What is ecology?
The study of interactions between living organisms and their environment
What are the 2 types of ecology?
Applied and basic
What is applied ecology?
Managing natural (or domesticated) populations, communities, and ecosystems
What is basic ecology?
How do organisms interact with the environment and what are the consequences to persistence, biodiversity, and ecosystem function
Who developed the idea of inductive reasoning?
Aristotle
What is the baconian method?
The precursor for the scientific method in which observations are made according to the four idols.
What are the general ideas of the baconian method?
To take observations and to generalize them in order to develop axioms that can be tested
What are the 4 idols used in the baconian method/idols of the mind?
Idols of the tribe
Idols of the cave
Idols of the marketplace
Idols of the theatre
What is “idols of the tribe”?
Beliefs that are held because other believe
What is “idols of the cave”?
Beliefs that are held because of isolation from others
What is “idols of the marketplace”?
Beliefs that are held because words are created for things that do not exist or because of imprecise language
What is “idols of the theatre”?
Beliefs that are held because of previously held preferences or biases
What are the steps of the scientific method?
- Make an observation
- Generate a hypothesis to explain observation
- Design critical experiments to eliminate hypotheses
- Interpret results and return to #2
What is a null hypothesis?
A hypothesis with no effect for treatment
What is an alternative hypothesis?
A hypothesis that suggests a treatment effect
When does a type I error occur?
When we fail to reject the null hypothesis when it is actually false
When does a type II error occur?
When we reject the null hypothesis and it is actually true
What is the threshold that is considered acceptable for making a type II error? What is the threshold called?
5%
alpha
What is the p-value?
The probability of making a type II error
If the probability of a type II error is lower than the acceptable probability, what do we do with the null hypothesis? What is the difference considered?
Reject it
Significant
What is the relationship between the amount of energy absorbed and the angle the sun’s rays strike the surface of the earth?
The energy is proportional to the angle
Where do the rays hit at a 90 degree angle on the southern hemisphere?
Tropic of capricorn
Where do the rays hit at a 90 degree angle on the northern hemisphere?
Tropic of cancer
What is the amount of moisture the air can hold a function of?
Temperature
Does warmer or cooler air have a higher water holding capacity?
Warmer air
Where is the highest velocity on earth?
At the equator
What are the areas of air circulation of earth? (in order)
Equator
Hadley cell
Ferrel cell
Polar cell
What is the driest part of the earth?
Between the hadley and ferrel cells
On the gulf coast, where is air cooler, land or water? How about California?
Land
Water
Why is the air cooler on land near the gulf?
More rain
What changes climate patterns in California? Why?
El Nino
Changes oceanic patterns
What is an orographic lift?
When air is forced up as it passes across up slope parts of terrain features
What is adiabatic cooling?
The cooling of warm air as it rises
What is rain shadow?
Areas around mountains where there is little rain
What is the Urban Heat Island Effect?
The density of asphalt, roofing shingles, etc that absorb solar radiation and emit it in late afternoon have a large influence on local temperature and precipitation patterns
What is a resource?
Something that is consumed by an organism for growth and reproduction
What are conditions?
Abiotic features of the environment such as temperature and precipitation
What are examples of the access an individual has to suitable conditions?
Water and shelter
What is an ectotherm?
An organism which acquires its heat from the environment
What is an endotherm?
An organism which produces body heat through metabolism
What is a poikilotherm?
An organism whose body temperature equals environmental temperature plus some small differential
Are most ectotherms poikilothermic or homeothermic?
Poikilothermic
What is a homeotherm?
Organisms that maintain a fairly constant body temperature
Are most endotherms poikilothermic or homeothermic?
Homeothermic
Do poikilotherms regulate body temperature?
Yes
In homeothermy, where is thermal energy gained and lost from?
The environment
In order to survive, would do homeotherms need to do?
Regulate temperature within a narrow range
For temperatures to remain constant, what needs to occur?
Heat loss needs to equal heat gain
What does the absorption of solar radiation depend on? (3)
Latitude and the time of year
Local Conditions
Exposed area
What does re-radiating solar energy depend on?
The temperature differential with the surrounding area
What is conduction a function of?
The temperature differential and the surface area exposed to the surface or air
What does conduction with the air depend on?
Windspeed
What does surface area control in terms of thermal balance?
How fast an organism can absorb or lose heat
How do you calculate surface area of a sphere?
A= 4πr^2
What does volume measure in terms of thermal balance?
The amount of an organism to be heated or cooled
How do you calculate volume of a sphere?
V= (4πr^3)/3
What does the ratio of surface area to volume represent?
The balance between constraints on gain and loss of energy with the mass that must be heated or cooled
How do you calculate the ration of surface area to volume?
A:V= 3/r
Why are large ectotherms not normally found?
They aren’t capable of getting enough energy due to their size
What does endothermy allow at low temperatures?
More activity and greater endurance
What is an allometric relationship?
Relationship between body size and physiological features
What is hyperthermia?
When temperatures are too high to be regulated by metabolism
What is hypothermia
When temperatures are too low to be regulated by metabolism
Do plants thermoregulate?
Yes
On a graph, where would you see data points if plants did not thermoregulate?
On the line (see slide 28 on Day 4)
In animals, how is water balance achieved?
Gain water by eating, drinking, and metabolism
Remove water by secretion
In plants, how is water balance achieved?
Gain water by sunlight, CO2, and water from the roots
Remove water by sugar, O2, and water
As radiation increase, what happens to C3 plants?
They stop increasing CO2 uptake
As radiation increases, what happens to C4 plants?
The CO2 uptake continues to increase
What is different about CAM photosynthesis?
