AP Bio Ecology Vocabulary

Ecology

The study of interactions between an organism and its environment

Organismal Ecology

How an organisms features help it survive in its environment

Population Ecology

Environments effect on a populations size

Community Ecology

Interactions between species

Landscape Ecology

The energy and chemical flow through multiple landscapes

Global Ecology

How regional ecosystems affect the biosphere

Climate

Long-term weather conditions of a given area

______ moderates the temperature of surrounding areas

Large bodies of water

_______ disrupt wind flow and create distinct wet and dry sides

Mountains

_______ reduce global temperature and increase precipitation

Forests

Microclimates

Small, localized climates

Tropical rainforest

High precipitation, 90-120 F

Savanna

Medium precipitation, 60-80 F

Desert

Very low precipitation, 90 -120 F or - 30-0 F

Temperate grassland

Low precipitation, 0-80 F

Deciduous forest

Medium precipitation, 10-90 F

Taiga

Low precipitation, 10-90 F

Tundra

Cold desert :P

Chaparral

Low precipitation, 50 - 100

Ecotone

Transition area between two biomes

Disturbance

An event that alters the array of organisms and resource availability

Photic zone

Aqueous area where there’s enough light for photosynthesis

Benthic zone

The bottom of any body of water

Limnetic zone

Freestanding water that’s far away from shore

Neritic zone

Water that lies above the continental shelf

_______ helps cycle nutrients and oxygen throughout a lake

Lake turnover

Epimilion

The topmost, warmest layer of a lake

Thermocline

Area between the epimilion and hypomilion where there’s a dramatic temperature change

Hypomilion

Bottommost, coldest, darkest layer of a lake

Lake

Large or small stratified, contained bodies of waterLake

Wetland

Water-saturated soil, important filter

Streams & rivers

Speed and volume varies, salinity increases as it reaches sea level

Estuary

Transition area between a river and the sea

Hydrothermal vents

Bottom of the ocean, organisms get energy from hot plumes of water and nutrients

Mark recapture method

A method of estimating population size by capturing a group of animals, releasing them, recapturing an other group and seeing how many from the original captured group are in the new group. M/N = m/n where M = marked animals, N = Estimated pop. size, n = # of animals captured during recapture, m = # of animals marked in recapture

Logistic growth

Population size levels off as it reaches carrying capacity (S-curve)

Exponential growth

Population size increases exponentially under ideal conditions (J-curve)

Semplarity

When an organism produces all of its offspring at once

Iteoparity

When an organism produces its offspring throughout its lifetime, rather than all at once

K-selection

A strategy where organisms produce few offspring but have a high survival rate

R-selection

A strategy where organisms produce many offspring but few survive

Commensalism

+/0. One organism is benefited while the other is unaffected.

Relative abundance

The ambulance of each species in relation to the total amount of organisms in the community

Energy hypothesis

Only 10% of energy (on average) is transffered up each trophic level

Foundation species

These species have many other species reliant on them. Their removal would cause a major disruption to the food web. Like grass

Keystone species

Like less influential foundation species.

Ecosystem engineer

A species that drastically changes the landscape around them. Like beavers.

Primary sucession

When life returns to an area after life has been completly wiped out by a major disturbance

Secondary sucession

When life returns to an area after life has been mostly wiped out by a major disturbance

Pioneer species

These species are the first life forms to appear during primary sucession

1st law of thermodynamics

Energy cannot be created or destroyed

2nd law of thermodynamics

Energy exchange increases the entropy of the universe

Autotrophes

These organisms can convert light energy into chemical energy to power themselves

Heterotrophes

These organisms need to gain their energy by consuming other organisms

Detrius

Nonliving organic matter

Decomposers

Organisms that process detritus by breaking it down around them. Like mushrooms

Detrivores

Organisms that process detritus by consuming it. Like worms.

Gross primary production

Total primary production within an ecosystem

Net primary production

GPP - energy used during cellular respiration

Endemic species

Species that don’t appear anywhere else in the world