Wildlife: 2_Ecology in Alberta Flashcards
(28 cards)
What are abiotic factors?
Non-living physical and chemical elements in an ecosystem, such as sunlight, temperature, soil, water, and oxygen.
What is an algal bloom?
A rapid increase in the population of algae in a freshwater habitat, often caused by excess nutrients. This can negatively impact other organisms in the habitat.
What is an apex predator?
A predator at the top of a food chain, not typically preyed upon by other species in that chain.
What are biotic factors?
Living or once-living organisms in an ecosystem, such as food, disease, competition, and predators.
What is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)?
A prion disease affecting cattle, also known as ‘mad cow disease.’
What is carrying capacity?
The maximum number of individuals of a particular species that an environment can sustain over time without being degraded.
What is Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)?
A fatal prion disease that infects members of the deer family.
What are density-dependent limiting factors?
Limiting factors whose impact on population growth increases as the population density increases, such as food availability or disease.
What are density-independent limiting factors?
Limiting factors that affect population growth regardless of population density, such as natural disasters like floods or droughts.
What is a food chain?
A series of organisms where each organism is eaten by the next organism in the chain, transferring energy.
What is a food web?
A complex network of interconnected food chains within an ecosystem, showing the various feeding relationships.
What is a habitat?
The natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism, providing all the conditions needed for survival.
What are hibernacula?
A place where animals hibernate.
What is a keystone species?
A species that has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance, often influencing the structure and dynamics of the ecosystem.
What are limiting factors?
Environmental conditions that restrict the growth, abundance, or distribution of a population.
What is a mesopredator?
A medium-sized predator that is also prey for larger predators.
What is Myxobolus cerebralis?
A microscopic parasite that causes whirling disease in salmonid fish.
What is a prion disease?
A type of neurodegenerative disease caused by abnormally folded proteins called prions.
What is range in ecology?
The geographical area within which a species lives.
What are riparian areas?
The interface between land and a river or stream.
What are salmonids?
Fish belonging to the family Salmonidae, which includes salmon, trout, and whitefish.
What is a suitable arrangement in a habitat?
When a habitat has the correct amount and distribution of shelter, water, food, and space for an organism to survive.
What is a trophic cascade?
An ecological process that starts at the top of the food chain and cascades downwards, affecting lower trophic levels.
What is Tubifex tubifex?
An aquatic worm that is a host for the parasite causing whirling disease.
