BI206 Notes

Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with their environment and the study of
interactions that decide the location and quantity of organisms

Environmental science is a field that incorporates concepts from natural sciences and
social sciences and it is more focused on how people affect the environment and how we
address it

Weather is what you get (can change in minutes or hours)

Climate is what you expect (pattern over decades) ***Climate average over 30 years

General rule is that warm air rises - 3 sets of convective cells to support:
1.​ Polar cell (top and bottom)
2.​ Ferrel cell (between polar and hadley)
3.​ Hadley cell (very middle)

Coriolis effect = when it shifts (ball thrown straight was curved to the right when
spinning)

Levels of ecological studies: Individuals > Populations > Communities > Ecosystems >
Landscapes >Biospheres

Adaption A feature of an organism that improves its ability to

survive/reproduce in its environment

Natural Selection An evolutionary process where individuals that possess specific

characteristics survive/reproduce at a higher rate than others

Producer An organism that uses energy from an outside source to make

its own food without having to eat other organisms

Consumer An organism that gets energy by eating other organisms

Net Primary The amount of energy that producers fix by photosynthesis

Production (NPP) minus the amount they use in cellular respiration

Nutrient Cycle The cyclic movement of a nutrient between organisms and

their physical environment

Climate change is the directional change in climate over a period of three decades or
longer
Atmospheric pressure is the pressure exerted on a surface due to the mass of the
atmosphere above it

Atmospheric Circulation Cells

Tropical Zones 30*N and S

Temperate Zones 30* and 60*N and S

Polar Zones Above 60*N and S

The speed of ocean currents is usually about 2-3% of the wind speed

Downwelling is sinking of water from the surface

Upwelling is the rising of water from the surface

3 major influences change the global pattern of temperature:

-​ Ocean currents
-​ The distribution of land and water
-​ Elevation

Maritime climate is found near large bodies of water; higher humidity

Continental climate is found away from large bodies of water; lower humidity

Albedo is the amount of solar radiation reflected by a surface, usually expressed as a

percentage of the incoming solar radiation

Intertropic convergence zone (ITCZ) is the zone of maximum solar radiation,

atmospheric uplift, and precipitation within the tropical zone

Stratification is the layering of water in oceans and lakes due to differences in water
temperature and density with depth

Surface water to the deep sea: Epilimnion, Thermocline, Hypolimnion

Lake turnover is when water at all depths of the lake has the same temperature and
density

El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is change of pressure cells and sea surface
temperatures in the Pacific Ocean that causes widespread climatic variation and
changes in upwelling currents & it occurs every 3-8 years lasting for about 18 months
La Nina events follow El Nino events

Salinity refers to the concentration of dissolved salts in water

The salinity of ocean surface waters is highest near the equator and lowest at high
latitudes

Salinization is a process by which high rates of evapotranspiration in arid regions result

in a progressive buildup of salts at the soil surface

Acidity is the opposite of alkalinity (measures of the ability of a solution to behave as an

acid or a base)
●​ Acids give up protons to the water they are dissolved in
●​ Bases take up protons to the water they are dissolved in

Biomes are biological communities shaped by the physical environment (regional

climate, soil, and disturbance patterns) where they are found; they are categorized by
the most common growth forms of plants across large geographic areas

Koppen-Geiger System:
-​ 3 main categories
1.​ Climate
2.​ Precipitation
3.​ Temperature
-​ 5 climate types
1.​ Tropical rainy (equatorial)
2.​ Dry (arid)
3.​ Warm temperature
4.​ Cold forested (snow)
5.​ Polar
-​ 6 precipitation types
-​ 8 temperature types
-​ 3 categories can be combined (eg: CSA = (C) warm temperate, (S) summer dry,
(A) hot summer = bright green on the map

