Ecology
Scientific study of interactions bw organisms and their environments
Biotic factors
All the organisms in the area and the living component of environment
Abiotic factors
A-without, nonliving. Environments nonliving component and included chem/physical factors (temp, light, water, minerals, air)
Habitiat
Specific environment including biotic and abiotic factors of its surroundings
Ecology in 4 levels
Organismal ecology, population ecology, community ecology, and ecosystem ecology
Organism ecology
Evolutionary adaptions that enable organisms to meet the challenges posed by their abiotic environments
Population ecology
Factors that affect population density and growth
Community ecology
Affects a community's structure and organization
Ecosystem ecology
All of the abiotic factors in addition to the community of species in a certain area, focuses on energy flow and cycling of chemicals
Biosphere
Global ecosystem, sum of all planets ecosystem
Living in earths diverse environments
Energy source- all organisms require a usable source of energy to live. Life thrives in environments that are completely dark.
Temperature- affects metabolism (above 45 c destroyed enzymes).
Aquatic organisms face problems of water balance and terrestrial
Acclimation
Gradual, reversible, physiological adjustment that occurs in repose s to an environmental change. Birds and mammals tolerate great temp extremes bc they're endothermic and reptiles are ectothermic (can't handle a range of heat). Unfavorable change= moving
Biomes
Major terrestrial or aquatic life zone characterized by vegetation type of physical environment in aquatic biomes.
Freshwater biomes fall into 2 broad groups
Standing water (lakes and ponds) and flowing water (rivers and streams)
Standing bodies of water
Range from small ponds to large lakes
Photic zone
Light is available for photosynthesis, shallow parts
Aphotic zone
Bottom of all aquatic biomes
Benthic realm
Dead material that rains down from the productive surface waters of photic zone
Phytoplankton
Collective name for microscopic algae
Bodies of flowing water
rivers and streams. Near the source water is cold and low in nutrients. Downstream water is warmer and murkier
Wetland
Transitional biome bw aquatic ecosystem and terrestrial one
Marine biomes
Vivid coral reef go perpetually dark realms
Pelagic realm
Includes all of the open water of oceans
Zooplankton
Free floating animals in the pelagic photic zone
Coral reef
Photic zone of warm tropical waters
Intertidal zone
Ocean meets land
Estuaries
Transition area be a river and the ocean and threatened by landfills
Temperate zones
Milder climates. Mountains affect climate in two ways- air temp drops as elevation increase, and they cut of moist air
tropical forest
occur in equatorial areas, rainfall that's hot
savannas
dominated by grasses and scattered trees, human activity is destroying them
desert
driest of all biomes, unpredictable rainfall
charparral
mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers
temperate grassland
treeless, characterized by grazers
temperate broadleaf forest
deciduous trees where there's a lot of moisture like the east coast
coniferous forest
dominated by cone bearing evergreen trees, taiga, largest terrestrial biome on earth and includes temperate rain forest
tundra
permafrost bitterly cold temps, high winds, and very little annual precipitation, polar ice
substanaility
conserving earth's resources that meet the needs of people today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
greenhouse gases
co2, water vapor, and methane, and transparent to solar radiation, absorb or reflect heat, increases global temps = greenhouse effect
population
group of individuals of a single species that occupy the same general area
population density
the # of individuals of a species per unit area or volume.
age structure
population is the distribution of individuals in different age groups, provides insight into the history of a population's survival, reproduce success, and how the population relates to environmental factors.
life tables
track survivorship and help determine the most vulnerable stages of the life cycle.
survivorship curve
plot the # of individuals still alive at each age in the max life span and are classified based upon the rate of mortality over the life span of an organism.
life history
set of traits that affect the organism's schedule of reproduction and survival
opportunistic life history
take immediate advantage of favorable conditions and typically exhibit a type 3 survivorship curve.
equilibrial life history
developed and reach sexual maturity slowly, produce few, well cared for offspring, are typically larger bodied and longer lived and typically a type 1 survivorship curve.
exponential population growth
describes the expansion of a population in an ideal and unlimited environment.
