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Organisms And Environment > Minimod 5 - Principles Of Ecology > Flashcards

Minimod 5 - Principles Of Ecology Flashcards

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1
Q

What is ecology?

A

Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms.

Organised
Metabolism
Growth
Homeostasis
Adaptation
Response to stimuli
Reproduction

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2
Q

What are the 10 key principles of ecology?

A

1 - ecology is hierarchical
2 - the sun is the ultimate source of energy
3 - organisms are chemical machines
4 - nutrients cycle, energy flows
5 - populations change
6 - communities change
7 - interactions alter abundance
8 - ecosystems are webs of interactions
9 - humans disproportionality impact ecosystem
10 - ecosystems are essential for human civilisation

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3
Q

What is the organisational hierarchy?

A

Organisms
Populations
Species
Communities
Ecosystems
Biomes

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4
Q

What are organisms?

A

Individual living things

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5
Q

What are populations?

A

Groups of organisms that interbreed

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6
Q

What are species?

A

Species are all populations that can interbreed (this is biological species concept)

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7
Q

What are communities?

A

Communities are all the species that interact and co-occur at the same time and place

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8
Q

What are ecosystems?

A

Ecosystems encompass all the biotic and abiotic components of a place as well as the flows and cycles of nutrients and energy that connects them

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9
Q

What are biomes?

A

Biomes are large geographical units composed of similar ecosystem types and climatic conditions
Tropical forest, temperate forest, desert, grassland

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10
Q

What is the phylogenetic hierarchy?

A

Organisms
Populations
Species
Genera
Families
Orders
Classes
Phyla
Kingdoms

Distantly related species and closely related sister species.

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11
Q

What does the phylogenetic hierarchy tell us?

A

more closely related = more similar characters
more similar characters = more likely to compete
More similar characters = more likely to respond to abiotic and biotic stressors in a similar way

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12
Q

Why is the sun the ultimate source of energy?

A

The sun outputs the full range of the electromagnetic spectrum, but of most importance to life are the infrared, visible light and ultraviolet wavelengths

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13
Q

What are autotrophs?

A

Convert inorganic sources (unusuable by other organisms) into organic resources (usable by other organisms)
Usually via photosynthesis
CO2 + 2H2O - CH2O + O2 + H2O

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14
Q

What are heterotrophs?

A

Primary consumers gain energy from autotrophs (ie herbivores)

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15
Q

What are predators?

A

Secondary consumers
Gain energy by killing and feeding on live heterotrophs

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16
Q

What are saprotrophs?

A

Secondary consumers
Agents of decay feeding on dead matter (bacteria, fungi, detritivores)

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17
Q

Describe the uneven distribution of the suns output on earth.

A

The suns output does not fall on earth evenly. This effect is major driver of distribution of life on earth and ecological processes

Earths curvature partly drives this unevenness. The same output from the sun is spread over a larger area at high latitudes

Earths tilt is also partly responsible. The polar regions will be tilted toward or away from the sun depending on the time of year.

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18
Q

What is GPP?

A

GPP - gross primary production
Amount of chemical energy (carbon mass) produced

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19
Q

What is respiration (R)?

A

Energy needed to maintain the prcoesss of photosynthesis.

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20
Q

What is NPP?

A

NPP - net primary productivity
The new ‘biomass’ available for the ecosystem once respiration is considered. GPP - R = NPP

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21
Q

When is NPP maximised?

A

Photosynthetically active radiation - more of this means more energy to convert into carbohydrate

Temperate - higher temperatures lead to faster reaction rates (up to a point)

Water - required as an input to photosynthesis

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22
Q

What does NPP represent?

A

NPP represents the energy available for organisms and species to use
Often, though not always, the more energy available, the more individuals and the more species that can be supported at a given place

Consequently, NPP is a major driver of abundance and distribution patterns

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23
Q

What are chemoautotrophs?

A

Organisms that use chemical reactions to provide energy that is locked up in carbohydrates
Bacteria and archaea in extreme environments like hydrothermal vents

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24
Q

What are photoautotrophs?

