Ecology Final Exam

Environmental factors that characterize the resources that an organism can use

• Low Temperatures: chilling and freezing can damage tissues or whole organisms
• Temperature as a stimulus: temp as a condition that affects the rate at which organisms develop & temp may interact with other stimuli
• Solar radiation: solar radiation is the only source of energy that can be used in metabolic activities by green plants, when a plant intercepts radiant energy it may be reflected, transmitted, or absorbed which may raise its temp.
• Sun and Shade: orientation, angle, forms, seasonal changes
• Changing ecosystem structures: eroding soils, unplanned roads, water quality, etc.
• Interspecific competition: competition occurring among individuals of different species
• Intraspecific competition: competition occurring among individuals of a species.
• Predation: one animal eating another (bad kitty)

Barnacles can survive in wider exposures of tolerance. Chthamalus can only survive in the realized portion of their fundamental niche.

chthamalus and balanus barnacles could potentially live an any level of sea, but due to limiting factors chthamalus only live at the surface and balanus only live at the bottom, in their realized niches

Established the concept of trophic dynamics and introduce the concept of ecological efficiency of energy transfer. (how energy is transfered in food chains and webs)

Rate new biomass production that is available for consumption by heterotrophic organism. By knowing the NPP you can predict how much CO2 plants will pull out of the atmosphere. GPP-RA

Total fixation of solar energy by primary producers

Net amount of primary production after all the costs of respiration (plants heterotrophs and decomposers)

The sum of all the respiration occuring by living organisms in a specific ecosystem

Dynamics of species populations and how they interact with the environment. Also how pop. changes over time and space.

Group of potential interbreeding of indiv of a single species living in a specific area.

Defined by patterns of mortality, age distributions, sex ratios and dispersal.

Summarizes the pattern of survival in a population. (mortality and survival) some produce alot young and they die early, others produce a few young but they live longer

Type I survivorship curve most individuals survive to old age.
Type II survivorship curve most individuals have a constant chance of dying throughout their lives.
Type III survivorship curve most individuals die young.

Made up of data collected about a group born at the same time

Involves a snapshop of survival within a population during a short interval of time