9 types of biomes:
1.​ Tropical rainforest (EG: Amazon Rainforest)
●​ High primary productivity
●​ Important of canopy
●​ Year-long biological activity
●​ Lots of diversity
 ●​ Many specialists
●​ Fast decomposition
●​ Warm and wet throughout the year
●​ Soils subjected to leaching; nutrient-poor except young volcanic soils
●​ River margin soils are replenished by flooding
●​ Historical use: non-intensive hunting, gathering, shifting agriculture
●​ Current uses: logging, mining, intensive agriculture
●​ Threats to biodiversity
●​ Threats to regional climate patterns
●​ Nutrient losses
●​ Climate diagram:
-​ No frost
-​ Constant warm temperatures
-​ Prolonged periods of wet conditions; rainfall generally higher than
100mm/month
2.​ Tropical seasonal
●​ Strong seasonality in precipitation driven by shifts in the ITCZ
●​ Changes in forest structure and drought deciduousness
●​ Dry forest vs savannah driven by both climate conditions as well as
disturbance processes
●​ Tropical dry forest (Eg: Australia)
-​ Marked seasonality in pattern of precipitation (not temperature)
-​ Marked seasonal contrasts in lushness of the vegetation
-​ Migrations of animals
-​ Pressures = forestry, ranching, cereal farming, cotton farms
●​ Tropical savanna: (Eg: Reserves)
-​ Strong seasonality, in precipitation
-​ Importance of fire & grazing; low precip favor grass over trees
-​ Grasslands, thorny and scrubby scattered trees
-​ Wet seasons short and intense
-​ Total precipitation generally lower than for forests
-​ Roles of soil = impermeable subsurface keeps water near surface
-​ Pressures = conversion to agricultural land attracts immigrants,
expansion of pop near protected areas leads to more conversion,
livestock ranching
3.​ Desert
●​ Subtropical deserts near 30*N or S (South African deserts)
-​ High atmospheric pressure zones
-​ Precipitation ~25cm/year (mostly in the summer)
-​ Drought tolerance
●​ Continental deserts (Gobi Desert in India)
 -​ Cold winters, little precipitation
-​ Drought-tolerance & frost-tolernace are likely both important
-​ Little to no animal life
●​ Rain shadow desserts (Judean Desert)
-​ Very little precipitation
-​ Lack of moisture can be very extreme
●​ Coaster deserts (Atacama Desert of Chile)
-​ Not limited by any latitude
-​ Depends on pattern of precipitation
-​ Some locations have no recorded precipitation
●​ Overall, ~20% of land surface of the Earth
●​ Common features:
-​ Low precipitation
-​ Water loss exceeds precipitation
-​ Bottom line: lack of available water during much of the year
-​ Soils often poor, little organic matter, high concentrations of salt
●​ Human influences = irrigation, salt build-up, water over-explotation,
desertification
4.​ Temperate grassland
●​ Natural grasslands (prairies, steppes, veldt, pampas)
●​ Trees and shrubs (confined to stream and river margins)
●​ Role of fire and grazing (huge)
●​ Most precipitation occurs in the growing season
●​ Cool to cold and dry winters
●​ Subject to droughts
●​ Deep soils, a lot of organic matter, slow decomposition
●​ Human influences = conversion to agriculture, loss of soil, loss of organic
matter
5.​ Temperate shrubland and woodland
●​ On the Mediterranean coast of Europe, Middle East, Africa; California,
Chile, South African, SW coast of Australia
●​ Scattered evergreen woody shrubs, grasses, aromatic herbs, fire-resistant
plants
●​ Summer drought; winter rains
●​ Warm annual mean temperature
●​ Modest precipitation
●​ Water conservation strategies
●​ Defenses against fire and browsing
●​ Soils often fragile, moderate fertility
●​ Very diverse plants and animals
●​ Chaparral:
 -​ Temperatures are warm, hotter in summer
-​ Summers are dry, winters in the rainy season
●​ Human influences = high human population densities, low intensity
agriculture promotes sustainable systems, urbanization, climate change
(increased risk and intensity of fires)
6.​ Temperate forest
●​ Moist growing season, also more moisture in winter than grasslands
●​ Cold but snowy winters
●​ Soils are generally fertile
●​ Evergreen
-​ Mild winters, winter rain, summer fog & moderate summer drought
-​ Needle-leaved trees (redwoods, firs, Auracaria)
●​ Deciduous
-​ Seasonal deciduous forests of Eurasia, eastern Northern America
-​ Temperate coniferous rainforest
-​ Vertical stratification: herbs, shrubs, saplings, and canopy
-​ Climate diagram (Deciduous)
➔​ Temperature seasonality long growing season + winter
➔​ Trees rather than grasses
●​ Human influences = settlements, agriculture, exploitation, industry,
urbanization, reforestation
7.​ Boreal forest
●​ Long winters, short growing season
●​ Low mean annual temperature and extreme ranges
●​ Moderate annual rates of precipitation; thin acidic soils, low fertility
●​ Human influences = forest exploitation, climate change
8.​ Tundra
●​ Long cost winters, permafrost; poor drainage
●​ Low or dwarf vegetation; soils are nutrient poor
●​ Migratory birds & mammals; insects
●​ Human influences = airborne pollutants, oil and mineral exploration,
global warming
●​ Climate diagram:
-​ Cold, short frost-free season; precipitation = constant
-​ Vegetation = grasses, lichens, shrubs, forbs
Classifications of biomes:
-​ Growth forms (size and morphology)
-​ Characteristics of their leaves (deciduousness)
-​ Thickness
-​ Succulence (development of fleshy water storage tissues)
Convergence is the evolution of similar growth forms among distantly related species in
response to similar pressures

