Ecology Study Guide

Chapter 50

• Explain why the field of ecology is a multidisciplinary science
• Distinguish among physiology, ecology, community ecology, and ecosystem ecology
• Describe the relationship between ecology and evolution
• Explain the importance of temperature, water, light, soil, and wind to living organisms
• Explain the principle of allocation
• Describe how environmental changes may produce behavioral, physiological, morphological, or adaptive responses in organisms
• Explain the concept of environmental grain and under what situation(s) a single environment may be both coarse-grained and fine=grained
• Describe the characteristics of the major biomes:

tropical forest savanna desert chaparral grassland temperate forest taiga tundra

• Compare and contrast the types of freshwater communities
• Using a diagram identify the various zones found in the marine environment.

ecology

abiotic components

biotic components

organismal biology

population

community

ecosystem

biosphere

climate

biome

tropics

turnover

photic zone

aphotic zone

thermocline

benthic zone

benthos

detritus

littoral zone

limnetic zone

profundal zone

oligotrophic

eutrophic

mesotrophic

wetlands

estuary

intertidal zone

neritic zone

oceanic zone

pelagic zone

benthic zone

coral reef

oceanic pelagic biome

abyssal zone

canopy

permafrost

regulator

conformer

principle of allocation

acclimation

Chapter 51

• Explain the difference between innate and learned behaviors
• Describe the evolutionary basis for behavioral ecology
• Explain the difference between ultimate and proximate causations of behavior
• Describe a fixed-action pattern and a sign stimulus
• Explain the nature versus nurture controversy
• Explain the effect of maturation on behavioral improvement
• Define habituation
• Discuss imprinting, imprinting stimulus, and critical period
• Define associative learning
• Distinguish among classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning
• Describe 2 hypotheses for the evolution of play behavior
• Discuss the ultimate bases of learning
• Describe and define kinesis, taxis, and migration
• Explain the differences among piloting, orientation, and navigation
• Compare generalist and specialist foraging strategies
• Explain how a search image is adaptive
• Describe optimal foraging strategies in terms of energetics and prey densities
• Describe agonistic behavior
• Explain what is meant by a ritual behavior and describe the evolutionary advantage of ritual behavior
• Describe a dominance hierarchy and explain the advantages to individuals in the hierarchy
• Explain how dominance hierarchies and territories may stabilize population densities
• Describe the advantages of courtship
• Explain how ritualized courtships may have evolved
• Define parental investment
• Discuss the ultimate bases for mate selection
• Compare and contrast the 3 main mating systems
• Describe the differences between polygyny and polyandry
• Discuss how the needs of the young influence the development of mating systems
• Describe how the certainty of paternity influences the development of mating systems
• Describe the various modes of communication
• Relate an animal's mode of communication to its lifestyle
• Discuss why altruistic behavior might evolve
• Define inclusive fitness and kin selection
• Define reciprocal altruism
• Define cognitive ethology
• Describe the premise of sociobiology

behavior

ethology

fixed-action pattern

sign stimulus

foraging

search image

learning

maturation

kin selection

imprinting

critical period

associative learning

classical conditioning

operant conditioning

play

cognition

cognitive ethology

cognitive maps

habituation

reciprocal altruism

migration

social behavior

sociobiology

agonistic behavior

ritual

dominance hierarchy

territory

parental investment

kinesis

taxis

monogamous

polygamous

polygyny

polyandry

pheromones

inclusive fitness

coefficient of relatedness

lek

promiscuous

Chapter 52

1. Define the scope of population ecology
2. Distinguish between population and density
3. Explain how ecologists measure species density
4. Describe conditions which may result in clumped dispersion, random dispersion, and uniform dispersion of populations
5. Explain how age structure, generation time, and sex structure of populations can affect population growth
6. Describe the characteristics of populations which exhibit Type I, Type II, and Type III survivorship curves
7. Explain how carrying capacity of the environment affects the intrinsic rate of increase of a population
8. Explain how density dependent factors affect population growth
9. Describe how weather and climate can function as density-independent factors in controlling population growth
10. E xplain how density-dependent and density-independent factors may work together to control a population's growth
11. List the 3 major characteristics of a life history and explain how each affects the
1. number of offspring produced by an individual
2. population's growth
12. Explain how predation can affect life history through natural selection
13. Distinguish between r-selected and K-selected populations
14. Explain how a stressful environment may alter the standard r-selection and K-selection characteristics

