AP Bio 8

Taxis

Directional movement towards (positive) or away from (negative) a stimulus

Kinesis

A change in the rate of movement or the frequency of turning movements in response to a stimulus; non directional

Fixed action patterns

A sequence of unlearned acts directly linked to a stimulus (triggered by a stimulus)

Body movement

Waggle dance in bees

Imprinting

A long-lasting behavioral response to an individual (ducks following their mother)

10%

Amount of energy transfer between trophic levels

Phototropism

A directional response that allows plants to grow towards (and in some cases away from) a source of light

Photoperiodism

Allows plants to develop in response to day length; plants flower only at certain times of the year

Population

A group of individuals of the same species living in an area

Community

A group of populations of different species living closely and capable of interacting

Species

A group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring

Ethology

The study of how evolutionary processes shape inherited behaviors and the ways that animals respond to specific stimuli

Ecology

The study of how living things interact with each other and their environment

Demography

The study of the vital statistics of populations and how they change over time

Keystone species

Not usually abundant, but other species in an ecosystem rely on them because of their important ecological niches (coral and honey bees)

Primary production

The amount of light energy that is converted to chemical energy

Secondary production

The amount of chemical energy in a consumer's food that is converted to new biomass

Small organism = higher metabolic rate

Larger organism = lower metabolic rate

Metabolic rate small vs. large organisms

Dispersion

The pattern of spacing among individuals within a population

Clumped dispersion

Individuals gather in patches

Uniform dispersion

Evenly spaced individuals in a population (can be due to territoriality)

Random dispersion

Unpredictable spacing; not common

Survivorship curve 1

Low death rate during early/middle life and high death rate later in life

Survivorship curve 2

Constant death rate over the lifespan of the organism

Survivorship curve 3

High death rate early in life and lower death rate for those that survive early life

Primary succession

A series of changes on an entirely new (previously lifeless) habitat that has not been colonized

Secondary succession

A series of changes that clears an existing community, but leaves the soil intact

Ecological succession

The gradual process by which the species composition of a community changes and develops over time after a disturbance

Invasive species

A nonnative species that can occupy a wide range of habitats and competitively exclude native species from those habitats

Innate behaviors

Developmentally fixed; are not learned; experiences do not affect behaviors

Learned behaviors

Depend on environmental influence; experiences do affect these behaviors

Altruism

Selfless behavior; reduces the individual's fitness, but increases the fitness of the rest of the population (naked mole rat)

Proximate cause

How a behavior occurs or how it is modified (how does nurture affect)

Ultimate cause

Why a behavior occurs (how does the nature component affect)

Negative control

Group with no response expected

Visual cues

Depth, form, motion, constancy

Kinetic cues

Motion is used to estimate depth

Magnetic cues

The ability of some animals to use the earth's magnetic field to assist in orientation

Diploid organism

There are two copies of every gene, one inherited from the mother and the other from the father

Facilitation

(+/+ or 0/+) when one species has a positive effect on the survival and reproduction of another without intimate association of symbiosis; common in plant species

Parasitism

(+/-) when one organism derives nourishment from another

Predation

(+/-) relationship where ones species kills and eats the other species

Herbivory

(+/-) relationship where one organism eats part of a plant or agla

Mutualism

(+/+) when both organisms benefit from the relationship

Commensalism

(+/0) when one organism benefits and the other is neither harmed nor benefited

Competition

(-/-) relationship where individuals of different species compete for limited resources

Variables that affect life history

-When reproduction begins

-How often the organism can reproduce

-The number of offspring produced per reproductive episode

Plant physical defenses

Thorns, trichomes (small plant like hairs)

Plant chemical defenses

Production of toxic or distasteful compounds