Population/community Ecology Exam 1

Front 1

coevolution

Back 1

the evolution of two or more species that interact closely with one another, with each species adapting to changes in the other

Front 2

individual optimization hypothesis

Back 2

each individual in a population has its own clutch size, so that not all individuals are identical

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Lack clutch size

Back 3

the clutch size at which productivity is maximal for the population

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Lack's hypothesis

Back 4

clutch size in birds is determined by the number of young that parents can provide with food; studies have shown this to be false, they can support more than optimal number of eggs layed

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maximum reproduction

Back 5

theory that natural selection will maximize reproduction rate, subject to the constraints imposed by feeding and predator avoidance

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natural selection

Back 6

process in nature by which only the organisms best adapted to their environment tend to survive and transmit their genetic characteristics to succeeding generations while less adapted tend to be eliminated

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optimality models

Back 7

models that assume natural selection will achieve adaptations that are best possible for each trait in terms of survival and reproduction

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phenotype

Back 8

observable physical characteristics of an organism

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proximate factors

Back 9

how a particular trait is regulated by an individual in a physiological or biochemical manner

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ultimate factors

Back 10

the evolutionary reason for an adaptation or why a trait is maintained in a population (opposite of proximate)

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directional selection

Back 11

phenotypes at one extreme are selected against, produces genotypic changes more rapidly (most artificial selection is this)

Front 12

stabilizing selection

Back 12

phenotypes near the mean are fitter than those at extremes, so mean doesn't change

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process that drives adaptive evolution

Back 13

1.) variation
2.) excess offspring
3.) not all survive and reproduce
4.) there are selective pressures, survivors reproduce
5.) those with traits that allow survival propagate, traits inherited

Front 14

historic inertia

Back 14

once you go down an evolutionary pathway, it is hard to escape

Front 15

cost-benefit analysis

Back 15

an assessment to determine whether the cost of an activity is less than the benefit that can be expected from the activity

Front 16

group selection

Back 16

natural selection for traits that favor groups within a species irrespective of whether the traits favor individuals or not

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kin selection

Back 17

the evolution of traits that increase the survival, and ultimately the reproductive success, of one's relatives

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optimal foraging

Back 18

any method of searching for and obtaining food that maximizes the relative benefit

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optimal group size

Back 19

the size that results in the largest relative benefit

Front 20

promiscuity

Back 20

multiple matings in organisms

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relative benefit

Back 21

the difference between the costs and benefits

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territory

Back 22

defended area

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tradeoffs

Back 23

compromises between two desirable but incompatible activities

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time minimization (bird migrating)

Back 24

desirable if early arrival at the destination is an important fitness strategy

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energy minimization (bird migrating)

Back 25

risks associated with migration are high and use of energy during migration is high, also if resources are sparse on route

Front 26

cost of transport minimization (bird migrating)

Back 26

optimizes migration cost but within the whole annual cycle rather than only restricted migration period

Front 27

dispersal

Back 27

the movement of individuals away from their place of birth or hatching or seed production into a new habitat or area to survive and reproduce

Front 28

habitat selection

Back 28

the behavioral actions of organisms in choosing the areas in which they live and breed

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Liebig's Law of the Minimum

Back 29

the rate of any biological process is limited by that factor in least amount relative to requirements, so there is a single limiting factor

Front 30

physiological ecology

Back 30

studies the biochemical, physical, and mechanical adaptations and limitations of plants and animals to their physical and chemical environments

Front 31

Shelford's Law of Tolerance

Back 31

the geographical distribution of a species will be controlled by that environmental factor for which the organism has the narrowest range of tolerance

Front 32

transplant experiment

Back 32

if dispersal is in question, try to transplant it and see if it spreads;
1.) if successful- then there was some barrier preventing it
2.) if unsuccessful- then there is some biotic/abiotic factor making it impossible

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three conceptual models about the effects of conditions on species performance

Back 33

1.) temperature, pH
2.) toxins, radioactive emissions
3.) salt, copper

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allelopathy

Back 34

organisms that alter the surrounding chemical environment in such a way as to prevent other species from using it, typically with toxins or antibiotics

Front 35

barriers

Back 35

any geographic feature that hinders or prevents dispersal or movement across it, producing isolation

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biogeography

Back 36

the study of the geographical distribution of life on Earth and the reasons for the patterns one observes on different continents, islands, or oceans

Front 37

fitness

Back 37

ability of a particular genotype/phenotype to leave descendants in future generations, relative to other ogranisms

Front 38

ideal despotic distribution

Back 38

theoretical spatial spread of members of a population in which the competitive dominant "aggressive" individuals take up the best resources or territories, and less competitive individuals take up areas or resources in direct relationship to their dominance status

Front 39

ideal free distribution

Back 39

theoretical spatial spread of members of a population in which individuals take up areas with equal amounts of resources in relation to their needs, so all individuals do equally well

Front 40

Reid's Paradox

Back 40

observed large discrepancy between the rapid rate of movement of trees recolonizing areas at the end of the Ice Age and the observed slow dispersal rate of tree seeds spreading by diffusion; colonization rates are driven by extreme dispersal events

Front 41

tens rule

Back 41

1 species in 10 alien species imported into a country become introduced; 1 in 10 of the introduced species become established; 1 in 10 of the established species becomes a pest

Front 42

diffusion dispersal

Back 42

gradual movement of a population across hospitable terrain for a period of several generations

