Save
Busy. Please wait.
Log in with Clever
or
show password
Forgot Password?
Don't have an account?  Sign up 
Sign up using Clever
or
Username is available taken
show password


Make sure to remember your password. If you forget it there is no way for StudyStack to send you a reset link. You would need to create a new account. Your email address is only used to allow you to reset your password. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Already a StudyStack user? Log In

Reset Password
Enter the associated with your account, and we'll email you a link to reset your password.
focusNode
Didn't know it?
click below
 
Knew it?
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
0:00
edit
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.

  Normal Size     Small Size show me how

AP Bio Ecology

QuestionAnswer
Ecology The study of interactions between organisms and their environments
Abiotic components Nonliving chemical and physical factors
Biotic components The organisms that are part of any individual's environment
Ecological time Minutes, months, years
Evolutionary Time Decades, centuries, millenia, etc.
Organismal Ecology Concerned with the morphological, physiological, and behavioral ways in which an organism meets the challenges posed by their biotic and abiotic environments
Population A group of individuals of the same species living in a particular area
Population Ecology Concentrates mainly on how many individuals of a particular species live in an area.
Community Consists of all the organisms of all the species that inhabit a particular area
Community ecology Deals with the whole array of interacting species in a community
Ecosystem Consists of all the abiotic factors in addition to the entire community of species that exist in a certain area.
Ecosystem ecology The emphasis is on energy flow and the cycling of chemicals among the various biotic and abiotic components
Biosphere The global ecosystem
Precautionary Priciple "Look before you leap"
Biogeography The study of the past and present distribution of individual species
Climate The prevailing weather conditions in an area
Biome The major types of ecosystems
Microclimate Weather patterns on a very small scale.
Photic zone The area where there is sufficient light for photosynthesis
Thermocline Separates a more uniformly warm upper layer from more uniformly cold deeper waters
Detritus Dead organic matter
Littoral Zone The shallow, well-lit waters close to shore.
Oligotrophic Deep and nutrient-poor
Eutrophic Shallow and nutrient-rich
Mesotrophic Lakes with a moderate amount of nutrients and phytoplankton productivity.
Estuary The area where freshwater stream or river merges with the ocean
Intertidal zone The zone where land meets water
Neritic Zone The shallow regions over the continental shelves.
Pelagic Zone Open water at any depth
Benthic zone The seafloor
Behavior What an animal does and how it does it
Ethology Study of how animals behave in their natural habitats
Fixed action pattern A sequence of behavioral acts that is essentially unchangeable and usually carried to completion once initiated
Behavioral ecology The research field that views behavior as an evolutionary adaptation to the natural ecological conditions of animals
Foraging Obtaining food
Optimal foraging theory Views foraging behavior as a compromise between feeding costs and feeding benefits
Learning Modification of behavior resulting from specific experiences
Maturation Ongoing development in neuromuscular systems
Habituation A very simple type of learning that involves a loss of a responsiveness to stimuli that convey little or no information
Imprinting Larinign that is limited to a specific period in an animal's life.
Associative conditioning The ability of many animals to learn to associate one stimulus with another
Classical conditioning Involves learning to associate an arbitrary stimulus with a reward or punishment
Operant conditioning Trial-and-error learning
Cognition Utility of an animals in the system to receive, store, process, and use information gathered by sensory receptors
Kinesis A simple change in activity or turning rate in response to a stimulus
Cognitive map An internal presentation of the spatial relationships among objects in an animal's surroundings
Migration Regular movement over relatively long distances
Social behavior Any kind of interaction between two or more animals
Sociobiology It is evolutionary theory to the study and interpretation of social behavior
Dominance hierarchy Pecking order
Courtship Consists of behavior patterns that lead up to copulation
Signal A behavior that causes a change in behavior in another animal
Pheromones Chemical signals
Altruism An animal behaving in ways that reduce individual fitness and increase the fitness of the recipient of the behavior
Population density The number of individuals per unit of area or volume.
