Principles of Ecology BIO213 Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by Varda

What is Ecology
- The study of our house and the indivi­duals within
Abiotic - Atmosphere
Biotic - Primary producers, Secondary producers, Decomp­osers
Open systems - Earth can be affected by outside objects
Closed systems - Universe
Discip­lines of Ecology
- Individual
-Popul­ation
-Community
-Ecosystem
-Landscape
- Biosphere
-Universe

Climat­ograms - average temp season graph
Temp/p­rec­ipi­tation and highli­ghted growing season

Nine Terrre­stisl Biomes

1. Tundra
- coldest biome, permafrost and stunted
-mount­ains, harsh wind, very short growing season

2. Boreal Forest (Taiga)
- Densely populated by coniferous trees
- not below the Equator
-Harsh winter, short growing

3. Temperate Rainforest
-mild temper­ature
-lots of rain
-evergreen forest (Giants)

4. Temperate Seasonal Forest
- moderate temper­ature and precip­itation
- deciduous trees (oak, maple etc.)
- low contin­ent­ality

5. Woodland/ shrubland (chapa­rral)
-hot dry/mild wet
-grasses and shrubs

6. Temperate Grassland
- hot dry/very cold
- grasses, flowers and shrubs

7. Tropical Rainfo­rests
- Warm very humid
- long growing

8.Tropical Seasonal Forest
- wet/dry seasons
-deciduous trees

9. Subtro­pical desert
-hot temp, scarce rain
-long growing season

1. Climate
2. Topography
3. Parent Material
4. Potential Biota
5. Time

Climate
-atmos­pheric conditions AVERAGED over years
-NOT weather

Topography
- layout of the land -elevation proximity to lakes

Parent Material
-under­laying geology of a region
- helps determine foil formation + nutrient availa­bility

Potential Biota
- ecosystems hostages to evolution

Time
-Deep time - contin­ental drift, meteor impacts
-Short term - Time since dister­bance (succe­ssion)

Hadley Cell (Tropical air mass)

1. Warm air rises, expands and cools
2. Releasing latent energy, warm air rises more
3. air moves poleward due to pressure gradient (subtr­opics)
4. cool air sinks and heads back toward tropics with moisture

Rain Shadows
-effect Mountains and oceans have on temper­ature and precip­itation

Elevation has signif­icant effect on temper­ature

Contin­ent­ality - climatic effect that results from a contin­ental interior being insulated from oceanic influences

1. Rocky Mountain
- coolest summers, shortest growing season
- Greatest elevat­ional range
2. Foothills
- Mid elevation
-Bedrock ridges to hills
-lots of precip­itation
- Forest­-do­minated
3. Boreal Forest
- Four months < -10 deg C
- 2 months of summer > 15C
- extensive coniferous and aspen trees
- wetlands and sand dunes
4. Canadian Shield
- exposed granite bedrock
-glacial deposits, small lakes, forests
5. Grassland
-rich topsoil
- flat-r­olling prairie
-warmest and driest region
-trees along riverb­anks, uncommon shallow saline lakes
6. Parkland
- a mix of grasses and trees
- Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary

Adapta­tions
- Morpho­log­ical, physio­logical or behavi­oural traits that provide a fit between the organism and the enviro­nment

Enviro­nment
- Biotic - biological components
- Abiotic - physical components

Fit
1. Match - adapta­tions make sense given the conditions experi­enced by the organism
2. FITNESS - organisms with adapta­tions have higher success

Fitness
- Measure of the lifetime success
-number of offspring
-# of offspring surviving to adulthood
-# of offspring having offspring
- Survival is not as crucial as # of offspring
Evolution - Changes to the freque­ncies of alleles within a population

Natural Selection
- Selective agent is the biotic or abiotic enviro­nment
traits are favoured that enhance fitness
1. Variation in phenotype
2. Fitness is non-random in respect to phenotype
3. Phenotype is heritable

Forms
1. Stabil­izing
- Avg phenotype has max fitness
- removes extreme phenotypes
- maintains average
2. Direct­ional
- Operates when one extreme has higher fitness
-shifts average in the direction of extreme
3. Disruptive
- both extreme have higher fitness
- removes average
-two phenotypic groups

Static adaptation
- unchan­geable across enviro­nments and life stages

Ontoge­netic adapta­tions
-adaptions specific to life stages
Plastic
-change as the enviro­nment

Range of Tolerance
Tolerance - degree of perfor­mance or fitness
Zone of intole­rance - death is inevitable
Range of tolerance - full range individual can survive
Zone of physio­logical stress - barely survive
Range of growth - individual can survive and grow
Optimum range - individual can grow and reproduce

Enzymes - range temper­ature curve

INTERNAL BODY HEAT
Hs= Hm+-Hc­d+-­Hcv­+-Hr-He
Hs - total heat
Metabolic heat - chemical reactions
Conduction - heat moves warm-> cold
Convection - movements air or water
Radiation - sun or radiated off of something (fire/­rock)
Evapor­ative cooling - water

Ectotherms - Hs regulate by external temp
Endotherms - Hs regulated by internal process

Poikil­otherms - Internal temp varies
Homeot­herms - Internal temp remains constant