Land use change is the alteration of terrestrial surface, including vegetation and
landforms, by human activities like agriculture, forestry, or mining

Desertification is the degradation of formerly productive land, resulting in loss of plant

cover and acceleration of social erosion

Permafrost is a subsurface soil layer that remains frozen for at least 3 years

Benthic zone is the bottom of a body of water, including the surface and shallow
subsurface layers of sediment

Hyporheic zone is the portion of the substrate below and adjacent to a stream bed where
water movement still occurs

Detritus is freshly dead or partially decomposed remains of organisms

The river continuum concept was developed to describe changes in both the physical
and biological characteristics of a stream

Pelagic zone is open water

Plankton is microscopic organisms that live in water

Photic zone is the surface layer of a lake or ocean where enough light penetrates to allow
photosynthesis

Littoral zone is the nearshore zone of a lake where the photic zone reaches to the bottom

Tides refers to when patterns of rising and falling of ocean water generated by the
gravitational attraction between Earth and the mood and sun

Climate envelope refers to the range of climate conditions where a species occurs
Acclimatization is an organism’s adjustment of its physiology, morphology, or behavior
to lessen the effect of an environmental change and minimize the stress (usually short
term and reversible)

Adaptation is a physiological, morphological, or behavioural trait with an underlying

genetic basis that enhances the survival and reproduction in that environment
Ecotypes is a population with adaptations to unique local environmental conditions

Ectotherms is an animal that regulates its body temperature primarily through energy
exchange with its environment (cold blooded)

Endotherms is an animal that regulates its body temperature through internal metabolic
heat generation (warm blooded)

Thermoneutral zone is the range of environmental temperatures over which endotherms

maintain a constant basal metabolic rate

Lower critical temperature is the environmental temperature at which the heat loss of
an endotherm triggers an increase in metabolic heat generation

Torpor is a state of dormancy in which endotherms drop their lower critical temperature
and associated metabolic rate

Hyperosmotic = hyper = greater (lower water potential)

Isoosmotic = iso = same
Hypoosmotic = hypo = less (higher water potential)

Autotrophs are organisms that get energy from sunlight or from inorganic chemical
compounds in their environment

Heterotrophs are organisms that get their energy by eating energy-rich organic
compounds made by other organisms

Photosynthesis is a process that uses sunlight to provide the energy needed to take up
carbon dioxide and synthesize organic compounds

Chemosynthesis is a process where the use of energy from inorganic chemical

compounds to fix CO2 and produce carbs using the Calvin Cycle

Photorespiration is a chemical reaction in photosynthetic organisms in which the

enzyme rubisco takes up oxygen, leading to the breakdown of sugars, the release of CO2,
and a net loss of energy

Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is a photosynthetic pathway where CO2 is fixed

and stored as an organic acid at night, then released to the Calvin cycle during the day
Niche:
-​ Fundamental niche = the full range of conditions and resources that allows a
species population to survive and reproduce in the absence of competitors and
predators (always bigger than the realized)
-​ Realized niche = the full range of conditions and resources that allows a species’
population to survive and reproduce in the presence of competitors and
predators

Animals have tricks for modifying energy balance:

-​ Muscle contraction
-​ Behavioral changes
-​ Thermoregulation

Water potential:
-​ W = Wo + Wp + Wm
●​ W = total water potential in Mpa
●​ Wo = osmotic potential (negative number)
●​ Wp = energy associated with exertion of pressure (positive or negative
number)
●​ Wm = energy associated with the attractive forces on the surfaces of large
molecules inside cells or on the surfaces of soil particles (negative number)

Kleptoplasty is when something has the ability to steal the energy from photosynthesis
●​ Eg: Sea Slug

How is photosynthesis affected by environmental conditions?

-​ Light availability
-​ Temperature stress
Why use C4?
-​ Better in hot environments
-​ Pathway increases water use efficiency

Evolution is a change of the characteristics of a population over successive generations

Gene is a distinct sequence of nucleotides forming part of a chromosome

Allele is one of two or more forms of a gene that result in the production of different
versions of the protein that the gene encodes

Genotype is the genetic make-up of an individual

Phenotype is the observable characteristics of an organism (size or color)

Gene flow is the transfer of alleles from one population to another via the movement of
individuals or gametes
-​ Outcomes:
1.​ Genetic homogenization among populations
2.​ Introduction of new alleles into the population

Adaption evolution is a process of changes driven by natural selection in which traits

that confer survival or reproductive advantages tend to increase in frequency over time
-​ Will not always lead to a perfect organism-environment match

AdhS is an allele of the alcohol dehydrogenase gene that codes for a form of the Adh
enzyme that is more effective in warmer temperatures

Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of a single genotype to produce different phenotypes

under different environmental conditions; not always continuous

Morphs are discrete phenotypes with few or no intermediate forms

Allocations are the relative amounts of energy or resources that an organism devotes to
different functions

How do you demonstrate whether a response is adaptive?

-​ Reciprocal transplant
-​ Common garden
-​ Virtual transplant
Natural selection is the process where individuals with certain heritable characteristics
tend to survive and reproduce more successfully than other people because of those
characteristics

Mutation is a change in the DNA of a gene

Recombination is rearrangements of genetic material during sexual reproduction that

result in the production of offspring that have combinations of alleles that differ from
those in either of their parents

Directional selection is when individuals with one extreme of a heritable phenotype trait
(like large size) are favoured over other individuals (small and medium sized
individuals)

Stabilizing selection is when individuals with an intermediate phenotype (medium sized

individuals) are favoured

Disruptive selection is when individuals with a phenotype at either extreme are favored

Genetic drift is a process in which chance events determine which alleles are passed
from one generation to the next, thereby causing allele frequencies to fluctuate
randomly over time; the effects of genetic drift are most pronounced in small
populations

Genetic drift has four related effects on evolution:

1.​ Because it acts by chance alone, genetic drift can cause allele frequencies to
fluctuate randomly over time in small populations
●​ When this occurs, eventually some alleles disappear from small
populations experiencing genetic drift, while others reach fixation
2.​ By causing alleles to be lost from a population, genetic drift reduces the genetic
variation of the population, making the individuals within the population more
similar genetically to one another
3.​ Genetic drift can increase the frequency of a harmful allele
●​ This may seem counterintuitive because in general, genetic drift acts on
alleles that neither harm nor benefit the organism, and we would expect
natural selection to reduce the frequency of a harmful allele
●​ However, if the population size is very small and the allele has only slightly
deleterious effects, genetic drift can “overrule” the effects of natural
selection, causing the harmful allele to increase or decrease in frequency
randomly
 4.​ Genetic drift can increase genetic differences between populations because
random events may cause an allele to reach fixation to one population yet to be
lost from another population

