APES Unit 2 Biodiversity

biodiversity

the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

genetic diversity

The range of genetic material present in a gene pool or population of a species.

evolution

Change in a kind of organism over time; process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms.

adaptations

Changes in physical structure, function that allow an organism or species to survive

artificial selection

Breeding organisms with specific traits in order to produce offspring with identical traits.

Natural selection

A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits.

fitness

Ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment

mutation

change in a DNA sequence that affects genetic information

gene flow

movement of alleles from one population to another

genetic drift

A change in the allele frequency of a population as a result of chance events rather than natural selection.

bottleneck effect

a reduction in the genetic diversity of a population caused by a reduction in its size

founders effect

genetic drift that occurs after a small number of individuals colonize a new area

generalist species

species that have broad niches; can live in many different places

specialist species

Species with a narrow ecological niche. They may be able to live in only one type of habitat

limiting factors

Any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the existence, numbers, reproduction, or distribution of organisms.

niches

the role of an organism in its habitat, or how it makes its living

resource partitioning

The division of environmental resources by coexisting species

ecosystem services

the processes by which life-supporting resources such as clean water, timber, fisheries, and agricultural crops are produced

supporting services

make it possible for ecosystems to continue providing services

provisioning servises

the products obtained from ecosystems ex: food, timber, fiber

regulating services

benefits obtained from regulation of ecosystem processes

cultural benefits

the non material benefits people obtain from ecosystems

HIPPCO

most important causes of premature extinction and endangerment, how we effect biodiversity

H

habitat destruction and degradation

I

invasive non native species

P

population and resource growth

P

pollution

C

climate change

O

over exploitation

habitat fragmentation

Breakup of a habitat into smaller pieces, usually as a result of human activities.

trophic cascade

A series of changes in the population sizes of organisms at different trophic levels in a food chain

trophic level

Each step in a food chain or food web

food web

network of complex interactions formed by the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem

keystone species

have a large effect on the types and abundances of other species in an ecosystem

indicator species

shows warning signs if a community or ecosystem is going to collapse, affected by a change in one or more key abiotic factors in the environment, ex: trout for water quality, birds for air quality

invasive species

species that enter new ecosystems and multiply, harming native species and their habitats

native species

Species that normally live and thrive in a particular ecosystem

non-native species

Species that migrate into an ecosystem or are deliberately or accidentally introduced into an ecosystem by humans. Good NN- beneficial to us

Bad Non-Native species

threaten native species and cause unexpected consequences, spread rapidly

species evenness

the relative proportion of individuals within the different species in a given area

species richness

the number of species in a given area

island biogeography

proposes that the number of species found on an undisturbed island is determined by immigration and extinction

Distance from mainland

closer island, higher immigration

Size of island

small island have fewer species than large islands

primary succession

succession that occurs in an area in which no trace of a previous community is present, starts with bare rock,

secondary succession

Succession following a disturbance that destroys a community without destroying the soil

pioneer species

First species to populate an area during primary succession

climax communities

Happen when a community has reached the final stage of ecological succession, mature stable community

net primary production

the gross primary production of an ecosystem minus the energy used by the producers for respiration.

gross primary productivity

The total amount of solar energy that producers in an ecosystem capture via photosynthesis over a given amount of time

biomass

the total mass of organisms in a given area or volume.

predation

An interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism

mutualism

A relationship between two species in which both species benefit