General Ecology 460 Lecture Exam III

Damschen

Crypsis

camouflage that either allows an individual to match its environment or breaks up the outline of an individual to blend in better with the background environment

Community Ecology

the branch of ecology that studies the interactions among populations of different species living in a particular area or habitat, as well as the structure, composition, and dynamics

Christine Huffard

documented bipedal locomotion behavior in octopi displaying behavioral mimicry

Lotka-Volterra Model

models the relationships between predator species (P) and prey species (V)

State-Space Graph

maps the possible conditions or population densities of interacting species; x-axis is the number of spp. 1, y-axis is the number of spp. 2

Zero Net Growth Isoclines

line that represents all population sizes at which a population experiences zero growth

Isocline

combination of abundances where populations are at an equilibrium

Georgii F. Gause

formulated the competitive exclusion principle, which states that two species competing for the exact same limiting resources cannot stably coexist

Alfred James Lotka

Polish-American mathematician and scientist; proposed the predator-prey models at the same time as, but individual of, Vito Volterra

Vito Volterra

Italian mathematician and physicist; proposed the predator-prey models at the same time as, but individual of, Alfred Lotka

dV/dt = rV - cVP

the rate of change of a prey (victim) population over time

dP/dt = acVP - dP

the rate of change of a predator population over time

V-hat = d/(ac)

number of prey present with predator growth rate at zero

P-hat = r/c

number of predator present with prey growth rate at zero

Mutualism

an interaction between two species in which each species receives benefits from the other; ex: pollination

Symbiosis

when two different organisms live in a close physical relationship

Coevolution

when two or more species affect each other’s evolution

Facultative Mutualism

two species that provide fitness benefits to each other but whose interaction is not critical to the persistence of either species

Obligate Mutualism

two species that provide fitness benefits to each other and require each other to persist

Dispersive Mutualism

movement of individuals and genes

Defensive Mutualism

aids in defense against enemies

Trophic Mutualism

involves partners specialized in complementary ways to obtain energy and nutrients

Red Queen Hypothesis

the hypothesis that sexual reproduction allows hosts to evolve at a rate that can counter the rapid evolution of parasites; an evolutionary arms race

Pathogen

a parasite that causes disease in its host

Ectoparasite

a parasite that lives on the outside of the organism

Endoparasite

a parasite that lives inside an organism

Vector

an organism that a parasite uses to disperse from one host to another

Virulence

population growth of disease within the host

Rate of Spread

host migration and dispersal

Transmission Rate

disease movement between hosts

Susceptible

able to be infected, not currently carrying pathogen

Infected

currently carrying pathogen

Recovered

no longer carrying pathogen, no longer able to be infected

SIR Model

the simplest model of infectious disease transmission that incorporates immunity

Spatial Community Concept

how a set of local communities are linked across a landscape by the dispersal of multiple interacting species

Functional Community Concept

the nature of the interactions within an association of interacting populations

Superorganism Concept

compares a social colony to a multicellular body

Holistic Concept

species coevolved together to enhance their interdependent functioning

Interdependent Community

different species living together rely on each other for survival, growth, and reproduction

Closed Community

species distributions coincident (overlap)

Deterministic Concept

ecological patterns and community assembly are governed by predictable, non-random rules

Ecotone

a boundary created by sharp changes in environmental conditions over a relatively short distance, accompanied by a major change in the composition of species

Climax State

the final seral stage in the process of succession

Individualistic Concept

species occur together largely by coincidence

Open Community

independent species distributions

Independent Community

communities in which species do not depend on each other to exist

Environmental Gradient

the gradual change in abiotic conditions across space and time

Continuum Concept

along gradients of physical conditions, species gradually replace one another

Gradient Analysis

a method of visualizing community gradients

Species Richness

the number of species in a community

Species Abundance

the total number of individual organisms belonging to a single species within a defined area or ecosystem

Species Evenness

a comparison of the relative abundances of each species in a community

Species Diversity Index

quantitative measure that reflects how many different types of species and how evenly individuals are distributed among those species within a community

Simpson’s Index

a measurement of species diversity; D =

Simpson’s Reciprocal Index

Shannon Diversity Index

Charles Mode

Peter Raven

Paul Ehrlich

May Berenbaum

Karen Lips

Frederic E. Clements

Edith Schwartz Clements

Henry A. Gleason

E. Lucy Braun

Robert H. Whittaker

R₀ = βxy/γy = βx/γ

D = 𝚺(p_i²)

H = -𝚺[(p_i)(ln(p_i))]

Succession

Sere

Disturbance

Disturbance Regime

Frequency

Intensity

Severity

Disturbance Size

Exogenous

Endogenous

Climax Community

Primary Succession

Secondary Succession

Tolerance

Facilitation

Inhibition

Priority Effects

Evolutionary Fitness

Life History

Life History Traits

Maturity

Parity

Fecundity

Senescence

Semelparous

Iteroparous

Precocious

Altricial

Slow-Fast Continuum

r-Selected Species

K-Selected Species