Bio Lab Quiz 9/24

Ecology

the field of biology that studies how living things interact with each other and their environment

Community

populations of different species living together in the same habitat or environment and interacting with one another.

Ecosystem

a community interacting with each other AND their physical environment. integrates both biotic and abiotic components to form a single system through which energy and nutrients flow

Biosphere

the global sum of all ecosystems

Species Abundance

Total number of individuals of a given species within a given area

Species Richness

total number of species within a given area

Transects

sampling in a straight line across an area

Quadrats

sampling within square plots placed within a study area

Mesocosms

controlled, typically outdoor, experimental systems

Diversity Indexes

a mathematical measure of species diversity in a community

Shannon Diversity Index

Assumes all species present in a sample are represented, and that sampling is random

Simpson’s Diversity Index

This represents a probability that two randomly selected individuals in a community will be the same species

A dominance Index

gives more weight to common species. Rare species have a smaller effect

Evenness

How close in numbers each species is in a sampled community

Margalef’s Diversity Index

If you sample more individuals, you are likely to find more species, normalizes species richness by the number of individuals observed and doesn’t care about evenness or dominance

Margalef

a metric of how many species are present after controlling for sample size. Only addresses richness

Shannon

Accounts for evenness as well as richness. is responsive to rare species (skews towards richness)

Simpson

Accounts for richness and evenness just like Shannon diversity. prioritizes dominance

Alpha Diversity

diversity within a specific site or habitat

Beta Diversity

diversity between different sites or habitats

Gamma Diversity

total diversity across the region

Phylogenetic Diversity (Faith’s PD)

A measure of diversity measured using phylogeny

PD

sum of the lengths of all branches on a phylogenetic tree

Phylogram

branch length is equivalent to molecular change

Monoculture

the cultivation of a single crop in a given area

Nutrient Pollution

excessive enrichment of water bodies with nutrients

Mark-recapture

ecological method to estimate the size of a mobile population by capturing, marking, and releasing a sample of individuals, then recapturing a second sample and using the proportion of marked individuals in the second sample to estimate the total population size

Pitfall

a hole or container dug into the ground that captures animals that fall into it, often placed at the ends of or alongside a drift fence to intercept them

Drift Fences

a temporary barrier used in wildlife research to guide animals along its length

Point Counts

a method for surveying bird populations in which an observer stands at a single fixed location for a predetermined time, recording all birds detected by sight or sound within a specified area or radius