Gerhart Bis 2B Midterm 1

Winter quarter 2025 midterm 1 flashcards

Null Hypothesis

A hypothesis that states there is no effect or difference in the chosen characteristics being measured

Hypothesis

A prediction about how two or more relate to each other

Weather

Weather conditions in the atmosphere over a SHORT period of time

Climate

AVERAGE weather conditions or patters over LONG periods of time

Hypertonic

Water with high solute (ex. Salt), causing a cell is shrivel

Hypotonic

Water with less solute, making the cell swollen

Isotonic

Equal parts of water to solute, cell remains the same

Adaptation

• Changes in genotype

• Across generations

• Long term

Acclimation

• changes in phenotype

• Within an individual

• Short term

Fundamental niche

The requirements needed by a species under ideal conditions

Realized Niche

The conditions of a species environment including the limitation factors imposed by other species

r selected

Small body size and short life expectancy, rapid growth early reproduction, produce many small offspring, little to no care for babies, type 3 survivorship,

K selected

Large body size, long life expectancy, slow growth, delayed reproduction, produce few large offspring, high parental offspring, type 1 survivorship

Order of taxonomic group from most broad to most specific: phylum, species, kingdom, class, family, order, genus

Kingdom → Phylum → Class → Order → Family → Genus → Species

Species richness

Total # of species present

Species evenness

The amount of one species being balances with every other species

Species diversity

Depends on species richness and evenness. Having more species present and having them all be even with one another increases diversity.

Evolution

The study of changes in heritable characteristics of populations

Ecology

The study of how organisms interact with each other

Relation between ecology and evolution

Ecological interactions can drive evolutionary changes, and genetic changes can influence/alter ecological interactions

Endotherm

Body temps controlled primarily by metabolic energy

Ex.) mammals like humans, elephants, dogs, cats

Ectotherm

Body temp controlled primarily by external conditions

Ex.) insects, reptiles, majority of aquatic organisms

Rhizobia

Are bacteria

Can only partner specifically with beans (legumes)

Provide only nitrogen

Mycorrhizae

Are fungi

Can partner with any type of plant

Provide any/all below-ground nutrients

Similarities of Rhizobia and Mycorrhizae

They are both heterotrophic (self feeding) and they both form mutualism with their plant roots

Bergmann’s Rule

Body size should be correlated with habitat temperature. Such as animals living in colder environments will be much larger than animals living in warmer environments.

(ex: a bird in a cold environment is bigger than a bear in warm environments)

Allen’s Rule

Length of limbs should be correlated with habitat temperature. Therefore limbs will be longer in warmer environments, and shorter in colder environments.

Similarities of Allen’s Rule and Bergmann’s rule

Both rules apply the concept of surface: area ratios and heat loss to predict what body shapes will fit the habitats better

Osmoregulation

The process of maintaining equilibrium of body fluids in an organisms body.

Freshwater fish

An example for osmoregulation. This fish drinks freshwater and releases the water.

Oceanic fish

An example of osmoregulation. This fish drinks excess salt water and releases the salt.

Northern hemisphere

June, July, August are the HOTTEST months

Southern hemisphere

June, July, August is the COLDEST seasons

Equatorial hemisphere

Temperature remains at the same relative temperature for the whole year

Characteristics of a deserts

High temperatures, low precipitation (dry)

Characteristics of a grasslands

Warm season is the wet season, dry during coldest seasons

Characteristics of a tropical rainforests

No seasonality in heat or rain

Characteristics of temperate deciduous forests

Seasonality in temp but always wet

Characteristics of boreal forests

Cold, highest precipitation during warm season

Characteristics of tundra

Super cold and little to no precipitation

Characteristics of Mediterraneans

Seasonality in both temp and precipitation, less rain during warm seasons

Resource acquisition

The process by which organisms obtain necessary resources such as nutrients, water, and light from their environment to survive and grow.

Ex.) Autotrophs use “self-feeding” (ex: photoautotrophs and chemoautotrophs)

Heterotrophs use “other-feeding” (ex: herbivores and carnivores)

Liebig’s Law of the Minimum

Plant growth is not determined by the total amount of all resources available, but by the amount of the resource that is more scarce compared to how much the plant needs

Optimal foraging theory

Maximizing the energy benefit: cost ratio of feeding decisions

Human’s fondness of sugar and fats

Sugars and fats give a lot of energy. Humans receive a lot of energy in return of their investment of eating them. Historically, these foods were rare.

Seasons and earths axis tilt

Throughout the year, each hemisphere receives different amount of solar energy. The north faces the sun during March equinox to September equinox. The time from September equinox to March equinox, the south receives more solar energy.

The rainshadow effect

a patch of land that has been forced to become a desert because mountain ranges blocked all plant-growing, rainy weather.

The windward side (front) of the mountains obtains all the precipitation, while the leeward side (back) receives little to no precipitation, making it dry.

Trade Offs/Principle of Allocation

Each organism has a limited amount of resources it can use for all life processes (obtaining food, escaping predators, reproduction, growth). Every decision has a benefit and a cost

EXAMPLES of resource acquisition trade offs

Root-Shoot ratio: where a plant must balance its allocation of energy towards growing roots (for water and nutrient uptake) and shoots (for photosynthesis and reproduction)

Optimal Foraging theory: managing the energy it costs in order to obtain food

Reproductive trade off

Semelparous: organisms that reproduce once and then die

Iteroparous: organisms that reproduce many times

If offspring number is small, they tend to live longer and grow larger

If offspring number is large, they live shorter lives and tend to be smaller

R0= sum lxmx

Calculates the average number of offspring from one individuals lifetime

G=sum xLxMx/sum lxmx

Average age individuals ARE reproducing

r = (lnR0)/G

Growth rate

Type I survivorship

Births > Deaths

r > 0, R0 > 1

Type II survivorship

Births = deaths

R0 = 1, r = 0

Type III survivorship

Births < deaths (most deaths when young)

0<R0<1, r < 0

Root:Shoot Ratio

Ratio of plants roots (below ground biomass) to its shoots (above ground biomass)

Loss of roots: harder to obtain below ground nutrients → shift energy investment (growth) to roots, increasing the ratio

Loss of shoots: harder to obtain above ground nutrients → shift energy investment (growth) to shoots, decreasing the ratio

Kingdom taxgroup

Ex.) Animalia

Includes 33 classes: lots of worms, mollusks, anthropoids etc

Total species ~8.7 million

Phylum taxgroup

Ex.) Chordata

Includes 18 classes: fish, sharks/rays, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals

Total species ~81,000

Class taxgroup

Ex.) Mammalia

~24 orders: rodents, dogs, cats, whales, bats

Total species ~6500

Order taxgroup

Ex.) Primates

16 families: lemurs, old world and new world monkeys

Total species ~525

Family taxgroup

Ex.) Hominidae

4 genera: Gorilla, Homo, Pan, Pongo

Total species 8

Genus

Ex.) Homo

Homosexuals are genius (genus)

Species taxgroup

Ex.) Sapiens

Only 1