ECOLOGY Test 3

Pioneer species

The initial colonists following a disturbance

Disclimax

a community that persists and appears to be a climax because it replaces itself due to recurring disturbance

Clementsian paradigm

The concept that mature climate-determined plant communities resist change. Most are at equilibrium most of the time; disturbance is rare.

Resistance

the tendency of a community to remain constant when disturbed.

Resilience

The ability of a community to return to equilibrium following disturbance.

Climax community

the final stage of succession that can replace itself if no new disturbance occurs.

Ecological disturbance

a physical or biological factor that alters the structure and species composition of the community.

Primary succession

The pattern of succession that occurs following a major disturbance that reverts the environment to nearly abiotic conditions.

Secondary succession

The pattern of succession that occurs when following a disturbance that leaves the soil and some parts of the community in place

Identify areas that experience disturbances.

- Disturbances initiate changes in the community
- Disturbances can vary in impact (size of a canopy cap or entire glacier moving)

One example of disturbance

The great barrier reef is being hit by cyclones near the coast of Austrailia.

Types of disturbance

Crown fire, hurricane, volcanos, deforestation
(crown fire is high intensity, no delayed mortality, dispersal mode of recovery, and changes the herbaceous species, but not trees)
(Hurricanes are low intensity, delayed mortality, resprouting seeds, early successional species)
(Volcanos vary in intensity depending on how far you are from the volcanos, no delayed mortality, dispersal mode of recovery, shifts with succession)

Identify why Indiana Dunes are a well-studied area for fur succession.

The indiana dunes are well studied for succession because they are a visible example of primary succession. The further inland you go, the bigger the plants become and the more diverse the plant life becomes. This is because there is a transition of sand to soil. Near the water, it starts with very few plants, including marram grass, and eventually leads to full dark-wood forests with an abundance of soil.

Identify characteristics of pioneer species.

Often fugitive species, adaptive, can withstand harsh environment, resistant to environmental change, can reach reproductive maturity quick, and have high dispersal rates.

Examples of pioneer species

Lichens, fungi, bacteria, fireweed, grasses, alder, and willow

Identify characteristics of post-disturbance environments.

Post-disturbance environments have very little plants. The number of species also got reduced in the community. There are limited resources. Competition for light got reduced.

Name an example of disclimax.

North American prairies. The United Staes has something called the prairie peninsula, which is an area where communities resist well to disturbances due to frequent, recurring wildires.

Name the main difference between primary and secondary succession.

The main difference between primary and secondary succession is the presence of soil. (primary succession has no soil because it devoid of all biotic factors while secondary succession does have soil since it does have biotic factors left)

Biodiversity

The total biological diversity of a community.

Trophic cascade

when a top-down process affects multiple lower trophic levels.

Species richness

The total number of species in a community.

Species evenness

The relative abundance of each species in a community; high evenness means species occur in similar numbers; low evenness means that a few species are numerically dominant.

Species Diversity

Represented by H, the combination of the number of species (species richness) and their relative abundance (species evenness).

Equilibrium theory of island biogeography

an explanation of species richness on islands based on a balance between colonization and extinction.

Identify areas that typically have little species diversity and those with high species diversity.

Rainforests have high species diversity while the arctic does not.

Identify when the global extinctions

Late ordovician
Late devonian
Permian-triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous

Late ordovician

440 million years ago

Late devonian

374 million years

Permian-triassic

250 million years

Jurassic

200 million years

Cretaceous

65 million years

Describe distant islands, immigration rate, extinction rate, and species equilibrium number.

Immigration rates are lower for distant islands (smaller)
Extinction rate is not affected by distance, but is higher for distant islands
Species equilibrium is lower for distant islands

Identify communities more or less affected by drought.

More diverse communities are not affected by droughts
Adapted communities as well
(rainforests cannot survive droughts but deserts can because the plants are used to it)

Using a rank-abundance curve, Identify the community with greater evenness.

The lower the slope, the more evenness (the more flat, the more even)

Be able to use the Shannon-Wiener Index to identify a population with greater species diversity. We will not do calculations, but know what the number represents.

n = number of species in the community
pi = the proportion of the ith number of species
H = species evenness

Gross primary production

also known as GPP, the total rate of energy acquisition by autotrophs.

Net primary production

also known as NPP, GPP minus the losses to respiration.

Trophic cascade

When a top-down process affects multiple lower trophic levels.

Biomass

the total mass of organic material of biological origin.

Trophic level

A feeding level; one level in a food chain.

Assimilation Efficiency

the amount of energy assimilated by the consumer relative to the amount ingested.