Gene flow occurs when alleles are transferred from one population to another via the
movement of individuals or gametes (like plant pollen)

Clines is a pattern of gradual change in a characteristic of an organism over a geographic

region

Organisms face a number of constraints on adaptive evolution:

-​ Lack of genetic variation
-​ Evolutionary history
-​ Ecological trade offs

Trade-offs is an organisms allocation of its limited energy or other resources to one

structure or function at the expense of another

Speciation is the process by which one species splits into two or more species

Evolutionary tree is a branching diagram that represents the evolutionary history of a

group of organisms

Life history is the major events relating to an organism’s growth, development,

reproduction, and survival and these events include the age and size of first
reproductive, the amount and timing of reproduction and longevity

Life history strategy is the overall pattern in the timing and nature of life history events,
averaged across all the individuals of a species

Fitness is the genetic contribution of an organism’s descendants to future generations

Isogamy is the production of equal-sized gametes

Anisogamy is the production of two types of gametes of different sizes

Complex life style is a life style in which there are at least two distinct stages that differ
in their habitat, physiology, or morphology

Metamorphosis is an abrupt transition from a larval to a juvenile life cycle stage that is
something accompanied by a change in habitat
Alternation of generation is a complex life cycle, found in many algae and all plants, in
which there is both a multicellular diploid form, the sporophyte, and a multicellular
haploid form, the gametophyte

Direct development is a simple life cycle that goes directly from fertilized egg to juvenile
without passing through a free-living larval stage

Dispersal is the movement of organisms or propagules

Paedomorphic is resulting from a delay of a developmental event relative to sexual

maturation

Semelparous is reproducing only once in a lifetime

Iteroparous is having the capacity to reproduce multiple times in a lifetime

R-Selection refers to selection for high population growth rates; this type of selection
can occur in environments where population density is low

K-Selection refers to selection for slower rates of increase, which occurs in populations
that are at or approaching K (the carrying capacity or stable population size for the
environment in which they live)

Competitive plants are plants that are superior competitors under conditions of low
stress and low disturbance (Grime’s triangular model)

Ruderals are plants that adapted to environments with high levels of disturbance and
low levels of stress (Grime’s triangular model)

Stress-tolerant plants are plants that are adapted to conditions of high stress and low
disturbance (Grime’s triangular model)

Sequential hermaphroditism is a change or changes in the sex of an organism during the

course of its life cycle

Clones are a genetically identical copy of an individual

Abundance is the number of individuals of a species or population

Distribution is the geographic area where the individuals of the species are present
Genet is the product of a single fertilization event

Ramet is the actually or potentially independent members of a genet

Absolute population size is the actual number of individuals

Relative population size is the number of individuals in one time interval or place
relative to the number in another

Area-based count:
-​ Used to estimate population abundance of immobile (or limited mobility)
organisms
-​ Quadrat or sample plot-based counts
-​ Size of quadrat is determined based on the size of the organism in question
-​ Known area of plot sizes allows an estimation of the density within a larger area
-​ The more quadrats the more accurate the estimate

Percent cover:
-​ Grid with squares
-​ How many squares it covers, thats how big it is

Pin frame methods:

-​ Hit and miss scale; (HIT)____(MISS)____(HIT)____(MISS)
-​ How many does it intersect?

Distance methods:
-​ Distances of individuals from random positions along a transect are measured
-​ Can be used to estimate relative or absolute organisms
-​ Visibility issues

Example of a detection function:

-​ Density estimation; D = n/2WoL
●​ D = estimated density, n = number of objects observed, Wo = distance
from the line where detectability is assumed perfect, L = length of transect
-​ On a line transect of length L = 100m, a total of y = 18 birds were detected
-​ D = n/2WoL = 12/(2(20)(100)) = 0.003 birds/m2 or 30 birds/ha

Metapopulation is a set of spatially isolated populations linked to one another by

dispersal

Geographic range is the entire geographic region over which a species is found
Dispersion is the spatial arrangement of individuals within a population

