Ecology Lecture Notes Vocabulary

Flashcards of vocabulary terms and definitions extracted from lecture notes.

Sympatric Speciation

Speciation occurs in geographically overlapping populations.

Reproductive Barriers

Biological barriers that prevent members of different species from producing hybrids.

Habitat Isolation

Species occupy different habitats, decreasing the probability of encountering other species.

Temporal Isolation

Species breed at different times of day or year, decreasing the probability of encounter while reproductively active.

Behavioral Isolation

Courtship rituals that are species-specific and not recognized by other species.

Mechanical Isolation

Morphological differences prevent successful mating.

Gametic Isolation

Sperm and eggs are not compatible.

Reduced Hybrid Viability

Hybrid forms, but allele interactions impede development.

Reduced Hybrid Fertility

Hybrid forms but is sterile.

Hybrid Breakdown

First generation hybrids are viable and fertile, but the second generation is weak and sterile.

Taxonomy

Theory and practice of classifying organisms.

Taxon

Group of organisms treated as a unit for classification.

Linnaean System

Hierarchical system of classifying organisms with inclusiveness changing with levels.

Phylogenetic Reconstruction

Hypothesis of evolutionary relationships.

Cladogram

Shared derived character states.

Outgroup

Group used for comparison, possessing all ancestral character states.

Ingroup

Group whose evolutionary relationships you are trying to explain.

Phylogeny

General appearance with common ancestor and time axis

Sister taxa

Group of organisms that share an immediate common ancestor.

Uniquely derived character state

Derived character state only present in one taxa; phylogenetically uninformative.

Clade

Group that contains an ancestral species and all of its descendants.

Monophyletic group (clade)

An ancestral species and all of its descendants.

Paraphyletic group

An ancestral species and some, but not all, of its descendants.

Polyphyletic Group

A group which includes distantly related species but not a recent common ancestor.

Optimal Sample Size

Large enough to represent the true value of the population, but not so costly in terms of finance and time.

Control Group

Group used for comparison; context-dependent.

Pseudoreplication

False replicate - non-independent units treated as independent units.

Variable

Characteristic that can be assigned a number or a category.

Categorical Variable

A variable that is assigned to a category (e.g., blood type, eye color).

Numerical Variable

A variable that is recorded as an amount (e.g., human weight, number of bacterial colonies).

Descriptive statistics

Describes data (for the sample).

Inferential statistics

Analysis of sample data.

P-value

Probability that the results obtained are due to chance.

Alpha Value (Critical Value)

Threshold used to determine if results obtained are likely due to chance.

Type I error

False positive (reject H₀ when H₀ is true).

Type II error

False negative (fail to reject H₀ when H₀ is false).

Ecology

Scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their environment.

Abiotic Factor

Non-living (soil, weather, pH, temperature, wind, salinity).

Biotic Factor

Living (organisms of the same or different species; competition, predation, parasitism).

Intrasexual selection

Competition between members of one sex for mates.

Intersexual selection

Members of one sex choosing members of the other sex as mates.

Social Monogamy

Relationship appears monogamous, but not actually the case.

Parental Care

Needs of young are the most important factor in the evolution of parental care.

Communication

Transfer of information from signaler (sender) to receiver(s).

Honest signal

True reflection of quality (of genes); very costly to produce and maintain.

Dishonest signal

Sender manipulates the response of the receiver.

Agnostic behavior

A social behavior linked to fighting within a species.

Threat Displays

Symbolic act that provides info to opponent about fighting ability.

Innate Behavior

A response an organism is just going to be born with - something that is developmentally fixed (not learned).

Imprinting

Learning within first 24 hrs of birth; critical sensitive period.

Associative Learning

Make associations based on experiences.

Social Learning

Learn how to solve problems from watching others.

Altruism

An act that favors another individual at some cost to self.

Reciprocal Altruism

Altruistic act for a non-relative, but they must reciprocal act.

Altruism- Kin Selection

Involves Relatives Genetic component involved helping youger some younger conditions Non