Ecology

Pollution-the presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance or thing that has harmful or poisonous effects Example: Fertilizers

fertilizers and run off into lakes and ponds can cause Eutrophication which creates a dead zone

Threatened Species-Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of critical depensation, a mathematical measure of biomass related to population growth rate. Examples:polar bears, rhinos, lions

the majority of threatened species live in the rainforest

Decomposer-an organism, especially a soil bacterium, fungus, or invertebrate, that decomposes organic material Example: Mold, Mushrooms

decomposers play a key role in the Nitrogen cycle turning ammonium into Nitrates and Nitrites for plants to use

Predator-an animal that naturally preys on others Example: Wolf, lion, Jaguar

Cat eats mouse, Wolf eats rabbit

Population Size-(usually denoted N) is the number of individual organisms in a population Example: Population of the U.S.

318.9 million people live in the U.S.

Net Primary Productivity-the amount of carbon uptake after subtracting Plant Respiration (RES) from Gross Primary Productivity (GPP). GPP is the total rate at which the ecosystem capture and store carbon as plant biomass, for a given length of time. Example: A bunny eats food and then poops and breathes both releasing CO2

A certain amount of organic material is used to sustain the life of producers; what remains is net productivity. Net marine primary productivity is the amount of organic material available to support the consumers (herbivores and carnivores) of the sea

Density Independent Factors-factor limiting the size of a population whose effect is not dependent on the number of individuals in the population. Example: Earthquake which will kill all members of the population regardless of whether the population is small or large. Volcano, Hurricane, Tsunami

A flood may kill several animals even if the population is big or small. It is independent from the overall population density.

Ecosystem-biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment Example: Pond, lake, rainforest, forest, mangrove

A pond ecosystem would include algae, bass, rocks, water, minnows, crabs and turtles.

Community-an interacting group of various species in a common location. Example: A forest of trees and undergrowth plants, inhabited by animals and rooted in soil containing bacteria and fungi, constitutes a biological community.

A pond with several organisms or a tree that is home to several squirrel, bugs, and moss are both communities.

Ecosystem stability-Over time, the structure and function of a healthy ecosystem should remain relatively stable, even in the face of disturbance. If a stress or disturbance does alter the ecosystem is should be able to bounce back quickly Example: maintaining biodiversity, and the consumer population

After a forest fire secondary succession will occur and so the ecosystem will eventually become stable again and maintain stability.

Ecological Succession (Primary/Secondary)- Primary succession occurs in essentially lifeless areas—regions in which the soil is incapable of sustaining life as a result of such factors as lava flows, newly formed sand dunes, or rocks left from a retreating glacier. Secondary succession occurs where a community that previously existed has been removed; it is typified by smaller-scale disturbances that do not eliminate all life and nutrients from the environment. Examples: Primary and secondary succession

After a volcano erupts and lava wipes out all living organisms, pioneer species such as lichens will come back and help the environment to start again.

Mark and Recapture-a method commonly used in ecology to estimate an animal population's size. A portion of the population is captured, marked, and released. Later, another portion is captured and the number of marked individuals within the sample is counted. Example: Finding out the population of deer in an area

Another major application for these methods is in epidemiology,where they are used to estimate the completeness of ascertainment of disease registers. This can be used to find the number of children with type I diabetes in a population.

Eutrophication-excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen Example: Lake by a power plant or fertilizer manufacturing center

Can create a dead zone where no organisms can live.

Ecological Niche-role and position a species has in its environment; how it meets its needs for food and shelter, how it survives, and how it reproduces. A species' niche includes all of its interactions with the biotic and abiotic factors of its environment Example: Wolves keep the bunny population in check

Cats eat mice and keep the mouse population in check.

Biotic Factor-living component that affects another organism, including animals that consume the organism in question, and the living food that the organism consumes Examples: Humans, cats, dogs, and horses

Cats eat mice, so therefore are a biotic factor. Humans are biotic factors, because we effect several species around us.

Climate Change-change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels Example: The increase of factories and cars has led to an increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. It is warmer in the North Pole and colder in areas that are usually warm.

Climate change has caused the northern ice caps to melt, increasing sea level and decreasing the number of many of the species like polar bears living in the North.

R-Selection-production of numerous small offspring followed by exponential population growth is the defining characteristic of r-selected species. They require short gestation periods, mature quickly (and thus require little or no parental care), and possess short life spans Example: Mosquitos, cockroaches, dandelions

Cockroaches have several offspring, nature quickly and have low infant mortality rate

Abiotic Factor- non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of ecosystems Example: Soil, rock, air, water, sunlight and wind

Connection: Helps determine what type of species lives in the area. For example, if there is an abundance of fertile soil, water and sunlight then more plants and trees will be able to grow there

Conservation-preservation, protection, or restoration of the natural environment, natural ecosystems, vegetation, and wildlife Example: Yellowstone national park, Central park, mesa verde

Conservation of the natural environment has become more important as people start building on more and more land.

