Environment
What biome are we in?
Mediterranean or Shrub or Chaparral
What are the four processes make up population growth?
Death + birth; immigration + emigration
(births + immigrants) - (deaths + emigrants)
What are the two types of niches?
BONUS: describe the example given in class to describe this.
Fundamental - what can be used
Realized - what is actually used
What is the difference between community ecology and ecosystem ecology?
Community - interactions between populations
Ecosystem - same, but looks at energy and nutrient flow within these interactions
What controls the water cycle? What is the water cycle?
The sun!
Evaporation --> condensation --> precipitation
What does a Climograph show?
annual mean temperature versus precipitation
What are the three types of survivorship curves? Describe them.
BONUS: what do scientists do to circumvent Type III?
1. Type I - humans
2. Type 2 - straight line
3. Type III - die earlier on and few make it to adulthood
BONUS: breed in captivity until species old enough to survive on own
What's the difference between interspecific competition and intraspecific competition?
BONUS: what is symmetric competition?
inter - different species
intra - same species
BONUS: if one removed, other would grow and vice versa same amount
What is NPP? What does it represent?
BONUS: which ecosystem has the highest NPP?
Net primary production = gross production - energy used by producers
- reps. energy available to consumers
BONUS - tropical wet forest!
What is the impact of increased CO2 levels?
Greenhouse Effect --> global warming
What is the east coast current? what is the West coast one(s)?
BONUS: Describe them.
East Coast - Gulf Stream
West Coast - California Current + Southern California Counter Current
What are the four different ways to measure population density?
1) count - census method
2) count + extrapolate - count per square foot, multiple by total square feet in region
3) Proxy
4) Mark and recapture - M/n2 = n1/N
M = number marked during return; n2 = number total during return; n1 = number captured and marked; N = total population size
BONUS: archaea
In regards to trophic structure, what is the difference between top-down view and bottom-up view?
Top-down - predators down
Bottom-up - abiotic nutrients (sun, water) = determinant
What is trophic efficiency?
BONUS: what should humans do to be more trophically efficient?
how efficient getting energy from tier below.
- With caterpillar only taking 33J for growth, the bird that eats the caterpillar can only obtain 33J
BONUS - eat lower in the trophic pyramid.. plants>meats
The nitrogen cycle is achieved through this process carried out by these organisms.
Nitrogen fixation and microbes
What temperature differences are present when living on a coast versus not?
Coasts have more tepid temperatures
- specific heat of water = high --> longer time to heat up and cool down
What are the three types of dispersion?
1. uniform - even distribution - think penguins
2. random - position independent of others - think dandelions
3. clumped - aggregate in patches influenced by resources/social - think mushrooms or orcas
Describe the wolf being reintroduced to yellowstone example of top-down regulation.
2. Wolves introduced - less elk, more birds, restored river
What is the production efficiency equation?
(Net Secondary Production)/(assimilation of primary production) *100
Net secondary production - think caterpillar, got 33J for himself so that much can go to someone else if they eat him
Assimilation - doesn't include feces, includes amount for growth + amount for cell respiration
The phosphorous cycle is characterized by the movement of what by what? Where is it mostly? What bird is becoming more important?
Phosphate by plants; marine sediments; seabird guano
Describe pyrogenic plant life in the chaparral?
- thick bark and/or long roots
- short plants
- crown sprout after fire --> seed bank germinate after fire
What is the difference between exponential and logistic growth?
BONUS: what conditions allow for exponential growth?
Exponential - rN
CONDITIONS: colonize new habitat, recovery from catastrophe, pulse new nutrients, introduced species
Logistic - carrying capacity K
Herbivores decrease, photoautotrophs increase
Secondary production is
growth and reproduction by primary consumers (herbivores)
What are the three carbon cycling processes?
1. Photosynthesis (assimilatory process; inorganic--> organic) + Respiration (Dissimilatory; Oxidation Carbon)
2. Ocean Atmosphere Exchange - dissolved CO2 in water can be exchanged
3. Precipitation of Carbonates - CaCO3, MgCO3 form limestone and dolomite rocks