Untitled Quiz

Study Notes

Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their environment.
Principle of Hierarchical Control: Larger functional wholes emerge from interactions between smaller components in a hierarchical order.
Genes are the basic units of heredity, encoding for specific traits.
Organisms are individuals capable of independent function and reproduction.
Populations are groups of the same species inhabiting a specific area, interacting through breeding and resource competition.
Communities consist of multiple interacting species within an ecosystem.
Ecosystems encompass the living and non-living components of a specific environment.
Biosphere is the largest level of ecological organization, comprising all ecosystems on Earth.

Population Characteristics:
- Size: Total number of individuals.
- Density: Number of individuals per unit area or volume, influenced by births, deaths, and migration.
- Distribution: Range of the population, dependent on environmental conditions.
- Age Structure: The proportion of individuals in different age groups, affecting population growth.
Estimation Methods:
- Quadrats are used to determine population size and density of static organisms.
- Mark-Recapture is used for mobile organisms, estimating population size through capture, marking, and subsequent recapture.

Life History refers to a species' typical pattern of survival and reproduction.
Life History Strategy involves species' resource allocation for growth, survival, and reproduction, influenced by environmental constraints.
Evolutionary Strategies:
- K-strategists have few offspring with high survival chances, usually in stable environments.
- r-strategists produce many offspring with minimal parental care, often in unstable environments.
Reproductive Cycles:
- Semelparity: Single reproduction event with high energy investment.
- Iteroparity: Multiple reproduction events with lower energy invested each time.

Community: A group of interacting species in a specific geographical area.
Community Characteristics:
- Species Richness: Number of species present.
- Relative Abundance: Proportion of individuals of each species.
- Species Evenness: Equitable distribution of individuals among species.
- Biodiversity: Represents both species richness and relative abundance.

Simpson's Diversity Index (D): Measures the probability of two randomly selected individuals belonging to the same species.
Shannon-Weiner Index (H): Measures species diversity, higher values indicating greater diversity.

Competition: Two species using the same limited resource, harming both.
- Intraspecific Competition: Among members of the same species.
- Interspecific Competition: Between different species.
Resource Partitioning: Allows species with similar requirements to coexist by using resources differently.
Mutualism: Both species benefit from the interaction (e.g., clownfish and sea anemones).
Commensalism: One species benefits, the other is unaffected (e.g., barnacles on whales).
Parasitism: One species benefits at the expense of the other (e.g., parasites on fish).
Predation: One species benefits by killing and consuming another (e.g., sharks as apex predators).