Stomata open at night to help save water
What happens to sunlight in water?
It is attenuated
What are the 3 nutrient resources that are critical for survival and reproduction?
Phosphorus
Nitrogen
Carbon
How do plants get phosphorus in the P cycle? (5)
Groundwater Plant death Death excretion Fertilizer Weathering
What is phosphorus the limiting nutrient for?
Aquatic (fresh water) plants
How do plants get carbon in the C cycle? (3)
Photosynthesis
Decomposition
Cycling in the ocean
How do plants get nitrogen in the N cycle? (6)
Lightning Acid rain Fixation Mineralization Fertilizer Leaching rocks and runoff
What does nitrification do?
Creates the form of nitrogen that plants can use
What is nitrogen the limiting nutrient for?
Most terrestrial plants
Why is the nitrate concentration in streams higher in clearcut forests?
There are no plants to absorb the nitrogen so it runs off to the streams when it rains
What is an autotroph?
An organism that can convert inorganic substance into usable energy
What is a heterotroph?
An organism that acquires energy by consuming organic compounds from other organisms
What is the largest trophic group by biomass?
Heterotrophs–decomposers
What are decomposers critical in?
The recycling of mineral nutrients in the soil
What are parasites?
Organisms that obtain their energy from living hosts without killing the host
What are macroparasites?
Parasites that do not complete entire lifecycle in/on a host
What are microparasites?
Parasites that do complete entire lifecycle in/on a host
What are true predators?
Organisms that obtain their energy by consuming prey
What are grazers?
Organisms that consume parts of prey items or plant material
Describe the associative mind (6)
Intuition Creative and fast Make connections Sees patterns Prone to errors More effective when the mind can wander
Describe the rational mind (5)
Rationale Systematic and slow Deductive reasoning Deliberate More effective when the mind is focused on a task
What is fitness?
A measure of how many offspring that an individual passes on to subsequent generations
What is the basis for evolution?
Ecology
Look at the charts on Day 6 slides 8-1 1. What do the 2 points on the 0 line identify?
The temperature that the species thrives in
What is the fundamental niche?
The resources and conditions in n-dimensions can define the area that a species can persist based on its physiological constraints and needs
What is the realized niche?
The area of the fundamental niche where species can actually persist
What is evolution?
The change in allele frequencies over time in a population
What is the most common mechanism of evolution?
Natural selection
What is the central dogma?
DNA is transcribed into RNA and RNA is translated into proteins that are responsible for phenotypes
What is an algorithm?
A step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or accomplishing some end
What are the 3 parts to the natural selection algorithm?
- There is variation among individuals in a population
- Some of that variation is heritable
- Some phenotypes allow individuals to survive and reproduce better than other individuals
What did Peter and Rosemary Grant study?
Beak size in finches
What happened during the drought of 1977? Consider seeds and survival of finches
Seed abundance decrease and the seed hardness increased as the finches ate the remaining soft seeds. The finches that would survive are the ones that can open the hard seeds
What happened to beaks after the drought of 1977?
The average size was larger
What does la nina do to finch beaks?
Increases the depth
What does el nino do to finch beaks?
Decreases the depth
Describe what happened with the Biston betularia during the industrial revolution.
Soot covered the white moth, which lead to the white moth being eaten more often than the black moth.
What is genetic drift?
The loss of genetic variation in a population that occurs by random chance
Is a genetic drift more important in small, isolated populations or big populations?
Small, isolated populations
Describe unitary organisms. (3)
Possess determinate growth
Have a distinct adult form
Includes vertebrates and most terrestrial invertebrates
Describe modular organisms. (2)
Possess indeterminate growth
Most are plants or marine invertebrates
What is a genet?
All progeny of the original zygote
What is a ramet?
A modular individual that is part of the same genet
What is the life cycle of overlapping generations?
Birth (energy spent on growth and development)
First reproduction (energy spent on reproduction and maintenance)
End of reproductive stage (energy spent on maintenance)
End of life
What is the life cycle of non-overlapping generations?
Birth (energy spent on growth and development)
First reproduction
End of life
Why type of life cycle belongs to unitary organisms?
Overlapping
What are annual organisms?
Those that complete their life cycle in a single year
What are perennial organisms?
Those that live for more than one year
What is voltinism?
How many generations are completed during each year
What are univoltine organisms?
Complete a single generation per year
What are bivoltine organisms?
Complete 2 generations per year
What are multivoltine organisms?
Complete more than 2 generations per year
What are semivoltine organisms?
Those that take more than one year to complete one generation
What is an iteroparous organism?
One that has the potential to reproduce over many years
What is an semelparous organism?
One that reproduces once
What is the birth rate?
The number of offspring per individual per unit of time
What is the death rate?
The number of deaths per individual per unit time
What is the intrinsic rate of increase?
The average per capita rate of population growth
How is the intrinsic rate of increase calculated?
birth rate - death rate
What does energy allocation depend on?
Ecological theatre (environment)
How many offspring do semelparous organisms have?
Many
How big are semelparous organisms?
Small
How much parental care is involved with semelparous organisms?
Very little
Are there more young or old semelparous organisms?
Young
How many offspring do iteroparous organisms have?
Few
How big are iteroparous organisms?
Big
How much parental care is involved with iteroparous organisms?
Lots
Are there more young or old iteroparous organisms?
Age is more evenly spread
Is the r-selected life history strategy semelparous or iteroparous?
Semelparous
Is the k-selected life history strategy semelparous or iteroparous?
Iteroparous
Describe Grime’s Life History Theory.
Frequent disturbances favors highly fecund, short-lived species when stress is low.
Low stress and low disturbance favors long lived species