composition, or turnover of species, from one community type (local scale) to another. Beta diversity connects local and regional scales.
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Global Biogeography
Global patterns of species diversity and composition are controlled by geographic area and isolation, historical factors over evolutionary time, and global climate.
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Vicariance
Evolutionary Separation of species by barriers such as those formed by continental drift
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Unimodal Relationship
Higher species diversity at middle latitudes
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Dispersal
How often species move
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Rate of species diversification
The net increase or decrease of species over time
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Species-area relationship
Species area increases with amount of area samples. S(species richness) = z(slope constant)A(area samplet) + c(y-int) --> S & A are transformed into logarithmic values to obtain a straight line
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Equilibrium Theory of Biogeography
States that the number of species on an island depends on a balance between immigration or dispersal rates and extinction rates. The equilibrium number is the number of species that should fit on the island regardless of the turnover. It's the intersection of immigration & extinction rates
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Species Turnover
The replacement of one species with another
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Non-native species
A species living outside its natural distributional range
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Biotic resistance
When interactions with the native species exclude the invader
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Resource partitioning
Competing species coexist by using resources in different ways. Reducing competition and increasing species richness. The narrower the resource spectrum = greater competition for resources.
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Resource ratio hypothesis
Species coexist by using resources in different proportions
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Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis
Species diversity is greatest at intermediate disturbance. At low disturbance, competition determines diversity, at high disturbance, many species cannot survive.
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Lottery model
Emphasizes the role of chance in maintaining species diversity. All species have equal chances of obtaining resources made available by disturbances, allowing coexistence. Must have similar interaction strengths & growth rates.
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Species redundancy
Overlap in functions and no benefit to greater community as a result of its function.
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Complementary Hypothesis
As species richness increases, there will be a linear increase in community function. Each species added has an equal effect.
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Redundancy Hypothesis
The functional contribution of additional species reaches a threshold. As more species are added, there is overlap in their funciton, or redundancy among species.
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Driver and passenger hypothesis
Strength of ecological function varies greatly. Driver species have a large effect, passenger species have a minimal effect. Addition of driver and passenger species will have unequal effects on community function.
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Primary Production
Chemical energy generated by autotrophs during photosynthesis and chemosynthesis. Primary productivity is the rate of primary production
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Gross Primary Production
Total amount of carbon fixed by autotrophs. Dependent on photosynthetic rate.
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Leaf area index
Leaf area per unit of ground area. Incremental gain in photosynthesis for each added leaf layer decreases because of shading
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Net Primary production
Represents biomass gained by the plant: GPP - Respiration
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NDVI
Normalized difference vegetation index. NDVI = - red)/ (NIR + red)
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Net Ecosystem Production/ exchange
Net change in CO2 is GPP - total respiration--> Includes respiration by heterotrophs
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Eddy Covariance
Net ecosystem exchange is estimated by measuring CO2 at various heights in a plant canopy --> Fluctuation in concentration at varying heights
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Secondary production
Net secondary Production = Ingestion - Respiration - Egestion
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Trophic Interactions
What an organism eats and what eats them
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Detritivore
One that eats detritus or dead material --> Feed off all dead material and typically classified as primary consumers at the secondary level (herbivores)
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Allochtonous
External energy inputs derived from terrestrial organic matter
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Autochtonous
Energy produced by autotrophs within the system
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Trophic pyramid
Portray the relative amounts of energy or biomass of each trophic level
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Trophic efficiency
Amount of energy at one trophic level divided by the amount of energy at the trophic level immediately below it
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Consumption efficiency
Proportion of available energy that is consumed
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Assimilation efficiency
Proportion of ingested food that is assimilated
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Production efficiency
Proportion of assimilated food that goes into new consumer biomass
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Persistant organic pollutants
Chemicals that remain in the environment for a long time, very stable & don't compose
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Bioaccumulation
Some chemicals are not metabolized or excreted, and become progressively more concentrated in tissues over an organism's lifetime
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Biomagnification
Concentration of these compounds increases in animals at higher trophic levels, as animals at each trophic level consume prey with higher concentrations of the compounds.
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Weathering
Events that break down rocks (parent material) into smaller particles of parent material. Result in soil formation
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Minerals
Solid substances with characteristic chemical properties
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Rocks
Collections of different minerals
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Mechanical Weathering
Wind, rain, thermal expansion and contraction, water & freezing
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Biological Weathering
Tree roots and lichens
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Chemical weathering
A chemical reaction that occurs, may involve water and gases
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Soil
Is a mix of mineral particles, organic matter, water, and organisms
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Sand
The coarsest particles
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Clay
The smallest particles. A semicrystalline structure and negative charges on the surface can hold onto cations and exchange them with the soil solution.
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Cation Exchange Capacity
The ability of a soil to hold and exchange cations --> Related to the amount and types of clay particles present.