Primary Consumer-usually herbivores, feeding on plants and fungus Example:Bunny, grasshopper,horse, cow

Cows eat grass

Biodiversity-variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem. Example: There is a large amount of biodiversity in the rainforest.

Decisions humans make that influence biodiversity affect the well-being of themselves and others

Biological Magnification-the increasing concentration of toxic substances within each successive link in the food chain Example: Birds accumulate sufficient amounts of DDT from eating fish to cause adverse effects on bird populations

Eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish can have severe health effects, because these all contain high levels of mercury

Dispersion-specific type of organism can establish one of three possible patterns of dispersion in a given area Examples: a random pattern; an aggregated pattern, in which organisms gather in clumps; or a uniform pattern, with a roughly equal spacing of individuals

Ellephants are usaually in clumped dispersion, flowers in a random dispersion pattern and penguins are usually dispersed uniformly.

Food Chain- hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food. Example: grass gets energy from sun, cow eats grass, mountain lion eats cow.

Food chains vary widely, but if there are several animals that eat other animals then it is a food web.

Character Displacement- where differences among similar species whose distributions overlap geographically are accentuated in regions where the species co-occur, but are minimized or lost where the species' distributions do not overlap Example: Darwin's finches shared many of the same characteristics, because they where advantageous in the given area.

Great differences in bill size and shape that some of Darwin's finches in the Galapagos have evolved have resulted from competition. This process, called character displacement, results as natural selection favours those individuals in each species that compete least with individuals of the other species

Habitat-the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism Example: Tree, hole, log, pond

Habitats are where animals find shelter, food and water.

Dominant Species-plant, animal or functional group of different species most commo nly or conspicuously found in a particular ecosystem. It is generally the most populous species or comprises the greatest biomass in an ecosystem Example:Rabbits, trees

Having more biodiversity shows that a ecosystem is healthier than one that is full of one dominant species.

Adaptation-a change or the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment. Example: The different beak shapes of birds that allow them to obtain nutrients easier on the Galapagos islands studied by Darwin.

Helps a species to survive and evolve. For example, humans have adapted to several different environments, so that we can live almost anywhere.

Mortality-The death rate or the ratio of the total number of deaths to the total population Example: the U.S. infant mortality rate is 6.1 deaths per 1,000

Helps to track to over population size of specific species and can help indicate the appearance of a disease or a lack of resources if there is a dramatic increase in deaths.

K-selection- selection occurring when a population is at or near the carrying capacity of the environment, which is usually stable: tends to favor individuals that successfully compete for resources and produce few, slowly developing young, and results in a stable population of long-lived individuals Example:Humans

Humans produce fewer offspring than many other organisms.

Distribution-Species distribution is the manner in which a biological taxon is spatially arranged. Species distribution is not to be confused with dispersal, which is the movement of individuals away from their area of origin or from centers of high population density. Example: Penguins are usually clumped in huddles

Humans tend to live clumped together and live in and around cities.

Symbiosis-interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both. Example: Clown fish and sea anemone

Includes Parasitism, Mutualism and Commensalism

Species Diversity-measure of the diversity within an ecological community that incorporates both species richness (the number of species in a community) and the evenness of species' abundances. Species diversity is one component of the concept of biodiversity. Example: the rainforest has a high level of species diversity

Indicates the health of an environment.

Greenhouse Effect-trapping of the sun's warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere due to the greater transparency of the atmosphere to visible radiation from the sun than to infrared radiation emitted from the planet's surface Example: CO2 and other gases trap heat from the sun

Is an effect due to the increase of factories, cars and humans in recent years. All three release CO2 in large amounts.

Greenhouse Gas-as that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation. Example: carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons

Is causing the ice caps to melt and causing permafrost to no longer be permanent.

Keystone Species- species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed the ecosystem would change drastically Example: Wolves, Otters, Prairie Dogs and Elephants

Kelp, a giant species of seaweed, is home to hundreds of species, from sea stars to sharks. Sea urchins eat kelp. Sea otters eat sea urchins, preventing an overpopulation of urchins from destroying the ecosystem.

Parasitism-relationship between two different organisms where the parasite harms the host. Example: When worms live in a dog and take nutrients from the dog, this is an example of parasitism

Leeches are parasites that can actually benefit humans, because they can suck out toxins in our blood. Leeches are often used in a medical setting.

