Abiotic Factors
Non-living physical and chemical components in the eco system e.g. Water, air, soil, sunlight, minerals and temperature
Biotic Factors
Living things that directly or indirectly affect the ecosystem they live in e.g. Prey, parasitism, disease and predation
Fundamental Niche
Describes the full range of environmental conditions and resources an organism can possibly occupy and use, especially when limiting factors are absent in its habitat.
Realised Niche
Where the organism is actually found due to limiting factors such as competition, or lack of resources.
Exploitative Competition
When one species either reduces or more efficiently uses a resource, and therefore depletes the availability of that resource to the other species.
Interference Competition
When two species physically interfere with one another by aggressively attempting to exclude one another from particular habitats.
Competitive Exclusion Principal
Two species that use the same limiting resource while occupying the same niche cannot coexist and must diverge from one another over time in order for the species to coexist.
Niche Differentiation
A process by which natural selection drives competing species into different patterns of resource use or different niches.
Spatial Displacement
Competing species use the same resource by occupying different areas or habitats.
Temporal Displacement
Species eliminate direct competition by utilizing the same resource at different times.
Morphological Differentiation
Competing species evolve differing morphologies to allow them to use a resource in different ways.
Local Extinction
When a species ceases to exist within the geographic area of study.
Mutualism
The existence of two organisms of different species in a relationship in which each individual benefits from the activity of the other. Is a type of symbiosis.
Commensalism
Class of relationships between two organisms where one organism benefits without affecting the other.
Exploitation
The action of making use of and benefiting from resources.
Antagonistic Relationships
The population sizes of the organism benefited and the organism detrimentally affected are related.
Herbivory
The consumption of plant materials by animals, herbivores are animals which are adapted to eat plants.
Parasitism
When an individual organism, the parasite, consumes nutrients from another organism, its host, resulting in a decrease in fitness to the host.
Nocturnal
Active at night.
Diurnal
Active at day.
Crepuscular
Active at dawn and dusk.
Tidal Rhythm
Caused by rotation of the moon, and the gravitational pull.
Lunar Rhythms
Rhythms are linked to the rotation of the moon around the Earth, and much less common than daily or tidal rhythms. About monthly.
Semi-Lunar Rhythms
Rhythms that are also associated with the moon, but there are 2 cycles every lunar month.
Endogenous Rhythms
Internally driven rhythms. e.g. biological clocks.
Exogenous Rhythms
Externally driven i.e. by external stimuli.
Zeitgeber
External environmental cue that resets the biological clock.
Entrainment
The process of resetting the internal clock.
Circadian
A rhythm that matches the movement of the tides and has a period of 12.5 hrs.
Circa Lunar
A rhythm that cycles over an approximately 29.5 day period.
Circa Annual
An annual rhythm.
Kineses (definition)
Innate locomotory behaviours involving non-directional movements in response to an external stimuli.
Kineses (Actually Explained)
A non-directional response to a stimulus in which the speed of movement or the rate of turning is proportional to the stimulus intensity.
Orthokineses
The rate of movement is dependant on the stimulus intensity.
Klinokineses
The rate of turning is related to the stimulus intensity.
Taxes (Definiton)
An innate locomotory behaviour involving directional movement s in response to external stimuli.
Taxes (Actually explained)
Involve orientation and movement in response to a directional stimulus or a gradient in stimulus intensity.
Klinotaxes
An organism continuously samples the environment with a single receptor to compare the stimulus over time.
Innate
Genetically programmed.
Touch
Thigmo
Light
Photo
Gravity
Gravi
Chemicals
Chemo
Water
Hydro
Temperature
Thermo
Tropotaxes
An organism with bilateral sense organs determines the direction of a stimulus through simultaneous comparison.
Open Membership
Membership is temporary - individuals may come and go.
Closed Membership
Membership is stable and group members recognise each other.
Courtship
A succession of signals that are exchanged between males and females, reducing aggression, and which culminates in mating. Ensures that the two animals are of the same species and can be a trigger for nest building or ovulation.
Pair Bond
A stable, usually long lasting relationship between animals of the oppisite sex that ensures cooperative behaviour in mating and the rearing of young.
R-Strategists
Produce large numbers of oppspring but with no parental care and hope that some survive to continue to the next generation. The health of the existing generation is unaffected by this kind of breeding.
K-Strategists
Produce only a few offspring but invest heavily in parental care to ensure maximum survival rate for the next generation.
Oviparous
Lay eggs.
Viviparous
Produce live young.
Home Range
Is the geographical area that an animal seldom leaves. It becomes familiar with it, covers it regularly in search of food and mates and makes its home with in it. Are not defended.
Teritory
The area that an animal marks and defends around its home base. It is defended by aggressive behaviour. Strongest attacks will be against members of the same sex.
Tropism
Movements of plant parts by growth. The direction of the growth depends on the direction of the stimulus.
Positive Tropisms
Growth movements towards a stimulus (plants).
Negative Tropisms
Growth movements away from a stimulus (plants).
Dia
Tropism at right angles to the stimulus.
Nastic Movements
Non directional responses by plants.
Meristems, division, elongation, specialisation
Cell division occurs in plants in _________ which are found at the tip of the shoot root. The length of a plant shoot or root is increased by cell ________, cell __________ and cell _____________.