ap bio unit 8 ecology

behavioral ecology

discovery of organization of individual and social behavior patterns

behavior

animals response to stimuli

proximate cause

how behavior occurs or how it is modified

ultimate cause

why behavior occurs in natural selection context

where does behavior come from

half innate (not altered by experience) and half learned

fixed action patterns

sequence of unlearned acts directly linked to stimulus

unchangeable actions, carried out to completion, triggered by sign stimulus

migration

regular, long distance change in location triggered by suns position and earths magnetic field

signal

stimulus generated and transmitted from one animal to another; animal communication

pheromones

chemicals emitted by members of species that can affect other members of same species

stimulus response chain

response to stimuli serves as next stimulus

directed movements

movements towards or away from stimulus

kinesis

change in rate of movement of frequency of turning movements in response to stimulus, non directional

taxis

directional towards (+) stimulus or away (-)

phototaxis

response to light

chemotaxis

movement to chemical

geotaxis

response to gravity

imprinting

long-lasting behavioral response to individual during sensitive period

spatial learning

establish memories based upon spatial structure of animals surroundings, form cognitive map

associative learning

associate one environmental feature with another

ex. butterflies tasting bad to predators

social learning

imitations of observed behaviors

ex. tool use, natural selection favors behaviors such as foraging

altruism

selfless behavior, reduces individuals fitness, but increases fitness of rest of population

phototropism

directional response towards light

photoperiodism

allows plants to develop in response to day length

first law thermodynamics

energy cant be created or destroyed, only transferred

second law thermodynamics

exchanges of energy increase entropy of universe

metabolic rate

amount of energy an animal uses in unit of time

endotherms

use thermal energy from metabolism to maintain body temperature

ectotherms

use exernal sources to maintain body temp

dispersion

pattern of spacing within population

clumped dispersion

gathered in patterns

uniform dispersion

evenly spaced in population, territoriality

random dispersion

unpredictable, uncommon

demography

study of vital stats of populations and how they evolve

type 1 survivorship

high death later in life, K selected

type 2 survivorship

constant death rate, age independent, prey

type 3 survivorship

lots of offspring, levels off

exponential growth

ideal conditions, J curve

logistic growth

per capita rate, approaches 0

k-selection/ density dependent

selection sensitive to population density

r-selection/density independent

selection maximizes reproductive success

niche

role species has in environment

habitat

place or part of ecosystem occupied by environment

fundamental niche

potentially occupied by species if no limiting factors

comeptition

-/- individuals compete limited resources

competitive exclusion principle

2 species competing for same resource cannot coexist

niche partioning

natural selection drives species into different patterns of resource use

predation

+/-

one kills and eats the other

cryptic camoflauge

blends in with surroundings

batesian mimicry

harmless species mimic harmful one

mullerian mimicry

two or more bad-tasting species resemble each other

facilitation

one species has positive affect on survival and reproduction of other without intimate symbiosis (+/+) or (+/0)

species diversity

variety of different organisms within community

species richness

number of different species

relative abundance

proportion each species represents of all individuals in community