Winter Review

Chapter 54

• Behavioral Biology

What is Behavior?

• The way an animal responds to stimuli in its environment.

• Proximate Causation vs Ultimate Causation (Nature vs Nurture Debate)

• Inate Behavior-example egg-rolling response in geese

• Supernormal Stimuli

Is Smart Genetic?

• 1940’s Rat Experiment

• Twin Studies

Specific Genes can be linked to specific behaviors.

• FosB gene

Learning

• Altering ones behavior as a result of previous experience

• Types– Nonassociative aka Habituation– Associative aka Conditioning

• Classical Conditioning ( Pavlov’s dogs)• Operant Conditioning (Reward/Punishment)

Can we learn anything?

• Nope

• Instinct vs Learning

• What can be learned is biologically influenced.– Example- Pigeon can associate food with

color but not sounds. Can associate danger with sounds but not with colors.

Parent influence on Cognitin and Behavior

• Imprinting- social attachments effecting behavior latter in life.– Filial imprinting

• Ducks, monkeys and orphans…Oh MY!!!!

– Sexual Imprinting• Ligers

Instinct and Learning

• Song Sparrows– Raised listening to no song or to the song

of another species had undeveloped songs as adults

– Raised listening to their own species song developed normally.

Do animals think?

• Yup– Chimps- termite eating technique– Japanese macaques wash sand off of

potatoes

Orientation and Migration

• Orientation- tracking stimuli in the environment ex to and from watering hole– Taxis

• Migration- large groups traveling long distances– Use both orientation and navigation

(compass and map)

Animal Communication

• Species specific- example fireflies, dance language of the honeybee, primate language

• Long Distance- pheromones

• Non-species specific- marking territory, persuit deterrent in deer

Behavioral Ecology

• Adaptive Significance- example seagulls removing broken eggshells

• Foraging Behavior- optimal diet

• Territoriality

Reproductive Strategies

• Determines how many mates , and how much time and energy to devote to rearing offspring

• Males and females differ in their reproductive strategies- males will mate with anyone!– Why? Parental Investment

Sexual Selection

• Intrasexual Selection-individuals of one sex competing to get some.– Sexual Dimorphism- differences between

males and females– Sperm Compitition

• Intersexual Selection-Mate Choice

Mating Systems

• Monogamy-Altricial

• Polygamy-Precocial

• Polyandry-extra-pair copulations

Evolution of Social Systems

• Individuals specialized to do different tasks– Honeyees – Leaf-cutter ants

Chapter 55

• Population Ecology

The Environmental Challenge

• Animals must meet the challenge of the environment they live in to survive– Physiological Responses– Morphological Capabilities– Behavioral Responses

• Natural Selection Reinforces the responses to the environment

Populations

• Groups of Individuals of the same species in one space– Random Distribution– Uniform Distribution– Clumped Distribution

Population Demography and Dynamics

• Sex Ratio and Generation time affect population growth rates– Age at first reproduction correlates with life

spane

Altruism

• The performance of an action that benefits another individual at a cost to the actor– Group Selection– Kin Selection- 2 brothers or 8 1st cousins

• Haplodiploidy- bees

Carrying Capacity

• The maximum number of individuals an environment can support

• Sigmoidal growth curve

• http://www.population-growth-migration.info/essays/graph1_big.png

Factors that Regulate Populations

• Density Dependent Factors- as population size increases either birth rates decrease or death rates increase (Negative Feedback)– Allee Effect

• Density Independent effects– Outside factors effect population size ( ex

natural disasters)

K vs r selected individuals

• r - selected usually smaller, have a lot of babies at once

• K- selected usually larger, have fewer babies at one time

Human Population Growth

• Human Populations have grown exponentially

• Human population growth has declined in developed countries but is still increasing in developing countries

• http://www.uni.edu/gai/India/India_Lesson_Plans/India_Population_Pyramids_files/image002.gif

Chapter 56

• Community Ecology

Communities

• All of the species living in a particular area– Can be characterized by either the species

present or properties of the community such as species richness and primary productivity

Individualistic vs Holistic Communities

• Individualistic says that a community us just a bunch of species that happen to be in the same place at the same time

• Holistic says that communities are a integrated unit

• Which argument do scientists agree with and why?

