Biology - Ecology

Ecology

The study of relationships

• Between 2 organisms

• between organisms and enviorment

Unicellular

composed of one cell

Munticellular

composed of more then one cell

Genetic Material for life

DNA or RNA

Life has to be capable of

Growth and Production

Sexual Reproduction

2 parents produce genetically unique offspring

Asexual

one parent produces genetically identical offspring

Life has to demostrate

a response to stimuli

Stimulus

A change in an organisms enviorment (Cause)

Response

how an organism reacts to a change in its enviorment (Effect)

Populations have to

Adapt to the enviorment and Evolve

Organisms have to have a

Metabolism ( consume enegery and produce wast)

Metabolism

All of the chemical reactions of each cell in an organism that provides energy for life’s processes and create key molecules

Organisms

Induvidual member of a speices or population

• One deer

Popluation

multiple organisms of the same species living together

• All the deer in a population

Community

multiple populations of species living together

• all of the plants, animals, organisms in a feild

Ecosystem

Community PLUS all of the abiotic factors in the enviorment

• All of the Animals and plants PLUS temerature

Biome

Multiple ecosystems that share similer characteristics but are located in different parts of the planet

Biosphere

the zone of all on earth, encompassing all of earth ecosystems

Biodiversity

the variaty of organisms considered al all level, from populations to ecosystems

Taxonomy

Feild of biology that classifies organisms, organizing them based on similer characteristics

Binomial Nomenclature

2-name naing system by Carolus Linnaeus that names organisms after their two most specific classification levels

Cladogram

diagram that shows relatedness of organisms

• does NOT show ancestral relationships

Dichotomous Key

tool used for indentifying organisms based on their charicteristics

Population Density

measures the number of individual organisms living in a defined space

• Affected by

  • Birth (natality)

  • Immigration

  • Death (mortality)

  • Emigration

Survivorship Curves

A graphic representation of mortality patterns

• shows number of survivoirs based on age

type one

Late loss; heavy parental care

• humans

Type two

Constant loss; mortality unaffected by age

• come birds, rodents

Type three

early loss’ produce many offspring at once and many die right away

• Fish, mosquitoes

Population Dispersion

the species distribution of organisms in a population

Random

randomly placed

Unioform/even

Evenly placed

• dessert plants evenly spaced out for better survival

Clumped

Clumped organisms

• Herds (elefants, birds)

Expolential

population grows without limits

• human population L

Logistic

population grows quickly at first and then levels off

• most natural populations (fish, rabbits)

Limiting Factors

aspects of the enviorment that limts a population can reach

Biotic

Living

• preditor

Abiotic

Nonliving

• Volcanoe

Density-Dependent

limiting factors have a bigger impact on more dense population

• compititon, diseaase

Density-Independent

limiting factor that regulates population regardless of its size or density

• Weather changes, pollution, natural disasters

Habitat

the actual area in an ecosystem where an organism lives

• biotic and abiotic resourses

Niche

all of the things an organism needs and does within its habitat

Predation

One animal kills and eats another for food

Predator

organism hunting/killing another for food

Prey

Organism killed/consumed as food

Predator/pray graph

shows cycling of the populations in response to each other over time

Keystone species

a species that holds the ecosystem together; it is critical for the curvival of the other species in the ecosystem

• predators are often keystone species

Competition

a relationship that exists between two or more organisms that fighting for the same limited resource

Interpecific

Where competition is occurring between different species

Intraspecific

Where compititon is occurring within the same species

Intraspecific

Where competition is occurring within the same species