Ecology Test 1

Types of pollinators

Honeybees, wildbees, bumblebees, butterflies, moths, bats, ants, beetles

How are pollinators important to wellbeing

Help our plants to reproduce (high yield crops), maintain healthy water and soil(plants), and air quality

What pollinators need

Collect nectar to produce food for offspring/larvals food plants

homes(soil, wood, hollow stems), food, water

How we can help pollinators

Create habitats for bees, avoiding insecticides and pesticides and growing native wildflowers

% flowering plants pollinated by animals

85

Insect pollination

34 billion in value pollinating crops, increase soybean yields 20 percent, blueberry over 200 percent, chocolate and pumpkins solely dependent on pollinators

Pollination

transfer of pollen from male to female parts in seed plants

self-pollination

same plant, easier for plant, greater probability of pollination

cross pollination

different plant, genetic recombination, gets brought to multiple plants, avoid inbreeding

Pollen vectors

wind, water, animals

Traits that let plants attract pollinators

Rewards: nectar, pollen, scented oil

Signals: colors, large size, shape, scent

Traits of effective animal pollinators

Surfaces/texture pollen can stick to, long tongue to access nectar, move from flower to next(speed/endurance/motivation), vibrate at certain frequency(buzz pollination), senses (sight/smell)

Color vision: Humans

3 types of cone cells

Perceived color depends on relative response of each type

• visible light spectrum is 380-740nm(violet-red), shorter=UV, longer=infrared

Color Vision: Birds

Have 4 types of cone cells and can see UV through red lights

Color Vision: Insects

number of photoreceptor types varies between species, honeybees have 3 types from UV-orange, butterflies can have up to 15 types, less information about pollinating flies, around 10 types with 4 for color

Bees

White, UV, Yellow, Blue

Fresh, mild pleasant

Usually nectar

limited sticky pollen

shallow tubular landing platform flower shape

Beetles

Dull while or green

no odor/very fruity or bad smelling

sometimes nectar

ample pollen

bowl-like flower shape

Bird

Orange red white

no odor

ample, hidden nectar

modest pollen

large, tubular, strong perch

Wind

Dull green or brown

no odor

no necar

abundant, small, not sticky pollen,

small petals absent/reduced

Animal Pollination

Generally mutulistic, plant benefits(pollen carried further, could make less pollen(using less nitrogen) because more specific pollination

Animal benefits: food/nutrients from pollen and nectar

Plant costs: animal eats some pollen, plant sucess is tied to animal sucess, must produce nectar/flowers and attractive materials(cant use resources in other ways)

Animal costs: time and evergy going from one flower to another

Generalists vs specialists

-G: more widespread pollination, more options

-S: less competition, pollinators deliver pollen to another plant of same species and better reproduction

Ecology

how organisms interact with environment

environmental science is chem, geology, meteorology

Environmental studies: ethics, culture, clean energy, energy efficiency (aim to understand human impacts and mitigation)

Ecology falls within these, as they draw upon ecoloogy for info

Levels of biological organization

Individual

Population: A group of individuals of a single species that live in a particular area and interacting with each other

Community: association of pops of different species living in the same area at the same time

Ecosystem: a community of organisms plus their physical environment

• ecological studies often include both biotic and abiotic components of natural systems

Landscapes: areas with substantial differences typically including multiple ecosystems

Biosphere: all living organisms on earth, plus the environments in which they live

Experiment

Scientists manipulate or change some variable to determine how it affects some outcome

Observational Studies

Scientists measure existing variation in nature to find out if theres a relationship between the two variables

Experimental Designs

Treatment: factor/variable you’re testing

Experimental group: factor you’re testing

Control group: doesnt have factor youre testing

Experimental unit: smallest unit to which a treatment is given

Confounding factors: variables other than the one you were testing that could affect the outcome

How to minimize confounding factors

Control as many as you can:

Replicate: apply each treatment to several experimental units

Randomize: assign treatments to experimental units randomly

Block: group similar experimental units together and apply one treatment to each experimental unit in the block

Case Study: Amphibian Limb Deformities

pacific tree frogs and salamanders with extra/missing limb, all had a parasite, implemented small beads near limb buds, beads caused similar deformities, collected eggs from ponds with and without parasites, pesticide combined with parasite had the most amount of deformities

Hypothesis

possible explanation for a phenomenon

Prediction

What you expect to see if your hypothesis is correct

Weather vs climation

-common: temp precip, humidity, wind, air, pressure, clouds

-differences: weather is short-term, climate is long term

climate: long term trands in temp, wind, and precip(daily, seasonal, and multi-year cycles - averages and variablility)

Climate affects

physiological function of organisms, resources available(water), abiotic processes such as rock weathering, which releases nutrients, rate of periodic disturbances like fires and mudslides

-climate determines the geographic distribution of organisms(often extremes more important than averages)

Differences in light energy drive temp, precip, wind patterns, andn ocean currents

Suns rays hit equator squarely, but hit edges further and angles

-equator gets much more sunlight than poles

Temp→global atmospheric circulation

solar radiation heats earths surface, warms air above it, warm air rises, expands, and cools, vapor condenses into clouds

Hadley cells

warm moist air rises in tropics, cools and drops moisture as rain. Cooler, drier air flows towards poles, this air descentds at about 30 degrees N and S, where deserts are located

Equator

O degrees, low pressure Tropics (30 degrees N and S high pressure)

Poles

Cold dense air subsides at poles, making polar cells. Polar cells and Hadley cells drive mid-latitude Ferrell cells

Air cells

Warm air rises, coolds and spreads out, sinks, precipitates near equator. Moise conditions in areas air rises, cold dense sir sinks.

