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