Ecology Bio 152 UW madison key terms

Population

A group of individuals of the same species living in a specific area at the same time.

Community

An assemblage of different populations that live together in a defined area and interact with each other.

Ecosystem

A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment, functioning as a unit.

Landscape

A region that includes multiple ecosystems and is characterized by its physical features and ecological processes.

Global Ecology

The study of ecological relationships and processes on a global scale, including the effects of human activity on the planet.

Ecology

scientific study of the interactions of organisms and their enviornments

Natural History

The study of organisms, their environments, and the processes that shape them over time, often focusing on observational data.

Environmentalism

A social and political movement that seeks to protect the environment and promote sustainable practices.

Dispersal

The movement of individuals or populations from their place of origin to new locations, which can affect population dynamics.

Behavior

The actions or reactions of an organism in response to external or internal stimuli.

Habitat Selection

The process by which organisms choose their living environments based on factors such as resources, competition, and predation.

Biotic Factors

Living components of an ecosystem that affect the organisms within it, such as competition, predation, and symbiosis.

Abiotic Factors

Non-living physical and chemical elements in the environment that influence ecosystems, such as climate, soil, and water.

Isotherm

A line on a map connecting points that have the same temperature at a given time.

Photic zone

The upper layer of a body of water where sunlight penetrates, allowing photosynthesis to occur. where u can find phytoplankton.

Aphotic zone

The deeper layer of a body of water where there is little to no light, preventing photosynthesis. between benthic and photic

Thermocline

A layer in a body of water where the temperature changes rapidly with depth.

Lake stratification

The layering of water in lakes due to differences in temperature and density.

Littoral

The nearshore zone of a lake or ocean where sunlight reaches the bottom, supporting aquatic plants. vegetated

Limnetic

The open water area of a lake that is well-lit and supports plankton and fish. deeper area

Intertidal

The coastal area between high and low tide, characterized by fluctuating conditions.

Neritic

The oceanic zone that extends from the low tide mark to the edge of the continental shelf.

Benthic

The ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water, including the sediment surface.

Oceanic

The open ocean area that is beyond the continental shelf, characterized by deep waters.

Abyssal

The deep ocean zone, typically found at depths greater than 2000 meters, characterized by high pressure and low temperatures.

Pelagic

The zone of the ocean that includes the water column, away from the bottom and the shore.

Biome

A large ecological area on the Earth's surface, with flora and fauna adapting to their environment.

Climograph

A graphical representation of the climate of a specific area, showing average temperature and precipitation.

Rain shadow

A dry area on the leeward side of a mountain range that receives less precipitation. warm and dry on downward slop.

Elevation

The height above a specific reference point, usually sea level.

Aspect

The direction in which a slope faces, which can affect climate and vegetation.

Microclimate

A small, localized area with distinct climate conditions that differ from the surrounding area.

Tension zone

A region where different ecological communities meet and interact, often leading to unique biodiversity.

Population Ecology

the study of how biotic and abiotic factors influence the density, distribution, size and age structure of populations

Birth

The process of producing offspring, contributing to population growth.

Immigration

The arrival of individuals into a population from other areas, increasing population size.

Death

The cessation of life in individuals, contributing to population decline.

Emigration

The departure of individuals from a population to other areas, decreasing population size.

Population Size

The total number of individuals in a population at a given time.

Mark-Recapture

A method used to estimate the size of wildlife populations by capturing, marking, and recapturing individuals.

Dispersion Pattern

The spatial distribution of individuals within a population, which can be clumped, uniform, or random.

Clumped Dispersion

A dispersion pattern where individuals are grouped together in patches.

Uniform Dispersion

A dispersion pattern where individuals are evenly spaced throughout an area.

Random Dispersion

A dispersion pattern where individuals are distributed unpredictably and independently of one another.

Demography

The statistical study of populations, including the age structure, distribution, and trends in population size. Also includes sex ration.

Life Table

A table that shows the probability of survival and reproduction at each age for a population.

Age

The length of time an individual has lived, often used in demographic studies.

Vital Rate

The rates of birth, death, immigration, and emigration that affect population size.

Death Rate

The number of deaths in a population over a specific period, usually expressed per 1,000 individuals.

Fecundity

The potential reproductive capacity of an individual or population, often measured as the number of offspring produced.

Generation Time

The average time between the birth of an individual and the birth of its offspring.

Survivorship

The proportion of individuals in a population that survive to a given age.

Survivorship Curves

Graphs that represent the number of individuals surviving at each age for a given species, categorized into Types I, II, and III.

