Ecology and Plant Diversity: Disturbance, Nutrients, and Aquatic Plants

What is the Relationship between Diversity and Disturbance?

A medium amount of disturbance will yield the highest amount of diversity

Why would one use functional groups over taxonomy?

There are only dozens of phyla that focus on what the organism actually does rather than what it is. (feeding, habitat, predators, stress coping)

The more productivity occurs in a low-nutrient area, what happens to diversity?

Diversity increases

Diversity decreases

The more productivity occurs in a high-nutrient area, what happens to diversity?

Diversity increases

As pH increases in an ecosystem, what happens to diversity

If an ecosystem has a diverse array of ecosystems, how does it affect diversity?

Diversity increases

This phylum includes non-vascular plants found in bogs. They also have a very fuzzy look

Bryophytes

Angiosperms

This phylum includes vascular plants that flower and are the most diverse plant group in freshwater

Grasses (Pocacae)

This plant group is emergent and can have a round stem that's hollow or a pithy stem. They have flat blades & a ligule at the junction of the leaf and stem, with the flowers in spiklets

sedges (cyperaceae)

This plant group is emergent and has sharp edges, having triangular stems in a cross-section, often with 3-ranked leaves

This plant group is emergent with round and pithy stems and small but complex flowers.

Rushes (Juncaceae)

This plant group is emergent with flat, strap-like leaves and hot dog seed heads

Cattails (Typhaceae)

Horsetails

This plant group is emergent with jointed, ribbed stems and whorls of leaves

This plant group consists of plants that are rooted but have floating leaves in a water body

Floating attached

This plant group consists of plants that have floating leaves in a water body that often form dense mats in high-nutrient conditions

Floating Unattached

This plant group consists of plants that are adapted to low light conditions and have finely divided or ribbon like leaves. They are also critical for hypolimnion O2 and are very safe/good for habitat

Submerged

This invertebrate phylum does suspension feeding to biofiltrate the water column. It lives in hard substrate or in slow reaches.

Porifera

This invertebrate phylum ambushes its prey with a sit-and-wait strategy and uses macrophytes and substrates for habitat

Cnidaria

This invertebrate phylum feeds by being a predator and parasite, living in the benthos or its host organism

Platyhelminthes

This invertebrate phylum uses active predation to feed and lives in the benthos, mud, and leaf litter.

Nemertea

This invertebrate phylum feeds on bacteria and algae. It also lives in interstitial and periphyton areas

Gastrotricha

Rotifera

This invertebrate phylum is a suspension feeder/predator, living in plankton, benthos, and moss.

This invertebrate phylum is a deposit feeder/bacterivore and lives in sediment and the hyporheic zone.

Nematoda

This invertebrate phylum is parasitic in its juvenile stages, then grows into a non-feeding adult. They live in their arthropod hosts as juveniles, then live in streams/pools as adults.

Nematomorpha

This invertebrate phylum can be a scraper, filter feeder, or predator. They live in the benthos, macrophytes, and soft substrate.

Mollusca

This invertebrate phylum is a deposit feeder/predator, living in sediment, leaf packs, and biofilm

Annelida

This invertebrate phylum is a suspension feeder that lives in hard substrate and macrophytes

Bryozoa

This invertebrate phylum is a grazer/predator (meiofauna). They live in moss, periphyton, and sediment.

Tardigrada

This invertebrate phylum is widely known as the most diverse, containing all FFGs and habitats

Arthropoda

This invertebrate phylum can be an Omnivore, shredder, or predator. They live in the benthos, burrows, and littoral areas.

Crustacea (macro)

This invertebrate phylum is a Plankton feeder/detritivore and lives in the water column and benthos.

Crustscea (micro)

Chordata

This diverse phylum of animals is defined by having a notochord, dorsal hollow nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, and a post-anal tail at some stage in their development

This term refers to all vertebrates with four limbs and distinct digits (fingers and toes), as well as legless vertebrates with limbed ancestors.

Tetrapod

Predator fish adaptations

They have developed streamlined bodies.

How have "Lie-and-wait" predator fish adapted?

They have pointed snouts, torpedo-shaped bodies, and large posterior fins that can generate sudden thrust and acceleration.

How have surface-dwelling fish adapted?

They have upturned mouths, flattened heads, and large eyes.

How have bottom-dwelling fish adapted?

They generally have flattened bodies and often special adaptations, such as the lack of a swim bladder or the presence of barbels or paddles for sensing prey in benthic habitats.

How have deep-bodied fish adapted?

They have narrow bodies and large fins (often spiny) and are adapted to maneuvering in tight quarters such as dense macrophyte beds.

How have Eel-like fish adapted?

They have reduced fins and elongated bodies, and they are adapted to move through narrow spaces, soft sediments, or holes.

What is a Herbivore?

An animal that only eats plants, providing top-down control on algae and macrophytes

Invertivore

An animal that feeds primarily on invertebrates, such as insects, crustaceans, worms, and molluscs

What is a Planktivore?

A species that only eats plankton, which indirectly releases phytoplankton

What is a Piscivore?

A fish eater

What is an Omnivore?

A species that eats both plants and animals

What is a Detritivore?

a decomposer that feeds on dead and decaying matter

What are the three groups of amphibians?

Frogs

Salamanders

Caecilians

This amphibian group can be a Algivore or suspention feeder, or a detritivore.

Frogs (larval)

This amphibian group is a Terrestrial invertavore that uses ballistic tongue projection to capture its prey

Frogs (adult)

This amphibian group can be an invertivore or piscivore, using suction feeding with gape-limited prey capture

Salamanders (larval)

Salamanders (Adult)

This amphibian group can be a terrestrial/riparian invertivore or an aquatic generalist predator, using either tongue projection or suction feeding with gape-limited prey capture

Caecilians (Larval)

This amphibian group is a carnivore that uses its specialized deciduous teeth to feed

This amphibian group is an aquatic invertivore/small vertebrate predator, using ram feeding and suction feeding, where its elongate body allows pursuit in confined aquatic microhabitats

Caecilians (adult)

Benthic

bottom of an aquatic ecosystem

emergent

emerging from the water

endosymbiotic

a smaller organism that lives within another organism

epilithic

on rocks

epigean

above ground

epipelic

growing on mud

epiphytic

attached to plants

epipsammic

on sand

Neustonic

on the surface of water

periphytic

benthic, in a complex mixture including algae

stygophilic

actively use groundwater habitats for part of life cycle

stygobitic

specialized for life in groundwater

torrenticole

adapted to live in swiftly moving water

richness

number of taxonomic units

per unit area

evenness

relative abundance of species

shannon index

The index most commonly used to describe species diversity quantitatively. Includes both evenness and richness

rarefaction

a method ecologists use to estimate the number of species based on sampling effort

alpha diversity

Species diversity at the local or community scale

beta diversity

The number of species that differ in occurrence between two habitats

ecoregion

A relatively large area that is characterized by distinctive plant and animal communities, climate, and ecological features

endemic species

species that are native to and found only within a limited area