Module 12 & 13: Natural Disruptions to Ecosystems & Adaptations

Flashcards covering key vocabulary from the lecture notes on natural disruptions to ecosystems and adaptations, including concepts of evolution, genetics, and selection processes.

Intermediate disturbance

The level of disturbance that leads to the highest species diversity in an ecosystem, according to ecological theory.

Evolution

A change in the genetic composition of a population over time.

Microevolution

Evolution occurring at the population level, such as the evolution of different varieties within a species.

Macroevolution

Evolution that results in the formation of new species, genera, families, classes, or phyla.

Speciation

The evolutionary process by which new species arise.

Genes

Physical locations in chromosomes within each cell of an organism that contain DNA coding for particular traits.

Alleles

Different forms of DNA that a given gene can take.

Genotype

The complete set of genes in an individual, serving as the blueprint for its potential traits.

Phenotype

The observable traits an individual actually exhibits, including its anatomy, physiology, and behavior, resulting from both its genotype and environment.

Mutation

Occasional mistakes in the copying process of genetic code, producing a random change that adds to genetic variation.

Recombination

A process in plants and animals occurring during reproductive cell division where a piece of one chromosome breaks off and attaches to another, creating new combinations of alleles.

Evolution by artificial selection

The process in which humans determine which individuals to breed, typically with a preconceived set of desirable traits in mind.

Evolution by natural selection

The process in which the environment determines which individuals survive and reproduce based on their traits.

Fitness

An individual's ability to survive and reproduce.

Adaptation

A trait that improves an individual's fitness.

Evolution by random processes

Processes that alter the genetic composition of a population over time, but the changes are not related to differences in fitness among individuals, and thus are not adaptations.

Gene flow

The process by which individuals move from one population to another, thereby altering the genetic composition of both populations.