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Description
Flashcards by Brónagh Cobain, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Brónagh Cobain
over 5 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| What is habitat heterogeneity? | A diversity of variety in habitats across the one area. In contrast to habitat homogeneity which is very small variety or no variety in habitat types or niche spaces. |
| Describe the latitudinal diversity gradient | Difference in diversity across the globe from one pole to another. There is a greater diversity closer to the tropics and less diversity towards the poles. |
| What is the purpose of a life table | To show probability of survival and reproduction through a cohorts lifespan |
| Definition of semelparous | Species that perform a single reproductive event during their life making a large investment all at once for their reproduction, such as bamboo, some salmon species, Mayflies and most crops |
| Definition of iteroparous | Species that perform multiple reproductive events throughout their life, making a smaller investment with each reproduction |
| What is the principle of allocation | Known as evolutionary trade offs this principle means that when you dedicate energy to one trait you will have less energy for other traits. |
| What are the three types of population distribution within a habitat? | Uniform, clumped and random |
| Describe the rescue effect of immigration and what impact habitat fragmentation may have on this? | Migration can save a declining population and improve the genetic diversity strengthening the colony. Habitat fragmentation prevents this occurring by separating populations from each other. |
| Describe the three main ranges of interactions between species in community ecology | Mutualistic-------------------Parasitic Facultative------------------Obligate Generalist------------------Specialist |
| In terms of trophic interaction networks what are consumers and detrivores? | Consumers ingest all or part of a living organism; predators, herbivores, parasites and parasitoids. Detrivores ingest all or part of a dead or rotting organism |
| What is the primary productivity of a habitat? | The degree at which autotrophic organisms (primarily plants and algae) convert energy into organic substances through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. |
| What is the difference between an ecosystem engineer and a keystone species? | An ecosystem engineer has a large impact on the species richness and landscape-level heterogenity of an area. This impact is not always positive and invasive species are quite common ecosystem engineer. A keystone species is an ecosystem engineer with a large BENEFICIAL impact on their community. |
| What is the definition of a mesopredator? | A middle trophic level predator which both predates and is predated upon. (e.g. raccoons) |
| Give an example of the cascading effects of local extinction. | When sea otters are lost (due a higher orca population), more sea urchins live and more of the kelp forest is uplifted, destroying the habitat. |
| What are mycorrhizas? | Mycorrhizas are fungal associations between plant roots and beneficial fungi. The fungi effectively extend the root area of plants and are extremely important to most wild plants. A good example of a mutualistic interaction. |
| What is EFN? | Extra floral nectar/ nectaries, nectar produced anywhere but inside the flower |
| What is a myrmecophyte? | Ant-plants, or myrmecophytes, are plants that maintain a symbiotic or mutualistic relationship with various species of ants. |
| What is domatia? | Domatia are structures produced by plants for arthropods to use. Domatia are small chambers inside the plant or made by hairs on leaves that offer shelter to arthropods. The domatia are intended to be used by organisms that have a symbiotic relationship with the plant. |
| Explain parasite extended phenotype | How a parasite manipulates host behaviour or the host life cycle |
| What is the difference between a parasite and a parasitoid? | Parasite- parasitic on an animal without killing it Parasitoid- Kills host by laying eggs in it |
| What is the difference between and endoparasitoid and an ectoparasitoid? | Endoparasitoid is an internal parasite Ectoparasitoid is an external parasite |
| What is the competitive exclusion principle? | Two species with similar niches cannot co-exist in the same area forever. It is driven by species that are in similar niche spaces and are phylogenetically similar. |
| What are the five steps of the nitrogen cycle? | Nitrogen fixation-> nitrification-> assimilation-> ammonification-> dentrification |
| What happens during nitrogen fixation? | Soil bacteria and leguminous root nodules turn atmospheric nitrogen into ammonium |
| What happens during nitrification? | The ammonium produced during nitrogen fixation has oxygen added to it and is turned into nitrites and nitrates. |
| What happens during nitrogen assimilation? | Phytoplankton and plants take up dissolved inorganic and organic nitrogen from the soil and from dead animals and organisms |
| What happens during ammonification in the nitrogen cycle? | Organic compounds are transformed into ammonia by bacteria and fungi in the soil |
| What happens during dentrification in the nitrogen cycle? | Bactera break down nitrates in the soil under anaerobic conditions releasing nitrogen back into the atmosphere |
| Things like fertiliser run off, soil erosion and sewage dumping cause excess nitrogen, which in turn causes anthropogenic eutrophication. Describe this process. | |
| Describe three forms of weathering that occur to rocks that release phosphate ions during the phosphorus cycle | Physical (freezing, thawing, exfoliation) Chemical (carbonic acid in rainwater/ rivers causes carbonation weathering) Biological (bacteria, algae, lichens and roots) |
| What is mineralisation in the phosphorus cycle? | When bacteria break down organic phsophorus in the soil (from waste or dead animals etc) and make it available to plants by turning it into inorganic phosphorus. |
| What is a hyperparasitoid? | A parasitoid of a parasitoid |
| What is superparasitism? | Host parasitised by larvae of multiple females |
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