Sustainable Ecosystems exam 1

• An area of terrestrial environment that's drained by a river (1 sq. meter needs at least 20x; this makes a watershed)
• things that occur upstream and downstream are also included in this ecosystem
• cultural eutrophication is a big downstream effect
• looking at a watershed as an entire system determines water management strategies

• Any group of organisms of the same species that live together and reproduce
• Can also be different types of the same organisms
• Example: three types of goats make populations

• A emergent property of populations
• The number of individuals per area
• this is not as important compared to how the population changes over time

The number of individuals divided by the total area

The # of individuals divided by the habitat Area of Volume

The # of individuals divided by the unit of effort (time limit to catch something)

• The ability of a population to increase through reproduction
• Important factors of Natality: clutch or litter size, age at first reproduction, % of females breeding in a population, etc.

• theoretical maximum production of new individuals
• usually happens when there are ideal, perfect conditions

• births/death per unit of time
• mostly influenced by physiological factors like germination

• physiological and ecological factors
• births/death per unit of time

• births/death per (individual*time)
• Use this when you are comparing rates of different species

• Deaths of individuals in a population
• rates vary with age
• for example, a species will have high death rates at a younger age

• The chances that a species will survive at different stages in the life of an organism
• differes amongst all species
• For example, a species where the young are cared for at birth (humans and dolphins) have a higher survivorship rate than species that are left alone at birth (octupi and turtles)

• The amount of species that a an area can sustain over time
• Denoted as K in a sigmoid growth curve

• There are no seasons
• resources are unlimited (space, food, no predation)
• all organisms are identical in age and size
• no immigration or emigration
• no genetic variations

• When a species explodes at an extremely fast rate
• J-shaped growth curve
• Usually doesn't last long since it burns up resources at the same rate.

After a population exponentially grows, it will level out around the carrying capacity

K_m : The maximum population density that a habitat can support with its resources

K₀ : A population that can be supported without hovering above or below the maximum carrying capacity

• Where there are no patterns to how a species aggregate
• example: daisies

• When there is an even amount of space between individuals
• competition is usually strong
• example: penguins

• When individuals cluster together
• can be in a random or uniform pattern
• example: wolves

• Habitat islands thats are connected by dispersal corridors but are still part of one population
• if one goes extinct the others are able to recolonize it

• A process in which the genetic traits of a species change because of differential survival and reproductive success of individuals
• A method of a species will use to adapt to the environment
• variability in individuals determine resiliancy to changes

The process of change of traits in organisms, populations, and species

• Genetic variation within individuals
• Genetic differences within a population
• genetic difference among populations

• All different populations occupying a given area
• how do they interact with each other?

• when two or more species (that don't interbreed) evolve together because of their ecological relationship
• example: Insects and pesticides evolving in reaction to each other becoming stronger

• When an outside species is introduced into a community
• A tree and a catepillar coevolve with each other and then anoter catepillar comes in and the tree cannot defend against it

competition that occurs within a species

• Competition that happens between two or more species
• there needs to be a negative effect

• Interspecific
• Different species directly compete for resources
• fighting

• Interspecific
• A species uses a resource that another one uses however the two different species don't come into contact
• A leopard bringing its prey up into a tree so a lion doesn't get it

• Interspecific competition
• A species controls a resouce by controlling the space its resource is located
• Territory marking

• 1. Gause Principle: one species out-competes the other and replaces it
• 2. Interdeterminacy: The winning competitor is determined by the initial conditions
• 3. coexistence: species co-occur due to niche differences

Where the organism lives

• What a species does with its biotic and abiotic factors in the environment
• what it eats, the space it needs, when its active, its tolerable temperature range

Two species cannot coexist if they have similiar niches

A species actual niche

the niche a species potentially occupies

• Anything a species uses for survival
• food, water, space, mates

• When a species consumes a prey species for survival
• predator population is usually larger than prey population

When both species benifit from their interactions

Where one species lives off of another species

• If one species is removed from the ecosystem, the entire ecosystem can collapse or be altered
• if sea otters are removed, sea urchins will flourish and destory kelp forests which are home to millions of fish

• Any area that includes all of its organisms interacting with the physical environment
• biotic(living)+abiotic(non-living)=ecosystem
• the two are connectied through flows of energy and cycling of materials

The process in which autotrophs convert biomass into energy in the form of ATP

Measures how fast an ecosystem can cycle (or replace) nutrients

The genetic variability within individuals, populations, and communities

The variability of species in an ecosystem

• All the different processes that maintain an ecosystem
• Nitrogen fixers, predators, and grazers

• All the different things about an ecosystem
• Increases when you move closer to the equator and in lower elevations

the number of species in a community or ecosystem

• Distribution of individuals among species
• if there is an even amount between species you have evenness
• if there are more species compared to others you have dominance

• Storing the suns energy as potential energy in food
• Photosynthesis, chemosynthesis,

• Releasing the sun's energy from biomass and food
• determined by quality of detritus and abiotic conditions
• matter decomposes better in warm and wet climates
• aerobic respiration, anaerobic respiration, fermentation, detrivores

• A species that takes in energy from the sun and provides energy to heterotrophs
• grass and plankton

• A species that needs to consume another species that is usually lower on the trophic structure.
• cows and wolves

the synthesis and storage of organic molecules in plants

• The study of the natural environment
• includes the relationships of organisms to each other and their environment

heterogeneous area composed of interacting ecosystems

A large, regional or sub-continental system characterized by a major type of vegetation or landscape trait

• Large geological or political area
• may have on biome