Regular dispersion is a pattern where individuals are relatively evenly spaced

throughout the habitat

Random dispersion is a pattern where individuals are positioned at random

Clumped dispersion is a pattern where individuals are grouped together to form clumps

Endemic is a species that occurs in a particular geographic location and nowhere else on
Earth

Species distribution model is a tool that predicts the geographic distribution of a species
based on the environmental conditions at locations where the species is known to live

Disturbance is an abiotic event that kills or damages some individuals and creates
opportunities for other individuals to grow and reproduce

Dispersal limitation is a situation in which the limited capacity for dispersal of a species
prevents it from reaching areas of suitable habitat

Habitat fragmentation is the breaking up of once continuous habitat into a complex

pattern of spatially isolated habitat patches

Isolation by distance is a metapopulation pattern in which habitat patches located far

from occupied patches are less likely to be colonized than are nearby patches

Rescue effect is a metapopulation pattern where high rates of immigration protect a

population from extinction

𝑁𝑡+1 = 𝑁𝑡 + 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ − 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 + 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 − 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

Goal: to estimate the variation of species populations in a community

General rules:
-​ If births exceed deaths, the population grow
-​ If deaths exceed births, the population shrinks
-​ Only when birth = deaths does the population stay the same
Population growth:
-​ N = population size
-​ t = time
-​ λ = geometric rate of increase
-​ r = intrinsic rate of increase
-​ K = carrying capacity

Patterns of population growth:

-​ Exponential
●​ Continuous reproduction through time
●​ Populations grow fast when people leave an average of 1+ offspring over
long periods of time
●​ Favourable environmental conditions
●​ A higher number indicates a high rate
-​ Geometric
●​ Synchronous, discrete reproduction
●​ Per capita rates of increase are constant at 100% or ‘1’
-​ Logistic
●​ Often observed following the introduction of a species into a new locale

dN/dt = rN (1-N/K) where…

N = population density at time (t), t = time, r - intrinsic rate of growth, K = carrying
capacity

Density dependence:
-​ Population growth rates are proportional to population density
-​ r = b - d = f (population density)
-​ As population density increases, death rates increase and/or birth rates decrease

Life tables:
-​ Provide a summary of how survival and reproductive rates vary with the age, size
or life stage of the individuals within a population
-​ Important for population projections
-​ Key for understanding how populations may respond to different disturbances

Age-Class: members of a population whose ages fall within a specific range

What is predation:
-​ An interaction where an individual of one species (a predator) consumes
individuals (or parts of individuals) of another species, its prey
Types of predation:
-​ Carnivory (both predator and prey are animals)
-​ Herbivory (the predator is an animal and the prey is a plant or algae)
-​ Parasitism (the predator lives in symbiosis with its prey and consumes certain
tissues without necessarily killing their host)

Carnivores Herbivores

Kill their prey Typically do not kill their prey

Prey can move around, hide, etc Prey are stationary

Prey moves nutritious, higher N content Less nutritious, lower N content

Broad diets Narrow diets

Dietary breadth:
-​ Carnivores (prey switching)
●​ Some species have preferences for their prey but most eat what is available
-​ Herbivores
●​ Some large herbivores will eat entire organisms but many herbivores
specialize on a single plant part and often a narrow range of species
●​ Main types of herbivores → frugivores, granivores, nectivores, folivores,
root herbivores, xylophages, detritivores

Pursuit predation is when predators actively give chase to their prey (speed and
endurance are key)

Ambush predation or “sit and wait predators”

Anti-predator adaptation:
-​ Warning (aposematic) coloration: warns predators of toxins and to stay away
-​ Mimicry: resemble less palatable organisms so predatory avoid them (“false
advertising”)
-​ Crypsis: coloration that helps prey species blend in and avoid predation
-​ Behavioral changes

Two types of competitions:

1.​ Interspecific competition (competition between individuals of different species)
2.​ Intraspecific competition (competition between individuals of the same species)
Direct vs indirect competition:
-​ Interference competition (when an individual directly alters the
resource-attaining behavior of other individuals)
-​ Scramble/Exploitation competition (when individuals interact indirectly as they
compete for common resources)
-​ Apparent competition (when two individuals that do not directly compete for
resources affect each other indirectly by being prey for the same predator

