Bio 1442 Ecology and Evolution UTA Exam 3 study set

Which of the following nutrients are the biggest causes of eutrophication? There are lots, but these are the major ones in general.

nitrogen, phosphorus

What is an estuary?

An area where freshwater from rivers mixes with seawater.

Which of the following is an example of an abiotic factor in an ecosystem?

sunlight

In looking at rainfall patterns in a region with mountains occurring parallel to nearby ocean, you would expect rain to fall the most on the ___________ side of the mountains.

windward

Where would you find a benthic organism?

On or below the bottom of a body of water.

Which of the following wavelengths of light has the greatest energy?

blue

Why is terrestrial productivity highest in equatorial climates?

The answer is most likely a combination of the other responses.

If the sun were to suddenly stop providing energy to Earth, most ecosystems would eventually vanish. Which of the following ecosystems would likely survive the longest after this hypothetical disaster?

deep benthic ocean

What is eutrophication?

When an ecosystem (usually aquatic) is released from nutrient limitation and an overgrowth of photosynthetic organisms dies, killing off other organisms.

If I say that a lake is oligotrophic, this means that it has

a low concentration of nutrients.

In creating global climate patterns, which of the following factors is the primary cause of all of the other factors that are listed?

variation in the heating of Earth's surface

You do a study on elephants and find that there are eight elephants per acre. This is a measurement of

density

Which term describes a population growth model in an environment with unlimited resources?

exponential growth

Great apes, elephants, and whales have which type of survivorship curve?

Type I (survivorship is highest for young individuals; mortality rates are highest for oldest age classes)

If we say (from an evolutionary perspective) that an individual is acting altruistically, what does that mean?

One individual ("actor") is behaving toward another individual ("recipient") in a way that increases the recipient's fitness but potentially decreases the fitness of the actor.

A demographic pyramid with a broad base that quickly slopes up to a narrow is likely to be

a developing nation

When we say that two organisms live symbiotically, this means that they both benefit from the relationship.

FALSE

If I say that a species is semelparous, what does this mean?

It reprduces once in its lifetime.

A forest burns down, and new species of plants move in, forming a new plant community that changes over time, often resulting an a new forest. This is an example of ecological ______________________.

succession

Phytoplankton are an example of a

producer

Which of the following traits is characteristic of r-selected populations?

many offspring per reproductive episode

What is the realized niche of a species?

The niche actually occupied by that species.

What is a fixed action pattern?

A set of innate behaviors that are triggered by a sign stimulus.

Where is the largest reservoir of freshwater on Earth stored?

ice and snow

When carbon dioxide combines with water, the first product is

carbonic acid

A "step" in a food chain is known as the

trophic level.

Biomagnification occurs when

a substance such a toxin accumulates in organisms at higher and higher levels moving "up" the food chain.

Net primary production is

gross primary production minus the energy used by producers, primarily through respiration.

Your textbook identifies three levels of threat to biodiversity:

loss of genetic diversity, loss of species diversity, and loss of ecosystem diversity

What is an "umbrella" species?

One whose protection has broader benefits to other organisms in the environment it inhabits.

bioindicators

reveal early signs of ecological problems

movement corridor

connection of habitat island for dispersal and migration of organisms

zoned reserve

regions of land with different level of protection/ land use

restoration ecology

applied use of ecology to return degraded ecosystems

sustainable development

log term planning to balance human life and economic concerns with biological conservation

Salamanders old name

Typhlomolge

Salamanders are pedomorphic

looks like a kid but is an adult

Commensalism

type of relationship between two living organisms in which one organism benefits from the other with out harming it

innate behavior

genetically hardwired

Mullerian mimicry

phenomenon where two or more species with effective defenses share a similar appearance or signaling

author of silent spring

Rachel Carson

flagship species

animal that is a icon, symbol for a campaign