limiting factors
environmental factors that hold a population growth in check and restrict the # of individuals that can occupy a habitat
carrying capacity
max population size that a particular environment can sustain
logistic population growth
when the growth rate decreases as the population size approached carrying capacity
density dependent factors
population limiting factor whose effects intensify as population increases in density
intraspecific competition
competition between individuals of the same species for the same limited resources.
density independent factor
population limiting factors whose intensity is unrelated to population density and include abiotic factors like fires, floods, and storms
endangered species
one that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range
threatened species
one that is likely t become endangered in the foreseeable future
invasive species
non native species that has spread far beyond the original point of introduction and causes environmental or econ damage by colonizing and dominating suitable habitats
biological control
intentional release of a natural enemy to attack a pest population and used to manage an invasive species
population momentum
continuation of population growth as girls in the prereporductive age group reach their reproductive years
ecological footprint
estimate of the amount of land required to provide the raw materials an individual or a nation consumes.
biodiversity
biological diversity, genetic, species and ecosystem diversity.
ecosystem services
functions performed by an ecosystem that directly or indirectly benefit people, including air and water purification, climate regulation, and erosion control
community
assemblage of species living close enough together for potential interaction
interspecific interactions
interactions between species
interspecific competion
population growth of species maybe limited by the population densities of competing species and by the density of its own population
competitive exclusion principle
states that if two species have an ecological niche that is too similar the 2 species can't coexist in the same place.
mutualism
both species benefit from interaction
predation
interaction in which one species aka the predator kills and eats another aka the prey
cryptic coloration
camouflage and a way for prey to hide from predators
warning coloration
brightly colored pattern and a way for prey to hide from predators
herbivory
consumption of plant parts or algae by an animal
parasite and host
animals that live in a host from which they obtain nutrients, pathogens, fungi, and protists
trophic structure
feeding relationships among the various species in a communtiy
food chain
sequence of food transfer bw trophic levels
herbivores
eat plants and are primary consumers
carniovres
consumers eat secondary consumers
tertiary consumers
eat tertiary consumers
detritus
dead material left by all the trophic levels
different orgaims consume detritus
scavengers (cows feast on carcasses), detritivores (earthworms, decaying organic material, and decomposers (prokayotes, secret enzymes that digest molecules in organic material)
biological magnification
toxins become concentered as they pass through a food chain
food webs
feeding relationships in a community, omnivores eat producers and consumers
species diversity
variety of species that make up the community, consists of species richness (# of diff species) and relative abundance (of the diff species the proportional rep of species in a community)
keystone species
impact on its community is much larger than its total mass or abundance indicates.
disturbances
episodes that damage biological communities at least temporality, by destroying organism and altering the availabilty of resources
ecological succesion
disturbances may cause a gradual replacement by other species
primary/ secondary succession
begins in a virtually lifeless area with no soil/ occurs where a disturbance has destroyed an existing community but the soil intact
ecosystem
community of species in a given area and al the abiotic factors
energy flow/ chem cycling
passage of energy through the components of the ecosystem/ use and reuse of chem elements
biomass
amount or mass of living organic material in an ecosystem. primary production- rate where an ecosystem's producers convert solar energy to chem energy
pyramid of production
illustrates the cumulative loss of energy with each transfer in a food chain
biogeochemical cycles
involve biotic components and abiotic ones from an abiotic reservoir where a chem accumulates or is stockpiled outside of living organisms
nitrogen fixation
converts gaseous n2 to nitrogen compounds that plants can assimilate
conservation biology
goal oriented science that seeks to understand and counter the loss of biodiversity. restoration ecology uses the ecological principles to develop methods of returning degraded areas to their natural state
biodiversity hot spots
relatively small areas that have a large # of endangered and threatened species and an exceptional concentration of endemic species, those that are found nowhere else.
movement corridor
narrow strip or series of small clumps of suitable habitat that connects otherwise isolated patches
bioremendiation
uses living organisms to detoxify polluted ecosystems.
sustainable development
acquire the ecological info necessary for the responsible development, management, and conservation of earth's resources.