Ecology Cram Session

Ch 42-46

Ecology

Study of the interactions of organisms within their

environment

Introductory Vocabulary

Hopefully you know these already…

Is this a population, a community or an ecosystem?

What are some biotic factors? What are some abiotic factors?

Properties of Populations

1. Size – the total number of individuals in a population

2. Density – number of individuals per unit area/volume; sampling techniques like mark and recapture

3. Dispersion – pattern of spacing of individuals within the area the population inhabits; 3 kinds

What are examples of these?

Schools of fish, trees, humans

Nesting birds, territorial animals

Trees in a tropical rain forest

Which one is most common and which one is the most least common?

** Most common

** Least common

Properties of Populations Cont.4. Survivorship – shows size and

composition of a population; 3 types

1. Shows organisms with low death rates in young and middle, and high death rates in old age (humans)2. Death rate is constant over life span (hydra, reptiles, rodents)3. Very high death rate among young and declining after surviving to a certain age (fish, invertebrates with 1000’s of eggs)

Properties of Populations Cont.

5. Age Structure – diagrams show the relative numbers of individuals at each age

Exponential Growth• Humans have had

this for over 300 years

• No predation, parasitism or competition

• Has an environment with unlimited resources

Eventually…

• There is a limit to the number of individuals that can occupy one area at a particular time – this is called carrying capacity

• This capacity can change as the environment conditions change

What kind of growth is this?

LOGISTIC GROWTH

Limiting Factors• Those factors that limit population growth

• 2 categories

1. Density Dependent – increase directly as pop. Density increases; include competition for food, buildup of wastes, predation, and disease

2. Density Independent – unrelated to pop. Density; include earthquakes, storms, fires and floods

Chapter 45

• Population Interactions

Competition

• Competition (intraspecific vs. interspecific)

• Predation

• Mutualism

• Commensalism

• Parasitism

• Producers vs. consumers vs. decomposers

• Herbivores vs. carnivores vs. omnivores vs. detritivore

Mite on damselfly

Types of mimicry/coloration

• Aposematic coloration – very bright coloration used as warnings

• Batesian mimicry – one harmless animal mimics the coloration of one that is poisonous

• Mullerian mimicry – two or more poisonous species resemble each other & gain an advantage in their combined numbers

What is this called?

Chapter 53

9 Biomes1. Marine

2. Tropical Rain Forest

3. Desert

4. Temperate Grassland

5. Temperate Rain Forest

6. Temperate Deciduous Forest

7. Conifer Forest – Taiga

8. Tundra

9. Chaparral

Chapter 46

Understand Global Warming & Greenhouse Effect