Niches

• The total of all the ways it uses the resources in the environment

• Fundamental vs Realized Niche example deep and shallow barnicles– Competitive exclusion and niche overlap

Predator Prey Relationships

• A lot of predators = low prey….then low prey= death of predators….then death of predators = high prey…and so on and so on.

Coevolution

• When predators and prey accumulate adaptations to protect against being preyed upon then overcome these protections.

• Examples plant develops secondary chemical compounds to poison predators, then certain predators develop immunity and continue to prey on plants

Mimicry

• Some non-poisoness species “mimic” the coloration of poisoness or harmful ones as a means of discouraging predation.

• Batesian Mimicry- palatalbe insects resemble distasteful species

• Mullerian mimicry- unrelated species resemble one another.

Types of Species Interactions

• Symbiosis– Commensalism– Mutualism– Parasitism

Keystone Species

• Species that have a greater effect on the composition of a community than one may expect– Example- Starfish

Succession

• When communities build at a specific site– Primary Succession– Secondary Succesion

• Tolerance, Facilitation, Inhibition

Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis

• Greater diversity of species where there is slight disturbances happening often

• Why?

Chapter 57

• Dynamics of Ecosystems

The Carbon Cycle

• http://fig.cox.miami.edu/Faculty/Dana/carboncycle.gif

The Water Cycle

• http://www.ust.hk/~webpepa/pepa/Protection-Plant/importance/water_cycle.gif

The Nitrogen Cycle

•http://www.realtrees4kids.org/images/6-8images/nitrogencycle1.gif

Phosphorus Cycle

• http://project.bio.iastate.edu/courses/biol123/lectures/Lecture08-Cycles/Images/5-29.JPG

Energy Flow in Ecosystems

• Law of Conservation of Energy

• Productivity- the rate at which new organic matter is created

• Trophic Levels

• http://fig.cox.miami.edu/Faculty/Dana/foodchain.jpg

Energy in an Ecosystem

• http://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/er/Resources/Image1056.gif

Trophic Level Interactions

• Top Down Effects– When changing something at the top of a

trophic level effects the lower levels- taking away carnivore

• Bottom Up effects– When changes in primary producers effect

higher trophic levels-increasing or decreasing primary productivity

Chapter 58

• The Biosphere

Biomes

• Tropical Rain Forest• Savanna• Desert• Temperate Grasslands• Temperate Decidous Forrest• Temperate Evergreen Forest• Taiga• Tundra

Tropical Rain Forest

• High Temperatures year round

• Richest ecosystems on land

• High biodiversity

Savanna

• Warm Temperatures year-round

• Seasonal Rain

Desert

• Warm and cool temperatures

• Very little rainfall

Temperature Grasslands

• Warm summers and cool winters

• Very fertile soil

Temperature Decidous Forrest

• Warm summers and cool winters

• Plentiful rain

• Found in Northwest US

• Many Trees that lose leaves in the winter

Temperature evergreen Forest

• Temperate climates

• Occur along Coastlines

• Dominated by pines and spruces (evergreen)

Taiga

• Cold Temperatures

• Very long cold winters

• Limited Precipitation

• Spruce Trees

Tundra

• VERY cold

• Ground is frozen most the the year “permafrost”

• Very few trees

Freshwater habitats

• Life depends on Oxygen availability

• Oligotrophic- high oxygen and low nutrient

• Eytrophic- low oxygen and high nutrient

Human Impacts on the Bioshphere

• Point Source vs Diffuse Pollution

• DDT

• Ozone depletion

• Global warming

Chapter 59

• Conservation Biology

Save the earth!