IBIO 355 Exam 1

Ecology

The study of how organisms interact with each other and their environment to determine the abundance and distributions of organisms as well as features of chemical and physical environment

Population

A group of individuals of a SINGLE species inhabiting a specific area

Extrapolate

To infer or estimate by extending or projecting known information
-Typically more reliable if based on cause and effect

Observation

Real world relevance
-Quantify variation over time, space or both
-Require representatives and consistent sampling methods
-Used to generate hypotheses or test predictions

Experiment

Determine cause-effect relationships
-Involve replication & statistical analysis
-Provide testable predictions for the real world

Replicate

Repetition of the set of all treatment combinations to be compared in an experiment

Model

Simplified abstractions of the real world
-Testable predictions & insights
-Opportunity to include many possible casual variables

Biome

Major divisions of the terrestrial environment. Distinguished primarily by their predominant plants and are associated with particular climates.

Evolution

The cumulative change in the heritable characteristics of a population.
-Change in gene frequencies, over time, in a population (group of interbreed individuals of a single species)
-Factors affecting evolution: rate of environmental change, amount of genetic variation in the species, size of the population involved

Genotype

Genetic sequence of an individual
-Homozygous: both copies are same allele (AA or aa)
-Heterozygous: two copies are different alleles (Aa)

Heterozygosity

Having different alleles at one or more corresponding chromosomes

Gene Frequency

Relative abundance of different alleles in a population

Allele

The form of a gene (genes can have one form or many in a population)

Phenotype

Visible characteristics of an individual

Phenotypic Plasticity

Range of phenotypes possible within a given genotype (individual)
-Variation among individuals as a result of environmental influences

Fixed Trait

A solely genetic heritable trait (not influenced by environment)

Mutation

Transmissible change in structure of gene or chromosome; CAN result in adaption

Genetic Drift

Change in allele frequencies due to chance (i.e. random) events
-NOT adaptions
-CAN result in extinction

Heredity

Passing of physical or mental characteristics genetically from one generation to the next

Natural Selection

Differential reproduction and/or survival of individuals (particular genotypes) in a population due to environmental influences on the population
-Results in adaption

Disruptive Selection

Extreme phenotypes (both) are favored
-Ex. light and dark forms of peppered moths

Directional Selection

An extreme phenotype is favored
-Ex. larger or smaller beak sizes are favored in finches, not medium

Stabilizing Selection

Average phenotypes are favored (i.e. average phenotypes have highest fitness and their genotypes increase in frequency in population)
-Ex. birth weight in babies

Convection

Heat flow (warm to cold) between a solid body and a moving fluid (ex. wind or flowing water)
-Movement

Conduction

Heat flow (warm to cold) between solid objects in direct physical contact
-Contact

Metabolism

Release of heat during cellular respiration

Radiation

Transfer of heat (warm to cold) through electromagnetic radiation

Evaporation

Heat lost as water evaporates from the surface of an organism

Heat

Kinetic energy; the speed of tiny particles, which cause and increase in temperature

Poikilotherm

No temperature regulation of body temperature
-Varies directly with environment
-Ex. fish, insects, plants

Ectotherm

Some temperature regulation of body temperature
-Reliance on external source of heat
-Use behavior and anatomy for regulation
-Ex. some insects, reptiles

Endotherm

More temperature regulation of body temperature
-Resilience on internal metabolic energy for heat
-Ex. some insects, tuna, skunk, cabbage)

Homeotherm (Homeothermic endotherm)

Most temperature regulation of body temperature
-Endotherms that can maintain a relatively stable body temperature
-Ex. Humans

Acclimation

(In an individual) Short term physiological adjustments due to changes in particular environmental factors (temperature/salinity)
-How organisms adapt to changing environments/seasons
---BUT if the change remains over evolutionary time then it is considered local adaption

Matric Force

Adhesion to solids

Specific Heat Capacity

The amount of energy required to increase the temperature of a substance by 1 degree Celsius.

