SC BIOL 301 - Exam 1 Study Guide (13 pages)

Unformatted text preview:

Biol 301 1nd Edition Exam 1 Study Guide Lectures 1 5 Lecture 1 Ecology study of interactions of organisms with one another and with their environment Also the study of the distribution and abundance of organisms Evolution change in a population s gene pool over time Science of the origins of biological diversity and its distribution All ecological processes occur in the context of evolutionary history All evolutionary processes occur in an ecological context Ecological systems biological entities that have their own internal processes and interact with their external surroundings a Individual the most fundamental unit of ecology Individuals acquire nutrients ane energy and produce waste Individuals have a membrane boundary that separates internal processes from the external environment b Species individuals that are capable of interbreeding or share genetic similarity This definition isn t universal and there are many definitions of species c Population individuals of the same species living in a particular area and interbreeding Boundaries can be natural like forest edges or political like state lines i Geographic range distribution is the extent of land or water within which a population lives ii Abundance is the total number of individuals iii Density is the number of individuals per unit area iv Composition is the makeup in terms of age gender or genetics d Community populations of species living together in a particular area Boundaries are not always rigid and may cover small or large areas Includes many types of interactions such as predation and competition Ex cheetahs and gazelles on the African plains e Ecosystem one or more communities of living organisms interacting with their nonliving physical and chemical environment Research is focused on movement of energy and matter between physical and biological component Theis includes the flow of material from pools of elements such as carbon oxygen hydrogen nitrogen and phosphorus Boundaries are often not