Topics 1 & 2
About _____% of energy is transferred from one tropic level to the next.
10
Which survivorship curve has a low death rate during an organism's early development and middle life, but a high death rate later in life?
Type III
Identify the type of interspecific interaction based on the definition below:
When both organisms benefit from the relationship
Mutualism
Fill in the blanks: biodiversity boosts ecosystem ____________. The greater the biodiversity in an ecosystem, the more ______________ it is.
Productivity, resilient
Define disturbance.
An event that changes a community by removing organisms from it or altering resource availability
This type of movement is non-directional and is defined as a change in the rate of movement frequency.
kinesis
Some plants, like sage, release toxins into the soil, which prevents other plants from growing nearby. knowing this, what kind of dispersion pattern might you expect to see in a population of sage plants?
uniform
Identify the type of interspecific interaction based on the definition below:
When one species has a positive effect on the survival and reproduction of another without intimate association of symbiosis
Facilitation
Examine the tree communities below. Each has 100 individuals.
○Community 1: 20A, 10B, 20C, 30D, 20E
○Community 2: 5A, 25B, 15C, 20D, 25E, 10F
What can you conclude about their relative species richness?
Community 2 has higher species richness (6 species vs 5 species in community 1)
What is the difference between primary and secondary succession?
primary succession = takes longer because there is no soil
secondary succession = leaves soil intact
What is ethology?
the study of how evolutionary processes shape inherited behaviors and the ways that animals respond to specific stimuli
1. when reproduction begins
2. how often reproduction happens
3. the # of offspring produced per reproduction episode
Identify the type of interspecific interaction based on the definition below:
When one organism benefits and the other is neither harmed nor benefited
Commensalism
What is a keystone species?
a species that plays a more pivotal role in the community; for example coral or honey bees
list and describe two human disturbances to ecosystems covered in class
can describe any 2 of the following:
habitat loss
invasive species
overharvesting
global change
smaller organisms have a higher surface area to volume ratio, meaning they lose more heat to their surroundings
Researchers performed an ecological survey in Alaska. They used the mark and recapture method to estimate the moose population to be around 32,000 in 2020. The moose are kept in check by the wolf population. The carrying capacity of this region allows for 50,000 deer. for this example, assume rmax is 1.0.
If something happened in Alaska to decrease the wolf population, how would this affect the moose population?
The moose population would see a spike of exponential growth.
Define the competitive exclusion principle.
Two species competing for the same resource cannot coexist permanently
Why are invasive species so harmful to ecosystems?
they competitively exclude other species, they cause harm to the environment, and they grow and reproduce quickly
Identify and Describe two mechanisms that plants use to defend themselves against herbivory.
1. Physical Defenses: thorns, and trichomes
2. Chemical Defenses: toxins or distasteful compounds
***Check explanations***
Researchers performed an ecological survey in Alaska. They used the mark and recapture method to estimate the moose population to be around 32,000 in 2020. The moose are kept in check by the wolf population. The carrying capacity of this region allows for 50,000 deer. for this example, assume rmax is 1.0.
What will the population growth rate be for 2020?
x = rmax * N * (K-N/K)
x = 1(32,000)(50,000-32,000 / 50,000)
x = 11,520 moose/year
What is the difference between a fundamental niche and a realized niche?
The fundamental niche describes where a species could potentially live, while the realized niche describes where it actually does live, considering the constraints imposed by other species and environmental factors.
What is the correlation between diversity and an ecosystem's stability?
the more biodiverse = the more stable the ecosystem