Ecology Exam #1

Exam practice for Ecology

Ecology

the study of relationships among organisms and between organisms and the physical environment

evolution

a process which by populations change over time

population

a group of interbreeding individuals of a single species inhabiting a defined area

community

association of interacting species

ecosystem

biological community together with its associated physical and chemical environment

biosphere

the portions of the earth that support life, including land, waters, and atmosphere

3 categories of ecological research

observation, experimentation, and modeling

observation

the collection of data in unmanipulated settings

situ

habitat where the organisms live

epiphytes

plants such as orchids, ferns and mosses

population ecology

centered on factors influencing population structure and process

community ecology

understanding environmental influences on the kinds and diversity of organisms inhabiting an area

landscape ecology

exchange of materials, energy, and organisms with other communities and ecosystem

experimentation

typically refers to research that involves manipulation of variables of interest while holding others constant in order to test a hypothesis

modeling

creation and analysis of representations of data or ideas to provide insight or make predictions (usually represent a hypothesis regarding how a system works)

scientific method

observation, question, hypothesis, experiment, conclusions

Ecological studies

organismal, population, community, ecosystem, and global ecology

subfields of ecology

biology- (genetics, micro, evolution, etc.), geology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, economics, sociology + political science, conservation, paleoceocology, disease ecology

scientific hypotheses should be

absolutely provable

oikos

word underlying the term ecology, it means house

Anthropocene

informal geologic term that demarks the period in which human activities have had predominant effects on the biosphere

ecosystem services

regulatory services, constitute benefits that healthy, intact ecosystems provide to humans, provisioning services, cultural services

winters are cold in Idaho because

earth is further from the sun, sun is striking the Southern hemisphere, the atmosphere in the northern hemisphere is wetter, causing cooling

climateclimate

average patterns in meteorological variables, temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, and precipitation, in a given region over a long period of time.

when does aphelion occurs

when the earth is furthest from the sun

Coriolis effect

circulation cells move at different speeds and latitudes

Hadley cells

circulation cells nearest the equator

biome

major regional or global region, such as grasslands or desert, characterized chiefly by the dominant forms of plant life and the prevailing climate

falsifiability

requires conceptual outcome allowing the hypothesis to be rejected

taiga

circumboreal biome with dramatic annual temperature fluctuations

temperature grassland

herbaceous biome with co-occurring peaks in temperature and precipitation

when do the highest tidal fluctuations occur

spring tides- when the earth moon and sun are parallel to each

most important water movements affecting distribution and abundance of intertidal organisms are waves and tides

at temperature latitudes mixing of lake layers occurs

in the fall and spring, when thermocline disappears

Hardy Weinberg assumption - alleles will occur non-independently in a population

biomes

contiguous areas with similar climatic conditions on the Earth, associated with particular communities of plants, animals, and the soil organisms

physiognomy

outward appearance of their dominant vegetation

climate

long term geographic and seasonal variations in temperature and precipitation

weather

temperature and precipitation conditions at particular time and place

equinox

equal night- when there is equal amounts of daylight and sunlight

climate diagrams

developed by Heinrich Walter- tool to explore the relationship between the distribution if terrestrial vegetation and climate

solstice

time or date at which the sun reaches its maximum or minimum declination

aphelion

when earth is furthest from the sun

perihelion

when earth is nearest the sun

pressure

force over area

saturation water vapor pressure

maximum amount of water vapor supportable in air

newton

unit of force

pascal

unit of pressure

sunspot

11 year cycle that occurs wherein the solar radiation reaches the earth

greenhouse gas

opaque to infrared radiation

greenhouse effect

important effector of climate

emissivity

measure of object’s ability to emit thermal radiation

infrared radiation

electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths longer than visible light but shorter than microwaves

Walter diagrams

summarize average climatic conditions at a site using a standard method