Biology
Ecology and Ecosystems flashcards
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- What is a population in ecology?Populations and Carrying Capacity
- Members of a species in a defined area and time.
- What is population density?Populations and Carrying Capacity
- Individuals per unit area or volume.
- What is spatial distribution?Populations and Carrying Capacity
- How individuals are arranged across an area.
- What is detection bias?Populations and Carrying Capacity
- Some individuals being more likely to be observed than others.
- What is net population change?Populations and Carrying Capacity
- Births minus deaths plus immigration minus emigration.
- What is exponential growth?Populations and Carrying Capacity
- Growth at a constant positive per-capita rate under simplifying assumptions.
- What is logistic growth?Populations and Carrying Capacity
- A model in which growth slows as abundance approaches K.
- What is carrying capacity?Populations and Carrying Capacity
- A context-dependent population level supported by available conditions.
- What is a density-dependent factor?Populations and Carrying Capacity
- A factor whose effect changes with population density.
- What is a density-independent disturbance?Populations and Carrying Capacity
- An event whose immediate effect need not depend on density.
- What is a limiting resource?Populations and Carrying Capacity
- A resource whose shortage constrains population performance.
- Does density dependence mean a factor is living?Populations and Carrying Capacity
- No; it describes a relationship to density.
- What is a habitat?Species Interactions
- A physical place or setting where an organism lives.
- What is an ecological niche?Species Interactions
- An organism’s resource use, conditions, and ecological interactions.
- What is competition?Species Interactions
- Interaction over a shared limiting resource.
- What is resource partitioning?Species Interactions
- Differences in resource use that reduce direct overlap.
- What is predation?Species Interactions
- Consumption of one organism by another in a broad ecological sense.
- What is herbivory?Species Interactions
- Consumption of plant or algal material.
- What is a refuge?Species Interactions
- A place or condition reducing exposure to consumers.
- What is an indirect ecological effect?Species Interactions
- An effect on a species mediated through another interaction.
- What is mutualism?Species Interactions
- An interaction with net benefit to both partners under stated conditions.
- What is parasitism?Species Interactions
- An interaction benefiting one species while harming a host.
- What is commensalism?Species Interactions
- One benefits while no effect on the other is detected in context.
- What is symbiosis?Species Interactions
- A close, often persistent association between species.
- What is a primary producer?Food Webs and Energy Flow
- An organism that fixes inorganic carbon using light or chemical energy.
- What is a consumer?Food Webs and Energy Flow
- An organism obtaining organic matter from other organisms.
- What is a decomposer?Food Webs and Energy Flow
- An organism that breaks down organic material and releases nutrients.
- Which way do food-web arrows point?Food Webs and Energy Flow
- From resource or food toward its consumer.
- What is GPP?Food Webs and Energy Flow
- Total producer carbon-fixation rate over a defined area and time.
- What is NPP?Food Webs and Energy Flow
- GPP minus producer respiration in a consistent accounting.
- What is transfer efficiency?Food Webs and Energy Flow
- The fraction transferred between specified trophic levels.
- Is the 10 percent rule exact?Food Webs and Energy Flow
- No; efficiencies vary across ecosystems and methods.
- What is a food web?Food Webs and Energy Flow
- A network of feeding relationships.
- What is a trophic cascade?Food Webs and Energy Flow
- Effects across trophic levels mediated by changes in consumers.
- What is an indirect effect?Food Webs and Energy Flow
- A response transmitted through other species or interactions.
- Can a food-web diagram predict exact population counts alone?Food Webs and Energy Flow
- No; it omits rates and environmental conditions.
- What is evaporation?Matter Cycles
- Liquid water becoming vapor.
- What is condensation?Matter Cycles
- Water vapor becoming liquid droplets.
- What is transpiration?Matter Cycles
- Water vapor released from plants, mainly through leaves.
- What is infiltration?Matter Cycles
- Water entering soil or permeable ground.
- What is a carbon reservoir?Matter Cycles
- A pool holding carbon for a measurable time.
- What is carbon fixation?Matter Cycles
- Incorporation of inorganic CO₂ into organic molecules.
- What is a carbon flux?Matter Cycles
- Movement of carbon between reservoirs per time.
- Why does net CO₂ exchange differ from gross photosynthesis?Matter Cycles
- Respiration and other processes occur simultaneously.
- What is nitrogen fixation?Matter Cycles
- Conversion of atmospheric N₂ into biologically available nitrogen.
- What is nitrification?Matter Cycles
- Microbial oxidation of reduced nitrogen toward nitrate.
- What is assimilation of nitrogen?Matter Cycles
- Incorporation of inorganic nitrogen into organic molecules.
- What is denitrification?Matter Cycles
- Microbial return of nitrate-derived nitrogen to atmospheric gases.
- What is ecological succession?Ecosystem Change and Biodiversity
- Change in community composition over time.
- What is primary succession?Ecosystem Change and Biodiversity
- Community development on a new surface with little established soil.
- What is secondary succession?Ecosystem Change and Biodiversity
- Community change after disturbance where soil or legacies remain.
- What is a biological legacy?Ecosystem Change and Biodiversity
- Surviving organisms or materials influencing recovery after disturbance.
- What is species richness?Ecosystem Change and Biodiversity
- Number of species in a defined sample.
- What is evenness?Ecosystem Change and Biodiversity
- Similarity of relative abundances across species.
- What is functional diversity?Ecosystem Change and Biodiversity
- Variety of ecological roles or traits.
- What is resilience?Ecosystem Change and Biodiversity
- Capacity to recover or reorganize after disturbance under stated measures.
- What is habitat fragmentation?Ecosystem Change and Biodiversity
- Breaking connected habitat into smaller, more isolated patches.
- What is nutrient enrichment?Ecosystem Change and Biodiversity
- Increased supply of nutrients such as nitrogen or phosphorus.
- What is a monitoring baseline?Ecosystem Change and Biodiversity
- A starting measurement for evaluating later change.
- Why use comparison sites?Ecosystem Change and Biodiversity
- To help separate an intervention effect from other trends.