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AP Bio Ecology!
spring break homework
| term | definition |
|---|---|
| POPULATION | a group of individuals all of the same species living in the same area |
| COMMUNITY | a group of populations living in the same area |
| ECOSYSTEM | the interrelationships between the organisms in a community & their physical environment |
| BIOSPHERE | all the regions of the Earth that contain living things |
| HABITAT | the type of place where an organism usually lives |
| NICHE | all the biotic (living) & abiotic (nonliving) resources in the environment used by an organism |
| SIZE | the total number of individuals in the population (N) |
| DENSITY | the total number of individuals per area or volume occupied |
| DISPERSION | how individuals in a population are distributed; they can be clumped, uniform, or random |
| AGE STRUCTURE | a description of the abundance of individuals of each age |
| SURVIVORSHIP CURVES | describe how mortality of individuals in a species varies during their lifetimes |
| TYPE I CURVES | describe species in which most individuals survive to middle age |
| TYPE II CURVES | describe organisms in which the length of survivorship is random (the likelihood of death is the same at any age) |
| TYPE III CURVES | describe species in which most individuals die young; only a few survive to reproduce |
| BIOTIC POTENTIAL | the maximum growth rate of a population under ideal conditions (with unlimited resources & without any growth restrictions) |
| CARRY CAPACITY | the maximum number of individuals of a population that can be sustained by a particular habitat |
| LIMITING FACTORS | elements that prevent a population from attaining its biotic potential |
| DENSITY-DEPENDENT FACTORS | agents whose limiting effect becomes more intense as the population density increases |
| DENSITY-INDEPENDENT FACTORS | factors occur independently of the density of the population |
| REPRODUCTIVE RATE (or growth rate) | r = births-deaths / N (where N is the population size) |
| EXPONENTIAL GROWTH | occurs whenever the reproductive rate is greater than zero |
| J-SHAPED CURVE | formed on a graph where population size is plotted against time & exponential growth rises quickly |
| LOGISTIC GROWTH | occurs when limiting factors restrict the size of the population to the carrying capacity of the habitat |
| S-SHAPED CURVE (or sigmoid curve) | formed on a graph of logistic growth; the size of the population increases & its reproductive rate decreases until the reproductive rate is zero & the population size stabilizes |
| POPULATION CYCLES | fluctuations in population size in response to varying effects of limiting factors |
| R-SELECTED SPECIES | a species that exhibits rapid growth (J-shaped curve) |
| OPPORTUNISTIC SPECIES | species that quickly invade a habitat, quickly reproduce, & then die |
| K-SELECTED SPECIES | one whose population size remains relatively constant |
| INCREASES IN FOOD SUPPLY | a factor that makes exponential growth possible |
| REDUCTION IN DISEASE | a factor that makes exponential growth possible |
| REDUCTION IN HUMAN WASTES | a factor that makes exponential growth possible |
| EXPANSION OF HABITAT | a factor that makes exponential growth possible |
| COMPETITIVE EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE (Gause's principle) | when two species compete for exactly the same resources, one is likely to be more successful; as a result, one species outcompetes the other & (eventually) the second species is eliminated |
| RESOURCE PARTITIONING | dividing up the resources by pursuing slightly different resources or securing their resources in slightly different ways |
| CHARACTER DISPLACEMENT (niche shift) | selection for certain characteristics that may enable individuals to obtain resources in their partitions more successfully which reduces competition with individuals in other partitions & leads to a divergence of features |
| REALIZED NICHE | where a niche overlap is absent between competing species; they do not compete for the same resources |
| FUNDAMENTAL NICHE | the niche that an organism occupies in the absence of competing species |
| PREDATION | another form of community interaction |
| TRUE PREDATOR | kills & eats another animal |
| PARASITE | spends most (or all) of its life living on another organism (the host) obtaining nourishment from the host by feeding on its tissues |
| PARASITOID | an insect that lays its eggs on a host (usually an insect or spider); the host eventually dies but not until the larvae complete their development & begin pupation |
| HERBIVORE | an animal that eats plants |
| GRANIVORES | seed eaters |
| GRAZERS | eat grasses |
| BROWSERS | eat leaves of other plants |
| SYMBIOSIS | two species that live together in close contact during a portion (or all) of their lives |
| MUTUALISM | a relationship in which both species benefit (+, +) |
| COMMENSALISM | one species benefits, while the second species is neither helped nor harmed (+, 0) |
| PARASITISM | the parasite benefits from the living arrangement, while the host is harmed (+, -) |
