BSC2011 EXAM 3

abiotic component of the environment

the nonliving component, consisting of chemical and physical factors, such as temperature, light, water, soil, and rocks.

biotic component of the environment

the living component, consisting of biota or living organisms in the environment (including microbes, plants, and animals)

organism, population, community, ecosystem, biosphere

scales of ecological organization

climate

average conditions that prevail in an area over a long period of time

weather

a short-term state of conditions that depends on climate

reciprocal selection/coevolution

each species drives evolutionary change in the other

organism

individual living thing

population

group of individuals of the same species living in a particular geographic area.

community

consists of all the organisms of all species that inhabit a particular area

ecosystem

A community of organisms and their abiotic environment

biosphere

part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere

Hadley Cell

the circulation cells between 0 and 30 degrees. These circulation cells bring warm air from the tropics to 30 degree latitudes and carry dry air from the 30 degree latitudes back to the tropics.

the fact that the Earth is tilted

What drives seasonal changes on a global scale?

intertropical convergence zone

a band of clouds that can be viewed from outer space

Coriolis effect

the force that causes the predictable directional flow of winds and oceans due to the rotation of the earth

clockwise

ocean current direction in northern hemisphere

counterclockwise

ocean current direction in southern hemisphere

greenhouse effect

when solar energy hits the Earth's surface, some of it is re-emitted through longer infrared wavelengths with less energy. Greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere, forming a barrier that "traps" longwave net radiation from the Earth. As a result, this radiation does not escape Earth's atmosphere and Earth is kept warmer than it otherwise would be.

water climate diagram

a diagram that shows average monthly temperature and precipitation in a particular region or biome throughout the year.

shallow currents

currents found at the surface of the ocean, which are driven by the prevailing winds.

deep currents

currents found deep in the Earth's oceans, driven by density differences in the water.

light, temperature, and precipitation.

3 physical factors that drive the distribution of organisms globally

biome

a major region of distinctive plant and animal groups adapted to a particular climate and physical environment.

temperature and precipitation

key drivers of long-term vegetation patterns that determine terrestrial biomes

why Florida is not a desert

it is surrounded by the ocean, so it received a higher amount of precipitation that desert areas.

boreal forest

largest terrestrial biome

tropical rain forest

terrestrial biome with the largest species diversity

population density

the number of individuals in a given area (of land) or volume (of water)

population size

the number of individuals in the population

per capita growth rate

the average organism's contribution to the total population growth rate

per capita death rate

the average organism's chance of dying in a given period

per capita birth rate

the number of offspring that the average organism produces in a given time period

life history

the traits that make up the organism's schedule of reproduction and survival

life table

summarizes age-specific data concerning survival and reproduction and tells us a lot about the population's demographics

carrying capacity

the maximum population size that the available resources in the environment can support

clumped, random, and spaced

3 different types of spatial patterns

greater than 0

population is growing if r (the per-capita growth rate) is...

additive growth

occurs when a population increases by the same amount every period

multiplicative growth

occurs when a population increases by the same multiple every period

logistic growth

occurs when a population's growth eventually levels of at carrying capacity, K

density-dependent factors

population controls that increase when there is crowding in the population- starvation, disease, territoriality

positive density dependence

a situation in which an increase in population density increases population growth levels and a decrease in population density decreases population growth levels

exponentially

the human population has been growing ___ over the majority of the past three centuries

mark-recapture method

method to determine population density that involves capturing animals, marking them, letting them go

population size estimate

(# marked x total # in the 2nd capture)/# marked in 2nd capture

semelparous

describes an organism that reproduces only once throughout its life

iteroparous

describes an organism that reproduces many times throughout its life

community ecology

the study of the abundance, distribution, and interactions between populations of species that coexist

intraspecific competition

competition within a species

interspecific competition

competition among different species

resource

any factor that an organism consumes that can increase its population growth rates

competition

the use or defense of a resource that decreases the availability of the resource to others

predation

an interaction between species in which one species, the predator, eats the other, the prey

herbivory

an interaction in which an herbivore eats parts of plants or algae

parasitism

an interaction in which one organism lives on or in another organism and receives nutrients from it. The parasite may eventually kill the host, but (unlike predation) this does not occur right way; it occurs over a long period of time

mutualism

a relationship in which both participants benefit. Mutualisms evolve when species acting in their own self-interest happen to benefit others.

commensalism

a special kind of interaction in which one organism benefits without affective the other

amensalism

special kind of interaction in which one organism is harmed while the other organism is unaffected

competitive exclusion

states that 2 species are unable to coexist indefinitely on the same limiting resource

fundamental niche

the environments in which the species could exist

realized niche

the environment in which the species actually does exist

species richness

the total number of species in a community

relative abundance

the proportion of the community each species makes up

trophic structure

describes the interactions between species in terms of what eats what

succession

a process that occurs after a disturbance, in which species replace one another in a relatively predictable sequence

closer to

species richness is greater on islands that are ___ from the mainlands

larger

species richness in greater on islands that are...

predator-mediated species coexistence

occurs when the presence of a predator encourages coexistence and cooperation between species

species richness and species evenness

2 components of species diversity

food web

a graphical representation of the feeding relationships that exist in a community

bottom-up control

describes a food web in which the abundance of individuals at lower trophic levels determines the abundance of individuals at higher trophic levels, which are said to be "food limited."

top-down control

describes a food web in which the abundance of individuals at higher trophic levels determines the abundance of individuals at low trophic levels, which are said to be "predator limited."

conservation biology

Integrates ecology, physiology, molecular biology, genetics and evolutionary biology to conserve biological diversity.

conservation

incorporated political, social, and economic dimensions, in addition to the scientific dimensions of conservation biology

metapopulation

a collection of subpopulations that are linked together by dispersion

major cause of extinction

habitat destruction, introduced species, overexploitation, and global climate change

extinction

occurs when an entire species is terminated

effective population size

the population's average size in terms of the number of individuals who can equally contribute genes to the next generation

ecosystem ecology

the study of the flow of energy and materials between biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems

temperature and precipitation

factors that control decomposition by decomposers/detritivores

gross primary production

the total amount of light energy converted to chemical energy through photosynthesis

net primary production

refers to the total amount of chemical energy that goes towards building plant biomass. It is equal to gross primary productivity minus respiration

trophic efficiency

represents the share of energy at one trophic level that gets passed on to the next trophic level; also called ecological efficiency. This is about 10% for most ecosystems

assimilation efficiency

a measure of an organism's ability to extract the energy out of its food

primary producers

the first producers of energy-rich compounds that are later used by other organisms

primary consumers

herbivores

secondary consumers

carnivores that eat herbivores

production efficiency

the percentage of assimilated energy that contributed to new biomass

tertiary consumers

carnivores that eat other carnivores

first law of thermodynamics

energy can be transferred and transferred, but it cannot be destroyed

second law of thermodynamics

disorder in the universe is constantly increasing because usable energy is constantly being converted to unusable energy

increases

assimilation efficiency ___ as you move up trophic levels

decreases

production efficiency ___ as you move up trophic levels

10%

average ecological efficiency from trophic level to trophic level

light, temperature, water, nutrients

factors that limit net primary productivity in terrestrial ecosystems

nitrogen and phosphorus

two most limiting nutrients for terrestrial systems

phosphorus and iron

two most limiting nutrients for aquatic systems

nitrogen fixation

conversion of unusable atmospheric nitrogen into usable forms of nitrogen, such as nitrates

inorganic compound

compounds that do not contain carbon molecules

organic compound

compounds that contain carbon molecules