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ES 240 > midterm > Flashcards

midterm Flashcards

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1
Q

What is ecology?

A

process that gives rise to patterns in the environment?

- a science based on the hypodeductive process

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2
Q

What is the order of the system?

A
  • species; can breed
  • population; same species, living in same area
  • community; different populations in defined areas
  • ecosystem; collection of species in a place, biotic and abiotic
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3
Q

What is population ecology?

A

focus is on birth and death, immigration and emigration within a population

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4
Q

What is community ecology?

A

focus is on the diversity and relative abundance of different populations living together
- population interactions, promoting & limiting coexistance

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5
Q

What is commensalism?

A

( +/ 0)

- one benefits, one is not effected

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6
Q

What is mutualism?

A

( +/ +)

- both are benefiting

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7
Q

What is Parasitism?

A

(+/-)

- one benefits, other does not

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8
Q

What is Predation?

A

( +/ -)

- really big negative, results in the mortality of the prey

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9
Q

What is energy flow?

A
  • sunlight is the energy source on earth
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10
Q

What is an autotroph?

A

(producers) synthesize their own energy, creating organic materials that are utilized as fuel by heterotrophs (consumers).

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11
Q

What is “Balance of Nature”

A

is providential but incorrect ideal

- affords humans to have maximum benefits, but then goes out of balance and creates problems

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12
Q

what is Kuhns insight?

A

evolution of (a system) does not emerge from the straightforward accumulation of (currency), but rather from a set of changing circumstances + possibilities

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13
Q

What is the scientific method? & what is tested?

A

observation -> question -> hypothesis -> prediction -> test

  • the prediction is tested in the experiments
  • science cannot prove anything, it can just disprove competing hypotheses
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14
Q

What is photosynthesis?

A

conversion of sunlight to energy from plants

carbon dioxide + water -> sugar (glucose) + oxygen

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15
Q

What is Gross primary productivity?

A

= energy (or carbon) fixed per unit time

  • how much carbon has been sequestered + made into biological energy
  • plant biomass
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16
Q

What is Net primary productivity?

A

= energy fixed - energy lost via respiration

- what is left over after the costs

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17
Q

How is productivity spread throughout the latitudes?

A
  • the productivity goes down, productivity is higher in lower latitudes
  • more light is at the equator steadily, rather than polar regions
  • production is largest in temperate zones
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18
Q

What limits primary productivity in marine environments?

A
  • the limiting factor is NITRATES, it is being sucked up by phytoplankton
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19
Q

What is primary production?

A

the RATE of accumulation of energy in organic molecules by photosythesis

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20
Q

What is biomass?

A

total dry weight of organic matter

- often used as a proxy to production

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21
Q

What is secondary production?

A

the RATE of accumulation of stuff at the consumer level (heterotrophs)

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22
Q

What is trophic structure?

A

movement of energy through ecosystems, they are not neatly compartmentalized

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23
Q

What is transfer efficiency? (Lindemen efficiency)

A

the ratio of energy assimilated at one trophic level to that assimilated at the preceding trophic level; the ratio of energy intake at successive trophic levels.
= production at present trophic level / production at previous trophic levl X 100

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24
Q

Explain body mass and basal metabolic rate.

