Biology UNIT 1 FlashCards

Standard Error of the Mean

a statistical term that measures the accuracy with which a sample distribution represents a population by using standard deviation

Standard Deviation

A computed measure of how much data varies around the mean

Error Bars

On bar or line graphs

Normal Curve

The symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many attributes of chance. Most scores fall near the average

A Histogram

A graph of vertical bars representing the frequency distribution of a set of data.

Confidence Intervals

The range on either side of an estimate that is likely to contain the true value for the whole population (2 Standard Errors)

Certainty

What Standard Error Measures

Variability

What Standard Deviation Measures

Sample Size

The number of times a measurement is replicated in data collection

Mean

The arithmetic average of a distribution

Range

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Bucket Size

How to separate groups of data in a histogram

Column Chart

Used when comparing the means of different groups

Box Plots

Alt version of Column Chart that is used when data is not normally distributed

Line Graph

A type of chart that displays a series of data points; in biological context

Scatter Chart

Used to compare two continuous variables; allows us to visualize patterns between 2 variables and allows for more than 1 value for each variable

R^2 = 0

This means a change in one variable cannot predict the other variable.

R^2 = 1

This means that a change in one variable is perfectly

Characteristics of Life

order, reproduction, growth and development, energy processing, regulation, response to the environment, evolutionary adaptation

Taxonomy

Defining and classifying biological organisms by shared characteristics

Ecology

Scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment

Random Dispersal

Individuals in a population are spaced in an unpredictable way without a pattern. ex. dandelions that grow from windblown seeds might be randomly dispersed.

Uniform Dispersal

Individuals are separated by a fairly consistent distance

Clumped Dispersal

Individuals are grouped in patches

Carrying Capacity

Largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support

Logarithmic Growth

Growth of a population that levels off at carrying capacity

Exponential Growth

Growth pattern in which the individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate

Niche

An organism's particular role in an ecosystem; the ecosystem resources and conditions in which a species can grow and thrive

Community Ecology

The interaction of communities (between MULTIPLE species)

Community

A Group of Populations

Principle of Competitive Exclusion

Two species competing for the same limiting resource cannot exist together at a consistent population value

Niche Partitioning

Organisms find parts of a niche and adapt to it to avoid competition

Fundamental Niche

Where organism would potentially be

Realized Niche

Where organism is due to niche partitioning

Competition

(-,-)

Exploitation

(+,-)

Predation, Herbivory, Parasitism

Examples of Exploitation

Mutualism

(+,+)

Symbiosis

When an association becomes consistent, often species eventually require the other for survival

Keystone Species

A species that has a disproportionate effect on its community (predator, mutualist, ecosystem engineer)

Primary Succession

Begins in a Lifeless Area; Starts with Rock (no soil) - Type of Succession

Ecological Succession

The transition in species composition over ecological time (plants and species)

Secondary Succession

Starts with Soil - Type of Succession

Consumption

How Energy is Transferred

Trophic Structure

A pattern of feeding relationships

Producers → Primary → Secondary → Tertiary → Quaternary

Trophic Levels

Biomass

Plant materials and animal waste used as fuel

Air

How Matter Moves through an Ecosystem

Carbon Cycle

The organic circulation of carbon from the atmosphere into organisms and back again

Nitrogen Cycle

The circulation of nitrogen; nitrates from the soil are absorbed by plants which are eaten by animals that die and decay returning the nitrogen back to the soil

Eutrophication

Excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen (fancy term for fish kill)