Campbell Unit 8: Ecology

Climate

Long term prevailing weather conditions in a given area

March Equinox

Equator faces sun directly, all regions have 12 hours of daylight, 12 hours of darkness (March)

June Solstice

Northern hemisphere tilted towards sun, longest day and shortest night, Southern shortest day and longest night

September Equinox

Equator faces sun directly, all regions have 12 hours daylight, 12 hours of darkness (September)

December Solstice

Southern hemisphere tilted towards sun, longest day and shortest night, Northern shortest day and longest night

Microclimate

Very fine, localized patterns in climatic conditions

Climate Change

Directional change to global climate that lasts three decades or more

Biomes

Major life zones characterized by vegetation type (in terrestial biomes) or physical environment (in aquatic biomes)

Climograph

Plot of annual mean temperature and precipitation in a particular region

Ecotone

Area of intergradation between two biomes

Canopy

Upper layer of forest

Disturbance

Event that changes a community by removing organisms from it and altering resource availability

Tropical Forest

Vertically layered with high competition for light, at equitorial and subequitorial regions

Tropical Rain Forest

Constant rainfall

Tropical Dry Forest

Precipitation is seasonal

Desert

Low, widely scattered vegetation, low precipitation, at bands near 30 degrees north and south latitude

Savanna

Warm year round, scattered thorny trees, at equitorial and subequitorial regions

Chaparral

Dominated by shrubs and small trees, + many kinds of grasses and herbs, with high plant diversity. Midlatitude coastal regions

Temperate Grassland

Dominated by grasses and forbs, highly seasonal, like ¼ up or down

Northern Coniferous Forest/Taiga

Largest terrestial biome on earth, a band across northern North America and Eurasia

Temperate Broadleaf Forest

Two distinct vertical layers, mainly at midlatitudes in Northern Hemisphere

Tundra

High winds and low temperatures

Pelagic Zone

Photic and aphotic zones

Photic Zone

Upper region with sufficient light for photosynthesis

Aphotic Zone

Lower region where little light penetrates

Abyssal Zone

Deep in the aphotic zone

Benthic Zone

Bottom of all aquatic zones

Benthos

Sand and inorganic sediments that occupy the benthic zone

Detrius

Dead organic matter, major source of food for benthic species

Thermocline

Narrow layer of abrupt temperature change, seperates warm upper layer from cold deeper water

Turnover

Sends oxygenated water from lake’s surface to bottom and brings nutrient rich water from bottom to surface

Oligotrophic Lakes

Nutrient poor, oxygen rich

Eutrophic Lakes

Nutrient rich, oxygen poor in the deepest zone in summer, and if covered with ice in winter

Littoral Zone

Shallow well lit waters close to shore

Limnetic Zone

Further from shore where water is too deep for rooted plants, has lots of phytoplankton (including cyanobacteria)

Wetland

Habitat inundated by water at least some of the time, supports plants adapted to water saturated soil

Estuary

Transition area between river and sea

Interdial Zone

Periodically submerged and exposed by tides, twice daily

Oceanic Pelagic Zone

Vast realm of open blue water constantly mixed by wind driven oceanic currents

Coral Reefs

Formed from calcium carbonate skeletons of corals

Marine Benthic Zone

Seafloor below surface waters of coastal (neritic) zone and pelagic zone

Hydrothermic Vents

Home to unique assemblages of organisms

Dispersal

Movement of individuals or gametes away from area of origin or from centers with high population density

Per Capita Growth Rate

Birth rate minus death rate, ignoring immigration and emigration

Exponential Population Growth

Population with ideal conditions (abundant food and can reproduce at physiological capacity) experiences size increase proportional at each instant of time

Intrinsic Rate of Increase

Per capita rate at which a population growing exponentially increases in size at each instant of time

Carrying Capacity

Maximum population size that a particular environment can sustain, K

Logistic Population Growth Model

Per capita rate of population growth approaches 0 as population size gets close to K

Life History:

Primary Producers

Autotrophs, trophic level that supports all others

Primary Consumers

Herbivores

Secondary Consumers

Carnivores that eat herbivores

Tertiary Consumers

Carnivores that eat other carnivores

Decomposers

Consumers that get energy from detrius

Detrius

Nonliving organic material (ex. remains of dead organisms, feces, fallen leaves)

Primary Production

Amount of light energy converted to chemical energy in the form of organic compounds by autotrophs

Gross Primary Production (GPP)

Amount of light converted to chemical energy of organic molecules per unit time

Net Primary Production (NPP)

Gross primary production minus energy used by autotrophs for cellular respiration (Usually ~1/2 of GPP)

Net Ecosystem Production (NEP)

Measure of biomass accumulation by producers and consumers during a given period of time. Gross primary production minus total respiration of all organisms in the system

Limiting Nutrient

Element that must be added for production to increase

Eutrophication

Nutrient status of an ecosystem goes from nutrient poor to nutrient rich

Secondary Production

Amount of chemical energy in consumers’ food converted to their own new biomass during a given period

Production Efficiency

% energy stored in assimilated food used for growth and reproduction, not respiration (Determines amount of energy available to each trophic level)

Trophic Efficiency

% production transferred from one trophic level to the next, usually 10%

Biogeochemical Cycles

Nutrient cycles that involve both biotic and abiotic components. Two scales, global and local

Bioremediation

Using organisms to detoxify polluted ecosystems (usually fungi, prokaryotes, or plants)

Biological Augmentation

Uses organisms to add essential materials to a degraded ecosystem

Conservation Biology

Discipline integrating ecology, physiology, molecular biology, genetics, and evolutionary biology to conserve diversity of life on Earth

Endangered Species

A species in danger of extinction

Threatened Species

Likely to become endangered in the near future

Ecosystem Services

Encompass all processes through which natural ecosystems help sustain human life

Introduced/Invasive Species

Species moved by humans from native locations to new geographic locations

Extinction Vortex

Small population is vulnerable (inbreeding and genetic drift) which leads to a smaller and smaller population

Minimum Viable Population (MVP)

Minimum population size that a species is able to sustain its numbers

Effective Population Size

Based on breeding potential of a population, estimate of the MVP

Movement Corridor

Narrow strip or series of small clumps of habitat connecting otherwise isolated patches from fragmentation

Biodiversity Hot Spot

Relatively small area with numerous endemic (species found nowhere else in the world), endangered, and threatened species

Zoned Reserve

Extensive region including areas relatively undisturbed by humans surrounded by areas changed by humans for money

Urban Ecology

Field that examines organisms and their environment in urban settings

Critical Load

Amount of added nutrient that can be absorbed by plants without damaging ecosystem integrity

Biological Magnification

Toxins are more concentrated in successive trophic levels of a food web

Microplastics

Plastic particles less than 5 mm in size, which lasts in the environment for hundreds to thousands of years

Climate Change

Directional change to global climate that lasts for 3+ decades

Greenhouse Effect

CO2, methane, water vapor, and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere intercept and absorb infrared radiation that the Earth emits and radiates it back to Earth

Sustainable Development

Economic development that meets needs of people without limiting the ability of future generations to meet theirs