A

Organisms that capture light energy from the sun and lock it up into carbohydrates
Land and water plants and other photosynthetically active organisms

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25
What is meant by organisms being chemical machines?
Energy and resources come in Waste energy and resources out
26
What are solvents?
Hydrogen and oxygen
27
What chemicals are used for energy storage?
Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and phosphorus
28
What chemicals are used for structural purposes?
Nitrogen, carbon, calcium, phosphorus and sulphur
29
What chemicals are used as gradient generators?
Calcium, sodium, potassium and chlorine
30
What chemicals are used as catalysts?
Magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, iodine, manganese, fluorine, chromium, selenium, molybdenum, cobalt
31
What chemicals are used as transporters?
Iron and copper
32
What are the 3 key features to support life?
- 4 main ingredients - organisms reflect environmental availability - variability in most elements across species and tissues
33
What are the 3 chemical and physical laws?
- energy is neither created or destroyed, only changed from one form to another - mass in neither created or destroyed, only changed from one form to another - newtons laws of motion (eg energy must be expended to move and stop)
34
What is secondary productivity?
The biomass produced by heterotrophs. Measured in terms of carbon mass over a given time period.
35
What are pyramids of carbon biomass?
Where the width of each trophic level indicates the amount of productivity
36
Why do pyramids of biomass peak at the top?
- not all NPP is consumed - not all NPP is assimilated - not all energy is converted to biomass
37
Describe a general form of nutrient cycle.
- inorganic nutrient - bacteria or autotrophs assimilate - heterotrophs gain from autotrophs - bacteria or heterotrophs or autotrophs convert back to inorganic form
38
What are the 3 ways in which a population size can change?
- increasing - decreasing - stable
39
How to measure population change?
Population size/ time = births - deaths + net immigration
40
How to measure population density?
density = estimate per unit area and extrapolate
41
What is capture mark recapture and the equation that goes with it?
Marks individuals and assume that they will mix into the wider population before you resample R/C = M/N
42
What controls birth and death rates?
Typically, intraspecific competition. These are competitive interactions between members of the same species and populations. Individuals of the same species , compete fiercely with each other for food, space, mates and other biotic and abiotic resources Intraspecific competition is density dependent
43
How can we measure change in species?
Species number/ time = speciation - extinction + dispersal Snow = Sthen + speciation - extinction + dispersal
44
What is speciation?
A long term process, not usually of relevance to biologists. One species becomes two.
45
What is extinction?
When all individuals of a species die. Can be a local effect we call extirpation.
46
What is dispersal?
The movement of individuals of a species from one community to another
47
What is a niche?
The abiotic and biotic conditions under which a species can survive. Conditions outside of the niche cannot be survived.
48
How can competition alter abundance?
Competition (-/-) Interspecfic competition between orange crowned warblers and Virginia warblers More young are fledged when no competitors
49
How does predation/ parasitism alter abundance?
Predation / parasitism (+/-) Parasitism of ants by flies. The flies lay their eggs in the heads of ants. The ants stop foraging when attacked.
50
How can mutualism alter abundance?
Mutualism (+/+) Mutualism between cleaner fish and their client fish. The presence of cleaners reduced the parasite load of the clients while cleaners get fed.
51
How does commensalism affect abundance?
Commensalism (+/0) One partner gains whilst the other is unaffected, eg moss on a tree
52
What are food chains?
Simple, linear linkages between species. Arrows show energy transfer.
53
What are food webs?
Reality is more complicated. Energy and matter is transferred across webs of interactions.
54
What are trophic cascades?
Effects within food chains and webs whereby activity of one species influences the abundance of another indirectly.
55
How have humans disproportionally impacted ecosystems?
We have a huge (and growing) population and a huge biomass. Our farm animals also have a huge biomass. - domestication of plants and animals and the establishment of agriculture - onset of the Industrial Revolution
56
What is the Anthropocene?
The new geological epoch whereby the signature of human activity is detectable in the earth and rock strata of our planet - onset of nuclear testing - onset of Industrial Revolution
57
What is meant by habitat loss?
The process by which natural habitat and ecosystems are converted into agricultural or urban land-uses.
58
What is climate change?
The emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases is gradually (yet relatively rapidly) warming our planet
59
What effect does climate change have on some species?
This warming effect forces species to move into previously cooler areas to escape temperatures that they cannot tolerate
60
What are ecosystem processes?
The outcome of all the abiotic and biotic interactions of an ecosystem. Usually measured as a rate.
61
What are ecosystem services?
The subset of processes that are classed as providing a benefit to humans and human civilisation.

Organisms And Environment (11 decks)

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