Ecology

4/28/2012 6:29:00 AM

study of the interactions between organisms and their environment o environment includes abiotic and biotic factors o abiotic factors temperature water light nutrients o biotic factors interactions between plants and animals three levels o population a group of individuals of the same species living in a particular geographic area o community all the populations in a given area all the living things in a specific area o ecosystem community plus the physical and chemical environments biotic and the abiotic o biosphere global ecosystem population ecology (pg. 1175) o how to sample and estimate the size of a population pg. 1178 o survivorship curves curve I low infant mortality good parental care ex. humans and large mammals curve II constant death rate ex. plants curve III high infant mortality rate

very few organisms make it to their teenage years ex. oysters birth rate is so high because so many of them will not make it population growth o exponential growth curve growth rate gets higher rapidly crash most of the population dies because conditions become unfavorable equation for exponential growth N/ t = (birth death)N= rN if r is positive, birth rate is higher than the death rate Rmax intrinsic rate of increase maximum growth rate b is much higher than d if line is going up, r is positive o logistic growth curve s shaped inflection point curve point k is carrying capacity maximum population size, the environment will support with no lasting damage once you get above k, population damage will occur it can only be above k for a short period of time density dependent vs. density independent o density is how crowded the population is o density dependent: growth depends on how many individuals are in the population o density independent: doesnt depend on the number of individuals o density dependent limiting factor = (K-N)/K = N / t = Rmax N ((K-N)/K) o inflection point = k/2 factors for density independent

o things related to weather R(strategist)- high Rmax birth rate is higher than the death rate o density independent factors will regulate the environment o organisms tend to live in unstable environments o rapid growth o short life cycles o high infant mortality K(strategist) o low Rmax o s shape curve o o o o o o o o o live in crowded environments birth and death rate is close to 0 density dependent factors will regulate this population have slow growth rate near K live in stable environment produce few young have a longer life span tend to be bigger

o have a lower infant mortality density dependent factors o predation parasites disease intraspecies competition members within the same species compete with each other competition for water, space, food, etc. interspecies competition two or more species competing for the same species habitat where the organism lives niche functional role of an organism in the ecosystem organisms habits, tolerance for environmental factors, optimal

environmental factors, food (what and when does it eat), how do you eat, where do you eat, how do you find the food the more the niches overlap, the more theyre competing for the same resources Gauses competitive exclusion principle two species cannot simultaneously occupy the same niche for a long period of time density dependent emigration individuals leaving the population crowded population motivation to leave emigration is density dependent physiological mechanisms possibly doesnt have scientific verification the more crowded the population, more disease occurs because the immune system is depressed in large populations, there seems to be a suppression for growth and reproduction why? idea is that there is a decrease in hormones o endocrine system is impaired

adaptations o cryptic coloration pg. 1201 basically camaflouge animals blend in to avoid getting eaten o aposematic coloration opposite poison dart frog shows that its poisonous wont blend in o mimicry batesian mimicry one animal copies another organism in order to fool another organism

harmless species mimics a harmful one dominant species and keystone species o dominant most abundant o keystone -

Ecosystem gross primary productivity total amount of energy that photosynthesis converts to organic matter o basis of the food chain net primary productivity less than gross primary productivity o gross plant respiration (subtract) food chain o a cycle through which energy passes food web many interconnected food chains bottom of the food web or chain is producers o producers primary consumers secondary consumers ------ decomposers approximately 10% of the energy passes on 90% of energy stays in its own level 1% of suns energy is converted into food by photosynthesis why 10%? o some of the energy cant be used o heat loss during cellular respiration o some of the available food just isnt eaten

Ecological Succession more or less orderly process of community change replaces the dominant species in an area by another dominant species reasons for changes is that the dominant species modifies its habitat and makes the habitat more favorable for the next species that coming along primary succession- where a community is established in a virtually lifeless area o no soil

secondary succession: new community after a disturbance destroys the old community o leaves the soil o dominants replacing each other Species Dispersal to new habitats three conditions must be met for a species to move to a new environment o must be able to adapt to the new environment abiotic factors must have the physiological potential to survive and reproduce have have to adapt to the physical factors temperature light rain wind humidity to adapt to chemical factors things in the soil

must must

o nitrate o phosphate o potassium be able to biotic factors in the environment competition handle predation parasites have physical access to the new area must be able to get there

Law of Tolerance species distribution is limited by the environmental factor for which the organism has the narrowest range of adaptability

4/28/2012 6:29:00 AM

4/28/2012 6:29:00 AM