AP Bio Ecology (shared)

Orientation Behavior

place the animal in its most favorable environment

Kinesis

Random movement not triggered by a stimulus

Taxis

Deliberate movement because of a stimulus

Phototaxis

movement involving light

Chemotaxis

Movement in response to a chemical

Behavior

Actions carried out by muscles

Proximate causation

How a behavior occurs or is modified

Ultimate causation

Why a behavior occurs in the context of natural selection

Fixed action pattern

Unlearned or born behavior linked to a stimulus. It's unchangeable and done to completion

Sign stimulus

The trigger or stimulus causing the fixed action

Signal

Transmitted stimulus to another organism

Communication

The act of transmitting the signals and receiving them.

Pheromones

Chemical release to communicate with other organisms through smell or taste. Common in mammals and insects for better reproduction.

Imprinting

A way to recognize and be recognized by parents by training a specific behavioral response during the sensitive period.

Foraging

Food finding behavior

Optimal foraging model

Animals will minimize cost and maximize benefits when getting food

Altruism

Behavior that might reduce own fitness but increase another organism's; selflessness.

Ecology

The study of animal interactions based on environment

Ecotone

The mix of two or more biomes

Biome

Major life zones characterized by vegetation of terrestrial biomes and physical traits for aquatic biomes

Climograph

A graph showing the annual average temperature and rain for a specific region

Canopy

The upper layer of a forest covered with trees

Disturbance

An events that changes a community, removes organisms, or alters resource availability.

Population ecology

The study of populations in relation to the environment

Population

The amount of a group of an individual species

Density

The amount of individuals per a unit of area or volue

dispersion

Spacing patterns with individuals in a population (clumped, uniform, random)

Mark recapture method

To estimate wildlife populations by marking animals, releasing them to mix, then recapturing. X/n = S/N estimates the population (x = 2nd marked sample, n = 2nd sample, s = 1st marked sample, N = population estimate).

Immigration

An organism coming into a new area

Emigration

An organism leaving an area to a new one

Demography

Te study of vital population statistics (life, death)

Survivorship curve

A graph with the x as the percentage of animals with that life span and y as the number of survivors.

Exponential growth curve

J-shaped curve showing rapid, exponential increase in a population

Carrying capacity

The highest population a specie can have

Logistic growth rate

Assumes that the rate of population growth slows as the population size approaches carrying capacity, leveling to a constant level. S-shaped curve

K selection

Less offspring, higher quality, longer lifespans, slower maturation, live near carrying capacity.

R selection

More offspring, less quality, shorter lives, quicker maturation, quick reproduction, uses a lot of resources

Density dependent

When the population of a species is dependent on the population of another

Density independent

When the population of a specie is not affected by the population of another

Biosphere

The biotic and abiotic parts of the earth

Biome

An area of ecosystems that are characterized by climate

Ecosystem

A community with living and non living environment

Community

Populations that live near each other

Organism

An individual living thing

Interspecific interactions

Relations between a species in a community that affect survival and reproduction (like predation, herbivores, mutualism, etc).

Niche

The role an animal plays in terms of food, living area, reproduction, etc

competitive exclusion principle

Two species can't have the same niche because one will always compete for the other to change theirs so one will have to adapt

Symbiosis

Interactions with organisms living in, on, or near each other

Mutualism

When two organisms benefit from each other

Commensalism

When one organism benefits off of another and the other organism is unaffected

Parasitism

When an organism gets nutrients (benefits) directly from another organism (hurts)

Herbivory

When an organism gains nutrients (benefits) from eating a plant (hurts)

Predation

One animal benefits by killing and eating then nutrients of another animal

Species richness

The amount of species in a community

Green world hypothesis

The idea that land is green because predators keep in check the herbivores so they don't eat all the plants. A top down trophic model.

Productivity hypothesis

More plants means more herbivores which means more predators. A bottom up trophic structure

Bio manipulation

Applying a top down trophic structure to an ecosystem to change the ecosyetm

Resource partitioning

When all animals in a community have a different niche that allows them to live togeher

Relative abundance

the proportion each species represents of all individuals in the community

Trophic structure

Feeding relationships between organisms in a community. In a top down trophic structure visual, the arrows show which animal gets eaten by another animal (so a plant will have an arrow towards a bunny since it gets eaten by the bunny).

Trophic level

Each step in a food chain or food web.

Food chain

the transfer of food energy between organisms in an ecosystem

Food web

A community of organisms where there are several interrelated food chains

Keystone species

A species that influences the survival of many other species in an ecosystem

Ecological succession

When an area is disturbed and then colonized by a species which then gets colonized after

Primary succession

An area that is lifeless and has no soil that starts to gain life

Secondary succession

When a disturbance comes and kills many organisms but leaves the soil intact

Law of conservation of mass

Matter is not created nor destroyed in any chemical or physical change

Why is it energy transfer, not flow?

Because some energy is released as head in all trophic levels, and heat can't be turned into another form of energy.

Gross primary production

The energy from light and chemicals converted into energy for plants

Net primary production

The amount of energy obtained from light and chemicals but not used by plants. GPP - R_a (a = autotrophs).

Climate change effects

Affects NPP so can affect primary production. Causes hotter temperatures. Can change from carbon sink to carbon source and vice versa (carbon sink comes from more organisms and cell respiration, carbon source is the opposite). Many organisms die from temperature change. Hotter and drier summers, longer dry periods, less snow, more wildfires, droughts. Plants make leaves sooner in the spring and some water organisms die from the temperature of the water.

Production efficiency

The percentage of energy used for growth/secondary production. Net secondary production (growth) / assimilation of primary production.

Trophic efficiency

Percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next.

Biogeochemical cycles

Nutrient cycling with biotic and abiotic factors that are either global (gases in the atmosphere) or local (nutrients in the ground).

Genetic diversity

Genetic variation with and between populations

Species diversity

The number of species in an ecosystem (endangered and threatened are important types)

Ecosystem diversity

The variety of ecosystems on earth

Biological magnification

increasing concentration of a harmful substance in organisms at higher trophic levels in a food chain or food web

Climate change

Change in global climate that lasts three decades or more because of gas waste

Sustainable environment

a world system that takes into account the limits of the environment, produces enough material goods for everyone's needs, and leaves a heritage of a sound environment for the next generation

Temperature effects on cells

Effects enzymatic reactions meaning less DNA replication, cell division, and more. Cells have a harder time putting up defense systems

Temperature effects on individual organisms

Increased risk of overheating leading to reduced food intake and reproduction failure

Temperature effects on population

Populations tend to fluctuate. Some migrate, grow to adapt, reproduce different, or adapt in another way. Others don't leading to food shortages, reduced survival for their species and others, and less reproductive success.

Temperature effects on communities and ecosystems

Many species migrate thus changing the ecological community, primary production, and nutrient cycling.