bio ecology

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Biology

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254 Terms

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ecology
the relationship between organisms, their biotic and abiotic environment, and humans
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one view of ecology
people separate from organisms and their environment, industrial capitalism and colonialism
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another view of ecology
people, organisms, environment all related
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biomes and climate
biomes depend approximately on climate
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temperature increases at low latitudes
because they receive more solar radiation
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precipitation decreases at mid-latitudes
because of hadley cell air circulation patterns
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temperature decreases at higher elevation
rising air expands and cools, falling air compresses and warms, lapse rate: every 1000 m elevation increase causes a 5-10 degree C decrease (depends on moisture and other phenomena)
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precipitation increases at high elevation on westward side of mountains
west (windward side) : cool air flow, precipitation at high elevation

east: rain shadow, leeward side of mountains
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earth’s tilt and seasons
the earth’s tilt causes seasons
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oceans buffer climate
water warms and cools quickly, so climate extremes are stronger in the interior continents
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effects of elevation/latitude on biome are similar
rainfall wet at equator, dry at 30, wet at 40-60, temp seasonality greater at higher latitude and less near ocean
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climate
long-term weather patterns
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biome
combinations of climate and species with similar ranges
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temperature
expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness
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precipitation
condensation of water vapor from the atmosphere due to gravitational pull of clouds
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elevation
height above or below a fixed reference point
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latitude
coordinate that specifies north south position of a point on the surface of the earth
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maritime climate
occurs in regions where climatic characteristics are conditioned by their position close to a sea or ocean
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continental climate
middle latitudes, temperatures not moderated by oceans
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hadley cell
low latitude overturning circulations that have air rising at the equator and air sinking at roughly 30 latitude
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mediterranean climate
hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters, located between 30 and 45, western sides of continents
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species distributions overlap within biomes
geographic distributions (ranges) vary across species
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what sets limits to species distribution
all occur simultaneously: can species disperse to a location, are the abiotic and biotic environment suitable for the suitable for the survival, growth, and reproduction of the species

humans can influence or shift any of these limits, behavior can influence any of these limits
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dispersal
the movement of individuals or gametes away from (& potentially back to) their original location
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dispersal via several mechanisms
animal vector (ingested/excreted), mobile, wind, water, animal vector (exterior)
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dispersal often limits species distributions
dispersal event increases species range, demonstrates that distributions were limited by dispersal rates, and NOT by environmental limits
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abiotic
non-living components
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biotic
living components of the environment, some parts of the environment, such as soil and natural waters blend of both
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biotic factors
can influence dispersal, can influence abiotic limits
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species limits are partially set by geographic distribution of abiotic and biotic gradients
temperature, elevation, storm risk, predation risk
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types of gradients
physically continuous: ex. gradient in temp moving from bottom to top of a mountain

patchy: range of environmental conditions
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species distributions along gradients
species often occur where performance is highest along an environmental gradient, species distributions are often limited at one end of the range by abiotic environmental factors and at the other end by biotic environmental factors
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measuring species presence and diversity to access stream health
presence of one or many bioindicator species at a site can tell us about environmental conditions there

assuming dispersal or biotic environment do not affect distributions, can assume water quality
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environment
the surroundings and conditions in which an organism operates
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behavior
the way in which an animal or human reacts to a particular situation
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environmental gradient
change in abiotic factors over time
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indicator species
an organisms whose presence, absence or abundance, reflects the specific environmental condition
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biodiversity
spatial scale, set of organisms, what do you mean by diversity
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scales of diversity
spatial grain: the characteristic at which measurements are reported

spatial extent: the overall region in which the measurements are made at the selected spatial grain (ex. entire state)
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diversity metrics
abundance - number of species (total or per species), richness - total number of species, evenness - relative similarity in abundance of species, composition - identities of which species are present (think of individuals as diff m & ms, diff species are diff colors, bowl = scale of measurment)
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counting number of species
we can stack species range maps like pancakes and count species richness at each location (same grain) within the overall extent of interest
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latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG)
pattern of changes in species richness with latitude, generally highest species richness near the equator, observed to exist across taxonomic groups
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leading explanations for the LDG
environments are less stressful in the tropics meaning more species can survive (warmer/wetter), more energy available in the tropics meaning more ways to differentiate niches/ support more species, higher temperatures in the tropics biochemically drive higher mutation rates and thus speciation rates, more competition in the tropics more net speciation, more time to evolve new species in the tropics (no ice sheets), more land area supports more species in the tropics
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ldg in the past
absent , diversity peaks at latitudes with greater land area
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biomes found in different locations in the past
antartica had warm forests, warm temps around 20, no ice sheets, atmospheric co2 concentrations higher, forests in complete darkness during long polar winters
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larger area
higher richness
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island biogeography
islands closer to mainland get more immigration of species than farther islands, larger islands have lower extinction rates (more ways for species to survive)
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equilibrium richness on island
determined by the balance between immigration and extinction, and thus by island size and distance from mainland
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longer time since disturbance
higher richness, tree richness also higher in wetter environments, general trend for plants too
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more agricultural intensification
lower arthopod richness
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more land clearance
lower abundance and richness
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agroforestry systems
can maintain higher biodiversity than intensive/ plantation agriculture
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argoforestry
(practices involving maintaining natural landscape fragments, intermixing species being cultivated, etc), preserve traditional knowledge and cultural practices
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more indigenous land use
higher richness of culturally important plants, ade: amazonian dark earth, a type of nutrient-rich soil thought to have been created through intensive land use and fertilization by indigenous peoples of the amazon, more ade higher richness of edible plants
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less poverty
higher species richness in cities
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population
a group of individuals of a single species in a certain area, may interact with each other, area be quite diffuse if the organisms are mobile
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species distributions/ range limits often emerge from population growth rate variation across space
a species is absent in a location when an extent population cannot persist (due to all (dispersal, biotic, and abiotic environmental factors)