Pioneer Species-are hardy species which are the first to colonize previously disrupted or damaged ecosystems, beginning a chain of ecological succession that ultimately leads to a more biodiverse steady-state ecosystem Example: Lichens

Lichens and algae help to restart and ecosystem by creating soil

Carbon Cycle-processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment, chiefly involving the incorporation of carbon dioxide into living tissue by photosynthesis and its return to the atmosphere through respiration, the decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels Example: photosynthesis takes in CO2 while decomposition, and respiration give off CO2

Maintains the amount of CO2 present in the atmosphere and ocean.

Intraspecific Competition-involves organisms of the same species Example: Male lions

Male lions will fight over a tribe of female lions, because on one male can be in control of the tribe.

Interspecific Competition- form of competition in which individuals of different species compete for the same resource in an ecosystem Example: Hyenas and Lions

Many animals eat the same foods. In Africa lions, hyenas, crocodiles and cheetahs all eat a lot of the same foods such as zebra and gazelle.

Migration-seasonal movement of animals from one region to another. Example: Birds flying south for the winter

Migration is a response to changes in temperature, food supply, the amount of daylight, or is often undertaken for the purpose of breeding. Mammals, insects, fish, and birds all migrate.

Resource Partitioning-When species divide a niche to avoid competition for resources. Sometimes the competition is between species, called interspecific competition, and sometimes it's between individuals of the same species, or intraspecific competition Example: some species of birds partition resources by only feeding off of certain parts of trees

More recently it has taken on another meaning, one that is not defined in terms of evolutionary function, and which refers simply to differences in resource use between species regardless of the origins of the differences.

Saprophyte-a plant, fungus, or microorganism that lives on dead or decaying organic matter. Example: ink cap mushroom and non-photosynthetic plants, such as Indian pipe and gnome plant

Mushrooms grow on dead logs and uptake the decaying matter

Exponential Growth-growth whose rate becomes ever more rapid in proportion to the growing total number or size

Occurs when there is an abundance of resources available for the organisms and the

Food Web-system of interlocking and interdependent food chains Example: grass gets energy from such, cow eats grass, horse eats grass, coyote eats cow, mountain lion eats horse

Often times consists of an entire ecosystem of organisms.

Introduced Species- organism that is not native to the place or area where it is considered introduced and instead has been accidentally or deliberately transported to the new location by human activity Example: Zebra Muscles, horses

Often times they can effect the environment they are placed in dramatically.

Mutualism- Both organisms benefit Example: Bird gains food from the certain tick or bug on a cow. The cow benefits because the cow gets rid of the annoying bugs

One example of a mutualistic relationship is that of the oxpecker (a kind of bird) and the zebra. Oxpeckers land on rhinos or zebras and eat ticks and other parasites that live on their skin. The oxpeckers get food and the zebras get pest control.

Commensalism-association between two organisms in which one benefits and the other derives neither benefit nor harm Example: Shark and the Remora fish, Whale and barnacle (Barnacle gains nutrients.

Other commensals include bird species, such as the great egret, that feed on insects turned up by grazing mammals or on soil organisms stirred up by plowing.

Photoautotroph-capable of synthesizing their own food from inorganic substances using light as an energy source. Green plants and photosynthetic bacteria are photoautotrophs Example: Apple tree, hibiscus, water lily, daisy etc.

Photoautotrophs also take in CO2 from the atmosphere and release O2. They produce the oxygen that we breathe.

Ecological succession-the gradual process by which ecosystems change and develop over time. Nothing remains the same and habitats are constantly changing. There are two main types of succession, primary and secondary Example: After a forest fire, or volcano eruption

Pioneer species are the first to form and to start creating soil.

Survivorship Curve-graph showing the number or proportion of individuals surviving to each age for a given species or group Example: The human survivorship curve is very different from the survivorship curve of a clam.

Shows what age must organisms of that species live to.

10% Rule-According to this law, during the transfer of energy from organic food from one trophic level to the next, only about ten percent of the energy from organic matter is stored as flesh. The remaining is lost during transfer, broken down in respiration, or lost to incomplete digestion by higher trophic levels. Example: Deer eats grass, wolf eats deer, vulture eats dead wolf

The 10% rule shows the ineffieciecy of energy transfer in a food chain

Water Cycle-the cycle of processes by which water circulates between the earth's oceans, atmosphere, and land, involving precipitation as rain and snow, drainage in streams and rivers, and return to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration Example: The water we drink eventually returns to the atmosphere and comes back down in the form of rain, snow, sleet or hail (precipitation)

The amount of water that is in the world now is the same amount of water and same water as when the dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Global Warming-gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants Example: Ice caps are melting

The earth is warming up so in many areas where it used to snow it no longer snows, or snows less.

