Ecology Terminologies PDF

ECOLOGY TERMINOLOGIES ECOLOGY study of relationships between living organisms and their natural environment, including life processes; the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of life and the interactions between organisms and their environment the term is often used more loosely in su...

ECOLOGY TERMINOLOGIES ECOLOGY study of relationships between living organisms and their natural environment, including life processes; the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of life and the interactions between organisms and their environment the term is often used more loosely in such terms in common parlance as a synonym for the word “natural environment” ECOSYSTEM Formed by the interactions between living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) things; It is the biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving, physical components of the environment ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY Integrated study of living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem framework. This science examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components such as chemicals, bedrock, soil, plants, and animals. Habitats that form an integrated whole, both physical and biological. Categories: Terrestrial Freshwater Atmospheric Marine Recent Addition: Technoecosystems- affected by or primarily the result of human activity COMMUNITY ECOLOGY Interactions among species in the same geographic area Example: plants and decomposers (fungi and bacteria) HUMAN ECOLOGY Study into the ecology of species Fields: a. Bio-ecological – with man as the ecological dominant in plant and animal communities b. Bio-logical standpoint - simply another animal affecting and being affected by physical environment c. Human standpoint – interacts and affects ecological environments in a distinctive and creative way. POPULATION ECOLOGY Study of the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment. METAPOPULATION Study of movement of populations. ECOLOGY a. Migrating organism - emigrants - when they leave a region - immigrants – when they enter a region b. Site – place where ecologists sample populations Example: pond or part of a forest c. Sources – productive sites that are a source of emigrants d. Sinks – unproductive sites that only receive immigrants MOLECULAR ECOLOGY Study of the relationship between ecology and genetic inheritance BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY The study of an organism’s behavior in its environment and its ecological and environmental implications HOLISM School of thought which emphasizes that an ecosystem cannot be predicted or understood by a simple summation of the parts. The major regional groupings of plants and animals discernible at a global scale composed not only of the climax vegetation, but also of associated successional communities, subclimax communities, fauna and soils Refers to the non-living elements and physical components of the environment BIOMES ABIOTIC NATURE SUNLIGHT - the primary input of energy into the ecosystem - generates chemical reactions of life THE EARTH ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENT OF ECOSYSTEMS - acts as a catalyst for genetic mutation Plants, algae, and some bacteria absorb light and assimilate the energy through photosynthesis. a. Atmosphere (air) – contains oxygen, protects the earth from radiation; b. Lithosphere (land) – includes the crust and uppermost mantle; c. Hydrosphere (water) – made up of the water elements of the earth d. Biosphere – the part of the earth where plants and animals live Includes the physical world, the social world of human relations and the built world of human creations. Includes physical and biotic attributes. a. Physical environment – abiotic factors such as temperature, radiation, light, chemistry, climate and geology i. water ii. gravity iii. pressure iv. wind v. fire vi. soil b. Biotic environment – includes genes, cells, organisms, members of the same species and other species that shre a habitat. WATER Key to life HYDROLOGIC CYCLE Transformation of water from one state to another GRAVITY Influences the shape and movement of tectonic plates (earthquakes), affects plants and fungal growth (gravitroprism), animal migrations, and the biomechanics and size of animals. Cardiovascular systems of animals are adapted to overcome pressure and gravitational forces. PRESSURE Climatic and osmotic pressure places physiological constraints on organisms, those that fly and respire on high altitudes, or dive to deep ocean depths. WIND AND TURBULANCE Influence heat, nutrient, and biochemical profiles of ecosystems. Wind creates thermally layered zones, affecting how fish, algae, and other parts of the aquatic ecology are structured. Wind speed and turbulence also influence evapotranspiration rates. FIRE A natural or man-made disturbance which consumes oxygen, releases CO2, and affects living organisms in a catastrophic way. SOILS Top layer of mineral and organic dirt; Important to agricultural science and ecology. Dead organic matter give soils minerals and nutrients for plants. Plants convert carbon dioxide into biomass, emit oxygen and feed living organisms. PEDOSPHERE The whole of the planet’s soil ecosystems - where a large biomass of the Earth’s biodiversity organizes into trophic levels BIOGEOCHEMISTRY Study of how six (6) major elements relate to biological cycles, processes and climate. 6 major elements: 1. Hydrogen (H) 2. Carbon (C) 3. Nitrogen (N) 4. Oxygen (O) 5. Sulfur (S) 6. Phosphorus (P) EFFECT OF HUMAN Disturbance, biodiversity loss, MODIFICATIONS TO agriculture, urbanization, THE PLANET’S industrialization – cause of ECOSYSTEM 1. rising atmospheric greenhouse gas levels resulting in melting glaciers, ice caps, rising sea levels, higher planet temperature, extreme fluctuations in weather, alteration of species distributions, and increased extinction rates. 2. Climate change LIFE SPECIES Categorized as: 1. Autotrophs (Primary producers) – produce their own food by photosynthesis. 2. Heterotrophs (consumers) – feed on others a. primary consumers (strict herbivores) b. secondary consumers (carnivorous predators that feed exclusively on herbivores) c. Tertiary consumers (predators that feed on a mix of herbivores and predators) 3. Detritivores (decomposers) – organisms that decompose organic matter, such as fungi and bacteria Omnivores do not fit nearly into a functional category because they eat both plant and animal tissues. KEYSTONE SPECIES A specific connected to a large number of other species in the food web, thus needed to sustain other communities. BIOSPHERE “The place on Earth’s surface where life dwells”; coined by geologist Eduard Suessin 1875 BIODIVERSITY Varieties of species in ecosystems and their ecological interactions. Biodiversity plays an important role in ecological health. Preventing species extinction is one way to preserve biodiversity. BIOME A large community of plants and animals that occupies a distinct region. 1. Terrestial Biomes – large portions of an ecosystem such as tropical rainforest, desert, ice caps. 2. Microbiomes – inhabited by microbial organisms. Ex. Human body is a biome for microbes. BIOTIC / ABIOTIC 1. Biotic – related to or caused by living organisms 2. Abiotic – not associated with or derived from living organisms HABITAT Environment over which species occurs 1. Terrestrial 2. Aquatic NICHE The preferred habitat or environment of a species ECOTOPE The habitat plus the niche is called the ecotope – range of environmental and biological variables affecting an entire species. GAIA HYPOTHESIS A feedback loop generated by living organisms maintains the temperature of the Earth and atmospheric conditions. MALTHUSIAN GROWTH MODEL A population will grow or decline exponentially as long as the environment experienced by all individuals in the population remains constant. Variables: death, birth, immigration, and emigration FOOD CHAIN Simplified linear feeding path from a basic species to a top consumer. FOOD WEB A network in an ecosystem pertaining to the movement to sustain life. TROPHIC Organisms are organized into trophic levels or the position it occupies in a food chain BIOMASS The estimated total dry weight in a trophic level. Plants have the greatest biomass. METABOLISM The rate at which energy and material resources are taken up from the environment, transformed within an organism, and allocated to maintenance, growth and reproduction – is a fundamental physiological trait CORALS Living marine plants that form calcium carbonate skeletons; forms a habitat for many other species.