if dispersal is not limiting, the range limit is set by where zero or negative population growth rates occur
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populations can grow or shrink over time
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demography
the study of the vital statistics of a population and how they change over time

births, deaths, immigration, emigration
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bide model
Nt+1 = Nt + B + I - D - E
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Nt
the number of individuals in a population at time t (time interval usually one year for plants and animals but depends on the population we are studying)
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B
the number of births in the next time interval
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I
the number of immigrants in the next time interval
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D
the number of deaths in the next time interval
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E
the number of emigrants in the next time interval
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Nt+1 = Nt + B - D
the size of a population in a given year is the size in the previous year plus the number of new individuals born and minus the number of individuals that died
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geometric growth
assume B-D is a constant fraction - change r of Nt

B-D/ Nt = change r - means each individual’s birth and death probability is constant and does not change over time Nt + 1 = Nt + change r (Nt)

Nt+1 Nt = change N / change over time = change r (Nt)
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when to use exponential model
reproduction happen continuously, continuous, N0 x e^rt, a population of bacteria that reproduce at any time
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when to use geometric model
reproduction happen at discrete times, discrete, Nt = (1+ change r) ^t x N0, a population of annal plants that reproduce once every winter
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can exponential or geometrical growth continue forever
eventually our assumption that “each individual, on average has a rate of reproduction in the population equal to r regardless of the size of the population” breaks down, growth slows down as populations become bigger, need more complex model to describe reality
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thomas malthus
argues population ultimately will be kept in check either by increases in death rate (war, conflict) or decreases in birth rate (gov policy, eugenics, sterilization)
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evidence on a graph of N vs t that indicates that an exponential or geometric model is NOT a good description of the system
decrease in population, line would not be linear when y is logged, mass immediately extinctions, rate of change changes from year to year so the graph fluctuates up and down, population plateau
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exponential growth cannot continue forever
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populations can become limited as they grow
eventual equilibrium reached
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per capita population growth rate
1/N (dN/dt) rate of population growth divided by population size

a metric of the average rate of population change for an average individual in the population
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density dependence
changes in per-capita population growth rate with population size

negative density dependence means that per-capita population growth rate decreases when the population is larger - a necessary condition for a population to stop growing
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a population comes to equilibrium when 1/N (dN/dt) = 0
typically, birth rates show negative density dependence and death rates show positive density independence

equilibrium reached when b = d
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why is negative density dependence common
life usually becomes more challenging in denser populations, reducing birth rates and increasing death rates, fewer resources per individual (if total resource pool is fixed), more competition among individuals, fewer available mates, more disease and parasites, more predation risk (easier to be hunted when common)
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no density dependence in exponential growth model
growth rate of population calculated on a per-individual basis, no density dependence
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adding negative density to the exponential model
deriving the logistic model

1/N dN/dt = r (1 - N/K) r = constant value as in exponential model, 1 - N/K line with negative slope (new in logistic model)
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properties of the logistic model
r = intrinsic growth rate, constant number, describes how quickly population size will increase starting at very low density, ‘intrinsic’ in relation to the species biology and the environmental context
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K
carrying capacity, a constant number, population size at which N comes to equilibrium

per capita growth rate is highest when the population is small, and is small, and is identical to in the exponential model

population comes to equilibrium when N = K
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logistic growth
S shape, carrying capacity
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dN/ dt
rate of population growth in time ^-1
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1/N \* dN/dt
per capita rate of population growth in time ^-1
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r
intrinsic growth rate in time ^-1
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K
carrying capacity
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density dependence
when the per capita rate of population growth varies with N
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density independent factors can influence the population size at which births equal deaths
dN/dt at any instant is limited by something unrelated to the size of the population

external environment aspects: cold winters, droughts, storms, volcanic eruptions

populations display erratic growth patterns because density independent factors change over time

density independent factors can increase or decrease parameters like r and K over time, though we often cannot measure effects directly
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examples of density independent factors

affecting k
changes in temperature, changes in moisture availability, changes in land area
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examples of density independent factors

affecting r
changes in temperature, changes in moisture availability, change in allele frequencies
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most populations do not actually display exponential or logistic growth
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population fluctuations are common
density independent factors that vary over time, variation in immigration and emigration
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populations collapse can sometimes occur
common misconception: collapse always occurs if a population temporarily exceeds carrying capacity - smaller fluctuations are most likely in most scenarios
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life histories are linked to population growth
life history: suite of traits related to a species’ life cycle and the timing of major events

ex. age at first reproduction, average lifespan
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life histories vary across species
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principle of allocation
individual organisms have limited amount of resources to invest in different activities and functions, resources invested in one function are not available for another (trade-off)

in life cycle, resources must be allocated among growth, survival and reproduction
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reproduction size-number tradeoffs
species can have smaller or fewer bigger offspring
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costs of reproduction
more reproduction in one year means less reproduction the next year
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some life-history traits are coordinated along a “fast-slow cntinuum”
fast-slow continuum explains about 35% of the life history trait variation we see across organisms

fast: few reproductions per lifetime but many per reproductive episode, no parental care, small offspring or eggs vs slow: many number of reproductions but few per reproductive episode, often extensive parental care, large offspring or eggs