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Ecology Final Exam
Test questions and terminology
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Succession | the orderly and predictable sequence of changes that occur over time in a community’s species composition |
| Sere | A series of stages of community change in a successional sequence leading toward a stable state. Entire successional sequence (0-250+) |
| Seral Stages | Individual stage within a sere (5-10; 10-15; 75-150) |
| Pioneer Community | Initial community of organisms that are invading a newly exposed site or recently disturbed site (ex. herbs & grasses) |
| Climax Community | The end point of a successional sequence, or sere; a community that has reached a steady state under a particular set of environmental conditions. Final seral stage (250+) ex. trees |
| Primary Succession | B = Succession in a newly formed or exposed habitat devoid of life. N = Succession on area of new mineral substrate. ex. sand dunes, lava flows, bare rock (granite outcrop & glaciers) |
| Secondary Succession | B = Succession in a habitat that has been disturbed, but in which some aspects of the community remain. N = Succession that begins on previously occupied substrate following a disturbance. |
| Examples of Environmental Disturbances | ex. fire, hurricanes/tornadoes, clear cuts by humans, lightning, storm (temp. change) |
| Diversity | Variation of species within a community based on species richness and species evenness. |
| Species Richness | The number of different species found within some given area. (Measurements are highly dependent on the size of the sampling units) |
| Species Evenness | The relative abundance of individuals among the species |
| Allopatric Speciation | B = Occurring in different places; particularly referring to geographically separated populations. N = Barriers that split off and isolate individuals of a population which eventually creates a new species. |
| Sympatric Speciation | B = Occurring in the same place; particularly referring to overlapping species distributions. N = A new species arises within the range of the parent population. |
| Producer | Green plants capable of making their own food using energy from the sun in a process called photosynthesis. Autotrophs, photosynthetic organisms & chemosynthetic bacteria. |
| Consumer | Animals that cannot make their own food. They get their energy from other plants and animals. A food chain can have as many as three to four of these. Heterotrophs. |
| Decomposer | Organisms that are unable to make their own food. Bacteria and fungi are some examples. They break down waste products and dead organisms for food. These broken down materials are returned to the soil to be recycled and used by plants again. |
| Autotroph | Organisms that can "make their own food" from an inorganic source of carbon (carbon dioxide) given a source of energy, usually via Photosynthesis. |
| Heterotroph | Organisms that get the carbon necessary for life from organic substrates. They cannot synthesize organic carbon-based compounds from inorganic sources in the environment like an autotroph can. |
| Herbivore | An organism that consumes living plants or their parts. |
| Carnivore | An animal that consumes primarily the flesh of other animals. |
| Omnivore | An animal that consumes both plants and animals. |
| Gross Primary Production (GPP) | The total energy assimilated by autotrophs through photosynthesis. |
| Net Primary Production (NPP) | B = The portion of gross primary production that is accumulated in the tissues of autotrophs. N = Energy left over after Respiration that is accumulated by plant biomass. GPP-R = NPP (ex. gross pay – taxes = net pay) |
| Water Use Efficiency (Aka. Transpiration Efficiency ) | The ratio of net primary production to transpiration of water by a plant, usually expressed as grams per kilogram of water. |
| Ingestion (I) | Energy from the initial amount of food eaten |
| Egestion (D) | Energy used by Defecation and regurgitation |
| Assimilation (A) | Energy from the food that is actually digested |
| Secondary Production (P) | New biomass = stored energy (growth, reproduction, and stored materials) P = A-(R-E); P = I-(D+R+E) |
| Assimilation Efficiency (AE) | The ratio of assimilated energy to ingested energy (%). AE = A/I (x 100) = % |
| Net Production Efficiency (NPE) | The percentage of assimilated energy that is used for growth and reproduction. Active endotherms (huge R costs) = <5% NPE Vs. Less active ectotherms = up to ~75% NPE NPE = P/A (x 100) = % |
| Ecological Efficiency (EcE) “food chain efficiency” | The percentage of the energy or biomass produced at one trophic level that is transferred to the next trophic level. How much gets passed on to the next level? |
| EcE formulas | EcE = consumer production / prey production (x 100) = % EcE = production of level “n”/ production of level “n-1” (x 100) = % |
| Detritus | Freshly dead or partially decomposed remains of organisms and their indigestible excreta. |
| Nitrogen Fixation | Biological assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen to form organic nitrogen-containing compounds. N2 + 6 H+ + 6 e− → 2 NH3 (enzyme Nitrogenase) ex. Rhizobium bacteria symbiosis with legume roots |
| Nitrification | Oxidation reactions (require oxygen). The oxidation of ammonia by specialized bacteria, yielding nitrite and nitrate. |
| Denitrification | The reduction of nitrate & nitrite to form molecular nitrogen (N2), primarily by specialized bacteria |
| Leaching | Removal of soluble compounds from detritus or soil by water (a physical process) |
| Mineralization | organic -> inorganic “true decomposers” = bacteria & fungi |
| Extent | B = The size of a landscape area of interest. N = Overall area encompassed by the study. |
| Grain | B = The degree of resolution at which a landscape is viewed. N = The size of the individual units of observation. (ex. pixels & resolution) Cannot generalize beyond the extent without making assumptions that are likely to be false. |
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rstacey1
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