Ingestion Efficiency

the amount of energy ingested relative to the amount available.

Production efficiency

The amount of energy devoted to new tissue (growth and reproduction) relative to the amount assimilated.

Describe how stable isotope analysis of nitrogen can be used to determine trophic position

Essentially, the trophic position of organism can be quantified on the basis of its 15N/14N ratio. The 15N/14N ratio increases as it goes up the food chain (3.2%)

Identify the compounds used by chemoautotrophs.

Hydrogen, Hydrogen sulfide, or methane.

Describe the relationship of organism surface area and heat loss.

Heat loss is proportional to the surface area of an organism. Larger organisms retain heat better because they have less surface area in proportion to their volume (whales)
Smaller organisms don't retain heat as well because they have more surface area in proportion to their volume (hummingbird)

Identify alternative photosynthesis pathways that represent coevolution.

C4 photosynthesis is an adaption to hot and dry climates
C4 evolved during a period of time where there was low atmospheric CO2. It uses 13C is used at a higher rate.
C3 also fixes carbon dioxide.

Describe how reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone impacted elk.

Reintroducing wolves into Yellowstone has impacted the elk population by stabilizing them. Essentially, the wolves prevent the elk from overpopulating the area, meaning that they are regulating the population. This has led to plant regeneration of willow and aspen in the area, since less elk are overwhelming it.

Flux

the pathway of nutrient transfer among pools.

Pool/sink

components of an ecosystem (biotic or abiotic) that hold nutrients.

Nutrient Cycle

a repeated pathway of a particular nutrient or element from the environment through one or more organisms and back to the environment.

Mineralization

the transformation of organic matter into inorganic forms.

Humus

a mix of organic molecules from the chemical decomposition of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins.

Decomposition

the breakdown of animal excretions or the bodies of dead organisms.

Name Key similarities and difference in nutrient cycles.

Global water cycle: the rain cycle
Global carbon cycle: driven by fundamental energy pathway in ecosystems
Global nitrogen cycle: Nitrogen fixation
Global phosphorus cycle: for nucleic acids, cell membranes, and energy conversions

Similarities:
They all involve some body of water
They can all involve animals
They all process different compounds

Differences:
While carbon and nitrogen both have atmospheric sources, phosphorus and water rely on different resources such as water and rocks.
Primary production is the limiting factor for nitrogen and phosphorus

Identify the largest pools or sinks for these nutrient cycles.

Global water cycle: oceans
Global carbon cycle: 720 gigatons of carbon in the atmosphere
Global nitrogen cycle: atmospheric pool of nitrogen
Global phosphorus cycle: phosphorus rocks or sediments

Identify fluxes for the nutrient cycles.

Weathering, atmospheric deposition, and alluvial deposition

Weathering

the physical breakdown of the parent material by freezing and thawing other mechanical processes

Atmospheric deposition

the transfer of materials from the atmosphere to terrestrial or aquatic ecosystems

Alluvial deposition

the addition of nutrients to a system by flowing water

Mutualistic Relationship between bacteria and legumes, what benefits each.

Legumes cannot use direct nitrogen from the air, but they need it to live and reproduce. Legume work with a type of bacteria that can fix nitrogen to be able to use it. In return, the bacteria get nutrients from the legumes.

Identify what changes in living things resulted from the introduction of an oxygen-rich atmosphere.

Aerobic bioenergetics
Diversification of vascular plants
Origin of large predatory fish

Identify mechanisms to nutrient input to soil.

Decomposition and mineralization

Decomposition

Is the breakdown of organic matter (plant or animal life) resulting from dead biomass or animal excretion
Degradative succession, where the first step is physical fragmentation and the second is enzymatic degradation.

Mineralization

Is the process by which organic materials (biomass or excretion products are decomposed into inorganic nutrients that plants can absorb).
It's a microbial process that converts nitrogen to ammonium
Mineralization releases nutrients from organic matter, making it available for plants to uptake.

Identify the interaction of nutrient cycles.

It looks like a triangle, O on top, N on the left, P at the right, and C in the middle.
O interacts with N and P. N interacts with P and vice versa. They all interact with C.

Umbrella Species

species that require large tracts of suitable habitat. Protecting them protects many other species

Umbrella Species examples

Grizzly bear, spotted owl, giant panda, red wolf, and bay checkerspot butterfly

Indicator Species

a species found only under specific ecological conditions.

Inbreeding depression

a decrease in fitness due to mating among related individuals.

Maximum sustainable yield

the maximum harvest of a population rate that can be maintained over time.

Identify problems with inbreeding.

