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Bio 240 LF Terms
Definitionssss
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ecology | The scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the environment |
| Population | A group of individuals of the same species living in an area. |
| Community | A group of populations of different species in an area. |
| Ecosystem | The community of organisms in an area and the physical factors with which those organisms interact |
| Biome | are major life zones characterized by vegetation type (terrestrial biomes) or physical environment (aquatic biomes) |
| Biosphere | Global ecosystem, the sum of all the planet’s ecosystems and landscapes. |
| Abiotic factor | Non-living factors affecting the distribution of organisms – Temperature – Water – Sunlight – Wind – Rocks and soil |
| Biotic factor | actors pertaining to living organisms – Predation – Herbivory – Competition |
| Climate | long-term, prevailing weather conditions in a particular area. |
| Hadley Cell | A major cycle in global air circulation |
| Rain Shadow | winds from the ocean cool and drop precipitation on one side of a mountain range and not on the other side, creating high deserts |
| Tropical forest | This biome is distributed around the equator, has high precipitation and is dominated by dense, tall broadleaf trees. |
| Savanna | This biome is warm year-round and is dominated by grasses between scattered trees. |
| Desert | This biome is characterized by low precipitation which results in low, widely scattered vegetation. Many plants and animals that live in this biome have adaptions for water conservation. |
| Chaparral | This biome is dominated by shrubs and small trees that are adapted to droughts and fires. It is found in areas with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. |
| Temperate grassland | This biome has deep soils and is dominated by grasses. |
| Temperate broadleaf forest | In the Northern Hemisphere, this biome is dominated by deciduous trees which lose their leaves during the fall and winter. |
| Coniferous forest (Taiga) | This biome, which extends across N. America and Eurasia, is the largest terrestrial biome on earth and dominated by conifer trees. |
| Tundra | This biome, characterized by short mosses and grasses, is found in the Arctic and on the tops of high mountains. |
| Pond & Lake | This Biome is a standing body of freshwater. |
| Wetland | This biome is a habitat that is inundated by water at least part of the time. |
| Stream & River | This biome is characterized by water moving down a channel. |
| Estuary | This biome is a transition area between a river and the sea. Salinity varies spatially and temporally. |
| Intertidal zone | This biome is periodically submerged and exposed by the tides. |
| Oceanic pelagic zone | This biome is a vast realm of open blue salt water. |
| Coral Reefs | This marine biome is formed largely from the calcium carbonate skeletons of a cnidarian. They are found in shallow waters around the tropics. |
| Marine Benthic Zone | This biome is the seafloor and most receives no sunlight. |
| Population density | is the number of individuals per unit area or volume |
| Population dispersion | is the pattern of spacing among individuals within the boundaries of the population |
| Clumped | individuals aggregate in patches – Often influenced by resource availability and/or behavior |
| Uniform | individuals are evenly distributed – It may be influenced by social interactions such as territoriality, the defense of a bounded space against other individuals |
| Random | the position of each individual is independent of other individuals – It occurs in the absence of strong attractions or repulsions |
| Mark-recapture method | Population density can be estimated by either extrapolation from small samples, an index of population size (e.g., number of nests) |
| Survivorship curve | s a graphic way of representing the survivorship of a cohort. |
| Semelparity | Big-bang reproduction – Produce many offspring once in a lifetime – Favored in unpredictable environments. |
| Iteroparity | Repeated reproduction – Produce few offspring multiple times during their life – Favored in more dependable environments |
| Zero population growth | occurs when the birth rate equals the death rate (r 0) |
| Exponential growth | is population increase under idealized conditions |
| Logistic growth | the per capita rate of increase declines as carrying capacity is reached |
| Density-dependent | Populations stop growing when birth or death rates |
| Competition | In crowded populations, increasing population density intensifies competition for resources and results in a lower birth rate |
| Predation | As a prey population builds up, predators may feed preferentially on that species |
| Herbivory | An organism eats part of a plant or algae. |
| Symbiosis | When two or more species live in direct and intimate contact with one another |
