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AP Bio Ch 1 Ecology
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Ecology | The scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the environment |
| Biotic factors | Living; include behaviors as well as interactions with other species; Ex. - Population and community ecology |
| Abiotic components | Nonliving, chemical, and physical components; Ex. - Temperature, water, salinity, sunlight, and soil |
| Climate | Temperature, precipitation, sunlight, and wind of an environment |
| Macroclimate patterns | On a global, regional, or local level |
| Microclimates | Small-scale environmental variations; ex. - underneath of a log |
| Biomes | Major types of ecosystems that occupy very broad geographic regions |
| Aquatic biomes | Biomes that make up the largest part of the biosphere; water covers roughly 75% of the Earth's surface; classified into freshwater biomes and marine biomes |
| Photic zone | Zone within an aquatic biome in which there is enough light for photosynthesis to occur |
| Aphotic zone | Zone within an aquatic biome in which very little light penetrates |
| Benthic zone | Located at the bottom of the aquatic biome; made up of sand, inorganic matter, and organic sediments (such as DETRITUS, or dead organic matter) |
| Thermoclines | Narrow layers of fast temperature change in an aquatic biome that separates a warm upper layer of water and cold deeper waters |
| Freshwater biomes | One type of aquatic biome that can be classified into standing bodies of water (ex. - lakes and wetlands) and moving bodies of water (ex. - streams and rivers) |
| Littoral zone | Zone within a freshwater biome that is described as well-lit shallow waters near the shore; contains rooted and floating aquatic plants |
| Limnetic zone | Zone within a freshwater biome that is described as well-lit open surface waters far from the shore; occupied by phytoplankton |
| Oligotrophic lakes | Deep lakes that are nutrient-poor and oxygen-rich; contain sparse phytoplankton |
| Eutrophic lakes | Shallower than oligotrophic lakes; higher nutrient content and lower oxygen content; higher concentration of phytoplankton |
| Streams and rivers | Freshwater bodies that have a current; inhabited by a great diversity of organisms |
| Estuaries | Areas where freshwater streams or rivers merge with the ocean |
| Intertidal zone | Zone within a marine biome in which land meets the water; is periodically submerged and exposed by the twice-daily tides |
| Neritic zone | Zone within a marine biome beyond the intertidal zone; shallow water over continental shelves |
| Pelagic biome | Biome within a marine biome that is a vast realm of open blue water found past the continental shelves |
| Coral reef | Biome within a marine biome that is created by a group of cnidarians that secrete hard calcium carbonate shells, which vary in shape and support the growth of other corals, sponges, and algae; among the most productive ecosystems on Earth |
| Savannas | Characterized by grasses and trees; dominant herbivores are insects (ex. - ants, termites); fire is dominant abiotic factor which many plants are adapted to; plant growth is substantial during rainy season, but large grazing mammals migrate during drought |
| Desert | Marked by sparse rainfall; plants and animals are adapted to conserve and store water; contain many CAM plants/plants with adaptations to prevent consumption by animals (ex. - cactus spines); temperature is extreme, whether hot or cold |
| Chaparral | Dominated by dense, spiny, evergreen shrubs; costal areas with mild rainy winters and long, hot, dry summers; plants are adapted to fires |
| Temperate grassland | Marked by large grazing mammals and seasonal drought with occasional fires; these factors prevent significant growth of trees; soil is rich in nutrients, making these good areas for agriculture |
| Temperate broadleaf forest | Marked by deciduous trees that require sufficient moisture; more open than rain forests; top layer (CANOPY) contains a couple strata of trees, shrubs are beneath, then herbaceous stratum; trees drop leaves, mammals hibernate, and birds migrate in fall |
| Coniferous fores | Dominated by cone-bearing trees such as pine, spruce, and fir; conical shape of conifers prevents much snowfall from accumulating on and breaking the trees' branches |
| Tundra | Marked by permafrost - permanently frozen layer of soil -, very high temperatures, high winds, and little rainfall; supports no trees or plants; accounts for about 20% of Earth's terrestrial surface |
| Tropical forest | Pronounced vertical stratification; canopy is so dense that little light breaks through; marked by EPIPHYTES (plants that grow on other plants instead of soil); rainfall is varied; biodiversity is the greatest of all the terrestrial biomes |
| Population | A group of individuals of a single species living in the same general area |
| Population ecology | Explores how biotic and abiotic factors influence the density, distribution, size, and age structure of populations |