Semelparity

A reproductive strategy where an organism reproduces only once in its lifetime.

Iteroparity

A reproductive strategy where an organism can reproduce multiple times throughout its life. (similar to humans)

Exponential growth

A pattern of growth in which a population increases by a fixed percentage over a fixed period of time, leading to a rapid increase in size.

Population size (N)

The total number of individuals in a population at a given time.

Number of births (B)

The total number of live births occurring in a population during a specific time period.

Per capita birth rate (b)

The number of live births per individual in a population over a specific time period, typically expressed as a fraction or percentage.

Number of deaths (D)

The total number of deaths occurring in a population during a specific time period.

Per capita death rate (d)

The number of deaths per individual in a population over a specific time period, typically expressed as a fraction or percentage.

Per capita rate of increase (r)

The difference between the per capita birth rate and the per capita death rate, indicating the net growth of the population.

Intrinsic (maximum) rate of increase (rmax)

The highest possible per capita rate of increase for a population under ideal conditions, with unlimited resources.

Equation dN/dt = rN

A mathematical representation of population change over time, where dN/dt is the change in population size, r is the per capita rate of increase, and N is the current population size.

Behavioral Ecology

A field of study that examines the evolutionary and ecological basis of animal behavior, focusing on how behavior contributes to survival and reproduction.

Foraging

The act of searching for and exploiting food resources by animals, which can involve various strategies and behaviors.

Optimal Foraging Model

A theoretical framework that predicts how animals maximize their foraging efficiency by balancing the costs and benefits of different foraging strategies.

Species Richness

The number of different species present in a given ecological community or area.

Species Density

The number of individuals of a particular species per unit area or volume in a given habitat.

Species Relative Abundance

The proportion of each species in relation to the total number of individuals of all species in a community.

Species Evenness

A measure of how equal the abundances of different species are in a community, indicating the distribution of individuals among species.

Shannon Diversity Index

A mathematical formula used to quantify the diversity of a community, taking into account both species richness and evenness.

Dominant Species

Species that are most abundant or have the greatest biomass in a community, significantly influencing its structure and function.

Keystone Species

A species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance, often playing a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community.

Ecosystem Engineers

Organisms that create, modify, or maintain habitats, significantly influencing the structure and function of ecosystems.

Disturbance regime

The pattern and frequency of disturbances in an ecosystem, which can influence its structure and function.

Disturbance size

The spatial extent of a disturbance event, which can affect the recovery and dynamics of an ecosystem.

Disturbance frequency

The rate at which disturbances occur in a given area over a specified time period.

Disturbance intensity

The severity or magnitude of a disturbance event, which impacts the ecosystem's recovery processes.

Succession

The process of ecological change where one community of organisms gradually replaces another over time.

Primary succession

The type of succession that occurs in lifeless areas where soil has not yet formed, such as after a volcanic eruption.

Secondary succession

The type of succession that occurs in areas where a disturbance has destroyed an existing community but left the soil intact.

Serotiny

A reproductive strategy in which seeds are released from cones or fruits in response to specific environmental triggers, such as fire.

Biogeography

The study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time.

Latitudinal diversity gradient

The pattern that shows how species diversity tends to increase as one moves from the poles to the equator.

Species-area curve

A graphical representation that shows the relationship between the area of a habitat and the number of species that it can support.

Island biogeography

A theory that explains the number of species on an island based on its size and distance from the mainland, often illustrated by the island equilibrium model.

Trophic structure

The hierarchical organization of different levels of organisms in an ecosystem based on their feeding relationships.

Primary producer

Organisms, such as plants and algae, that produce energy through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis, forming the base of the food chain.

Primary consumer

Herbivores that consume primary producers for energy.

Secondary consumer

Carnivores that eat primary consumers.

Tertiary consumer

Carnivores that eat secondary consumers, often at the top of the food chain.

Decomposer

Microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, that break down dead organic material and recycle nutrients back into the ecosystem.

Detritus

Organic matter that is decomposing or has decomposed, including dead plants and animals.

Food chain

A linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another.

Food web

A complex network of interconnected food chains in an ecosystem, showing how different organisms are related through feeding relationships.

Trophic level

Each step in a food chain or food web, representing a different level of energy transfer.

Primary production

The rate at which primary producers create organic material through photosynthesis.

Gross primary production

The total amount of organic material produced by primary producers before any is used for respiration.

Net primary production

The amount of organic material that remains after primary producers have used some for respiration; it represents the energy available to consumers.