APES Ch 4 Flashcards

5229085497	Population	A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area	0
5229085498	Community	A group of interdependent organisms inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other	1
5229085499	Population growth	The change in number of individuals within a population	2
5229085500	Equilibrium	A state of balance among the components of a system	3
5229085501	Population growth rate	The change in population numbers divided by the time over which that change occurs.	4
5229085502	Exponential increase	The growth produced when a base population increases by a given percentage (as opposed to a given amount) each year. An exponential increase is characterized by doubling again and again, each doubling occurring in the same period of time. It produces a J-shaped curve.	5
5229085503	Population explosion	The exponential increase observed to occur in a population when conditions are such that a large percentage of the offspring are able to survive and reproduce in turn. A population explosion frequently leads to over exploitation and eventual collapse of the ecosystem.	6
5229085505	J-curve	The shape of a population growth graph when the population is growing exponentially.	7
5229085506	carrying capacity (K)	Largest number of individuals of a particular species that a particular environment can support	8
5229085507	Logistic growth	A pattern of growth of a population that results in an S-shaped curve plotted over time, such that the population levels off at the carrying capacity (K).	9
5229085508	S-curve	The shape of a population growth graph when the population growth slows and approaches carrying capacity.	10
5229085509	Biotic potential	The maximum rate at which a population could increase under ideal conditions	11
5229085510	Recruitment	The maturation and successful entry of young into an adult breeding population.	12
5229085511	Environmental resistance	All the limiting factors that tend to reduce population growth rates and set the maximum allowable population size or carrying capacity of an ecosystem	13
5229085513	Reproductive strategies	A life history property of a species that involves a balance between reproduction and death.	14
5229085514	r-strategists	A reproductive strategy of a species that involves producing large numbers of young (a high reproductive rate) and survival of smaller numbers over time. Also called opportunistic species.	15
5229085515	K-strategists	A reproductive strategy for a species whereby there is a low reproductive rate but good survival of young due to care and protection by adults. Also called equilibrium species.	16
5229085517	Population density	Number of individuals per unit area	17
5229085518	Density-dependent factor	Factor that limits a population more as population density increases. Includes competition, predation, and disease	18
5229085519	Density-independent factor	Factors that limit populations but are unrelated to population density. Includes catastrophic events and natural disaters	19
5229085532	Parasites	An organism that lives in or on another organism, deriving nourishment at the expense of its host, usually without killing it	20
5229085534	Pathogens	Microbes that cause disease	21
5229085536	Territory	An area that is occupied and defended by an animal or group of animals.	22
5229085537	Fitness	Ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment.	23
5229085538	Natural selection	A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits.	24
5229085541	Selective pressures	Forces in the environment that influence reproductive success in individuals	25
5229085543	Biological evolution	Non-random changes in genotype or allele frequencies across generations	26
5229085545	Reproductive isolation	Separation of species or populations so that they cannot interbreed and produce fertile offspring	27
5229085546	Plate tectonics	The theory that pieces of Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle.	28
5229085547	Tectonic plates	An irregular section of the lithosphere that floats on the earth's mantle	29
5229085548	tsunami	A long high sea wave usually caused by an earthquake.	30
5229355724	Ecology	the study of how organisms interact with one another and with their environments	31
5229355734	Population size	the number of individual organisms present in a population at a given time	32
5229355735	Population density	the number of individuals in a population per unit of area	33
5229355736	Population distribution	how organisms are arranged in an area; sometimes called population dispersion	34
5229355737	Population equilibrium	A state of balance between births and deaths in a population	35
5229355738	Population explosion	The exponential increase observed to occur in a population when conditions are such that a large percentage of the offspring are able to survive and reproduce in turn. A population explosion frequently leads to over exploitation and eventual collapse of the ecosystem.	36
5229355739	Sex ratio	the proportion of males to females in a population	37
5229355740	Survivorship curve	a graph showing the likelihood of survival within a group or population by age	38
5229355741	Immigration	the movement of individuals to a given area	39
5229355742	Emigration	the movement of individuals away from a given area	40
5229355743	Migration	the seasonal movement of organisms into and out of an area	41
5229355744	Exponential growth	the pattern of population growth in which a population increases by a fixed percentage each year	42
5229355745	Limiting factor	a characteristic of the environment that restricts population growth	43
5229355746	Carrying capacity	the largest population a given environment can support	44
5229355747	Logistic growth	the pattern of population growth in which exponential growth is slowed and finally stopped by limiting factors	45
5229355751	Symbiosis	The intimate living together or association of two kinds of organisms	46
5229355752	Mutualism	A close relationship between two organisms from which both derive a benefit	47
5229355753	Commensalism	A relation between two species in which one is benefited and the other is not affected	48
5229355754	Amensalism	An interaction between species whereby one species is harmed, while the other is unaffected.	49
5229355755	Parasitism	A relation between two species in which one is benefited and the other is harmed	50
5229355758	Keystone species	A species whose role is essential for the survival of many other species in an ecosystem.	51
5229355759	INTERspecific competition	Competition for resources between members of two or more species	52
5229355760	INTRAspecific competition	Competition for resources between members of the same species	53
5229355762	Predator	An animal that feeds on another living organism, either plant or animal	54
5229355763	Prey	An organism that is fed on by a predator	55
5229355764	Carnivore	An animal that feeds more or less on exclusively on other animals	56
5229355765	Herbivore	An organism such as a rabbit or a deer that feeds primarily on green plants or plant products such as seeds or nuts. (Synonym: primary consumer.)	57
5229355766	Host	In feeding relationships, particularly parasitism, refers to the organism that is being fed upon or affected by the parasite.	58
5229355767	Reproductive Isolation	One of the processes of speciation, involving anything that keeps individuals or subpopulations from interbreeding.	59
5229355768	Critical number	The minimum number of organisms necessary for a species to survive	60
5229355769	Threatened	A species that could become endangered in the near future	61
5229355770	Endangered	A species whose numbers are so small that the species is at risk of extinction	62
5229355771	Predation	An interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism	63
5229355772	Dynamic Equilibrium	A state of balance between continuing processes.	64