Ecology and Conservation: Key Concepts in Community, Biogeochemical Cycles, and Human Impact

Ecology

Study of how organisms relate to each other and their environments

Environment

Includes temperature, water, sunlight, and soil

Abiotic factors

Non-living components such as soil, sunlight, water, temperature

Species

Group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile, viable offspring

Populations

Individuals of the same species in a given area at the same time

Population range

Where a species travels or lives

Population demography

Study of a population quantitatively

Survivorship

Percent of an original population that survives to a given age

Semelparous

Organisms that have one reproductive event and then die

Iteroparous

Organisms that have more than one reproductive event before death

Carrying capacity (k)

Largest population that an environment can sustain

Density dependent effects

Affect birth rate and mortality rate, including competition and predation

Density independent effects

Typically abiotic factors such as random weather events

K-strategists

Species adapted to thrive at populations near carrying capacity

R-strategists

Species traits that contribute to increased population size

Community

Group of populations of differing species interacting in a given area

Competition

Two or more individuals attempting to use a resource in limited supply

Niche (ecological)

An ecological role of a species

Fundamental niche

Everywhere a species can occur

Realized niche

Everywhere a species has been found

Competitive exclusion

No two specific species can occupy the same ecological niche

Predation

Consuming of an organism by another organism

Mutualism

Both organisms in a species benefit

Parasitism

One species benefits while the other is harmed

Keystone species

Imperative in determining the nature of the entire community

Dominant species

Has large effects due to population number

Biological magnification

Increasing concentration of persistent, toxic substances at higher levels of a food chain

Greenhouse effect

Natural trapping of heat in our atmosphere due to Carbon Dioxide

Extinction

A fact of life; all species will become extinct at some point

Endemic species

Species found in only one place on Earth

Invasive species

Species that cause economic and/or environmental harm due to lack of natural predators

Ex-situ conservation

Preserving individual species in human-controlled settings

In-situ conservation

Establishing parks and reserves to preserve biological diversity in nature