Heat of Vaporization

Amount of heat absorbed by water as it evaporates
-Ex. how much heat needs stop be added so water will go from liquid to gas

Transpiration

The emission of water vapor from the leaves of plants

Condensation

Water vapor chancing to liquid water

Osmotic Potential

Difference in water concentration between two liquids
-Potential of water molecules to move from a hypotonic solution to a hypertonic solution across a semi-permiable membrane

Water Potential

Capacity of water to do work

Osmosis

Diffusion of water down concentration gradient

Metabolic Water

Cellular respiration can produce 'metabolic water' as water source for organisms
C6H12O6+6O2-->6CO2+6H20+ Energy

Photosynthetic Pathway (C3, C4, CAM)

Driven largely by H2O limitation. 3 photosynthetic pathways have evolved in plants.
-Commonality: (Calvin Cycle) A chemical reaction between CO2 and RuBP, catalyzed by rubisco, forms PGA, which eventually forms sugars, etc.
-Difference: How, when and where CO2 is acquired and stored.. resulting in differences in CO2 and H2O efficiency
---C3 plants: Lose 380-900g of water for every gram of tissue produced. Avoid hot dry situations, keeps CO2 high enough so most rubisco catalyzes it, not O2 (most plants, trees & algae)
---C4 plants: Lose 250-350g of H2O for every gram of tissue produced. Spatial separation of CO2 from rubisco. PEP carboxylase has higher affinity for CO2 than rubisco. Concentrate CO2 opens stomata less (Grass, corn, weeds)
---CAM plants: Lose 50g of H2O for every gram of tissue produced. PEP and CO2 combine at night (less water loss). Has the highest water efficiency (Succulent arid plants and canopy epiphytes, ex. cactus)

Photosynthetic Autotroph

Organism that uses light for the energy to synthesize organic compounds

Chemosynthetic Autotroph

Organisms that oxidize such compounds as hydrogen sulfide (H2S) to obtain energy

Heterotroph

An organism that cannot manufacture its own food and instead obtains its food and energy by taking organic substances, usually plant or animal matter
-All animals, fungi, protozoans, and most bacteria are heterotrophs

Does the round shape of the earth contribute to the existence of seasons?

No
-The round shape impacts the angle of incident, the amount of solar energy reaching any specific location
---Angle of incident impacts temperature ranges and precipitation. So it impacts climate
-Angle of incident is not cause of seasons because 40degree north and 40degree south would have same climate if this was case

Does the daily rotation of the earth contribute to existence of seasons?

No
-Daily rotation effects day and night

Does the annual revolution of the earth around the sun contribute to the existence of seasons?

No
-Earths tilt is what causes the seasons, so with the tilt and the revolution it contributes to seasons
-Revolution allows for different locations to experience different amounts of solar energy through the length of the year

Does the angle of tilt of the earths rotation contribute to the existence of seasons?

Yes
-The seasonal change occurs because the earths axis of rotation is tilted 23.5degrees away from perpendicular
-The tilt dictates the intensity of solar energy reaching earths surface at a specific location, throughout the length of the year

The earth rotates from west to east. If the earth rotated in the opposite direction would the sun rise in the east or west? Would sunset occur earlier in Detroit or Grand Rapids?

A.) The sun would rise in the west
B.) Sunset would occur earlier in Grand Rapids

What are the advantages and disadvantages of observation vs. experiments in terms of learning about ecological relationships? In other words, what is the fundamental trade-off between the two approaches?

Running experiments helps to eliminate confounding variables
-Experiment: cause and effect relationships, providing replication helps avoid confounding variables
-Observation: real-world relevance, more realistic, could be confounding variables that are hard to define

Why are the tropics (warm wet climates) near the equator, whereas most deserts and near 30deg N or S latitude? Include in your answer air temperature, air pressure, condensation, precipitation, and evaporation

Near the equator the warm air rises and water condenses which causes precipitation, this air then moves up or down to 30deg N or S and cools off; cool air is denser so it sinks and the shifts back to the equator

Give an example of ecological trade off

-One might be closing stomata to prevent water loss but not getting CO2, or willing to prevent transpiration but this prevents or inhibits photosynthesis
-Adapting to one set of environmental conditions generally reduces a population's fitness in other environment

Why can water travel up a plant, despite the downward force of gravity?