| SECONDARY COMPOUNDS | toxic chemicals produced in plants that discourage would-be herbivores |
| CAMOUFLAGE (cryptic coloration) | any color, pattern, shape, or behavior that enables an animal to blend in with its surroundings |
| APOSEMATIC COLORATION (warning coloration) | a conspicuous pattern or coloration of animals that warns predators that they sting, bite, taste bad, or are otherwise to be avoided |
| MIMICRY | when two or more species resemble one another in appearance |
| MULLERIAN MIMICRY | occurs when several animals, all with some special defense mechanism, share the same coloration |
| BATESIAN MIMICRY | occurs when an animal without any special defense mechanism mimics the coloration of an animal that does posses a defense |
| ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION | the change in the composition of species over time |
| CLIMAX COMMUNITY | a final successional stage of constant species composition |
| PRIMARY SUCCESSION | occurs on substrates that never previously supported living things |
| SECONDARY SUCCESSION | begins in habitats where communities were entirely or partially destroyed by some kind of damaging event |
| PRIMARY PRODUCERS | autotrophs that convert sun energy into chemical energy (plants, photosynthetic protists, cyanobacteria, & chemosynthetic bacteria) |
| PRIMARY CONSUMERS (herbivores) | eat the primary producers |
| SECONDARY CONSUMERS (primary carnivores) | eat the primary consumers |
| TERTIARY CONSUMERS (secondary carnivores) | eat the secondary consumers |
| DETRITIVORES | consumers that obtain their energy by consuming dead plants & animals (detritus) |
| DECOMPOSERS | the smallest detritivores (fungi & bacteria) |
| ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS | used to show the relationship between trophic levels |
| ECOLOGICAL EFFCIENCY | the proportion of energy represented at one trophic level that is transferred to the next level |
| FOOD CHAIN | a linear flow chart of who eats whom (grass to zebra to lion to vulture) |
| FOOD WEB | an expanded, more complete version of a food chain |
| TROPHIC LEVELS | the groups plants & animals are organized into which reflects their main energy source |
| BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES | describe the flow of essential elements from the environment to living things & back to the environment (hydrologic (water), carbon, nitrogen, & phosphorus cycles) |
| BIOMES | regions of the biosphere that exhibit common environmental characteristics |
| TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS | characterized by high temperature & heavy rainfall |
| EPIPHYTES | plants that live commensally on other plants |
| SAVANNAS | grasslands with scattered trees; subject to high temperatures but less water than rain forests |
| TEMPERATE GRASSLANDS | receive less water & are subject to lower temperatures than savannas |
| TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS FORESTS | occupy regions that have warm summer,s cold winters, & moderate precipitation |
| DESERTS | hot & dry |
| TAIGAS | coniferous forests (pines, firs, & other trees that have needles for leaves); winters are cold & precipitation is in the form of snow |
| TUNDRAS | subject to winters so cold that the ground freezes |
| PERMAFROST | deeper soil that remains permanently frozen (in tundras) |
| FRESH WATER BIOMES | include ponds, lakes, streams, & rivers |
| MARINE BIOMES | include estuaries (where oceans meet rivers), intertidal zones (where oceans meet land), continental shelves ( the relatively shallow oceans that border continents), coral reefs (masses of corals that reach the ocean surface), & the pelagic (deep) ocean |
| GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE | global temperatures rising due to the burning of fossil fuels & forests, which increases CO2 in the atmosphere; warmer temperatures could raise sea levels (by melting more ice) & decrease agriculture output (by affecting weather patterns) |
| OZONE DEPLETION | the ozone breaks down due to various air pollutants which allows UV radiation to penetrate & reach the surface of the Earth |
| OZONE HOLES | areas of major ozone thinning; appear regularly over Antarctica, the Arctic, & northern Eurasia |
| ACID RAIN | air pollutants that react with water vapor to produce sulfuric acid & nitric acid; kills plants & animals in lakes, rivers, & on land |
| DESERTIFICATION | overgrazing of grasslands that border deserts transform the grasslands into deserts |
| DEFORESTATION | clear-cutting or burning of forests causes the soil of some rain forests to lose nutrients stored in vegetation, so the soil can only support agriculture for 1 or 2 years |
| POLLUTION | air, water, & land pollution contaminate the materials essential to life |
| BIOLOGICAL MAGNIFICATION | as one organism eats another, the toxins from pollution become more & more concentrated |
| ALGAL BLOOMS | massive growths of algae & other phytoplankton; stimulated by abundant nutrients |
| EUTROPHICATION | the process of nutrient enrichment in lakes & the subsequent increase in biomass |
| EXTINCTION | results in reduction in species diversity |
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