Positive interactions:
-​ One or both species benefit (no one is harmed)
1.​ Mutualism (a mutually beneficial interaction between individuals of two or
more species; selfish, requires that both partners receive a benefit; +/+)
●​ There may be conflict between partners
●​ “Cheaters” are individuals that increase production of offspring by
overexploiting their mutualistic partner (they take advantage)
●​ There are consequences (sometimes they both are not allowed)
2.​ Commensalism (an interaction where individuals of one species benefit
while the other species neither benefit or receive harm; +/o)

Facilitation is species interactions that benefit at least one participant (a synonym of

positive interaction)

Symbiosis is a relationship in which individuals of the two species live in close physical
and/or physiological contact with each other; it is any type of close and long–term
biological interaction between to different biological organisms (can include mutualism,
commensalism, or parasitism)

An example of tropic mutualism: mycorrhizal symbiosis

Endos: in the mycorrhizae

Ectos: out of the mycorrhizae

Ectendos: some are in the cells and some are out of the mycorrhizae

Habitat mutualism is when an organism is providing a habitat for another organism

(and they both mutually benefit)

Facultative positive relationship is when mutualisms are not required for survival of
either species; individuals of each species engage in mutualism when the other is
present (they aren’t reliant on the other species)
Obligate positive relationship is when mutualisms are essential for the survival of one or
both species (mutualism is REQUIRED)

Low elevation site = neighbors decreased target species performance

High elevation site = neighbors increased target species performance

Using population models to predict future species distributions under climate change:
1.​ Uses: how populations respond to climate, diseases or habitat change
2.​ Pros: helps show potential suitable habitat under various climate change
predictions
3.​ Cons: misses a lot of the local affects, at the end of the day it’s still a prediction

What is scale?
-​ Scale = the dimension of space or time we use to study a system
-​ Spatial = how big of an area? (patch, forest, province)
-​ Temporal = how long? (hours, seasons, centuries, millennia)

Spatial scales:
-​ Patch = small area with unique features (wetland)
-​ Population = same species in one location (all beavers in a pond)
-​ Metapopulation = linked groups across habitat patches (several beaver colonies
in different ponds)
-​ Landscape = mix of patches, populations, and abiotic factors

Spatial scale matters:

-​ Large patterns like migration may not be obvious in small patches
-​ Local events, like treefall gaps, will be invisible at the large scale

Temporal scales (short term change):

-​ Weather
-​ Daily cycles
-​ Seasonal changes
-​ Annual changes

Seasonal variation (Lake Erie algae blooms):

-​ Spring floods wash nutrients into the lake
-​ Warm summer temps + nutrients = algae bloom
-​ Autumn = cooler temps and less sunlight reduce algae
Long term change:
-​ Climate
-​ Species range shifts
-​ Glacial cycles

Non-Western lenses:
-​ Indigenous Knowledge (IK) = knowledge built by Indigenous Peoples through
long-term relationships with the land
-​ Passed on through oral traditions and lived experiences
-​ Emphasizes the relationships between people, plants, animals, and the
environment

Examples of IK and Indigenous research themes:

-​ Cultural survival
-​ Self-Determination
-​ Healing
-​ Restoration
-​ Social justice

4 R’s of Indigenous research:

-​ Respect
-​ Relevance
-​ Reciprocity
-​ Responsibility

What is a community?:
-​ A group of interacting species that occur together at the same place and time
-​ Ways to describe communities

Parts of a community:
1.​ Taxonomic affinity → species that share an evolutionary lineage
2.​ Guild → a group of species that use the same resources
3.​ Functional group → species that function in similar ways within a community but
may or may not have resource overlap

Food web is a representation of the tropic or energetic connection among species within
a community

Trophic levels are groups of species that have similar ways of interacting and obtaining
energy
Interactions in communities are more complex than just the vertical energy transfer of
food webs

