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| A stratum of rapid temperature change in a lake. Occurs in Winter and Summer.Tropical lakes have a year-round thermocline. |
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| All factors which do not involve living organisms. Ex: temperature, climate, nutrition, water, etc. |
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| All factors which involve living organisms. Ex: predation, competition for breeding grounds or resources, etc. |
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| Gross Primary Productivity |
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| The total amount of sunlight converted to chemical energy in an ecosystem. This includes energy used for cellular respiration. |
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A holiday pastry, made with lots of butter. (jk)
In ecology, seasonal turnover refers to the mixing of hot and cold water in Spring and Autumn. The mixing is important for cycling nutrients. |
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| Organisms which feed on dead organic matter (detritus). They are important for breaking down bodies, feces, and dead plants. Ex: crustations in the benthic zone; some insects on the ground; dung beetles. |
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| The vertical level in a body of water in which enough light penetrates to enable photosynthesis. |
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A small rock-scaling buddy.
Also, fine scale variations of climate. As opposed to macroclimate. Ex: under a log; trees influence microclimates beneath them; a cave. |
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-biological agents that bring harm to their hosts
-in multicellular and unicellular plants
-usually form soil contamination |
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-total number of different species (i.e. the qualitative distribution)
-Species richness and relative abundance of a population add up to become the species diversity |
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Parasitism (+/-)
-nutritional strategy; one member of the couple harms the other (parasite VS host)
-parasite benefits at the expense of the host (+/-)
-exist when competition for food is most intense
-eg tick, flatworms, viruses |
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| Tropic levels are defined to be the different levels in a food chain. This relationship is often depicted by food webs. (The relationship includes producers and primary customers; prey and predators, etc). When energy is transferred from one tropic level to the other, about 10% of the energy is lost. |
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Mutualism (+/+)
In the condition of mutualism, both parties benefit. Examples are 1.) tick birds and rhinoceros (tick birds eat parasites on the rhinoceros’ skin; while the rhinoceros get parasites removed and warned about danger when tick birds fly away) 2.) fungus and lichen (lichen produce food for fungus by photosynthesis; while fungal threads support algae and conserve water) |
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Commensalism (+/0)
To explain commensalism in a metaphor, it is as if A benefits from B without affecting, harming nor benefiting B in any way. Examples of commensalism include 1.) remora and shark (the remora lives on the shark skin without causing any damage to the shark while the shark provides it with food, protection and transportation) 2.) barnacle and whale (barnacles do not consume any part of the whale, but living on it would give them a wider opportunity to catch food) |
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| key measurement beacuse it represents the chemical energy available to consumers |
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-the limitation of resources (nutrients) within an environment.
-may lead to competition within the ecosystem |
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| Even when raised in captivity, birds (and other migratory animals) will become restless during migration season. Symptoms include increased noise and attempted flight or movement in the intended migration direction. |
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| Ignoring stimuli that used to induce a reaction. Happens due to repeated provocation without the expected result. By ignoring said stimulus, it allos the organism to remain more focused on other things that may be more important to survival. |
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3 Kinds: Chemical/Olfactory: Animal excretion that attracts mates, marks territory, or induces other reactions in other individuals. Auditory: Bird songs (learned), insect songs (genetic). Usually associated with attracting mates or warning other individuals. Visual: Fish fan fins to warn intruders, etc. |
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| The idea that the effect of toxins becomes more apparent the higher in the food chain you go. This is because an insect may eat a small amount of a toxin, then the bird eats many insects, then a larger predator eats many birds, meaning that all of the toxins consumed in smaller concentrations by the bird and insect are present in the larger predator in more substantial concentrations. |
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More or less automatic orientated movement towards or away from a stimulus.
Example: Fish swimming facing the current because food comes with the current. |
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| Modification based on the spatial structure of the environment. IE: learning from and of surroundings. |
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| Type of Chemical/Olfactory communication. Chemical excretion used to attract mates. |
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