Evolution and Ecology

Parasitism

a symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits at the expense of another, often harming the host.

Commensalism

a symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed.

Intrasexual Selection

A form of sexual selection where individuals of the same sex compete for mates, influencing reproductive success.

Directional Selection

A mode of natural selection in which a single phenotype is favored, causing the allele frequency to shift in one direction.

Ammensalism

A biological interaction in which one organism is harmed or destroyed, while the other organism remains unaffected.

Mutualism

A type of symbiotic relationship where both organisms benefit from the interaction, enhancing each other's survival and reproduction.

Intersexual selection

Form of sexual selection where individuals of one sex choose mates based on certain traits, influencing reproductive success.

Stabilizing selection

Type of natural selection that favors intermediate phenotypes, reducing variation and maintaining the status quo in a population.

Niche

The role and position a species has in its environment, including all its interactions with biotic and abiotic factors.

Carrying capacity

The maximum population size that an environment can sustainably support, considering resources such as food, habitat, and water.

Adaptive radiation

The rapid evolution of diversely adapted species from a common ancestor in response to varying environmental conditions.

Homologous structure

Anatomical features in different species that share a common ancestry, but may serve different functions.

Vestigial structure

A reduced or nonfunctional anatomical feature that was functional in an ancestor, providing evidence of evolutionary change.

Analogous structure

Anatomical features in different species that serve similar functions but do not share a common ancestry, indicating convergent evolution.

Convergent structure

Anatomical features in different species that have evolved independently to serve similar functions, demonstrating adaptation to similar environments.

Individual

A single organism of a species, capable of reproduction and interaction with its environment.

Population

A group of individuals of the same species living in a specific area, capable of interbreeding and sharing genetic material.

Community

A group of different species that interact with each other in a shared environment, forming a complex network of relationships.

Ecosystem

A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment, including both living and non-living components that function together as a system.

Topography

The arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area, including elevation, terrain, and slope.

Phosphorus

s a chemical element essential for life, playing a critical role in energy transfer, DNA and RNA synthesis, and bone formation.

Nitrogen

A chemical element vital for life, it is a key component of amino acids, proteins, and nucleic acids, and is essential for plant growth.

Carbon

A chemical element that is a fundamental building block of life, it is essential for the formation of organic compounds, including carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.

Water

A compound vital for all known forms of life, it is essential for various biological processes including hydration, nutrient transport, and temperature regulation.

“Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” emphasizes

the idea that the development of an individual organism (ontogeny) follows the same progression as the evolutionary history of that organism's species (phylogeny).

Theory of evolution

Charles Darwin and Russell Wallace which explains the process of natural selection and adaptation in species over time.

Acclimation

individuals ability to physiologically survive a changing environment

Adaptation

Population/species ability to change to better survive a changing environment.

Biogeography

explains similarity in organisms.

Endemic Species

Species unique to a region.

Fossils

Decreased organisms whose skeletons or impression have been preserved.

Ontogeny

the development of an individual organism from embryo to adult.

Phylogeny

evolutionary history of an organism or group of organisms.

Gene flow

moving back and forth form populations

Genetic Drift

A mechanism of evolution that describes random changes in allele frequencies within a population, often having a more significant effect in small populations.

Biological Species Concept

A definition of species that emphasizes reproductive isolation, stating that species are groups of actually or potentially interbreeding populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups.

Morphological Species Concept

A definition of species that classifies them based on observable physical characteristics, such as shape and size, rather than on reproductive isolation.

Paleontological Species Concept

A definition of species that categorizes them based on morphological evidence found in fossils, focusing on distinguishing features and similarities among extinct organisms to classify them.

Phylogenetic Species Concept

A definition of species that categorizes them based on their evolutionary history and relationships, using genetic data and phylogenetic trees to define species as the smallest group of organisms that share a common ancestor.

Allopatric Speciation

Occurs when a population of a single species is split into separate populations.

r-strategists

Maximum # of offspring produced

k-strategists

Maximum quality of a lower # of offspring

Symbiosis

A biological interaction where different species live closely together, often interacting in ways that affect their survival and reproduction.

Indicator Species

Species whose populations health indicate the health of communities and ecosystems.

Keystone species

Species whose population directly or indirectly controls all other species in a community. ex. American alligator

Biomagnification

The process by which the concentration of toxins or pollutants increases in organisms at each successive level of the food chain.

Hydrologic Cycle

flow of water through the environment and ecosystems, water drives movement of other elements like carbon, nitrogen but not phosphorus.

Nitrogen Cycle

N2 split into ammonia by bacteria, converted in ammonium and nitrogen that are taken by plants, fungi and bacteria release N from dead plants and animal tissues, N is released back to atmosphere via identification via bacteria.

Phosphorus Cycle

Phosphorus atom required to construct ATP, phospholipids, nucleic acids, etc. Fertilizer use in agriculture from developed countries. Phosphorus overload disrupts ecosystem function and lead to eutrophication.

Eutrophication

is the enrichment of any nutrient in
ecosystems otherwise deprived of that nutrient.