-Water moves from higher water potential (less negative values) to lower (more negative values)
-Water potential of atmosphere < water potential of leaf< water potential of root < water potential of soil
-Water potential- capacity of water to do work
-Matric forces allow water molecules to adhere to the solid parts of the plants stem, aiding in movement

Different Biomes and their plant types: (9)

-Tropical Rain Forest: warm and wet year round. Mostly trees
-Tropical Dry Forest: dry seasons for 6-7 months then wet seasons for 5-6 months. Mostly trees
-Tropical Savanna: Altering dry and wet seasons with fires due to drought and lightening. Fires help keep the trees less dominating, lots of grass
-Desert: Some are very dry others receive a lot of rainfall. However water loss is extreme due to evaporation and transpiration by plants. Not very many plants present
-Mediterranean Woodland and Shrubland: cool and moist during fall, winter, & spring but hot and dry during summer. Like desert plants that adapt to drought, trees and shrubs evergreen with small tough leaves.
-Temperate Grassland: Receive a lot of rain but also go through droughts. Max precipitation in summer during growing season, very hot. Winters are cold
-Temperate Forest: Receive rainfall, snow in winter, generally very cold. Drought possible during the summer. Many trees, canopy layer creates shade for lower shrubs.
-Boreal Forest: winters longer than 6 months, generally very cold. Dominated by evergreen conifers
-Tundra: cold and dry, but not as cold as boreal forest. Dominated by grasses and mosses

All other things staying the same (including soil moisture levels), if air humidity increases, what happens to the difference in water potential between a plants roots and the air? Why?

Water potential decreases because now the humid air has a higher water potential than before since the air contains a higher concentration of water than non humid air

All other things staying the same, if wind speed increases, what process of heat transfer between a cushion plant and its alpine environment would be affected?

Convection- heat flow (warm to cold) between a solid and a moving fluid

Explain how properties of water molecules are associated with greater heat transfer from a wet surface than a dry surface.

Because it has one more process to increase heat loss- evaporation- heat loss as water evaporates from the surface of an organism

Based upon what you know of adaptations in different biomes, which of the following organisms would seem likely to excrete the LEAST amount of water in its waste?
A.) White-tailed deer
B.) Humans in Minnesota
C.) Canada Geese
D.) Marine Turtle
E.) Freshwater catfish

D.) Marine turtles

Homeothermic animals typically consumer more food (per gram of their body weight) than do ectothermic animals. Given what you have learned so far in class, what is most likely the reason for this?
A.) Homeothermic animals live mainly in colder biomes where it is harder to stay warm enough
B.) Homeothermic animals need to consumer more because of the large amount of energy required to maintain their body temperature metabolically
C.) Ectothermic animals have metabolic pathways that are much more efficient, and so they don't need to eat as much as homeothermic animals
D.) Because ectothermic animals regular their body temperature internally through metabolism, they require less external energy input
E.) None of the above

B.) Homeothermic animals need to consumed more because of the large amount of energy required to maintain their body temperature metabolically

Which are examples of the principle that the angle of incidence of sunlight affects the amount of heat energy reaching a location?
A.) Amount of solar radiation hitting the equator varies throughout the year
B.) Day length at the equator is constant throughout the year
C.) Amount of solar radiation hitting the equator is highest at the summer and winter solstice
D.) Plants orienting their leaves parallel to the sun at mid-day reduce heat gain from radiation
E.) Insects warming flight muscles through vibration

A.) Amount of solar radiation hitting the equator carries throughout the year

D.) Plants orienting their leaves parallel to the sun at mid day reduce heat gain from radiation

Which of the following is a phenotypic trait that reduces heat loss through the process of radiation?
A.) Large surface area to volume ration
B.) Behavior that maximizes the amount of body surface perpendicular to incoming sunlight
C.) Seeking direct body contact with a cooler solid
D.) Dark leaves on a plant
E.) None of the above

