BSC2011: Final Exam Vocabulary ListEcology: the scientific study of the interactions betweens organisms and the environ-ment. Ecological interactions occur at a hierarchy of scales that ecologists study, from single organisms to the globe. Climate: the long-term, prevailing weather conditions in a given area. It is the most sig-nificant influence on the distribution of organisms on land and in the ocean. Biosphere: is the global ecosystem--the sum of all the planet’s ecosystems and land-scapes.Global Ecology: examines how the regional exchange of energy and materials influ-ences the functioning and distribution of organisms across the biosphere.Landscape: (or seascape) is a mosaic of connected ecosystems. Landscape Ecology: focuses on the factors controlling exchanges of energy, materi-als, and organisms across multiple ecosystems. Ecosystem: is the community of organisms in an area and the physical factors with which those organisms interact.Ecosystem Ecology: emphasizes energy flow and chemical cycling between organ-isms and the environment. Community: is a group of populations of different species in an area. Community Ecology: examines how interactions between species, such as predation and competition, affect community structure and organization. Population: is a group of individuals of the same species living in an area.Population Ecology: analyzes factors that affect population size and how and why it changes through time.Organismal Ecology: which includes the sub-disciplines of physiological, evolutionary, and behavioral ecology, is concerned with how an organism’s structure, physiology, andbehavior meet the challenges posed by its environment. Abiotic: nonliving factors, the chemical and physical attributes, such as temperature, light, water, and nutrients, that influence the distribution and abundance of organisms. Biotic: living factors-- the other organisms that are part of an individual’s environment-- similarly influence the distribution and abundance of life on Earth. Biomes: major life zones characterized by vegetation type (in terrestrial biomes) or by the physical environment (in aquatic biomes). Disturbance: is an event such as a storm, fire, or human activity that changes a com-munity, removing organisms from it and altering resource availability. Oligotrophic Lakes: are nutrient-poor and generally oxygen-richEutrophic Lakes: are nutrient-rich and often depleted of oxygen in the deepest zone in summer and if covered with ice in winter. Dispersal: the movement of individuals or gametes away from their area of origin or from centers of high population density. To observe if dispersal is a key factor limiting the distribution of a species, ecologists may observe the results of intentional or acci-dental transplants of the species to area where it was previously absent. Immigration: the influx of new individuals from other area.Emigration: the movement of individuals out of a population and into other locations.Demography: is the study of the vital statistics of populations and how they change over time.Life Tables: age-specific summaries of the survival pattern of a population.Survivorship Curve: a plot of the proportion or numbers in a cohort still alive at each age. (Type 1,2,3 curves that are for large mammals like humans, birds, and fish/marine invertebrates respectively). Cohort: a group of individuals of the same age, from birth until all of the individuals are dead. Exponential Population Growth: also known as geometric population growth. This condition is when a population whose members all have access to abundant food and are free to reproduce at physiological capacity. (dN/dt = rmaxN)Zero Population Growth (ZPG): occurs when the per capita birth and death rates are equal so r = 0. r: the per capita rate of increaseCarrying Capacity: (K) is the maximum population size that a particular environment can sustain. Logistic Population Growth: the per capita rate of increase approaches zero as the carrying capacity is reached. (dN/dt = rmaxN * (K-N/K))Life History: the traits that affect an organism’s schedule of reproduction and survival. It entails three main variables: when production begins (the age at first reproduction or age at maturity), how often the organisms reproduces, and how many offspring are pro-duced per reproductive episode. Semelparity: reproduces only once in its life time; this is typically some plants. This type of reproduction would work better in environments under less dependable condi-tions. Iteroparity: repeated reproduction. This type of reproduction may be favored in more dependable environment.Trade-off: between reproduction and survival. No organism could produce as many off-spring as a semelparous species and provision them as well as an iteroparous species.K-Selection: is density-dependent selection. Selection for traits that are sensitive to population density and are favored at high densities. r-Selection: is density-independent selection. selection for traits that maximize repro-ductive success in uncrowded environments (low densities). Occurs in environments that are well below the carrying capacity. Density Independent: a birth rate or death rate that does not change with population density. Density Dependent: a death rate that rises as population density rises. (Mechanisms of density-dependent regulation: competition for resources, predation, toxic wastes, in-trinsic factors, territoriality, and disease) Population Dynamics: population fluctuations from year to year or place to place. For example, fluctuations in fish populations influence seasonal harvests of commercially important species. Metapopulation: when a number of local populations are linked. Demographic Transition: the movement from high birth and death rates toward low birth and death rates, which tends to accompany industrialization and improved living conditions. Age Structure: the relative number of individuals of each age in the population.Ecological Footprint: summaries the aggregate land and water are required by each person, city, or nation to produce all the resources it consumes and to absorb all the waste it generates. It is measured in units of land per person. Interspecific Interaction: include competition, herbivory, symbiosis, and facilitation. These are all interactions with individuals of other species in the community. Interspecific Competition: a -/- interaction that occurs when individuals of different species compete for a
View Full Document
Unlocking...