| Term | Definition |
|---|
| spatial separation | niche differentiation where organisms live at different levels of an area |
| temporal separation | niche differentiation where organisms are active at different times in an area |
| neutral models | detecting the ghost of competition past, the construction of 100 hypothetical models |
| predators | organisms that feed on prey and kill the prey (baleen whales) |
| grazers | organisms that feed on many prey without killing them (horses) |
| parasites | organisms that feed on few prey, without killing them (tape-worms) |
| parasitoids | organisms that are parasitic as juveniles, but always kill prey and are free living as adults |
| N | the number of prey in the Lokta-Volterra Model |
| P | the number of predators in the Lokta-Volterra Model |
| r | the intrinsic rate of growth for prey in the Lokta-Volterra Model |
| a | the predator searching and killing efficiency constant in the Lokta-Volterra Model |
| f | the predator food use efficiency constant in the Lokta-Volterra Model |
| q | the predator mortality rate in the Lokta-Volterra Model |
| compensatory growth | increased growth rate after grazing |
| overcompensation | the biomass of plants increases to levels higher that those prior to damage |
| inducible defenses | defenses produced by plants in response to herbivore attack |
| constitutive defenses | defenses that are always present in plants against herbivore attack |
| functional response | the relationship between the number of prey consumed and prey density |
| subpopulations | individual patches of predator and prey populations |
| refugia | hiding places for prey that stabilize predator-prey cycles |
| predator mediated coexistence | predation that allows the coexistence of two competing organisms by selectively feeding on the more competitive of the two species |
| coevolution | when pairs of species act as reciprocal driving forces in each others evolution |
| symbiosis | two organisms that live together in physical contact |
| symbiont | the smaller partner in a symbiosis |
| host | the larger partner in a symbiosis |
| parasitism | a type of symbiosis where the symbiont benefits (+/-) |
| mutualism | a type of symbiosis where both symbiont and host benefits (+/+) |
| commensalism | a type of symbiosis where one member benefits, and one is not affected (+/0) |
| pleiotropic symbosis | a type of symbiosis that changes depending on the situation |
| epiphytes | external symbionts that grow on plants, they can either be animals or plants |
| epiphytic plants | plants that can act as commensalists or weak predators |
| hemiparasitic plants | plants that burrow into other plants, but can photosynthesize |
| parasitic plants | plants that burrow into other plants, but cannot photosynthesize |
| ectoparasites | parasites that reside on the surface of an organism |
| rizosphere | the volume of soil adjacent to a plant root that contains the microbial community |
| phyllosphere | the leaf surface |
| definitive host | the organism that animal gut symbionts occupy as adults |
| intermediate host | the organism that animal gut symbionts occupy as juveniles |
| intercellular symbionts | symbionts that live between cells |
| intracellular symbionts | symbionts that live inside cells |
| mycorrhizae | plat roots + mutualistic fungus |
| ectomycorrhizae ECM | mycorrhizae that are intercellular |
| arbuscular mycorrhizae AM | mycorrhizae that are obligate symbionts, can be intercellular or intracellular |
| obligatory mycorrhizae | plants are said to be this if they can't grow without fungus (mycorrhizae) |
| faculatitive mycorrhizae | plants are said to be this if they may or may not benefit from fungus (mycorrhizae) |
| cheaters | organisms that don't "pay" for resources |
| nitrogen fixation | the conversion of N₂ to NH₄+ |
| lichens | fungus+alga/cyannobacterium |
| corals | are polyps that contain symbiotic algae |
| endophytes | organisms that live inside plants |
| e-endophytes | a group of endophytes that live within grasses |
| horizontal transmission | the contagious spread of parasites from one plant to another |
| systemic | parasites that live in all pant tissue |
| vertical transmission | parasites transmitted from parent to offspring |
| molecular markers | regions of DNA used to distinguish between individuals/populations/species |
| conserved DNA | DNA where mutations are infrequent and slow |
| neutral variation | variations in DNA that have little or no effect on fitness |
| mitochondrial DNA | a molecular marker that is inherited from the mother and has no recombination |
| microsatellites | molecular markers that are non-coding repeating regions of DNA |
| metapopulations | groups of moderately isolated populations linked by dispersal |
| E | the extinction rate in the Levins model |
| eP | the probability of one patch going extinct in the Levins model |
| C | the colonization rate in the Levins model |
| mainland island population structure | one large population (low risk), provides colonists to many small populations (high risk) |
| rescue effect | islands colonized by mainland; source (mainland) and sink (island) |
| communities | assemblages of species in the same geographical area |
| trophic structure | feeding relationships between organisms |
| keystone species | the removal of this species has a profound effect on the density of the other species |
| b/comp | numbers are limited by resources (bottom up control) |
| t/pred | numbers are limited by predators (top down control) |
| resilient community | a community that return to a former state after a disturbance |
| resistant community | a community that is not affected by a disturbance |
| connectance | proportion of all possible predator-prey relationships that actually exist |
| interaction strength | the effect of a predator on prey populations |
| apparent competition | when two species share the same predator, and seem to be in competition with each other |
| indirect competition | when two species have two different predators |
| succession | a temporal change in community structure |
| sere | the complete sequence of changes for a particular community (succession) |
| seral stage | one stage in the sere (succession) |
| primary succession | succession on a new surface |
| secondary succession | succession with seeds already present in soil |