E.) None of the above

A.) would be correct IF low surface are to volume ratio

Which of the following statements best characterizes genetic drift?
A.) Genetic drift does not change gene frequencies in a population, because it is random process
B.) Genetic drift is most likely to negatively affect a large population, because a large population contains more alleles per gene
C.) Small populations are particularly vulnerable to genetic drift because when an individual is removed from a very small population, the frequency of some alleles is often reduced
D.) Genetic drift is unlikely on islands, because islands tend to have a constant immigration rate of new individuals
E.) None of the above

C.) Small populations are particularly vulnerable to genetic drift because when an individual is removed from a very small population, the frequency of some alleles is often reduced

Ecology

-the study of organisms and how they interact with their environment
-determine the abundance and distribution of organisms -features of the chemical and physical environment

Population

a group of individuals of a single species inhabiting a specific area

Extrapolate

to infer or estimate by extending or projecting known information

Observation

Real-world relevance

Experiment

Determining cause-effect relationships

Replicate

repetition of the set of all treatment combinations to be compared in an experiment

Model

Simplified abstractions of the real world

Biome

distinguished primarily by their predominant plants and are associated with particular climates, consist of distinctive plant formations

Evolution

-descent with modification through natural selection
-process that changes populations of organisms over time
-evolution involves change in the frequency of heritable traits in population
-change in gene frequencies in a population

Genotype

genetic sequence of an individual

Heterozygosity

different alleles at one or more corresponding chromosomal loci
ex. Hh, Aa

Gene frequency

relative abundance of different alleles in a population

Phenotype

visible characteristics of an individual

Phenotypic plasticity

range of phenotypes possible within a given individual, variation among individuals as a result of environmental influences

Fixed Trait

a solely genetic heritable trait, not influenced by environment

Mutation

transmissible change in structure of gene or chromosome, can result in adaption

Principle of Allocation

a population adapts to particular set of environmental conditions (local adaptation), the fitness in other environments is reduced

Local Adaptation

change in allele frequency in population over time

Genetic drift

-change in gene frequencies in a population due to change or random events
-not adaptation --> leads to extinction in small populations
-Consequence = loss of alleles = reduced diversity --> bad for long term persistence of population due to less diversity in which selection can act and inbreed

Heredity

genetic variation/phenotypic variation --> if variation in phenotype amongst individuals of a population can be attributed to specific genetic differences that are heritable

Natural Selection

differential production and/or survival of individuals (particular genotypes) in a populate due to environmental influences on the population, results in adaption

Disruptive selection

extreme phenotypes on both ends are favored, these adaptations clearly affect the distributions and abundance of organism, but ma constrain future ability to evolve
ex. light and dark forms of peppered moths

Directional selection

one extreme phenotype is favored, creates a higher reproduction and survival rate --> population average changes in a particular direction over time
ex. larger or smaller beak size favored in finches, not medium size

Stabilizing selection

average phenotypes are favored, highest fitness and their genotype increase in frequency in population
ex. birth weight in babies, low weight = low survival due to under devloped, more disease prone, high weight= danger to mom b/c baby is too big

Convection

heat flow (warm to cold) between a solid body and a moving fluid (wind or flowing water)

Conduction

heat flow (warm to cold) between solid objects in direct PHYSICAL CONTACT

Metabolism

release of heat during cellular respiration

Radiation

transfer of heat (warm to cold) through electromagnetic radiation

Evaporation

heat lost as water evaporates from the surface of an organism
-ex. sweating: water gains energy so particles can move faster and become a gas, energy is pulled from your body/skin in the form of heat energy --> cools down as heat is released from body in evaporated sweat

Heat

the speed of tiny particles, which causes an increase in temperature
-ex. kinetic energy

Poikilotherm

no temperature regulation, varies directly with environment
-ex. insects, fish and plants

Ectotherm

reliance on external source of heat, use of behavior and anatomy for regulation
-ex. some insects/most reptiles

Endotherm

reliance on internal metabolic energy for heat

Homeotherm

endotherms that can maintain a relatively stable body temperature
ex. humans

Acclimation

type of phenotypic plasticity, short term physiological adjustments due to changes in environment, how organisms adapt to changing environment/seasons just not over evolutionary time