population

density

dispersion

mark-recapture method

clumped

random

uniform

biogeography

demography

age structure

birth rate

fecundity

death rate

generation time

sex ratio

life table

survivorship curve

life history

semelparity

iteroparity

zero population growth

intrinsic rate of increase

exponential population growth

carrying capacity

logistic population growth

K-selected populations

equilibrial populations

r-selected populations

opportunistic populations

intraspecific competition

density-dependent factor

density-independent factor

cohort

Chapter 53

1. Compare and contrast the individualistic hypothesis of H. A. Gleason and the interactive hypothesis of F. E. Clements with respect to communities
2. Explain the relationship among species richness, relative abundance, and diversity
3. List 4 properties of a community and explain the importance of each
4. Explain how interspecific competition may affect community structure
5. Describe the competitive exclusion principle and explain how competitive exclusion may affect community structure
6. Distinguish between an organism's fundamental niche and realized niche
7. Explain how resource partitioning can affect species diversity
8. Describe the defense mechanisms evolved by plants to reduce predation by herbivores
9. Explain how cryptic coloration and aposematic coloration aid an animal in avoiding predators
10. Distinguish between Batesian mimicry and Mullerian mimicry
11. Describe how predators use mimicry to obtain prey
12. Explain the role of predators in community structure
13. Distinguish among parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism
14. Explain why it is difficult to determine what factor is most important in structuring a community
15. Distinguish between primary succession and secondary succession
16. Explain how inhibition and facilitation may be involved in succession
17. Describe how natural and human disturbances can affect equilibrium and species diversity
18. List the factors involved in limiting a species to a particular range
19. Describe the mechanisms which contribute to the global clines in diversity
20. Explain the factors which determine what species eventually inhabit islands

species richness

relative abundance

species diversity

predation

individualistic hypothesis

interactive hypothesis

secondary succession

interspecific interactions

coevolution

parasitism

parasitoidism

herbivory

community

biogeography

cryptic coloration

mimicry

predator

Batesian mimicry

Mullerian mimicry

parasite

hosts

endoparasites

ectoparasites

interspecific competition

interference competition

exploitative competition

competitive exclusion principle

ecological niche

fundamental niche

prey

resource partitioning

character displacement

symbiosis

symbiont

commensalism

mutualism

keystone species

exotic species

stability

disturbances

ecological succession

primary succession

recruitment

dynamic equilibrium hypothesis

intermediate disturbance

Chapter 54

1. Explain the importance of autotrophic organisms with respect to energy flow and nutrient cycling in      ecosystems
2. List and describe the importance of the 4 consumer levels found in ecosystems
3. Explain how gross primary productivity is allocated by the plants in an ecosystem
4. Explain why productivity declines at each trophic level
5. List factors that can limit ecosystem productivity
6. Distinguish between energy pyramids and biomass pyramids
7. Describe the hydrologic (water) cycle
8. Describe the carbon cycle and explain how it results from the reciprocal processes of photosynthesis and       cellular respiration
9. Describe the nitrogen cycle and explain the importance of nitrogen fixation to living organisms
10. Explain how phosphorus is recycled locally inmost ecosystems
11. Explain why the soil in tropical forests contains lower levels of nutrients than soil in temperate forests
12. Describe how agricultural practices can interfere with nitrogen cycling
13. Describe how deforestation can affect nutrient cycling within an ecosystem
14. Describe how the carbon cycle differs in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems
15. Explain how "cultural eutrophication" can alter freshwater ecosystems
16. Explain why toxic compounds usually have the greatest effect on top-level carnivores
17. Describe how increased atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide could affect the earth
18. Describe how human interference might alter the biosphere

• ecosystem
• trophic structure
• trophic level
• primary producers
• primary consumers
• secondary consumers
• tertiary consumers
• detritivores
• detritus
• denitrification
• food chain
• food web
• production
• consumption
• decomposition
• primary productivity
• gross primary productivity
• net biomass
• standing crop
• limiting nutrient
• ecological efficiency
• productivity pyramid
• biomass pyramid
• turnover time
• pyramid of numbers
• biogeochemical cycle
• nitrogen fixation
• ammonification
• long-term ecological research (LTER)
• biological magnification
• greenhouse effect primary productivity

• secondary productivity

Chapter 55

19. List the major threats to biodiversity and give an example of each
20. Describe the importance of biodiversity
21. Describe the 3 basic concepts upon which the field of biodiversity is based
22. Describe the goal of conservation biology
23. Describe ho biodiversity is distributed
24. Define the term : "biodiversity hot spot"
25. Describe the problems presented to conservation by migratory species
26. Describe how the biodiversity crisis extends throughout the hierarchy of biological organization
27. Describe how habitat fragmentation affects population dynamics
28. Define "source habitat" and "sink habitat" and how these concepts relate to conservation habitats
29. Describe how population viability analysis and estimates of minimum viability size and effective        population size are used to evaluate the chances of a species persisting or becoming extinct
30. Give examples of how predictive models are being used in conservation efforts
31. Describe the conflicting demands that arise in conservation management plans
32. Describe how edges and corridors influence landscape biodiversity
33. Discuss why nature reserves are important to preserving biodiversity and why conservation efforts will        involve working in landscapes dominated by humans
34. Describe why restoring degraded areas is an important part of conservation biology and how        bioremediation and augmentation play a role in restoration efforts
35. Describe how sustainable development goals are reorienting ecological research and will require        changes in some human values

• conservation biology
• biodiversity
• biodiversity crisis
• source habitat
• sink habitat
• biodiverrsity hot spot
• endemic species
• endangered species
• threatened species
• metapopulation
• population viability analysis
• minimum viable population size
• minimum dynamic area
• effective population size
• landscape ecology
• movement corridor
• zoned reserve
• systems restoration ecology
• bioremediation
• sustainable development
• Sustainable Biosphere Initiative