Front 43

jump dispersal

Back 43

movement of individual organisms across large distances followed by the successful establishment of a population in the new area, short amount of time during life and across unsuitable terrain

Front 44

secular dispersal

Back 44

if diffusion occurs in evolutionary time, the species that is spreading undergoes extensive evolutionary change in the process

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habitat

Back 45

any part of the biosphere where a particular species can live, either temporarily or permanently

Front 46

two factors that must be kept separate with habitat selection

Back 46

1.) evolutionary factors, conferring survival value on habitat selection
2.) behavioral factors, giving the mechanism by which birds select areas

Front 47

criteria that must be fulfilled to conclude that a predator restricts prey distribution

Back 47

1.) prey survive when protected from predators in transplant experiment
2.) distributions inversely correlated
3.) suspected predator kills the prey in field/lab
4.) suspected predator shown to destroy prey in transplant

Front 48

climatology

Back 48

temperature and moisture are the two main limiting factors to distribution

Front 49

latitudinal variation in temperature

Back 49

shape of Earth and tilt on axis causes variation in the intensity of solar radiation intercepted by planet

Front 50

seasonal variation

Back 50

northern and southern hemispheres receive unequal distributions of sunlight depending on season

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continentality

Back 51

rates of heating/cooling are different between water and land bodies

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microclimatic variation

Back 52

small scale differences in temperature/moisture occur locally

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actual evapotranspiration

Back 53

the actual amount of water that is used by and evaporates from a plant community over a given time period, largely dependent on the available water and the temperature

Front 54

Calvin-Benson cycle

Back 54

the series of biochemical reactions that takes place in the stroma of chloroplasts in photosynthetic organisms and results in the first step of carbon fixation in photosynthesis; ancestral method used by most plants; CO2 first converted to 3-phosphoglyceric acid (3 carbon)

Front 55

common garden

Back 55

experimental design in plant ecophysiology in which a series of plants from different areas are brought together and planted in one area, side by side, in an attempt to determine which features of the plants are genetically controlled and which are environmentally determined; test whether observed differences are determined by local adaptations (genotype) or immediate response to environment (phenotypic plasticity)

Front 56

crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM)

Back 56

open stomata to take up CO2 at night, minimizing water loss during day, low photosynthetic rate and can switch to C3 during day, found in deserts

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ecotype

Back 57

genetic race of a plant or animal species that is adapted to a specific set of environmental conditions such as temperature or salinity

Front 58

Krantz anatomy

Back 58

particular type of leaf anatomy that characterizes C4 plants; plant veins are encased by thick walled photosynthetic bundle-sheath cells that are surrounded by thin walled spongy mesophyll cells

Front 59

photoperiodism

Back 59

physiological responses of plants and animals to the length of day

Front 60

potential evapotranspiration

Back 60

theoretical depth of water that would evaporate from a standard flat pan over a given period if water is not limiting, largely dependent on temperature

Front 61

shade-intolerant plants

Back 61

plants that cannot survive and grow in the shade of another plant, requiring open habitats for survival

Front 62

shade-tolerant plants

Back 62

plants that can live and grow in the shade of other plants

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continental climates

Back 63

land controlled climates that have large daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations

Front 64

temp/moisture affect the distribution of species through

Back 64

1.) survival
2.) reproduction
3.) development of young organisms
4.) interactions with other organisms near the limits of temperature or moisture tolerance

Front 65

factors limiting/affecting timberline

Back 65

1.) lack of soil
2.) desiccation of leaves in cold weather
3.) short growing season
4.) lack of snow, exposing plants to winter drying
5.) excessive snow lasting through the summer
6.) mechanical effects of high winds
7.) rapid heat loss at night
8.) excessive soil temperatures during the day
9.) drought

Front 66

C4 Pathway

Back 66

first produce malic and aspartic acids (4 carbon), can also use C3 method of carbon fixation, always produce more photosynthate per unit area of leaf than C3 plants, more efficient, C4 leaves have Krantz anatomy which have higher concentration of mitochondria

Front 67

ecological specialization model

Back 67

proposed explanation of Hanski's Rule postulating that species that exploit a wide range of resources become both widespread and common; these species are generalists; also called Brown's model

Front 68

generalists

Back 68

species that eat a variety of foods or live in a variety of habitats; contrast with specialists

Front 69

Hanski's Rule

Back 69

the generalization that there is a positive relationship between distribution and abundance, such that abundant species have wide geographic ranges

Front 70

local population model

Back 70

proposed explanation of Hanski's Rule that assumes that species differ in their capacity to disperse, and if the environment is divided into patches, some species will occupy more local patches than other as a function of their dispersal powers

Front 71

Rapoport's Rule

Back 71

the generalization that geographic range sizes decrease as on moves from polar to equatorial latitudes, such that range sizes are smaller in the tropics

Front 72

sampling model

Back 72

one proposed explanation for Hanski's Rule that the observed relationship between distribution and abundance is an artifact of the difficulty of sampling rare species and does not therefore require a biological explanation

Front 73

specialists

Back 73

species that eat only a few foods or live in only one or two habitats; contrast with generalists

Front 74

ecological explanation for Rapoport's Rule

Back 74

1.) climatic variability is greater at higher latitudes, and only organisms that have a broad range of tolerance for variable climates can live there
2.) product of glaciation
3.) lack of competition in polar communities