AP BIO ecology

Taxis

The movement of an organism in response to a stimulus.

Positive Taxis

Movement towards a stimulus

Negative Taxis

Movement away from a stimulus

Kineses

Undirected movement of an organism in response to a stimulus.

Diurnal

Active during the day

Torpor

A state if inactivity

Two examples of torpor

Hibernation and estivation

Phototropism

Growth in response to a light stimulus

Photoperiodism

A plants response to changes in the length of the day and night

Predator warnings

They are signals that animals use to communicate to others that a predator is nearby.

Visual communication

Ex. Wolves using certain poses to communicate

Audible communication

A birds song

Chemical Communication

Queen Bees release pheromones that attract female workers to the queen. This inhibits the development of ovaries in the workers.

Tactile Communication

Through touching, can be seen when primates groom each other.

Innate

Something that is not learned, it is hardwired in the neuron.

Associative learning

Ex. A Bluejay throwing up a monarch and learning not to eat it again.

Ability to learn by natural selection

-Parent/Offspring interaction

-Learning how to forage for food

-Courtship rituals

Kin selection

A form of natural selection that considers relatives. Self sacrifice for genetic fitness.

What does metabolism generate?

ATP and heat

Two strategies for thermorégulation

• Endotherms

• Ectotherms

Vasodilation

Blood vessels come closer to the skin, it brings heat to the surface, it is the cause of sweat.

Vasoconstriction

Our blood vessels move away from the skin, to conserve heat

Photo autotrophs

Organisms capture energy present in sunlight

Chemoautotrophs

Capture energy from small inorganic molecules present in the environment.

heteroptrophs

They have to eat to get their energy

Primary productivity

The rate at which energy is converted into organic matter

Different trophic levels

• Quarternary

• Tertiary Consumers

• Secondary Consumers

• Primary consumers

• Primary producers

Abiotic

Non-living components

Biotic

Living things

Where does most energy go towards

Heat production

Growth rate during exponential growth?

Stays the same

How does population density effect each individual in the population.

It has an impact on competition for food and resources

Limiting Factors

Factors that limit how much a population can grow.

Density dependent Limiting Factors:

• Competition

• Disease

• Predation

Density Independent Limiting factors

• Natural Disasters

• Pollution

Exponential growth

The larger the population gets, the faster it grows

Logistic growth

The larger the population gets, the slower it grows

In logistic growth, what happens to the per capita growth rate as the population approaches carrying capacity?

The per capita growth rate gets smaller as the population approaches carrying capacity

Community Ecology

A group or population of different species living close enough to interact.

Interspecific competition

Competition among several species

Intraspecific competition

Competition within a species

Competitive Exclusion principle

If two species are competing for the same resources, one of the species will decline or die off.

Ecological Niche

The multiple relationships a species has with all of the abiotic and biotic factors present.

Resource Partitioning

To share resources in the wild, otherwise, the other would die out.

Fundamental Niche

The entire set of conditions in which a species can survive.

Realized Niche

The set of conditions used (taking in competition)

Symbiosis

Two different species interacting in a close relationship

Two parts of the Species Index

• species richness

• Relative abundance

Species richness

# of species in a community

Relative abundance

The proportion each species represents all individuals in the community

Succession

The change in the species structure structure of a biological community overtime

Order of Sucession

Lichens→ Grasses→ Shrubs→ Immature Trees→ Climax Community (Long Lived Trees)

Climax community

A stable community in an ecosystem, last stage

primary succession

Starts out on bare rock. 100’s to 1000’s of years

Secondary succession

Occurs after a disturbance (ex. fire) 50-150 years

Genetic Diversity

Diversity within species

Species Diversity

Different types species

ecosystem diversity

Diversity between ecosystems

Artificial ecosystem

An ecosystem with fewer component parts

Urbanization

when a human population grows and we move into cities, this can cause deforestation.

Monoculture

It is a single planted crop

Generalist

They can eat in a variety of food and live in a variety of places.

Biological magnification

Unnecessary organisms in lower trophic levels stay within the organisms from lower trophic levels

Two elements involved in eutrophication

Nitrogen, phosphorus

Hypoxic

Not enough oxygen

Dead Zone

An area that cannot support a lot of life

How does El Niño work?

An unpredictable current switch from the coast of South America to Indonesia, To Indonesia to South America