Ecology

answer with term, designed for flashcard mode. Topics include: the 8 vertical layers,

Innate behavior

developmentally fixed

Fixed action pattern

unlearned sequence of patterns - dogs chasing a cat

foraging

collecting food items without eating them

Canopy layer

home to bats and birds

Epiphyte Layer

a layer of vegetation in a forest where plants grow on other plants, often absorbing moisture and nutrients from the air. Dont take energy from their host.

Root layer

lowest layer of a forest, consisting of soil and roots that support plant life.

abyssal zone

2000-6000m below the ocean’s surface

oligotrophic lake

a type of lake characterized by low nutrient levels, clear water, and high oxygen concentration, supporting fewer aquatic plants and animals.

zootrophic lakes

lakes that are rich in nutrients and support a diverse range of aquatic life.

K-selection

• “density dependent selection”

  • traits sensitive to population density

  • traits that are favorable in high densities

  • operates in populations near carrying capacity

  • Ex: mature trees growing in an old forest

r-selection

• : “density independent selection”

  • favorable in uncrowded environments

  • operates in populations experiencing little competition

  • operates in population densities well below carrying capacity 

  • Ex. weeds growing in an unfarmed, uninhabited field.

Cohort

group of individuals of the same age

Niko Tinbergan Four Questions

1. What stimulus elicits the behavior, and what physiological mechanisms mediate the response?

2. How does the animal’s experience during growth and development influence the response?

3. How does the behavior aid survival and reproduction?

4. What is the behavior’s evolutionary history

Cognition

-Process of learning involving awareness, reasoning, recollection, and judgment.

     →Honey Bees navigate through a maze using these behaviors.

cognitive map

• Representation of an animal’s nervous system with the spatial relationships between objects and its surroundings

Culture

A system of information transfer through social learning or teaching that influences the behaviors of individuals in a population.

Polygyny

One male mating with many females

Polyandry

One female mating with many males.

Sexual Dimorphism

A characteristic where the males and females differ in appearance.

Mate-choice copying

The behavior where individuals of a population copy the mate choice of others.

Reciprocal Altruism

Altruism to non-relative animals; if favor is returned this behavior can be adapted.

Inclusive Fitness

The total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by producing its own offspring and by providing aid that enables other close relatives to produce offspring.

Ecotone

Area where 2 different communities meet

emergent layer

The highest layer with tall trees that stand above the canopy, getting full sunlight and home to species like birds and bats

Understory

A shaded layer beneath the canopy, filled with young trees and shade-tolerant plants that receive filtered light

Shrub Layer

Contains shrubs and small woody plants that provide food and shelter for insects, birds, and small mammals

Herb Layer

Low-growing plants like ferns, grasses, and other herbaceous species that thrive in low light just above the forest floor

Forest Floor

Layer covered with decomposing leaves and organic matter that’s home to decomposers like fungi and recycling bacteria

estuary

where freshwater hits the streamand mixes with saltwater from the ocean, creating a unique habitat that supports diverse wildlife and plant species.

5 different types of interspecific interactiond

competition,

competitive exclusion

one of the competors is elimated due to competition, when they would have thrived otherwise

ecological niche

sum of abiotic and biotic resources in its environment

resource partitioning

role of different species in utilizing resources to minimize competition. Coexisting lizards find different habitats.

fundamental niche

potential niche

realized niche

actual niche that a species occupies

feeding adaptions

predator adaptations like fangs, claws, stringers, teeth, poisin

defensive adaptations

aposematic coloration

brightly colored prey scare of predators

batesian mimicry

a harmless larvae will mimic a snake

Müllerian Mimicry

two dangerous species develop the same patterns to warn predators that they are not palletable

affect host behavior and hop between hosts

what can a parasite do?

obligate mutualism

one species is dependent on the other for survival

Facultative mutualism

both species can survive alone

facilitation

mutualism or commensalism without direct interaction

species richness

number of species in a community

species diversity

species richness and relative abundance

bio diverse communities are more immune to invasive species

what is the relationship between biodiversity and invasive species?

heat

where energy is lost in between trophic levels

dominant species

most abundant/highest biomass species

keystone species

not abundant/low biomass, important niche, sea otters in a kelp forest

10%

trophic effiency per level

bottom-up models

model that observes the effect of lower trophic levels on higher trophic levels

top-down models

model that observes the effect of higher trophic levels on higher trophic levels

disturbances

event that affect resources in an environment

yes

can disturbances help increase biodiversity?

more growing seasons and successions

what reasons result in middle latitudes having higher biodiversity?

• X shaped graph

• immigration vs extinction

what should you know about the island equilibrium model?

zoonotic pathogens

animals that spread between animals and people

vector

transfers between one species and another

detritus

not alive organic matter - fallen leaves, decaying trees and animals, feces

mass/area/time

GPP units

(100 x net secondary production) / (assimulation of primary production)

production efficiency

Limiting Nutrient

the element that must be added for production to increas

biological augmentation

What biomanipulation tactic is used to speed up succession?

1. Emergent Layer

2. Canopy

3. Epiphyte Layer

4. Understory

5. Shrub Layer

6. Herb Layer

7. Forest Floor

8. root layer

order of terrestrial vertical layering

phytoplankton

what do zooplankton eat?

dredging

removal of sediment

sedimentary rock

where is the largest carbon and phosphorus reservoir?