A
  • larger organisms have a larger metabolic rate leading to the higher consumption of energy
  • costs more to keep large organisms alive
  • using oxygen as the measure
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25
Challenges in estimating secondary production
- animals dont neatly fit into trophic levels - what to do with detrius? materials cycles are closed; systems are involved in recycling detrius, back into a form that can be reused in the food web - adequate sampling; ability to see what is going on
26
How many trophic levels in a typical ecosystem?
generally 5!!!
27
what is production efficiency?
trophic efficiency, retained for next trophic levels, on average 90% is lost
28
explain top-down and bottom-up control?
top-down: controlled by elements higher in food webs | bottom-up: controlled by primary production limited, therefor everything else is limited
29
What controls secondary production?
when you have more net primary productivity, the more herbivore biomass you will have
30
what is emergent property
the which is not predictable by observing the components alone
31
What is exponential growth?
growth whose rate becomes ever more rapid in proportion to the growing total number or size - every population has the capacity to grow exponentially in perfect conditions
32
What is a niche?
-a position or role taken by a kind of organism within its community. such a position may be occupied by different organisms in different localities
33
what is a fundamental niche?
- the ENTIRE multidimensional space representing the total potential range of conditions the organism could function in and occupy in the absence of competitors, predators, and other interacting species
34
what is a realized niche?
the portion of the fundamental niche actually occupied by a species in the presence of interacting species - ALWAYS SMALLER
35
Explain competition drives community evolution
- which sorts those species that can coexist over time from those that cannot
36
what is mate competition?
secondary sexual characteristics | - salmon grown humps to attract females
37
what is exploitive competition?
exploiting, eat, inter + intra specific competition
38
What is pre-emptive competition?
resource is typically space, plants and organisms that dont move
39
what is interference competition?
territoriality: individuals stake out allelopathy: the chemical inhibition of one plant (or other organism) by another, due to the release into the environment of substances acting as germination or growth inhibitors.
40
what is chemosynthesis?
relies on sulphur to create energy - driven by sulphur fixation - occurs in places where sunlight is not
41
What are the two types of predators, explain
1. Ambush: little energy; waits for prey to come to them; relies on luck; not limited to animals 2. Stalk: uses energy; best way to get energy; takes control
42
What is the Red Queen hypothesis?
- prey are constantly evolving new adaptations to overcome the adaptations of the predators - constant innovation - creation of diversity
43
Explain Optimal Foraging Theory
1. Energy Maximizers (high energetic cost for foraging) 2. Time Maximizers - optimal diet model (generalist or specialist) - optimal time patch (predator leaves a food path, it must find a new one; travel is costly and energy is not gained but lost during this period
44
Assumptions of Optimal Foraging Theory
- foraging behaviour has a genetic basis and therefore can be molded by natural selection - fitness is correlated to foraging efficiency
45
Explain community level effects of predation
- function and numerical response to predation - as prey density increase/ decreases, predators respond by either eating more/less prey (functional) or increasing/decreasing in numbers (numerical)
46
Explain logistic growth
most populations are limited in abundance by carrying capacity (K) - early rapid growth, growth slows, growth falls to zero
47
What is density dependent mean?
any characteristic that changes as the population density changes
48
what is density independence?
any characteristic that does not vary as population density changes - disturbances, weather events
49
What are r-selective species, example?
- high reproductive rate - low quality, lots of - rapid growth - Type 3 - e.g. ants
50
What are k-selective species, example?
- low reproductive rate - high quality, few of - larger body size - later reproduction - Types 1 - e.g. Humans
51
what is type 2, example?
steady survivorship | - e.g. birds/squirrels
52
what is empirical evidence?
is a collective term for the knowledge or source of knowledge acquired by means of the sense particularly by observation
53
what is a variable?
any defined characteristic that varies from on biological entity to another
54
what is a population?
the entire collection of entities we are interested in
55
what is a sample?
subset of the population being measured and used to estimate the distribution of the variable within the true population
56
what is a parameter
- any calculated measure used to describe or characterize a population
57
why use statistics?
- allows us to estimate values for the entire population based on samples - allows us to calculate the level of confidence in our results
58
what is the range?
the difference between the largest and smallest # in a set of data
59
how do you calculate the variance?
subtract the mean from the set of numbers, square each, add the #'s up and divide from the amount of numbers in the set
60
what is the SD and how do you get it?
- calculate the variance and then square root it | - a quantity calculated to indicate the extent of deviation for a group as a whole.
61
what is biomagnification?
when toxic substances are introduced into the environment, organisms at the highest trophic levels suffer the most damage - increased toxins among trophic levels
62
What is a realized niche never the same as its fundamental niche?
- because of interspecific competition and because of predation
63
what are the two main factors that allow us to differentiate terrestrial biomes?
water and temperature
64
as a population approaches K the intensity of density independent factors increases?
FALSE
65
the weight of a bird is an example of?
continuous variable
66
is aposematic coloration an adaptation found in most vertebrate herbivores?
NO
67
What is the relationship between statistical power and replication?
the more replications the greater the power
68
What are the three main factors affecting statistical power?
- sample size, effect size, variation in the data
69
what is the p-value?
the probability that we would collect data with the observed level of difference if in reality the Ho is true.
70
what is an example of a paradigm shift?
- creationism to evolution | - geocentrism to heliocentrism
71
what is mullerian mimicry?
- mimics use a shared common colour pattern to warn potential predators of unpalatable or poisonous properties
72
what is batesian mimicry?
takes advantage of warning colour patterns but they themselves are not unpalatable or poisonous!!!!!
73
Differentiate between rmax (max intrinsic rate of growth) and r (realized rate of growth).
rmax is constant and never changes while the value of r is a reflection of how close N is to K, the carrying capacity of the environment. r can never exceed rmax

ES 240 (1 decks)

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