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General
Ecology (BIO 160) Study Guide
This study guide is intended to help you focus your study efforts by providing you with specific learning objectives and key terms used in the course. The learning objectives and terms are listed by lecture or lab to make it easier to organize your study efforts.
The nature of ecology
Explain what the science of ecology is about Give an example of what ecologists do Describe the different hierarchical levels of organization
in ecology
Adaptation and evolution I
Explain why adaptation is essential for the continued existence of biological organisms Explain why species are not "perfectly adapted" to their environment
Explain why an organism's adaptations to the environment represent a compromise between competing demands by the organism
Explain the process of natural selection and describe the role of genetic variability, heritability, and selection Describe one documented example of natural selection
Explain how natural selection is a necessary and logical consequence of Darwin’s four postulates Illustrate the three types of selection in a graph and explain how each can arise and how they affect phenotypic variation in a population
Compare and contrast genotypic variation and phenotypic variation Explain how and why phenotypic plasticity occurs Explain how reciprocal transplant experiments can be used to distinguish between genetic and environmental variation in a population
Adaptation and evolution II
Explain how speciation can occur and why islands tend to have higher rates of speciation
Explain the role of mutation and recombination in evolution Describe the selective forces that can change allele frequencies in populations and explain how they do this Explain the importance of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium as a null model for understanding the forces that alter allele frequencies in populations Explain the role of migration and genetic drift in terms of how it affects allele frequencies in a population Explain why small populations are more susceptible to genetic drift Explain how founder effects and population bottlenecks reduce genetic diversity in a population and increase the vulnerability of populations to extinction
Climate I & II
Describe the major factors that determine global climate Explain how temperature and precipitation vary globally
Explain how climate varies seasonally and how this variation occurs Explain how solar radiation
can drive global air circulation
Explain the coriolis effect and how it influences wind patterns and ocean currents Draw a diagram of global
air and ocean circulation patterns
Explain the causes and climatic consequences of the El Niño effect Explain how
topography can modify local climates
Soils
Describe the three types of rock parent material and rock weathering
Describe the sources of biological inputs and the role of decomposition
Explain how soils form
Describe the importance of soil color in determining soil conditions
Describe the importance of soil texture in characterizing soil fertility and drainage
Explain how soil clay particles affect soil fertility Describe a typical soil profile and explain how soil horizons form
Explain the characteristics of the selected soils in relation to the biomes in which they occur
Life histories
Explain how species' life histories are selected for by natural selection
Explain how the principle of allocation leads to trade-offs among reproduction, growth, and survival Describe the "big three" allocation strategies and be able to explain two examples
Explain the concept of r-K selection in terms of the principle of allocation and how the allocation “strategy” of a species is selected for by environmental factors
Describe the traits of an r-strategist and a K-strategist and be able to give an example of each
Explain the relationship between r- and K-selected species and the environmental conditions in which they typically occur
Draw a population growth curve of a typical r- and K-selected species
Properties of populations
Explain the difference between
the distribution and geographic range of a population
Describe how abiotic and biotic factors can
determine the distribution of a population
Explain how clumped, random, and regular dispersion patterns can arise in a population and how to distinguish them based on a variance-to-mean ratio
Be able to calculate the population size and density of stationary organisms using data collected using the quadrat method Be able to calculate the population size and density of mobile organisms using the mark-recapture technique and how this estimate can be biased by violating its assumptions Explain how the type of age distribution (or age structure) of a population can determine its growth potential
Explain why the distribution of populations on the landscape is patchy and how this patchiness affects the movement of individuals in a population Compare and contrast the different types of movement in populations
Population growth
Explain the exponential and logistic
growth models and what circumstances can lead to each in a population
Draw and appropriately label an
exponential and logistic growth curve
Explain how and why the instantaneous per capita growth rate (r) is affected by population
size (N)
Explain how births and deaths determine the instantaneous per capita growth rate (r) and how changes in r (via birth and death rates) regulate population growth Explain how age structure can influence a population's instantaneous per capita growth rate (r) Explain what a life table is and what it tells us about survivorship Be able to construct a life table given information about a population's age-specific survivorship and birth rate Draw and appropriately label a graph of type I, II, and III survivorship curves, explain how they occur, and give an example of each
Explain each of the components (terms) of a life table and be able to calculate: nx, lx, and the net reproductive rate (Ro)
Explain what the net reproductive rate (Ro) tells you about the growth rate of a population
Population regulation
Explain what determines a population's carrying capacity (K)
Be able to write out and interpret the exponential and logistic growth equations Explain how population growth rate (dN/dt) in the logistic model is influenced by the relationship between population size (N) and carrying capacity (K) Explain how the instantaneous per capita growth rate (r) is influenced by population size (N)
Explain how population growth can be regulated by its own density (i.e., density-dependent regulation) Be able to give an example of density-dependent regulation Explain how population growth can be regulated by density-independent factors and provide an example Explain the phenomenon of self-thinning and how it relates to density-dependent regulation Be able to compare and contrast density-dependent versus density-independent regulation in terms of expected mortality patterns
Metapopulations
Explain how and why populations exist as metapopulations in nature Explain how birth and death rates within subpopulations and immigration and emigration among subpopulations contribute to determining the size of a metapopulation Explain the relationship between movement among subpopulations and colonization rate of new patches Explain the relationship between movement among subpopulations and extinction rate within patches Explain how movement among patches influences the balance bewteen colonization and extinction of patches Explain the relationship between patch isolation and colonization, and patch size (area) and extinction Explain the source-sink model of metapopulation dynamics Be able to make predictions about the dynamics of a metapopulation based on the source-sink model and what you know about patch quality, the instantaneous per capita growth rate (r) of source and sink populations, and movement among patches
Competition
Explain how competition results in a negative effect on each individual in the interaction
Compare and contrast exploitation and interference competition and give an example of each
Explain how exploitation competition can affect plant and animal performance (e.g., growth, survivorship, density, etc.)