Coping with Extremes
1. Escape - migration, dormancy
- Cyptob­iosis - complete loss of metabolism
- Hibern­ation - reduced not shut down
- Torpor - brief periods of reduced activity
- Aestiv­ation - adaptation for coping with extreme heat

2. Season­all­y-a­ppr­opriate phenotype
3. Compensate for the inability to thermo­reg­ulate
- Make more enzymes, each enzyme is slow but do more work
- turn on approp­riate gene under approp­riate temper­atures
4. Die - strong selection can lead to extinction or to adaptation
via evolution through natural selection

Niche
- The set of enviro­mental factors that influence the growth survival and rep. of a species
- Niche axis - shows diversity

Fundam­ental Niche
- Abiotic and Food conditions in which a species might live, in the absence of intera­ctions with other organisms
Realized Niche
- Abiotic and food conditions in which a species might live, given intera­ctions with other organisms

Principle of the allocation of energy
- since energy resources are limited using energy for one thing reduces the energy available for another (e.g growth and rep)

Fast and Slow life histories
(R-sel­ected) and (K-sel­ected)
Life histories
1. Age of sexual Maturity
2. Fecundity
3. Partiy - breeding event
4. Parental investment
5. Longevity

Plants
- Compet­itors (top)- fare poorly in stress­/di­sturbed
- Stress tolerant - unique adapta­tions
- Ruderals - quick to arrive and grow easily out-co­mpeted

Battle of the Sexes

Asexual reprod­uction - without the fusion of gametes
Autogamy - fusion of gametes - within the same individual (can swap gametes)
Allogamy - fusion of gametes - different indivi­duals

Gynoge­nesis - sperm touches but not penetrates
hybrid­oge­nesis - Father's DNA excluded from next generation

Isogamy - Sperm and egg same size
Anisogamy - Sperm smaller than egg
Oogamy - Egg non-motile

Sexual Dimorphism - difference in size/a­ppe­arance apart from genitalia
Anisog­amous Species - sperm smaller than egg
Males - want to mate - Max. Fit.
Females - want to wait - Max. Fit.
Fit Max?? - males have more offspring
Male Phenot­ypes: compete with other males, attract females etc.
Female Phenot­ypes: drawing males in, choosing males

Conseq­uences of Anisogamy
1. Female Choice
- Sexual selection, Direct­/in­direct benefits, Brain develo­pment
2. Battle of the males
-Direct battles, Sperm Comp, Interf­erence, Infant­icide
3. Sexual conflict between males and females
Tramatic insemi­nation + infant­icide
Features for grip
Genitalia changes
Cryptic Female choice - stores/ chemically kills sperm
Sexual Cannib­alizm - female eats male

Battle of the female
1. Nonada­ptive hypoth­esis- female aggression byproduct
2. Natural selection Hypothesis - compete for food and protection
3. Sexual selection - males are rare/good genes

Mating Systems
- Social sexual structure of a pop

Monogamy
- Exclusive
Serial - partner for that season but different yearly
Social - care of offspring together, not bio
Genetic - care for bio offspring

Polygamy
- multiple partners
Polygyny - Male +females
Polyandry - Female +males
Polygy­nandry -+males +females exclusive

Promis­cuity
- no mate choice (seaan­nem­inies)

Sex with Benefits
- mate guarding
- female­-en­forced monogamy
- mate assistance

Direct benefits, Indirect benefits

Material benefits polyandry
- more resources
- Better protection
- infant­icide resistance
- genetic benefits (better chance pregnancy)

Dispersion of resources and ability to defend
Unifor­m/R­and­om/­Clumped

Paternal Care
Altricial - born helpless
Precocial - born indepe­ndent

Species
- a group of potent­ially interb­reeding organisms capable of producing fertile offspring
Population
- Organisms ACTUALLY reproduce contained in the same geographic area
Population Charac­ter­istics
Geographic Range, Abundance, Density, Disper­sion, Dispersal, Structure
1. Spatial distri­bution - Niche requir­ements, time, ability to get there
2. Abundance
-Census size (Nc) mark release capture M/N=R/C
3. Density
# of indivi­duals per unit area
4. Dispersion
5. Dispersal
-the movement of indivi­duals

Type 1, Type 2, Type 3 - Percentage of survivors (log(l­x*1­00)­)/(Max life span)

lx = proportion of those born Nx/N0
bx = average number of female offspring an individual female has during x
lxbx = replaced % of the starting population
R0 = Net reprod­uctive rate sum of lxbx
snakes­/sn­ake/gen
T= generation time sumof xlxbx/R0
r= per capita growth rate InR0/T
snakes­/sn­ake­/in­st.time

BIDE
N=B+I-D-E
N/T=BI­DE/­change T
r= b-d

dN/dt=rNt
Nt=N0e^rt

r=rmax­((K­-Nt)/K)
dN/dt = rmaxNt­((K­-N)/K)

Intras­pecific intera­ctions
- Behaviours directed towards the recipient from an actor
Actor - doing the thing
Recipient - getting the thing
Cooper­ation - benefits both - forging, protection
Selfis­hness - benefits actor - self protection
Altruism - benefits recipient - kin selection greenb­eard, recipr­ocal, costly signaling
Spite - no benifit

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