AP Biology Ecology Flashcards
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| 5902091535 | Population | a localized group of individuals of the same species that can interbreed, producing fertile offspring | 0 | |
| 5902091536 | Community | all the organisms that inhabit a particular area; as assemblage of populations of different species living close enough together for potential interaction | 1 | |
| 5902091537 | Ecosystem | all the organisms in a given area as well as the abiotic factors with which they interact | 2 | |
| 5902091538 | Biotic | pertaining to the living organisms in the environment | 3 | |
| 5902091539 | Abiotic | nonliving; referring to physical and chemical properties of an environment | 4 | |
| 5902091540 | Biosphere | the entire portion of earth inhabited by life; the sum of all the planet's ecosystems | 5 | |
| 5902091541 | Niche | the sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment | 6 | |
| 5902091542 | Clumped Distribution | individual aggregated patches, some organisms group together where food is abundant | 7 | |
| 5902091543 | Uniform Distribution | evenly spaced, some organisms maintain evenly distributed spacing to avoid aggressive interactions between neighbors | 8 | |
| 5902091544 | Random Distribution | unpredictable spacing, some plants grow in random groups if their seeds were windblown across an area | 9 | |
| 5902091545 | Population Ecology | the study of populations in relation to their environment, including environmental influences on populations, on population density and distribution, age structure, and variations in population size | 10 | |
| 5902091546 | Birth Rate | rate of annual birth within a population | 11 | |
| 5902091547 | Death Rate | rate of annual death within a population | 12 | |
| 5902091548 | Sex Ratio | ratio of females to males within a population | 13 | |
| 5902091549 | Age Structure | the relative number of individuals of each age in a population | 14 | |
| 5902091550 | Immigration Rate | the rate of influx of new individuals INTO a population from other areas | 15 | |
| 5902091551 | Emigration Rate | the rate of movement of individuals OUT of a population | 16 | |
| 5902091552 | Carrying Capacity | the maximum population size that can be supported by the available resources, (symbolized by K) | 17 | |
| 5902091553 | Density Dependent | any characteristic that varies according to an increase in population density | 18 | |
| 5902091554 | Exponential Growth | growth of a population in an ideal, unlimited environment, (represented by a J-Shaped curve when population size is plotted over time) | 19 | |
| 5902091555 | Logistical Growth | population growth that levels off as population size approaches carrying capacity | 20 | |
| 5902091556 | K-Selected | stabilize around carrying capacity, have fewer offspring later in life, mature later, live longer and invest more parental care | 21 | |
| 5902091557 | R-Selected | reside in unstable environment, have many offspring early in life, mature earlier, shorter life span, no parental care | 22 | |
| 5902091558 | Survivorship Curve | the plot of the proportion or numbers in a cohort still alive at each age | 23 | |
| 5902091559 | Type I Surivorship Curve | low death rates during early/middle life then increase among older age groups (humans) | 24 | |
| 5902091560 | Type II Surviorship Curve | constant death rate over the organism's life span | 25 | |
| 5902091561 | Type III Surviorship Curve | very high death rates for the young and then declines for those few individuals that survive the early period (insects) | 26 | |
| 5902091562 | Symbiosis | an ecological relationship between organisms of two different species that live together in direct and intimate contact | 27 | |
| 5902091563 | Commensalism | a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits but the other is neither helped nor harmed | 28 | |
| 5902091564 | Mutualism | a symbiotic relationship in which both participants benefit | 29 | |
| 5902091565 | Parasitism | a symbiotic relationship in which one organism (the parasite) benefits at the expense of another (the host) by living either within or on its host | 30 | |
| 5902091566 | Intraspecific Competition | interactions between the same species competing for resources | 31 | |
| 5902091567 | Interspecific Competition | competition for resources between individuals of two or more species when resources are in short supply | 32 | |
| 5902091568 | Predation | an interaction between species in which one species (the predator) eats the other (the prey) | 33 | |
| 5902091569 | Aposematic Coloration | the bright coloration of animals with effective physical or chemical defenses that acts as a warning to predators | 34 | |
| 5902091570 | Batesian Mimicry | a type of mimicry in which a harmless species look like a species that is poisonous or harmful to predators | 35 | |
| 5902091571 | Cryptic Coloration | camouflage that makes a potential prey difficult to spot against its background | 36 | |
| 5902091572 | Mullerian Mimicry | a mutual mimicry by two unpalatable species | 37 | |
| 5902091575 | Succession | the process by which the structure of a biological community evolves over time | 38 | |
| 5902091576 | Primary Succession | a type of ecological succession that occurs in an area where there were originally no organisms present and where soil has not yet formed | 39 | |
| 5902091577 | Secondary Succession | a type of succession that occurs where an existing community has been cleared by some disturbance that leaves the soil or substance intact | 40 | |
| 5902091580 | Herbivore | an animal that eats mainly plants or algae | 41 | |
| 5902091581 | Carnivore | an animal that mainly eats other animals | 42 | |