Density Dependent Factors-A factor whose effects on the size or growth of population vary with the population density. Example: biotic factors, such as the availability of food, parasitism, predation, disease, and migration. As the population increases, food become scarce, infectious diseases can spread easily, and many of its members emigrate

The higher the population of deer in the area could soon lead to a decrease in the deer population because they have to move to find resources or die.

Population-a particular section, group, or type of people or animals living in an area or country Example: the population of Dallas

The human population is around 7 billion

Population Growth- increase, over a specific period of time, in the number of individuals living in a country or region Examples: Logistic and Exponential Growth

The human population is showing Logistic growth, because it is leveling off, but the bunny population in the area is growing exponentially because of the abundance of reasources.

Ozone Layer-layer in the earth's stratosphere at an altitude of about 6.2 miles (10 km) containing a high concentration of ozone, which absorbs most of the ultraviolet radiation reaching the earth from the sun Example:It absorbs radiation so that the earth won't become too hot. It is protection.

The ozone layer is being depleted due to the increase in CO2 in the environment.

Trophic Level-each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising organisms that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy. Example: grass is producer which is usually on the lowest hierarchal level.

The producers first obtain their energy from the sun and then pass the energy on to the primary and secondary consumers by being consumed. Only 10% of the energy is transferred each level.

Hotspots-natural environment with a high biodiversity that contains a large number of endangered species found no where else on Earth Example: Rain forest

The rain forest has a large number of endangered species due to the rapid deforestation that is occurring in South America.

Endangered Species-species of animal or plant that is seriously at risk of extinction Examples: Tigers, Pandas, Polar bears

The rainforest is home to the most animals that are near the brink of extinction, because of the deforestation that is occurring rapidly.

Relative Abundance- number of organisms of a particular kind as a percentage of the total number of organisms of a given area or community. Example: the number of birds of a particular species as a percentage of the total bird population of a given area

The relative abundance of different species can be a good indicator of whether or not a community or ecosystem is healthy.

Secondary Consumer-eat primary consumers. They are carnivores (meat-eaters) and omnivores (animals that eat both animals and plants). Example:Wolf, coyote, lion, owl

The secondary and tertiary consumers do not gain as much energy from what they are consuming.

Trophic efficiency-Ecological efficiency describes the efficiency with which energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next. It is determined by a combination of efficiencies relating to organismic resource acquisition and assimilation in an ecosystem. Primary production occurs in autotrophic organisms of an ecosystem. Examples: Primary consumers, teritiary consumers, secondary consumers and producers

The transfer of energy from one organism to the next through consumptionis not very efficient, because only around 10% of energy is transferred each time

Ecological Pyramid-also known as the trophic pyramid, energy pyramid, or sometimes food pyramid is a graphical representation designed to show the biomass or bio productivity at each trophic level in a given ecosystem Example: Grass, grasshoppers, shrews, owls

There are fewer owls than shrews in an ecosystem, because the owls are tertiary consumers and receive less energy through what they consume.

Competition-interaction between organisms or species in which the fitness of one is lowered by the presence of another. Limited supply of at least one resource (such as food, water, and territory) used by both can be a factor Example: Hyenas and lions, lions and cheetahs

There are two types of competition, interspecific and intraspecific competition. If an organism's niche in the environment overlaps with another rhen there is competition

Carrying Capacity-number of people, other living organisms, or crops that a region can support without environmental degradation Example: If there are too many wolves in a community but not enough rabbits to eat then many of the wolves will die because they are not getting the nutrients they need.

This is an issue today that human kind may be facing, because the human population is so large.

Urbanization-the process where an increasing percentage of a population lives in cities and suburbs. Example: Urbanization is causing many animals to abandon their homes. There had recently been a lot of urbanization occurring in the Dallas and Fort Worth area.

This process is often linked to industrialization and modernization, as large numbers of people leave farms to work and live in cities.

Sampling Techniques- population sampling is the process of taking a subset of subjects that is representative of the entire population. The sample must have sufficient size to warrant statistical analysis Example: Capture and release,

Used to find the number of deer in a small area and then that number is projected to a larger area to estimate the overall population.

Epiphytes-plant that grows on another plant but is not parasitic. Example: numerous ferns, bromeliads, air plants, and orchids growing on tree trunks in tropical rain forests

Vines on trees don't necessarily harm or help the tree, but use the trees to growth upward.

Detritivore-an animal that feeds on dead organic material, especially plant detritus. Example:fungus, vultures

Vultures eat roadkill and many other dead animals.