| Density | Fundamental characteristic of organisms in a population; the number of individuals per unit are or volume; increases by births or immigration and decreases by deaths or emigration |
| Dispersion | Fundamental characteristic of organisms in a population; pattern of spacing amoung individuals within boundaries of population; ex. - CLUMPED (patches around a required resource), UNIFORM (antagonistic actions), RANDOM (unpredictable, uncommon in nature) |
| Demography | Fundamental characteristic of organisms in a population; study of vital statistics of a population, especially birth or death rates (See Slide 2) |
| Life history | Traits that affect an organism's schedule of reproduction and survival; entails three variables: age of sexual maturation, how often the organisms reproduce, and the number of offspring during each event; evolutionary outcomes, not decided by organism |
| Exponential population growth | Population growth under ideal conditions; any species, regardless of life history, is capable if resources are abundant (See Slide 3) |
| Carrying capacity | The maximum population size that a certain environment can support at a particular time with no degradation of the habitat |
| K-selection | Selection of life history traits that are sensitive to population density and carrying capacity; operates in populations living close to the density imposed by carrying capacity; associated with the logistic growth model (See Slide 3) |
| R-selection | Selection of life history traits that maximize reproductive success; associated with the exponential growth model (See Slide 3) |
| Density-dependent factors | A death rate that rises as population density rises and a birth rate that falls as population density rises as a result of competition for resources, territoriality, disease, or predation |
| Density independent | When a death rate does not change with increase in population density; ex. - natural disasters |
| Demographic transition | Occurs when a population goes from high birth rates and high death rates to low birth rates and low death rates; typically, death rates fall first, whereas birthrates take much longer to fall |
| Ecological footprint | Examines the total land and water area needed for all the resources a person consumes in a population |
| Community | A group of populations of different species living close enough to interact |
| Interspecific interactions | Includes competition, predation, and symbiosis; may be positive, negative, or neutral for a species |
| Interspecific competitions | Occur when resources are in short supply; a negative interaction between species involved |
| Competitive exclusion principle | States that when two species are vying for a resource, eventually the one with the slight reproductive advantage will eliminate the other |
| Ecological niche | The sum total of biotic and abiotic resources that the species uses in its environment |
| Fundamental niche | Space potentially occupied by the species |
| Realized niche | Space actually occupied by the species |
| Predation | Interaction between two species in which one species (PREDATOR) eats the other species (PREY); and positive interaction for the predator and a negative interaction for the prey |
| Cryptic coloration | An animal is camouflaged by its coloring |
| Aposematic/warning coloration | A poisonous animal is brightly colored as a warning to other animals |
| Batesian mimicry | A situation in which a harmless species has evolved to imitate the coloration of an unpalatable or harmful species |
| Mullerian mimicry | When two bad-tasting species resemble each other so that predators will learn to avoid both equally |
| Herbivory | Interaction in which an herbivore eats a plant or alga; positive interaction for herbivore, negative interaction for plant; advantageous for the animal to distinguish between toxic and nontoxic plants; plant defenses are chemical toxins, spines, or thorns |
| Symbiosis | Occurs when individuals of two or more species live in direct contact with one another |
| Parasitism | Symbiotic interaction in which the parasite derives its nourishment from its host; positive interaction for the parasite, negative interaction for the host; reproduction, survival, and density of host population is significantly affected by the parasite |
| Mutualism | Symbiotic interaction that benefits both species; ex. - pollinators and flowering plants |
| Commensalism | Symbiotic interaction that benefits one of the species but neither harms nor helps the other; ex. - a fern growing in the shade of another plant |
| Species diversity | Measures the number of different species in a community (SPECIES RICHNESS) and the relative abundance of each species; a community with an even species abundance is more diverse than one in which a few species are abundant and the remainder are rare |
| Trophic structure | Refers to the feeding relationships among the organisms |
| Trophic levels | The links in the trophic structure of a community |
| Food chain | The transfer of food energy from plants through herbivores through carnivores through decomposers - from one trophic level to another |
| Food webs | Consist of two or more food chains linked together |