Dispersion The pattern of spacing among individuals within the geographic boundaries of the population
Clumped Where individuals Aggregate in patches
Uniform Evenly spaced
Random spacing Unpredictable dispersion
Demography The study of the vital statistics that affect population size
Cohort A group of individuals of the same age
Big-Bang reproduction Quick reproduction in massive amounts
Repeated reproduction Slow reproduction that often happens annually.
Zero population growth Occurs when the per capita birth rates and death rates are equal
Exponential population growth Geometric population growth
Carrying capacity The maximum Population size of a particular environment can support at a particular time with no degradation of the habitat
r-Selection Density Independent Selection
K-Selection Density dependent selection
Demographic transition A movement between population states
Age structure The relative number of individuals of each age
Ecological footprint A calculation of the aggregate land and water area in various ecosystem categories that is appropriated by a nation to reduce all the resources it consumes and to absorbed all the waste it generates
Autotrophs Producers that fix carbon and produce O2.
Heterotrophs Consumers that depend on producers directly and indirectly.
Primary Consumers Herbivores - Subsist directly on producers.
Secondary consumers Carnivores that eat herbivores.
Detritivores Organisms that survive solely on detritus and are necessary to nutrient cycles; decomposers.
Detritus Nonliving organic material.
Primary Production The amount of light energy converted to chemical energy in a given time period.
Biomass The total dry mass of an organism.
Standing crop The total biomass of photosynthetic autotrophs present at a given time.
Limiting nutrient The nutrient that must be added for an organism to increase production.
Secondary Production The amount of chemical energy in a consumer's food that is converted to their own biomass.
Production efficiency The fraction of food energy that is not used for respiration.
Turnover Time The amount of time it takes for a producer to replace its own biomass.
Green world hypothesis States that herbivores are held in check by a variety of factors.
Biogeochemical cycles The cycling of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous.
Eutrophication An increase in the number of photosynthetic material at a lakes surface.
Biological Magnification The increase in concentration of toxins at successive trophic levels.
Greenhouse Effect The rebounding effect that greenhouse gases have on infrared radiation.
Endangered Species A species that is in danger of becoming extinct.
Introduced species A nonnative species moved intentionally or unintentionally to a foreign area.
Small Population Approach Studies the processes that cause small populations to become extinct.
Extinction Vortex A downward spirtal unique to small populations.
Minimum Viable Population Size The minimum number of individuals a species needs to survive.
Landscape A regional assemblage of interacting ecosystems
Movement corridor A narrow strait or series of small clumps of quality habitat connecting otherwise isolated areas.
Biodiversity Hot Spot A relatively small area with a large number of endemic species.
Zoned Reserve An extensive region of land that includes one or more areas undisturbed by humans surrounded by areas that have been disturbed.
Restoration Ecology The attempt to return a damaged or nonfunctioning ecosystem to a functioning state.
Bioremediation The use of organisms such as bacteria to improve an ecosystem.
Sustainable biosphere initiative The idea of using the planet in a way that can continue indefinitely.
Created by: Stratten Waldt
Popular Biology sets

 

 



Voices

Use these flashcards to help memorize information. Look at the large card and try to recall what is on the other side. Then click the card to flip it. If you knew the answer, click the green Know box. Otherwise, click the red Don't know box.

When you've placed seven or more cards in the Don't know box, click "retry" to try those cards again.

If you've accidentally put the card in the wrong box, just click on the card to take it out of the box.

You can also use your keyboard to move the cards as follows:

If you are logged in to your account, this website will remember which cards you know and don't know so that they are in the same box the next time you log in.

When you need a break, try one of the other activities listed below the flashcards like Matching, Snowman, or Hungry Bug. Although it may feel like you're playing a game, your brain is still making more connections with the information to help you out.

To see how well you know the information, try the Quiz or Test activity.

Pass complete!
"Know" box contains:
Time elapsed:
Retries:
restart all cards