ENV2051 Lecture 1 - Introduction to Ecology and Population Ecology I: Part A

Vocabulary flashcards defining fundamental ecological terms, macroecological rules, history, and niche concepts from Lecture 1.

Arcadian Ecology

A school of thought, advocated by Gilbert White, that champions a simple, humble life for man and a harmonious relationship between man and nature.

Imperial Ecology

A school of thought, associated with Francis Bacon and later supported by Carl Linnaeus, that advocates establishing man's dominance over nature through reason and hard work.

Taxonomy

The science of naming and classifying organisms, pioneered by Carolus Linnaeus in 1758 using binomial nomenclature.

Ecology (Charles Krebs definition)

The scientific study of the interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms.

Environmentalism

The practice of using scientific knowledge and findings to advocate for policy changes and pass legislation to protect the natural world.

Population

A group of individuals of a single species inhabiting a specific area at a particular time that have the potential to interact.

Rapoport's Rule

A macroecological rule proposed in 1975 stating that geographic range sizes of species (e.g., mammals) decrease from polar to equatorial latitudes, resulting in smaller range sizes in the tropics.

Climatic Variability Hypothesis

A proposed mechanism for Rapoport's Rule predicting that climatic tolerance in terrestrial organisms increases from tropical to polar regions due to greater high-latitude climate variability.

Bergmann's Rule

An ecogeographical pattern described by Carl Bergmann in 1847 stating that body size within species or across related species tends to be larger at higher latitudes and colder temperatures.

Allen's Rule

An ecogeographical rule proposed by Joel Allen in 1877 stating that animals adapted to colder climates evolve shorter appendages to minimize heat dissipation.

Temperature-Size Rule

An ecogeographical rule stating that ectotherms reared at higher temperatures grow faster but reach smaller adult sizes, whereas those reared at cooler temperatures grow slower but reach larger adult sizes.

Dispersal Limited

An ecological state in which a species is absent from a suitable geographic area simply because it has not been able to arrive or travel there.

Transplant Experiment

An experimental technique used to determine whether a species' distribution limit is caused by dispersal limitation or by abiotic/biotic environmental factors.

Niche

A concept summarizing the environmental conditions, resources, and ecological factors that influence the growth, survival, and reproduction of a species.

Grinnellian Niche

A concept defining a species' niche primarily by its non-interactive abiotic environmental requirements and habitat conditions across broad geographic scales.

Convergent Evolution

The process where distantly related organisms independently evolve similar physical traits or ecomorphs to adapt to similar environments.

Eltonian Niche

A niche concept emphasizing a species' functional role, trophic position, and local biotic interactions with food, predators, and resources.

Hutchinsonian Niche

A niche concept defined as an n-dimensional hypervolume of environmental conditions and resources permitting a species to persist and reproduce.

Fundamental Niche

The physical environmental conditions in which a species can potentially survive and reproduce in the absence of biotic interactions like competition or predation.

Realized Niche

The actual physical and environmental conditions that a species occupies when restricted by biotic interactions such as competition and predation.