| Dominant species | A species in a community that has the highest BIOMASS (the sum weight of all the members of a population) or are more abundant |
| Keystone species | A species in a community that exerts control on community structure by their important ecological niches (See Slide 4) |
| Disturbance | Changes a community by removing organisms or changing resource availability; not necessarily bad for a community; ex. - storm, fire, flood, drought, human activity |
| Intermediate disturbance hypothesis | States that moderate levels of disturbance create conditions that foster greater species diversity than low or high levels of disturbance |
| Ecological succession | Refers to transitions in species composition in a certain area over ecological time |
| Primary succession | Plants and animals gradually invade a region that was virtually lifeless where soil had not yet formed; ex. - gradual colonization of a newly formed volcanic island |
| Secondary succession | Occurs when an existing community has been cleared by a disturbance that leaves the soil intact; ex. - an abandoned farm with the soil still intact |
| Island biogeography | The greater the SIZE of the island, the higher the immigration rates and the lower the rates of extinction; as the distance from the mainland increases, the rate of immigration falls and extinction rates increase |
| Ecosystem | Sum of all the organisms living within its boundaries (BIOTIC COMMUNITY) and all the abiotic factors with which they interact; involves two unique processes: ENERGY FLOW and CHEMICAL CYCLING |
| Primary producers | AUTOTROPHS (self-feeders) that support all other organisms in the ecosystem |
| Heterotrophs | Organisms that are in trophic levels above primary producers that cannot makes their food, and are therefore consumers |
| Primary consumers | Herbivores that eat primary producers |
| Secondary/tertiary consumers | Carnivores that eat herbivores and carnivores that eat carnivores, respectively |
| Detritivores/decomposers | Consumers that get their energy from detritus (ex. - dead organisms, feces, dead leaves, wood); convert organic materials from all trophic levels to inorganic compounds that can be used by producers |
| Primary production | The amount of light energy converted to chemical energy by autotrophs; sets the spending limit for the energy budget of the entire ecosystem; affected by light availability and nutrient availability |
| Gross primary production (GPP) | Total primary production in an ecosystem; not the amount of energy available to consumers, because some of the fuel molecules made by the producers must be used as fuel for their own cellular respiration |
| Net primary production (NPP) | Gross primary production minus the energy used for respiration by the producers: NPP = GPP - R |
| Evapotranspiration | Measure of the amount of water transpired by plants and evaporated from the landscape; combines light availability and nutrient availability |
| Biogeochemical cycles | Nutrient cycles that contain both biotic and abiotic components; allow scientists to trace how nutrients flow through ecosystems and how humans may have altered the flow |
| Carbon cycles | A balance between the amount of CO2 removed from ecosystems by photosynthesis and added by cellular respiration; the burning of fossil fuels has added significant amounts of additional CO2 to the atmosphere (See Slide 5) |
| Nitrogen cycle | Moves nitrogen from the atmosphere through the living world; nitrogen is a common limiting factor for plant growth, making its movement through ecosystems especially important (See Slide 5) |
| Nitrogen fixation | Major pathway for nitrogen to enter an ecosystem; conversion of N2 by bacteria to forms that can be used by plants (See Slide 5) |
| Nitrification | The process by which ammonium (NH4) is oxidized to nitrite and then nitrate (NO3) by bacteria; two inorganic nitrogen forms can be absorbed by plants: nitrates and ammonium (See Slide 5) |
| Denitrification | Process by bacteria that releases nitrogen to the atmosphere |
| Acid precipitation | Rain, snow, or fog with a pH less than 5.6; burning of wood and fossil fuels releases sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, which react with water and form sulfuric acid and nitric acid |
| Biological magnification | Toxins become more concentrated in successive trophic levels of a food web; these toxins cannot be broken down biologically by normal chemical means, so they magnify in concentration as they move through the food chain |
| Greenhouse effect | The absorption of heat the Earth experiences due to certain atmospheric gases; carbon dioxide and water vapor intercept and absorb much reflected infrared radiation, re-reflection some of it back toward Earth |
| Global warming | An effect of the burning of fossil fuels and the increase of CO2 levels in which the Earth in being warmed significantly |
| Ozone layer | Reduces the amount of UV radiation penetration from the sun through the atmosphere; chlorine-containing compounds used by humans erode this, allowing more DNA-damaging UV radiation to penetrate to the Earth's surface |
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