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Parent material
The rock or mineral material that was broken down by weathering to form a soil
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Till
Sediment deposited by glaciers
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Loess
Sediment deposited by wind
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Nutrient Transformation
Chemical & biological transformations in ecosystems alter the chemical form and supply of nutrients
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Decomposition
Makes nutrients available to organisms by breaking them into small, soluble compounds
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Litter
Made up of fresh, undecomposed organic matter on the soil surface
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Mineralization
Chemical conversion of organic matter into inorganic nutrients
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Nitrification
NH3& NH4+ are converted to NO3- by chemoautotrophic bacteria in aerobic conditions --> NH4+ & NO3- are inorganic nitrogen forms preferential to plants
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Denitrification
Some bacteria use NO3- as an electron acceptor, converting it into N2 & N20 in anoxic conditions
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Nutrient Cycle
Movement of nutrients in ecosystems, as they undergo biological, chemical, and physical transformations
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Nutrient pool
Total amount of a nutrient in a component of the ecosystem.
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Mean residence time
AKA turnover rate, is the amount of time on average that a molecule spends in the pool. Mean residence time = total pool of element / rate of input
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Occlusion
Elements that were formerly available to the community but become unavailable because they're reacted with iron, calcium or aluminium
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Conservation Biology
The scientific study of phenomena that affect the maintenance, loss, and restoration of biodiversity
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Extinction Vortex
A small population declines even further and becomes ever more vulnerable to processes that lead to extinction
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Endemic Species
Species that exist only in one location
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Taxonomic Homogenization
The spread of introduced species and native generalists, and the decline of native specialists
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Habitat loss
Conversion of an ecosystem to another use
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Habitat fragmentation
Breaking up continuous habitat into patches amid a human-dominated landscape
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Habitat degradation
Changes that reduce quality of the habitat for many, but not all, species
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Bycatch
Species that are caught unintentionally in commercial fishing practices
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Fine-filter Conservation
Involves protecting genes, populations or species --> A targeted approach looking only at a specific species or population
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Coarse-level conservation
Emphasis on maintaining ecosystem processes and aras; protects many species at once --> Improve chances of protecting regional biodiversity
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Genetic Rescue
Introducing individuals with high genetic variability to populations with low genetic variability
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Ex situ conservation
Involve capturing wild animals and bringing them into captivity --> E.g breeding programs are an example
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In situ conservation
Involve protecting individuals within their natural environment
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Focal Species
Selected for their different ecological requirements or susceptibility to different threats
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Surrogate Species
A species whose protection can result in protection of other species as well. The targets are called surrogate species.
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Umbrella species
Protection of a species habitat will serve as an umbrella to protect many other species with similar habitat requirements
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Flagship species
A charismatic organism that people will want to give protection to, such as the giant panda.
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Landscape Ecology
Emphasizes the causes and consequences of spatial variation across a range of scales and examines spatial patterns and their relationship to ecological processes and changes
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GIS
Geographic Information Systems are used in landscape planning, for conservation and urban development
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Landscape elements
Include forest patches, soil types, lakes, elevational changes, and so on.
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Landscape
An area in which at least one element is spatially heterogenous; often includes multiple ecosystems
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Mosaic
A composite of heterogenous elements
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Landscape Composition
The kinds of elements or patches and how much of each kind is present
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Landscape Structure
Physical configuration of the landscape elements: Size of patch, whether patches are aggregated or dispersed, complexity of patch shape, degree of fragmentation.
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Scale
The spatial or temporal dimension of an object or process, characterized by grain and extent
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Grain
Size of the smallest homogeneous unit of study; it determines resolution and affects how much information is available for manipulation
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Extent
Boundary of the area or time period encompassed by the study
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Edge effect
Seen towards the edge of a patch and they contrast with the core of a patch --> Often caused by increase sunlight --> Edge effects can sometimes span the entire width of a patch
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Landscape Legacies
Longterm changes in patch dynamics or compositions --> Due to agriculture, logging, urbanization or other disturbances that continue to affect biodiversity ecosystem processes - even after people have left.
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Nature reserve
Maintain largest possible populations, build habitat for species throughout their area of distribution, enough area to maintain natural disturbance regimes
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Core Natural area
Where conservation of biodiversity and ecological integrity takes precedence over other uses
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Biological Reserve
Smaller reserves with conservation of a single species or ecological community as the main objective. Can be important where human pop density is high and resources are limited
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Buffer Zone
Areas with less stringent controls on land use, but that still provide wildlife habitat. Can be managed for harvesting resources. Grazing, logging, agriculture, and limited housing may be possible.
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Population Sink
Organisms in these areas do not contribute positively to the growth of abundance of the population overall
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Habitat Corridor
Linear patches that connect blocks of habitat --> Connectivity can reduce the effects of fragmentation by preventing isolation of populations.
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Pool / reservoir
Amount of an element in a component of the biosphere
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Flux
Rate of movement of an element between pools
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Anthropogenic
Release of C to the atmosphere from the terrestrial pool results from land use change, mostly deforestation; and from burning fossil fuels --> Increase in C to the atmosphere
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Nitrogen Saturation
Deposition may exceed the capacity of plants & microbes to take it up