Temp→global atmosphere circulation→precipitation

drives moisture/dryness

Temp and Precip→vegetation

Global atmospheric circulation → surface winds

• coriolis effect converts winds moving to equator into east winds, and winds moving away into west winds

-east winds come FROM east, west, etc

Winds→Currents

when gulf stream reaches Arctic, water loses heat, becomes dense and saltier, and sinks

• upwelling: brings nutrients from deep sediments to lighted surfacae waters wehre phytoplankton frow , food for zooplankton and fish

• - prevailing wind blows parallel to coast, wind and coriolis effect creates surface current going away from coast

  • -deep cool water rises to replace the surface water

How seasonal climate variation caused by tilt of earth axis and its motion around the sun

because of earths axial tild - areas near equator usually have wet adn dry seasons, areas farther from equator have hot and cold seasons

How oceans, continents, and mountains afeect regional and local climate

water has high heat capacity - takes a lot of energy to change its temp

-maritime climate near coasts-low temp variation (duluth)

-continental climates-high temp variation (Day to day seasonal, year to year), seasonal variation in morris(avg low vs high), year to year (one jan to next jan)

Mountains - ways they affect climate

Elevation: higher=colder

aspect: sunnier side is hotter and drier - in N Hemisphere, south side is hotter and dried, N+E sides wooded, S+W sides dry with shrub

Wind direction: rain shadow on leeward, moving air gets moisture over oceans, is forced up over mountain, cools, and high elevation and falls as rain on side wind is coming from

rain shadow: dry side of mountain, after air already rained

Slide 43 mtn slide:

Temp patters explained by rockies and appalacions (cooler temp), less precip on rain shadow by rockies

MN climate

Normal annual precip: gradual increase precip going NW to SE, vertical differences, Normal mean temp: increase in temp going N to S with twin cities warmer on avg.

• urban areas warmed by asphalt, brick without trees

• warmer along N shore of Lake Superior than rest of nearby NE inland (pseudo-maritime)

• NE MN cooler than NW (elevation)

• —Warm humid summer/cold snowy winters: explained by earths tilt and 45 degrees from equator

• —-Most precip in summer: moisture from gulf of mexico, warm air more moist than cold

— high variability day-to-day, seasonally, and year to year, cold as going N(curvature of earth, less solar in N)

—Moister as go SE, bc W MN falls in rockies rain shadow

Homeostasis

self-regulating process by which biological systems maintain stability while adjusting to changing external conditions

-self regulation includes negative feedback loops

Neg feedback loops

a change in one direction → change in the other direction negating initial change

-body temp increases, sweat to cool, temp decreases

Temp affects

enzyme stability(denatured protein), cell membrane fluidity, rates of biochemical reactions, freezing, water loss

How heat balance affects fuctioning of org

To survive changes in external temp, org must keep its internal temp constant(homeostasis) OR tolerate changes in internal temp

Warm blooded

Stable body temp = homeothermy

relies on internal heat production = endothermy

Cold blooded

Variable body temp = poikilothermy

relies on external heat production = ectothermy

Heat Balance

delta H = inputs-outputs

Oxidative metabolism

aerobic metabolism = C6H12O6 +6O2 → 6H2O + 6CO2 + energy

Plants can modify heat exchange

stomata closed (retain heat, not exposed), stomata open (cooler → evaporation)

Human thermal tolerance range

At temp outside optimal range (thermoneutral zone), must expend energy to maintain a stable body temp

• Limits beyond which humans cannot maintain a stable body temp w/o external aids

• upper limit for young, healthy people (111-118 F at 20 humidity, 87 F for 100% humidity)

  • Evaporative loss is huge for cooling humans, as humidity removes ability to cool (sweat)

Water Balance

Essential for life, H2O is medium in which biochemical reactions occur

water tied closely to salt balance

Water Homeostasis

Most organisms maintain relatively constant internal water and solute concentration

some desiccation-tolerant organisms can loser 80-90 percent water, go dormant and survive to rehydrate (like lichens, mosses, tardigrade)

Water balance: Delta W = inputs-outputs

Inputs: ingestion, oxidative metabolism

Outputs: segretion, evaporative loss

Either: osmotic exchange, driven by solute exchange → semipermeable membrane

most marine organisms have little osmotic exchange, move to freshwater: gain water - internal conc higher than external

• marine mammals/bony fish put back in ocean, solute conc is lower in body, will lose water

Evaporative Losses

some loss inevitable for terrestrial organisms

• necessary due to evaporative cooling, gas exchange, plants-transpiration moves mineral nutrients from roots to leaves

