Studied by 1 personecology
study of how organisms interact with each other and the environment
biotic
living
abiotic
non-living
soil, water, temperature, light, atmospheric gases
Are these biotic or abiotic?
inorganic nutrients - carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur, and hydrogen
Are these biotic or abiotic?
inorganic chemicals - chlorophyll
Are these biotic or abiotic?
organic materials - proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, etc.
Are these biotic or abiotic?
succession
replacement of one community by another
Primary succession
ecological succession of vegetation from barren earth/water to climax community (no previous life)
Secondary succession
development of biotic communities where natural vegetation has been destroyed but there is still soil
extinction
no remaining organisms, permanent
Selection
certain traits or alleles of a species are advantageous, and individuals with these advantageous traits tend to be more successful than their peers reproductively
ageous traits tend to be more successful than their peers reproductively
Natural selection
differential survival and reproduction of organisms with characteristics that are advantageous for utilizing resources in their environment
Stabilizing selection
genetic diversity decreases, population stabilizes on a particular trait
Disruptive selection
favors individuals at both extremes of the distribution (e.g. light- and dark-colored oysters have a camouflage advantage compared to their medium-colored
counterparts)
Directional
natural selection favors one allele, allele frequency shifts in that direction
Artificial
breeders choose variants to be used to produce succeeding generations
Limiting factors
factor that limits population's growth (resources, shelter, food, disease)
Biodiversity
number and variety of organisms within a biome
Structural aspect
composition of biological community (species, numbers, biomass, life history), quantity and districution of abiotic materials, conditions
Functional aspect
rate of energy flow, rate of nutrient cycles, Biological regulation including both regulation of organisms by environment (e.g. photoperiodism) and regulation of environment by the organism (e.g. nitrogen fixing organism)
System
regularly interacting and interdependent components forming a unified whole
population
individual organisms of the same species sharing a common gene pool in the same geographic location at the same time
community
several populations of different species in the same location
ecosystem
community + abiotic factors
terrestrial ecosystems
forests, grasslands
freshwater, marine
Types of aquatic ecosystems
lotic, lentic
Types of freshwater ecosystems
lotic
running water (e.g. rivers, streams, springs)
lentic
standing water (e.g. lakes, ponds, wells, swamps, reservoirs)
domestic and industrial irrigation, navigation, fish and water fowl habitat, flood protection, recreation, generating hydroelectricity, source of water for laundry, bathing, cattle rearing
examples of lentic systems
oceans, seas
Examples of marine ecosystems
natural ecosystems
self-operating under natural conditions; no human interference
artificial ecosystems
managed and maintained by humans (e.g. crop lands)
biome
collection of ecosystems with similar climates and communities
avian, insect, bacterial, fungal, behavioral, mycorhyza
types of animal ecology
autecology
study of individual organisms
synecology
study of groups of organisms which are associated together as one unit
population ecology
study of individuals belonging to a single species and interactions between those individuals
size, density, natality (birth rate), mortality (death rate), vital index, survival rate
What are population characteristics?
population size
number of individuals in a population
population density
number per unit area/volume of environment
crude, specific/ecological
What are the types of population density?
crude density
density (number or biomass) per unit total space
specific density/ecological density
density (number of biomass) per unit habitat space that can actually be used by the population
natality (birth rate)
number of offsprings produced per female per unit time
maximum/absolute/potential/physiological, ecological
Types of natality
maximum/absolute/potential/physiological natality
theoretical maximum production of new individuals under ideal conditions
ecological natality/fertility rate
increase in population under an actual, existing specific condition
mortality (death rate)
number of deaths occurring in a given period of time
minimum mortality, ecological mortality/realized mortality
Types of mortality
minimum mortality
theoretical minimum loss under ideal conditions; constant for a population
ecological mortality/realized mortality
loss of individuals under given environmental conditions; varies with time
vital index
birth to death ration for a population (birth/death * 100)
survival rate
(how much survive from death) is expressed as a survivorship curve
mortality is low initially until it approaches the end of maximal lifespan (e.g. deer, humans, some captive animals)
Type I
relatively constant mortality rate throughout lifespan (e.g. small short-lived animals, birds, mammals, lizards)
Type II
mortality rate is high during young stages, few survivors reach threshold sizes to then experience low mortality and reach maximal lifespan (e.g. oysters, shell fish, crocodiles, large long-lived reptiles)
Type III
sigmoidal, high initial and final mortality rates but lower mortality during their middle ages
What kind of pattern do long-lived moderate to large birds and mammals have? What kind of mortality rates do they have? How does it change later?
Type I
Red?
Type II
Blue?
Type III
Green?
pre-reproductive age, reproductive age, post-reproductive age
What are the three stages of age distribution?
High birth rate
Rapid growth, may be exponential
High percentage of young individuals in the population
Each generation is larger in size than the previous one
pyramid shaped
Moderate proportion of young individuals to old individuals
Pre-reproductive → reproductive → post-reproductive
bell shaped
population is dying off
If birth rate decreases, pre-reproductive group decreases and correspondingly the other two groups also decrease over generations
Low percentage of young individuals in the population
urn shaped
developing and under-developed countries
What kind of countries have rapid population growth?
dispersion
spatial pattern of individuals in a population relative to one another
regular, random, clumped
What are the three types of dispersion?
equal distance between individuals
not common in natural ecosystems, but common in artificial, man-made ecosystems (e.g. crop lands)
regular dispersion
individuals are not equidistant
not common in nature
random dispersion
results from social aggregation
population aggregates in certain patches of the environment which are favorable to them
clumped dispersion
life tables
natality and mortality in different age groups with respect to sexes are tabulated
theoretical, simulation
What are examples of modeling?
theoretical models
population changes are expressed as equations and validity is ascertained through comparison with real populations
simulation models
future population behavior under specific environmental conditions is predicted from the data collected from real populations
births, deaths, dispersals
What is growth rate the net result of?
population density keeps increasing exponentially/geometrically until a limiting resource runs out or the population encounters some other limitation
Binary fission produces double the offsprings every successive generation
J-shaped growth form
exponential/geometric growth
terrestrial, aquatic, natural, artificial
Types of ecosystems
freshwater, marine
Types of aquatic ecosystems
lotic, lentic
Types of freshwater ecosystems
running water (e.g. rivers, streams, springs)
lotic
standing water (e.g. lakes, ponds, wells, swamps, reservoirs)
lentic
domestic and industrial irrigation, navigation, fish and water fowl habitat, flood protection, recreation, generation hydroelectricity, source of water for laundry bathing, cattle rearing
examples of lentic
natural ecosystems
self-operating under natural conditions; no human interference
artificial ecosystems
managed and maintained by humans (e.g. crop lands)
biome
collection of ecosystems with similar climates and communities
avian, insect, bacterial, fungal, behavioral, mycorhyza
Types of animal ecology
autecology
study of individual organisms
synecology
study of groups of organisms which are associated together as one unit
population ecology
study of individuals belonging to a single species and interactions between those individuals
Note
Flashcard