BIOS 044: Introduction to Ecology and Population Ecology

Flashcards covering introductory ecology concepts, biomes, abiotic/biotic factors, demographic life tables, mark-recapture sampling, and population growth models.

Metacognition

The practice of thinking about your thinking, allowing learners to monitor and evaluate their own level of understanding.

Self-regulated learning

The ability to set learning goals, create a plan, monitor progress, and adapt study strategies based on performance data.

Emergent properties

Novel properties that emerge at higher levels of organization due to the arrangement and interaction of parts as complexity increases.

Ecology

A quantitative biological science that explains how organisms interact with each other and their environment, their distribution and abundance, and the impacts humans have on the planet.

Abiotic factor

A non-living, physical or chemical factor in an ecosystem (such as temperature, sunlight, water, or soil nutrients) that influences species distribution and survival.

Biotic factor

A living factor, including organisms of the same or other species (such as competitors, predators, or parasites), that affects the survival and reproduction of a target species.

Dispersal

The movement of individuals or gametes away from their parent location or area of origin.

Range expansion

The increase in geographical distribution that occurs when individuals disperse into an area where the species was not previously present.

Niche model

A model used to determine and predict the range of environmental conditions (such as temperature tolerance) under which a species can survive and reproduce.

Biosphere

The global ecological system consisting of all Earth's organisms, inorganic chemicals, atmosphere, and physical environments.

Biome

A major life zone characterized by predominant vegetation type in terrestrial environments or by the physical environment in aquatic systems.

Whittaker Biome Diagram

A graphical representation mapping terrestrial biome types based on two primary physical factors: average temperature (\text{^\circ C}) and annual precipitation ($\text{cm}$).

Climate

The long-term prevailing weather conditions recorded over time in a given geographical region.

Seasonality

Annual cycles in weather and sunlight intensity caused by Earth's permanent tilt of $23.5^\circ$ relative to its orbital plane around the Sun.

Disturbance

An event such as a wildfire, storm, or human activity that alters an ecological community by killing organisms and changing resource availability.

Demography

The study of birth rates, death rates, and migration rates in populations and how these factors change population structure over time.

Mark-recapture method

A field sampling technique used to estimate total population size ($N$) by capturing, marking, releasing, and subsequently recapturing a second sample of individuals.

Cohort

A group of individuals of the same age tracked from birth until death for demographic analysis.

Proportion alive at start of year ($l_x$)

The proportion of the original cohort surviving to the beginning of age class $x$.

Age-specific death rate

The proportion of individuals alive at the beginning of an age class who die during that age interval.

Average number of offspring per surviving member ($m_x$)

The average number of female offspring produced during age interval $x$ by an individual that survived to that age.

Net reproductive rate ($R_0$)

The sum of $l_x m_x$ across all age classes ($R_0 = \sum l_x m_x$); indicates whether a population is growing ($R_0 > 1$), stable ($R_0 = 1$), or declining ($R_0 < 1$).

Per capita rate of increase ($r$)

The per capita birth rate ($b$) minus the per capita death rate ($d$), represented as $r = b - d$.

Exponential growth model

A model describing population growth in an idealized environment with unlimited resources, expressed as $\frac{dN}{dt} = rN$.

Carrying capacity ($K$)

The maximum population size that a particular environment can sustain over time given its limiting resources.

Logistic growth model

A model of population growth where per capita growth rate declines as population size ($N$) approaches carrying capacity ($K$), given by $\frac{dN}{dt} = rN \left(\frac{K - N}{K}\right)$.

Density-dependent regulation

Regulation of population growth where per capita birth or death rates change with population density due to factors like resource competition, territoriality, disease, toxic wastes, and intrinsic factors.

Density-independent regulation

Limitation of population size caused by factors (such as wildfires or severe weather) whose effects on mortality or birth rates do not depend on population density.