| Parasitism | -derives nourishment from another organism, its host. -Ectoparasites feed on the external surface of a host -Endoparasiteslive within the body of the host. |
| Commensalism | benefits one species, but neither harms nor helps the other |
| Mutualism | Both species benefit from symbiotic interaction |
| Competitive exclusion | when populations of two similar species compete for the same resource, one population will use the resource more efficiently and have a reproductive advantage that will eventually lead to the elimination of the other population |
| Ecological niche | the sum of a species’ use of the biotic and abiotic resources in the environment |
| Resource partitioning | Differentiation of niches that allows similar species to coexist |
| Aposematic coloration | characteristic of animals that use poisons |
| Cryptic coloration | color that blends in with surroundings = camouflage |
| Mimicry | -protection by mimicking the appearance of other species -Batesian mimicry: a palatable or harmless species mimics a unpalatable or toxic model -Mullerian mimcry: two or more unpalatable species resemble each other |
| Metapopulation | are groups of populations linked by immigration and emigration |
| Species diversity | is the variety of organisms that make up the community |
| Richness | is the total number of different species in the community |
| Relative abundance | is the proportion each species represents of the total individuals in the community |
| Trophic structure | is the feeding relationships between organisms in a community |
| Primary producer | are the organisms in an ecosystem that produce biomass from inorganic compounds (autotrophs) such as plants |
| Consumer | are organisms of an ecological food chain that receive energy by consuming other organisms. These organisms are formally referred to as Heterotrophs, which include animals |
| Detritivore/Decomposer | are consumers that derive their energy from detritus, nonliving organic matter |
| Biomass | the total mass of all individuals in a population |
| Energetic hypothesis | suggests that length is limited by inefficient energy transfer |
| Bottom-up controls | community organization proposes an influence from lower to higher trophic levels – In this case, presence or absence of mineral nutrients determines community structure, including abundance of primary producers |
| Top-down controls | trophic cascade model, proposes that control comes from the trophic level above – In this case, predators control herbivores, which in turn control primary producers |
| Dominant species | A species that is most abundant or has the highest biomass, exerting control over the occurrence and distribution of other species. |
| Keystone species | A species that is not abundant, but exert a strong control on community structure through their ecological role or niche. Usually a predator |
| Ecosystem engineers | A species that causes physical changes in the environment that affects community structure. |
| Disturbance | is an event that changes a community, removes organisms from it, and alters resource availability – Fire – Flood – Storms |
| Ecological succession (primary & secondary) | is the sequence of community and ecosystem changes after a disturbance |
| Biodiversity | is the degree of variation of life. This can refer to genetic variation, species variation, or ecosystem variation within an area, biome, or planet. |
| Introduced species | are those that humans move from native locations to new geographic regions. Without their native predators, parasites, and pathogens, introduced species may spread rapidly. |
| Habitat loss | Destruction or fragmentation of habitat |
| Overexploitation | Human harvesting of wild plants or animals at rates exceeding the ability of populations of those species to rebound |
| Landscape conservation | Conservation biology has attempted to sustain the biodiversity of entire communities, ecosystems, and landscapes – Connect fragmented habitats – Establish protected areas |
| Restoration ecology | attempts to restore degraded ecosystems to a more natural state |
| 1st Law of Thermodynamics | Energy can be changed from one form to another but it cannot be created nor destroyed. • The total amount of energy in the universe remains constant. |
| 2nd Law of Thermodynamics | Disorder (entropy) in the universe is continuously increasing. • Energy transformations proceed spontaneously to convert matter from a more ordered form to a more disordered form. |
| Nutrient cycle | *see chart |
| Deforestation | Know where/cause/results |
| Ocean acidification | Know where/cause/results |
| Greenhouse effect | the global rise in temperature |
| Runaway greenhouse effect | |
| Acid rain | Know where/cause/results |
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Awesomesauce182
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