| founder controlled communities | communities where all species are good colonizers, and no species is competatively superior |
| dominance controlled communities | communities where one species is competatively superior and therefore dominates |
| R | the resource in species richness |
| n | niche breadth in species richness |
| o | overlap in species richness |
| potential evapotranspiration | (PET) a combined measure of temperature and sunlight that affects productivity |
| predictable environment | different species at different times of the year increase R |
| biomass | mass of organisms per unit area, dry weight, energy (joules/m²), includes all living parts of organisms and dead parts still attached (hair) |
| standing crop | biomass of living tissue at a given time |
| primary productivity | the rate of plant (or other autotroph) biomass production/unit area |
| primary produces | produces that are autotrophs |
| gross primary production | the total amount of matter produced by photosynthesis (GPP) |
| net primary production | GPP-plant respiration or the total amount of energy available to heterotrophs (NPP) |
| secondary productivity | the rate of biomass production by heterotrophs |
| live consumer system | the living system of herbivores and carnivores (LCS) |
| decomposer system | decomposers (bacteria and fungi) and detritavores (scavenging animals) |
| trophic efficiency | [production of trophic level n]/[production of trophic level (n-1)] T.E. |
| consumption efficiency | [amount ingested by trophic level n]/[amount produced by trophic level (n-1)] C.E. |
| assimilation efficiency | [amount assimilated by trophic level n]/[amount ingested by trophic level n] A.E. |
| production efficiency | [production of trophic level n]/[amount assimilated] P.E. |
| T.E. | (CE)(AE)(PE) |
| mineralization | the conversion of organic material into inorganic form |
| immobilization | the conversion of inorganic material into organic form |
| decomposers | bacteria and fungi, externally digest polymers, absorb monomers |
| detritivores | animals or protists that consume detritus |
| cellulose | a part of plant detritus that is easily broken down |
| lignin | a part of plant detritus that is difficult to break down |
| anoxic environments | environments with very few fungi; lignin can not be broken down, therefore peat and coal forms |
| obligative mutualism | animal detritavoresthat rely on specific microbes that are always present for survival |
| faculatative mutualism | animal detritavores that ingest microbes with detritus |
| external rumen | animal detritavores that ingest the breakdown of decomposers outside of its body |
| feces | animal detritus; carnivore type has low nutrient levels, herbivore type is highly organic |
| carrion | animal detritus; high in protein, and usually digested quickly |
| atmosphere | nutrient cycle that deals with CO₂, N₂ |
| lithosphere | nutrient cycle that deals with Ca, K, P and other minearls |
| hydrosphere | nutrient cycle that deals with water in soil, lakes, streams, and oceans; NO₃-, PO₄, and others |
| cambrian period | 500 MYA, CO₂=6,000ppm, mosses and millipedes |
| carboniferous period | 300 MYA, CO₂=200ppm, woody plants, cold, high O₂, formation of fossil fuels |
| jurassic period | 200 MYA, CO₂=1,800, dinosaurs, hot climate |
| present period | 60 MYA to present, CO₂=200ppm, grasses have high root production |
| traditional view | a view that biotic factors are affected by, but do not influence CO₂ levels |
| alternate view | a view that biotic factors contribute to CO₂ levels, but abiotic factors are still the main cause |
| the nitrogen cycle | a cycle where the atmosphere is important, fixation takes place, little ends up in sediment |
| the phosphorous cycle | little atmospheric component, bedrock important, oneway route from bedrock to sediment |
| the sulphur cycle | both atmosphere and lithosphere important, one way process, ends up in sediment |
| sustainability | an ability to continue an activity for the foreseeable future |
| demographic transition | the transition of a human population to an industrial state |
| rotation time | the recovery period where organisms must regenerate; harvesting |
| overexploitation | harvesting that causes a crash/extinction, is economically insignificant |
| underexploitation | harvesting that causes unemployment, starvation, and political backlash |
| recruitment rate | the rate at which new individuals are born into a population |
| maximum sustainable yield | the point at which the tradeoffs between the harvest size and sustainability are equal; MSY |
| fixed quota | a management strategy where a given amount can be removed per year; MSY |
| fixed effort | a management strategy where a maximum number of days is dedicated to harvesting; MSY |
| swidden farming | farming that entails the cutting down of forests, burning of tress, and growing crops for 2-5 years, then moving because nutrients are too low, a inefficient method |
| mechanized farming | farming that uses machines to increase the per capita food number; but still results in an unequal distribution of food |
| monoculture farming | farming that entails the growth of one type of crop to optimize production, but susceptible to disease |
| salinization | when small traces of salt in freshwater irrigation builds up in arid climates, rendering the land worthless |
| pest | any species that is undesirable to humans |
| economic injury level | the point at which the economy is harmed by crop devastation, EIL |
| target pest resurgence | pest comes back in greater numbers after chemical treatment because the treatment has also killed the pests natural predators |
| secondary pests | pests that arise after chemical treatment has wiped out the primary pests |
| biodiversity | a combination of species richness, genetic diversity, number of community types |
| background extinction | normal extinction rates |
| mass extinction | extinction of >60% of all species over a 1 million year timeframe |
| habitat fragmentation | a decrease in habitat size that results in small patches |
| edge species | a species that only nests in the edge regions of a patch |
| interior species | a species that only nests in the interior region of a patch |
| invasive species | an introduced species that has a large impact on local biodiversity |
Combine with other sets
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