  • losses can be reduced by thick skin, waxy cuticle (tradeoffs)

individuals respond to stressful environments

immediate responses (physiology/behavior)

• long term responses - acclimatization (physiology/morphology/changes in gene expression, no genetic change

Population response to stressful environment

Individuals can acclimatize; if genetic variation is present, pop can evolve by natural selection over several generations

• called adaptation

• change in allele frequency → genetic change

Adaptation is evolutionary process, acclimatization is NOT

Energy

radiant energy (vis light, infrared)

kinetic energy (motion, heat)

chemical energy - contained in chemical bonds (ATP, fats, etc), breaking bonds produces energy

Autotrophs

Produce own organic compounds that store energy

Photoautotrophs

energy from light

chemoautotrophs

energy from inorganic compounds (nitrifying bacteria)

Heterotrophs

Organic compounds and energy by eating others

detrivores

dead organic matter

Organic compounds

contain c-h bond

Photosynthesis net reaction

6H2O+6CO2+ light → 6O2 + C6H12O6 + sugar

glucose becomes nectar, starch, cellulose

What do organisms need to synthesize

Solar radiation, CO2, H2O, temp, nutrients

Tradeoffs affecting photosynthesis

Lead thickness: light vs room for cells

Stomata: water loss vs gas exchange(CO2 in, O2 out, CO2 reactant, O2 alternative reactant →photorespiration, no sugar produced, toxic products, costs energy, rubisco)

specialized forms of photosynthesis let plants take up CO2 at night or in separate cells from where sugars are made, but are less energy efficient

Biomes

Large-scale biological communities

shaped by physical environment, esp temp and precip

categorized by plant growth forms (trees, shrubs, grasses/evergreen vs deciduous/broadleaved vs needleleaved)

MN Biomes

Prairie Parkland - temp grassland(lower left)

Eastern Broadleaf Forest - temp deciduous forest (bottom right)

Laurentian Mixed Forest - boreal ( top right)

Tallgrass Aspen Parkland - (upper middle )

***locate dom vegetation of each one

Prairie Parkland temp and precip

Less precip and medium precip areas with more heat (evaporates water from soil)

Prairie Parkland plants adapted to temp and moisture

Dry/deep spreading roots, specialized photosynthesis, leathery/hairy leaves, deciduous leaves, succulent leaves/stems that store water

-wet soil - shallow roots, roots with air channels, prevents roots from getting O2 so roots stay shallow

Eastern broadleaf forest temp and moisture conditions

cold, deciduous leaves, sugar accumulation, starch storage

Laureation Mixed forest temp and moisture conditions

colder, needle like leaves, springy branches shed snow

Temperate grasslands

drought stress prevents tree growth

similar biomes will produce similar dominant species, even if across the world

Temperate deciduous forest

distinct seasons, temp variability, steady consistent precip, broadleaf deciduous tree

Temperate Shrublands and woodlands

Some months too low precip for plant growth, seasonal temp, woody evergreen shrub and scrub tree with thick leathery leaves

Temperate evergreen forests

Warm coastal region to cool continental maritime climates

• varying precip

  • evergreen conifers and evergreen broadlead

Boreal Forest

Cold, short growing seasons and adequate precip, dominant plants are evergreen, needle-leaved tree

Deserts

High temp, low water availability, stem succulents help survive, can be hot/not hot, but all are dry

Tropical Rainforests

No real dry season

Tundra

Surface soil usually soggy

Temperate Grassland

Vast temporal shift, warm moist summer, cool dry winter

vast open, mainly grasses

moderate annual precip

Biome

Broad type of community, usually defined by dom vegetation

biome concept invented to classify terrestrial communities, can extend to aquatic environment, but doesn’t fit perfectly

ecosystem

species in particular place, plus abiotic environment they interact with

Lakes

Formed by glaciers or depressions moved by glaciers

Lake Superior

Largest freshwater lake by SA in world

oligotrophic (low and nutrient)

Severely P-limited (phosphorous), not much nutrients to support algae so not much fish (little food)

Oligotrophic Lake

Clear blue water, rocky bottom

eutrophic zone - enough light for photosynthetic organisms, 46-60m deep

aphotic zone - too dark for photosynthesis - superior avges 176 m deep

Mesotrophic lake

Medium nutrient levels

Eutrophic lake

High nutrient levels, not good, vegetation near shore, algae in water, euphotic zone shallow

Stratification = layering

Water most dense at 4 degrees C

• warm surface water doesnt mix with cold deep water well, can cause low oxygen in deep water

Stratification and nutrient overload

algal growth on surface water, algal sink and decomposed in deep water, oxygen depleted in deep water, cant be replentished easily, gulf of mexico, southern MN lakes

Rivers

meanders and bends in rivers, fast vs slow flow

Wetlands around river

Slow streams down, allows plant growth and break down contaminents, store and slowly release water

Developed floodplains and humans want to live nearby river

levees can be eroded in hours, everything in floodplain can be flooded, upstream levees push water downstream

Bdote

where two waters came together