Explain the basis for the competitive exclusion principle and what it predicts for complete competitors Describe Gause's 1934 experiment testing the competitive exclusion principle and its interpretation Explain the concept of the niche Explain the difference between the fundamental and realized niche
In Joseph Connell's (1961) study, describe the role of competition in determining the realized niche of the two barnacle species Explain the concept of resource partitioning and how it acts to reduce competitive interactions among species
Explain how character displacement can result as a long-term evolutionary outcome of interspecific competition and provide an example of its occurrence in nature
Explain how a keystone predator can prevent competitive exclusion and increase species diversity in a community
Predation and herbivory
Describe some key adaptations predators have evolved for capturing prey Describe some key adaptations prey have evolved to counteract predation
Explain the selective advantage of crypsis, warning coloration, mimicry, and chemical and physical defenses in prey
Explain how and why some swallowtail butterflies exhibit Batesian mimicry
Explain how and why some species exhibit Müllerian mimicry
Describe how herbivores can affect the distribution of plants
Diagram (as a graph) the Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model, explain its predictions about predator-prey population dynamics, and describe some of its assumptions
Describe the potential role of predator and prey migration, prey refuges, resources, and disease on predator-prey dynamics Describe several factors that can modify predator-prey oscillations and how they affect the oscillations
Ecological communities
Define an ecological community and
describe one of its unique properties
Compare and contrast the organismic
and individualistic concepts of the community and identify the scientists who
are associated with advancing each concept
Explain the typical
dominance/abundance (relative abundance) patterns that are found in ecological communities
Diagram a rank-abundance curve and explain how it is used to describe a community's species richness and relative abundance of its species
Describe the two components of species diversity and explain what they tell about the structure of a community
Understand how to use the Simpson’s index to describe the species diversity of a community Explain the concept of a food web in terms of trophic interactions and energy flow Diagram a simple food web with specific examples of different trophic levels and their trophic relationships Explain "top down" vs. "bottom up" control in food webs
Explain the concept of a keystone predator, its effect on the food web, and how it can influence other species in the community
Name the scientist who first described a keystone predator and describe the experiment he conducted to show its effects on the food web
Disturbance & Succession
Describe what is meant by a successional sere Describe the two types of ecological succession, the circumstances under which they occur, and give examples Compare and contrast the life history traits typically found in early and late successional species and how these traits correspond to the successional stage in which they occur Describe each of the three
characteristics of a disturbance and how they are interrelated
Describe the relationship between the size and frequency of a disturbance Explain what is meant by the return interval of a
disturbance
Explain how the frequency of a
disturbance can influence the species composition of a community
Give an example of plant
adaptations to fire and explain the functions
of these adaptations
Describe the heterogeneous spatial
pattern often found for most disturbances
Explain the intermediate disturbance hypothesis and how it influences species diversity in ecological systems
Describe an experiment that tests the intermediate disturbance hypothesis
Ecosystem energetics
Explain primary production and the
relationship between gross primary production, net primary production and
respiration in an ecosystem
Explain how temperature, precipitation and soil fertility can influence primary production Explain why ecosystems and biomes differ in NPP
Explain how energy flows through an
ecosystem and identify the different pathways through which energy can flow (i.e., where the
energy goes)
Draw an energy flow pyramid that shows the how energy flows from a primary producer to higher consumer levels Explain why not all of the energy captured by producers is passed on to consumer
Decomposition & nutrient cycling
Explain how eessential nutrients are recycled within ecosystems Describe which microbial decomposers decompose plant versus animal material Describe how ecologists measure decomposition rates Explain what is meant by litter quality and how litter quality influences decomposition rate Explain how decomposition rate is influenced by temperature Compare and contrast mineralization and immobilization Draw a graph showing how nitrogen content of leaves changes during litter decomposition and explain what is happening at each stage in terms of nitroten leaching, mineralization, and immobilization
Biogeochemical cycles
Name the six major essential nutrient
elements and describe where they occur in biological organisms
Explain where nutrients come from Explain how decomposition rate is affected by temperature, precipitation and litter quality
