BI 370
Terms
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- ecosystem
- -a community of interacting organisms plus the physical environment in which they live
- community
- -a group of interacting species that live together in the same place and time
- population
- -a group of individuals of the same species that live together and interact (does not equal species)
- hypothesis
- -predictions based on model
- Coriolis Effect
-
-caused by the rotation of the Earth
-produces a deflection of winds and water currents to the right of their direction in N.Hemi and left in S.Hemi - Hadley Cell
- -circulation pattern in the tropics (at the equator) that produces trade winds
- upwelling
- -movement of deeper ocean water to the surface
- mycorrhizae
- -mutualistic association between fungi and roots of plants
- biome
- -a terrestrial community shaped by climate, soil, and disturbance patterns
- nutrient
- -chemical substance required for the development, maintenance, and reproduction of organisms
- riparian zone
-
-transition between aquatic environment of a river/stream and the upland terrestrial environment
-subject to flooding and elevated groundwater table - River continuum concept
- -model that predicts change in physical structure, dominant organisms, and ecosystem processes along the length of the temperate rivers
- oligotrophic
- -term referring to lakes of low nutrient content, abundant oxygen, and low primary production
- eutrophic
- -a term for lakes with high nutrient content and high biological production
- benthic
- -adjective referring to the bottom of bodies of waters such as seas, lakes, or streams
- pelagic
- -referring to marine life zones or organisms above the bottom
- estuary
- -where rivers meet the sea
- gyre
- -large scale, circular oceanic current that moves to the right in N.Hemi and left in S.Hemi
- hydrologic cycle
- -sun driven cycle of water through the biosphere through evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, and runoff
- ecotype
- -locally adapted and genetically distinct population within a species
- convection
- -heat flow or transfer to a moving fluid
- conduction
- -movement of heat between objects in direct physical contact
- endotherm
- -relies mainly on internal sources of energy for regulating body temp
- ectotherm
- -relies mainly on external sources of energy for regulating body temp
- homeotherm
-
-warm blooded
-uses metabolic energy to maintain relatively constant body temp - torpor
- -state of low metabolic rate and lowered body temp
- hibernation
-
-dormant state
-reduced metabolic rate, that occurs during the winter - estivation
- -dormant state that some animals enter during the summer
- relative humidity
- -(water vapor density/saturation of water vapor density) x 100
- vapor pressure deficit
- -difference between the actual water vapor pressure and the saturation water vapor pressure at a particular temp
- osmosis
-
-diffusion of water through a semi-permeable membrane
-low to high solutes - diffusion
-
-transport of material in random movement of particles
-high to low concentration - water potential
-
-likelihood that water will move
-low solutes (potential high), high solutes (potential low) - transpiration
- -loss of water vapor in parts of plants
- stomata
- -a pore in plants used for gas exchange
- autotroph
- -obtain energy from light or inorganic compounds to produce organic compounds
- heterotroph
- -uses organic compounds as a source of carbon and energy
- prokaryote
-
-no membrane bound nucleus or organelles
-bacteria and archaea - eukaryote
- -contain complex structures that are enclosed by membranes
- C3
- -used by most plants and algae
- C4
- -used by plants that are more drought tolerant
- CAM
-
-used by succulent plants in arid and semiarid environments
-done at night - herbivore
-
-eat plants
-most overcome plant defenses - carnivore
- -eat animals
- detritivores
-
-feed on nonliving organic material
-dead leaves have even Nitrogen than living - optimal foraging theory
-
-organisms forage in a way to maximize their energy intake per unit time
-increase calories, but decrease time or energy output - mullerian mimicry
- -2 or more harmful species mimic each others warning signs
- batesian mimicry
- -harmless mimics harmful species
- aposematic
- -warning coloration
- functional response curves
- -increase in animal feeding rate, which eventually levels off, that occurs in response to an increase in food availability
- mean
- -average
- median
- -middle value in a sample
- mode
- -value that occurs most frequently
- ecology
- -study of interactions between organisms and their environment
- ecology is not
-
-environmental science
-conservation biology
-environmentalism - scale in ecology
-
-individual
-population
-community
-ecosystem
-landscape - pattern
- -observation of natural phenomena
- process
- -mechanism explaining a pattern
- climate patterns are from
-
-proximity to ocean
-elevation
-vegetation - biosphere
- -all organisms on Earth plus the environments which they live
- mountains
-
-several biomes on one mountain
-"sky islands" - salt marshes
- -on sandy shores, grasses, herbaceous plants
- mangroves
- -replace salt marshes in more tropical latitudes
- macroclimate
- -reported in weather stations
- microclimate
- -important to organisms
- psychrophilic
- -cold loving
- thermophilic
- heat loving
- tolerance
- -capacity of an organism to withstand exposure to an environmental factor
- avoidance
- -ability of an organism to prevent damage caused by and environmental factor (migration)
- environmental stress
- -environmental factor that results in a decrease in the rate of some physiological processes
- acclimatization
- -physiological, morphological, or behavioral changes to minimize stress from an environmental change
- high specific heat
- -takes more energy to heat up or cool down
- cohesion
- -water bonds with itself
- adhesion
- -water bonds with another substance
- landscape
- -an area that is spatially heterogeneous either in its elements or or how those elements are arranged