| 5902091582 | Detritivore | a consumer that derives its energy and nutrients from nonliving organic material such as corpses, fallen plant material, and the wastes of living organism (a decomposer) | 43 | |
| 5902091583 | Food Chain | the pathway along which food energy is transferred from trophic level to trophic level, beginning with producers | 44 | |
| 5902091584 | Food Web | the interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem | 45 | |
| 5902091585 | Trophic Levels | the positions organisms occupy in a food chain |  | 46 |
| 5902091586 | Secondary Consumer | a carnivore that eats herbivores | 47 | |
| 5902091587 | Primary Consumer | a herbivore; an organism that eats plants or other autotrophs | 48 | |
| 5902091588 | Biogeochemical Cycles | any of the various chemical cycles, which involve both biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems | 49 | |
| 5902091589 | Carbon Cycle | forming the framework of organic molecules, photosynthesis & cellular respiration circulate this nutrient | 50 | |
| 5902091590 | Phosphorus Cycle | cycling of this nutrient through geologic processes such as erosion and sedimentation | 51 | |
| 5902091591 | Nitrogen Cycle | this nutrient is converted to compounds that can be assimilated by plants then returned in gas form to the atmosphere; all processes rely on bacteria | 52 | |
| 5902091592 | Nitrogen Fixation | the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia | 53 | |
| 5902091593 | Denitrification | process where bacteria use nitrates in their metabolism instead of oxygen releasing nitrogen gas then into the atmosphere | 54 | |
| 5902091594 | Water Cycle | this nutrient cycle involves evaporation from the earth & transpiration from plants and falls then by precipitation back down to the earth to begin the cycle again | 55 | |
| 5902091595 | Age Structure Diagrams | a visual representation of the relative number of individuals of each age in a population | 56 | |
| 5902091596 | Competitive Exclusion Principle | the concept that when populations of two similar species compete for the same limited resources, one population will use the resources more efficiently and have a reproductive advantage that will eventually lead to the elimination of the other population | 57 | |
| 5902091599 | Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) | the total primary production of an ecosystem | 58 | |
| 5902091600 | Net Primary Productivity (NPP) | the gross primary production of an ecosystem minus the energy used by the producers for respiration | 59 | |
| 5902091601 | Keystone Species | a species that is not necessarily abundant in a community yet experts strong control on community structure by the nature of its ecological role or niche | 60 | |
| 5902091602 | Bottom-up Model | a model of community organization in which mineral nutrients influence community organization by controlling plant or phytoplankton numbers, which in turn control herbivores, which in turn control predator numbers | 61 | |
| 5902091603 | Top-down Model | a model of community organization in which predation influences community organization by controlling herbivore numbers, which in turn control plant or phytoplankton numbers, which in turn control nutrient levels; also called the trophic cascade model | 62 | |
| 5902091604 | Biological Magnification | a process in which retained substances become more concentrated at each high trophic level in a food chain | 63 | |
| 5902091605 | Decomposers | organisms that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic material such as corpses, fallen plant material, the wastes of living organisms and converts them into inorganic forms; a detritivore | 64 | |
| 5902091606 | Eutrophication | a process by which nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen, become highly concentrated in a body of water, leading to increased growth of organisms such as algae or cyanobacteria | 65 | |
| 5902091607 | Fundamental Niche | the niche potentially occupied by that species | 66 | |
| 5902091608 | Realized Niche | the portion of the fundamental niche that a species actually occupies in the environment | 67 | |
| 5902091609 | Invasive Species | a species often introduced by humans, that takes hold outside its native range | 68 | |
| 5902091610 | Altruism | behavior that increases fitness of another individual but decreases their own fitness | 69 | |
| 5902091611 | Kin selection | enhancing the reproductive success of one's relatives | 70 | |
| 5902091612 | Nitrification | ammonia is converted to nitrates and nitrites | 71 | |
| 5902091613 | Ammonification | decomposers convert organic nitrogen to ammonia | 72 | |
| 5902091614 | Classical conditioning | association between neutral stimulus and natural response (ex: dogs salivating to sound of bell ringing) | 73 | |
| 5902091615 | Operant conditioning | trial and error learning; making associations between behavior and a reward or punishment | 74 | |
| 5902091616 | Communication | tactile, visual, auditory and chemical means of relaying messages to other members of ones species | 75 | |
| 5902091618 | Kinesis | movement in response to a stimulus that is not directional | 76 | |
| 5902091619 | Fixed Action Pattern | a sequence of unlearned actions that are unchangable and often carried to completion | 77 | |
| 5902091620 | Density dependent factor | factor that affects population based on size (disease, predation etc) | 78 | |
| 5902091621 | Density independent factor | factor that affect population regardless of size (weather, humans etc) | 79 | |
| 5902091622 | Species diversity | variety of organisms in a community | 80 | |
| 5902091623 | Species richness | the number of different species in a community | 81 | |
| 5902091624 | Relative abundance | evenness of distribution of individuals among species in a community | 82 |