Be able to describe a biogeochemical cycle using a box-arrow diagram Explain how nutrients cycle among reservoirs and how reservoir size influences nutrient cycling rate Explain how biological organisms act as reservoirs
Explain how logging of forest ecosystems can affect nutrient retention
Explain how nutrient retention/loss in ecosystems is influenced by biological organisms Explain how distinct ecosystems
can differ in their abilities to retain nutrients
Carbon cycle
Explain the importance of the carbon cycle Diagram the carbon cycle and describe the identity, relative sizes, and cycling rates of its major reservoirs
Explain the key processes that drive the cycling of carbon among its major reservoirs
Explain the greenhouse effect and how and why it is occurring
Explain how microorganisms altered the concentrations of CO2 and O2 after they evolved on Earth Describe global warming and some of the evidence to support it Explain how we know that CO2 and temperature have changed in tandem over the last 400 million years
Describe how global warming (i.e., the greenhouse effect) is likely to affect Earth's ecosystems
Nitrogen cycle
Name the two forms of inorganic nitrogen that are available to biological organisms Describe the natural and anthropogenic (human-caused) sources and forms of nitrogen that exist on Earth
Diagram the nitrogen cycle and describe the identity, relative sizes, and cycling rates of its major reservoirs
Explain the key biological processes that drive the cycling of nitrogen among its major reservoirs
Explain how and why nitrate leaching occurs
Explain the processes of assimilation, ammonification, nitrification, nitrogen fixation, and denitrification
Explain how ozone protects biological organisms from harmful UV radiation
Explain how combustion reactions (e.g., production of NO2) can destroy the ozone layer
Terrestrial biomes - Lab
Describe the location, general climate, and growth form of each of the terrestrial biomes Explain the relationship between climate and physiognomy of the terrestrial biomes Identify a particular biome based on its climate (e.g., climate diagram), latitude and vegetation
The nature of
ecology
biotic abiotic population
community
ecosystem
scatter plot scientific method
hypothesis
theory
Adaptation and evolution I
evolution natural selection microevolution
macroevolution
fitness stabilizing selection directional selection disruptive selection
genotypic variation phenotypic variation
ecotype
reciprocal transplant experiment
Adaptation and evolution II
speciation
population genetics mutation recombination gene pool Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium migration non-random mating genetic drift founder event population bottleneck
Climate I & II
adiabatic cooling Hadley cell
Coriolis effect
solstice
equinox
El Nino effect (El Nino Southern Oscillation: ENSO) tradewinds westerlies north-south slope effect
evapotranspiration rainshadow effect
Soils
soil
rock types
igneous
sedimentary
metamorphic
rock weathering
litter
decomposition
soil texture
loam
soil horizons
Spodosols
Oxisols
laterization
podsolization
Life histories
life history
Properties of populations
population
population structure distribution
abundance
dispersion
mark-recapture method
Population growth
population size (N)
exponential growth instantaneous per capita growth rate (r)
births
deaths
fecundity survivorship
survivorship curves
type I, II, III
cohort life table
life table terms:
nx, lx, bx
net reproductive rate (Ro)
Population regulation
logistic growth
carrying capacity (K)
population regulation
density-dependent regulation
density-independent regulation self-thinning
Metapopulations
Competition
competition
forms of competition
intraspecific
interspecific
exploitation
interference
allelopathy
niche concept fundamental niche realized niche
competitive exclusion principle
resource partitioning
character displacement
keystone predation
Predation and herbivory
predation
herbivory
parasitism
crypsis
warning coloration
Batesian mimicry
Müllerian mimicry
secondary chemicals
tannins
Red Queen hypothesis
Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model
Ecological communities
community
holistic concept
individualistic concept
F.E. Clements
H. A. Gleason
environmental gradient
continuum concept
species dominance
species abundance
rank-abundance curve
species diversity
richness
evenness
Simpson’s index
food web
trophic level
trophic pyramid producer
trophic cascade
top-down control bottom-up control
keystone predator
Disturbance & succession
succession sere
primary succession
secondary succession disturbance disturbance regime
scale
magnitude
frequency
return interval
intermediate disturbance hypothesis
Ecosystem energetics
ecosystem
gross primary production
net primary production
CO2 method O2 method
actual evapotranspiration (AET)
energy flow pyramid
autotroph heterotroph consumer herbivore
carnivore
detritivores
detrital (detritivore) food chain
Decomposition & nutrient cycling
retranslocation decomposition litter bag method
litter quality C:N & lignin:N ratio mineralization immobilization net mineralization rate
Biogeochemical cycling
biogeochemical cycling
major elements
reservoir
nutrient retention
Carbon cycle
atmospheric CO2
greenhouse effect infrared radiation
Nitrogen cycle
nitrogen cycle
nitrogen fixation
assimilation
ammonification
nitrification
denitrification
nitrate leaching
ozone
ozone layer
physiognomy
convergence
tropical forest
tropical savanna
desert
temperate shrubland
temperate forest
coniferous forest
tundra (arctic/alpine)
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