Unit 8 Ecology High Points

Flashcards summarizing key concepts from Unit 8 Ecology lecture notes.

What are abiotic factors in an ecosystem?

Environmental factors that are not living, including temperature, light, water, nutrients, soil, and wind.

What are biotic factors in an ecosystem?

Environmental factors that are living or related to living things, including bacteria, protists, fungi, plants, animals, competition, and symbiosis.

What does a survivorship curve represent?

A graph showing the number or proportion of individuals surviving to each age for a given species or group.

What is Type I survivorship curve characterized by?

Individuals that survive well early in life and generally live many years, with increased death rates at advanced age.

What does 'Darwinian fitness' refer to?

The number of offspring an organism leaves behind that survive to reproduce.

What are the two main life history strategies discussed in AP Biology?

r-selection and K-selection.

What is an r-selected species?

A species that produces many offspring with low parental investment; they often follow a Type III survivorship curve.

What is a K-selected species?

A species that invests heavily in each offspring, often found in stable environments, and typically follows a Type I survivorship curve.

What are density-dependent limiting factors?

Factors that affect the per capita growth rate differently depending on population density, often leading to a logistic growth pattern.

Give an example of a density-dependent limiting factor.

Predation, disease, waste build-up, or intraspecific competition.

Define density-independent limiting factors.

Factors that affect the per capita growth rate regardless of population density, like natural disasters and pollution.

What is the Competitive Exclusion Principle?

States that two species with exactly the same niche cannot stably coexist in the same habitat.

Give an example of mutualism.

The relationship between mycorrhizae fungi and plant roots, where both parties benefit.

What is the difference between Batesian and Mullerian mimicry?

Batesian mimicry involves an edible species mimicking a noxious one, while Mullerian mimicry involves several unpalatable species sharing warning coloration.

What is kin selection?

Natural selection favoring behavior by individuals that may decrease their chance of survival but increases that of their relatives.

What is a foundation species?

Species that play a crucial role in creating and maintaining a structure of a community, like kelp or coral.

What is an invasive species?

A species introduced outside its native range that outcompetes native species for resources.

What is primary succession?

A type of ecological succession that occurs on newly formed or exposed land, starting from bare rock.

What is secondary succession?

A type of ecological succession that occurs in a previously occupied habitat after a disturbance.

What is the main idea regarding matter and energy in ecosystems?

Matter is recycled while energy flows through and eventually exits an ecosystem.