The more genetically similar the parents, the lower the survival rate of the offspring.
Low survival rate leads to species population decline if inbreeding is frequent enough.
Low levels of heterozygosity

Identify why the grizzly population in the Rocky Mountains is at risk.

The grizzly bear population is at risk because their heterozygosity has decreased. This means there is low genetic diversity, which will lead to more genetic conditions that reduce the chance of offspring survival. The grizzly bear population is not increasing as fast as it should, essentially, due to inbreeding within a small population.

Identify the level of K at the maximum sustainable harvest.

K/2, or when the population is half the value of K.

Name characteristics that increase or decrease the rate of extinction.

Small population size leads to extinction due to genetic drift, inbreeding, and population bottle necks.
Environmental stochasticity
Demographic stochasticity
Habitat loss
Habitat fragmentation
Inbreeding

Discuss the focus of the SLOSS debate.

The SLOSS debate is a debate between conservation biologists about whether a large reserve or a series of smaller reserves is more efficient. The outcome of the debate is that both are appropriate types of reserves because organisms are unique. Shape and connectivity affect, which means the shape of the habitat and how the habitats connect affect the way the organisms live in them.
Edge effects are also considered big, because outside factors could impact the inside environment of the reserve.

Name an indicator species and the specific environmental condition its presence, absence or abundance reflects.

Spotted owl: old growth forests
Mayflies: water pollution
Salamanders: pollution and drought

Anthrophony

sounds produced by human technology such as automobiles, sirens, and airplanes.

Biophony

a collection of sounds produced by all organisms in a particular location at a particular time.

Geophony

sounds that originate from the physical environment such as wind, water, and thunder.

Grain

the finest spatial resolution in a data set.

Extent

the total area of the study

GIS

Otherwise known as geographic information systems, GIS is a software system that analyzes spatial ecological and environmental data by producing a species of overlaid maps, each with spatial variation in a single variable.

Landscape ecology

the analysis of the patterns of spatial variation in the environment and in ecological processes.

Proximity

a measure of the relative distance between patches.

Identify the focus of landscape ecology.

Landscape ecology is the study of the interaction between spatial patterns and ecological processes. Focuses on a much larger spatial scale compared to traditional ecological studies.

Describe how satellites measure the pattern of vegetation.

Satellites measure light absorption and reflection. Satellites measure the patterns of vegetation by measuring which wavelengths are reflected.

Identify factors involved in the recovery efforts of the black-footed ferret.

The black-footed ferret is a specialized predator of prairie dogs. In order to recover the species, in 1981, a captive breeding program was made using 18 surviving ferrets. In 1991, they started reintroducing the offspring into reintroduction sites in their original habitat.

Identify the central data of landscape ecology.

Cover type, patch, fragmentation

Cover type

the main vegetation of an area

patch

an area that differs in some ecological feature or process from its surroundings (provides the central data of landscape ecology)

fragmentation

a process increasing the landscape's patchiness

Name kinds of data that can be included in layers in GIS:

Vegetation type, soils, wetlands, towns and cities

Desertification

the conversion of plant communities or agricultural systems to desert.

GMO

genetically modified organism, an organism in which a gene from another species has been inserted into the genome.

Dead zone

one of the most devastating impacts of excess nitrogen is the development of “dead zones” in coastal regions exposed to high concentrations of nitrogen. They are the result of nitrogen pollution in estuaries. Massive nitrogen input from agricultural and urban runoff causes eutrophication along the coast. It essentially causes algal blooms, which die off, and accumulate, inducing microbial decomposition. The dissolved oxygen is depleted in the benthic zone (hypoxia).

Ice cores

Cylinders of ice drilled from glaciers and other old mass ice structures.

Identify concerns with GMOs

New traits can cause health reactions/allergies
Removal of traits have unknown affects
Crops may limit the biodiversity in the environment
Cross pollination may produce weeds that are resistant to herbicides (ex. farmers)

Relate problems with climate change unrelated to temperature.

Climate change has led to earlier spring weather, reducing the length of winter
This has made some animals have issues, such as the snowshoe hare. The hare turns white in the winter and brown in the spring, but since spring is coming earlier they are still white, making them unable to blend into their background. Their coats are determined by the length of the day and not their temperature.

Identify how ice core can be used to study climate change.

Essentially, ice cores from deep glaciers help us see Earth's climate change over the past. Ice cores are cylinders of ice (sample) taken from a glacier or other old structure of ice. Ice cores are used because they can show use the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere during specific periods of time. Since concentration of CO2 in the air is directly proportional to the temperature of the earth, ice cores can be used to see how the temperatures of the earth have been in the past, thus helping the process of studying climate change.