Behavior Biology

Flashcards about behavior biology and ecology

Proximate Causation

Tries to learn what the behavior is and what is the mechanism for that behavior

Ultimate Causation

Tries to learn why a behavior evolved and how it helps an organism survive

Ethology

Study of the natural history of behavior

Innate Behavior

Instinctive, genetic, has a fixed action pattern

Learned Behavior

Altered behavior as a result of previous experiences

Innate Behavior

Perception of the key stimulus triggers a motor program, or a fixed action pattern (pattern/behavior that goes unto completion, even if the egg is removed)

Operant Conditioning

Organism learns to associate its behavior through reward or punishment

Behavior Ecology

Study of behavioral interactions between individuals within populations and communities, usually in an evolutionary context

Ecology

Study of interactions between one another and to their environment. We look at the interactions between abiotic and biotic factors

Abiotic

Nonliving factors: Temperature, water, sunlight, soil, oxygen

Biotic

Living factors: producers, consumers, scavengers

Nonrenewable resources

Exist in finite amounts on the human scale

Renewable resources

Naturally replenished and recycled at a fairly steady rate

Biogeochemical Cycles

Movement of biological and chemical processes within or between ecosystems

Carbon fixation

Photosynthetic organisms taking up carbon dioxide. Carbon is changed from gaseous CO2 to an organic molecules like sugar

Population

Number of organisms of the same species that live together in the same area at the same time

Species Richness

Number of species present

Primary productivity

Amount of energy produced

Decomposer

Breaks down organic matter (fungi and bacteria)

Detritivore

Feeds of dead organic matter (dung beetle)

Genetic diversity

Measure of the variety of versions of the same genes within individual species

Species diversity

Describes the number of different kinds of organisms within a community or ecosystem

Ecological diversity

Refers to the richness and complexity of a biological community

Resilience of an ecosystem

Ability to withstand damage

Habitat fragmentation

Reduction of habitat into small, isolated patches

Invasive species

Organisms that thrive in new territory where they are free of predators, diseases, or resource limitations

Ecological Niche

The total of all the ways an organism uses the resources of its environment

Fundamental niche

Entire niche that a species is capable of using, based on physiological tolerance limits and resource needs

Realized niche

Actual set of environmental conditions, presence or absence of other species, in which the species can establish a stable population

Neutralism

Both are neutral to each other

Amensalism

One is neutral, other is harmed (ex. allelopathy)

Commensalism

One benefits, other is neutral

Competition

Both harmed

Mutualism

Both benefit

Predation or Parasitism

One benefits, other harmed

Biomes

Large biological communities

Tropical Rainforests

Occur where rainfall is abundant and temperatures are warm to hot year-round

Deserts

Occur where precipitation is uncommon and slight, usually with less than 30 cm of rain per year

Grasslands (Praires)

Occur at midlatitudes on all continents

Tropical Savannas

Like a grassland but has few trees

Temperate Scrublands

Dry environments support drought-adapted shrubs and trees, as well as grass. These mixed environments can be highly variable

Tundra

Treeless landscape where temperatures are below freezing most of the year

Deep-sea Thermal Vent Communities

Based on microbes that capture sulfur compounds released from thermal vents on the ocean floor

Mangroves

Diverse group of salt-tolerant trees that grow along warm, calm marine coasts around the world

Swamps

Wetlands with trees

Marshes

Wetlands without trees

Bogs

Areas of water-saturated ground usually composed of deep layers of undecayed vegetation known as peat