Species richness:
-​ The number of species in a community
-​ The first pass estimate of diversity for a community

Evenness:
-​ Uniformity of abundance in an assemblage of species
-​ Equitability is greatest when species are equally abundant

Species diversity is the number and frequency of species in a biological assemblage;

diversity indices combine aspects of richness and evenness

Biodiversity is the diversity of important ecological entities that span multiple spatial
scales, from genes to species to communities and that recognizes the interconnectedness
of these scales

Species accumulation curve = the cumulative number of species encountered as a

function of area
𝑧
-​ 𝑆 = 𝑐𝐴
●​ S = number of species
●​ A = area
●​ c and z are constants

Direct interactions occur between two species and include trophic and no-trophic
interactions

Indirect intersections occur when the relationship between two species is mediated by a
third species

Interaction strength:
-​ The effect of one species on the abundance of another species
-​ Measured by removing a species from the community and measuring the effect
on the target species

Ecosystem engineers modify or maintain the physical habitat for themselves and other
species
Tropic level:
-​ Feeding category
-​ Based on the number of feeding steps by which it is separated from autotrophs
-​ Organisms can be grouped into these

Most organisms in ecosystems are not consumed but become detritus

Detritovores deal with this mass of dead plant, microbe and animal matter as well as
feces (process called decomposition)

Allochthonous inputs = external energy inputs

Autochthonous inputs = energy inputs produced within the system

Energy flow between trophic levels:

-​ Second law of thermodynamics → during any transfer of energy, some energy is
dispersed as unusable energy because of the tendency toward increased disorder
(entropy)
-​ Loss of energy between trophic levels
-​ Trophic pyramids show how energy flows through the ecosystem

Trophic efficiency = the amount of energy at one trophic level divided by the amount of
energy at the trophic level immediately below it; incorporates consumption,
assimilation, and production energy

Trophic cascades = series of changes in abundance and species composition

Bottom-up control = resources that limit NPP determine the energy flow through an
ecosystem

Top-down control = rates of consumption at higher trophic levels may indicate

abundances and species composition at levels below them

Stability = the magnitude of changes in population sizes of the organisms in the food
web over time

Portfolio effect = variation in population of one species cancels out that of another
leading to stability

Bioaccumulation = the gradual concentration or accumulation of toxic compounds in an

organism through its life
Biomagnification = the concentration of toxins across trophic levels due to the ingestion
of lower trophic levels in which the toxic has bioaccumulated

Succession = change in species composition of communities over time

Drivers of change in communities:

1.​ Disturbance = an abiotic event that physically injures or kills some individuals
and creates opportunities for other individuals to grow or reproduce
2.​ Stress = the reduction of growth, reproduction or survival of individuals by an
abiotic factor
3.​ Biotic disturbance = interactions where at least one species is negatively
impacted thereby leading to community change

Successional pathway:
1.​ Primary succession = the colonization of habitats that are devoid of life, either
because of catastrophic disturbance or newly created habitat
2.​ Secondary succession = the reestablishment of the community in which most, but
not all, of the organisms have been destroyed

How does succession proceed?

1.​ Facilitation
●​ “Pioneer” species establish themselves at the beginning of the succession
process
●​ Early colonists alter conditions or resource availability, making it possible
for subsequent species to colonize and survive
●​ Initial colonists (pioneer species) are ultimately replaced because the
conditions they have themselves created favour other species
2.​ Inhibition
●​ Early colonizers modify the environment in ways that benefit them and
harm others
●​ May occur because of competition or allelopathy
3.​ Tolerance
●​ As in the inhibition model, individuals of any species could establish under
the prevailing conditions
●​ Unlike the facilitation of inhibition models, modification of the
environment by the early colonists has little or no effect on recruitment of
other species
●​ Competition for diminishing resources governs the successional sequence
of later species, as they can tolerate lower levels of resources
Alternate stable state = cases where different communities develop in the same area
under similar environmental conditions

Stability = when a community remains in (resistance) or returns to (resilience) the

original structure and function after some perturbation

Hyteresis = an inability to shift back to the original community type even when the
original conditions are restored