Distribution of Organisms
The study of past & present distribution of organisms.
What is biogeography?
These forests can be either rainy or dry; average temperatures of 25-29C with little variation throughout the year. Major sources of biodiversity.
What are tropical forests?
Consists of the seafloor including deep-sea hydrothermal vent communities.
What is the marine benthic zone?
The scientific study of the phenomena that affect the maintenance, loss, & restoration of biological diversity.
What is conservation ecology?
The transition from one habitat or ecosystem to another such as in the transition from forest to grassland.
What is an ecotone?
Interactions between other organisms such as predation or competition.
What are biotic factors?
Dry climate averaging 30-50cm rainfall annually & an average temperature of 24-29C. Mostly consist of grasses, forbes, & the iconic scattered trees. Animals typically consist of large herbivorous mammals & several species of large-ish predatory mammals (though the termites should also be noted).
What is the savanna?
The transition zones between river & sea.
What are estuaries?
The study of key characteristics of populations and how they change over time.
What is demography?
The mixing of waters as a result of the changing water temperature profile in a lake.
What is turnover?
Variables in the environment able to affect organism distributions such as: temperature, water & oxygen, salinity, sunlight, as well as rocks & soil.
What are abiotic factors?
Receives less than 30cm of rainfall annual; the hot variety exceeds 50C & the cold variety can reach below -30C. Plants mostly consist of succulents while animals are largely comprised of reptiles, scorpions, & seed-eating mammals.
What are deserts?
Standing bodies of water from a few square meters to thousands of square kilometers.
What are lakes?
Addresses the equations & probability distributions that govern the demography & biogeography of species.
What is theoretical ecology?
Because the earth is tilted on its axis relative to its plane of orbit around the sun.
Why is there seasonal variation in sunlight intensity?
The patterns on the global, regional, & landscape level.
What is the macroclimate?
Temperatures are seasonal with cold winters (-50C) & hot summers (20C); annual rainfall is 30-70cm. Plants primarily consist of cone-bearing trees while animals include migratory birds, moose, bears, & the Siberian tiger in Asia.
What is the northern coniferous forest?
Biomes that are periodically submerged & exposed by tides, twice daily on most marine shores.
What are intertidal zones?
A plot of the proportion or numbers in a cohort still alive at each age.
What is a survivorship curve?
A plot of the annual mean temperature & precipitation in a particular region.
What is a climograph?
Movement of individuals/gametes away from origin area or from high population density centers; considered to greatly contribute to global distributions.
What is dispersal?
Receives 70-200+cm of annual rainfall with seasonal temperature variation -- winters are around 0C while summers max out at 35C (hot & humid). Plants form vertical layers (re: canopy) & animals consist of migratory birds, mammals, & insects.
Hint: Think deciduous trees.
What are temperate broadleaf forests?
A vast realm of open blue water where the surface is constantly mixed by wind-driven currents.
What is the oceanic pelagic zone?
Predation, competition, competitive exclusion, ecological niches & natural selection, character displacement, exploitation, herbivory, & parasitism.
What are types of interspecific interactions studied by community ecology?
Narrow stratum of abrupt temperature change in the ocean & in many temperate-zone lakes.
What is a thermocline?