Chapter 45- Pop.

Ecology
1. Explain why populations are usually clumped & not scattered randomly/uniformly.
Clumped distributions are common in nature because individual animals, plants, & microorganisms tend to
prefer habitats defined by soil type, moisture, or other aspects of environment to which they are best adapted.
2. Describe different conditions that result in pop. growth/loss.
These include: birth/death rate, immigration/ emigration pop. growth rate, fecundity, biotic/intrinsic factors,
exponential/logistic pop. growth, density dependent/independent environmental resistance factors.
3. Random sampling vs capture-recapture.
--Random sampling: counting # of organisms in a small, randomly chosen, portion of area in question. You can
then scale up to total area & estimate total size of the pop. It works well if/when pop. is spread homogeneously.
--Capture-recapture basically involves going out to your study area & capturing a # of individuals in pop. you're
studying, & then tagging these individuals. You release them back into environment & allow them to mix back
with rest of pop. Then you come back a while later & capture a set # of individuals. If you originally tagged 10
animals, & you come back later & capture 10 animals, 2 of which are tagged, you can estimate the pop. to be
around 50 (you estimate that you tagged 20% of pop.). Of course this method is used to estimate far larger
populations, or pops. in which counting each individual would be difficult (ex: counting fish).
4. Density dependent vs density independent factors.
--Density Dependent: Increasing pop. size reduces available resources limiting pop. growth. In restricting pop.
growth, a density-dependent factor intensifies as pop. size increases, affecting each individual more strongly.
--Density Independent: Weather, climate, & natural disasters such as freezes, seasonal changes, hurricanes, &
fires are examples. These factors are unrelated to pop. size & affect everyone in pop. regardless of pop. size.
5. See attachment.
6. Are humans evolving? Yes, but right now, we are just evolving culturally more faster than physically.
7. Do you believe pop. controls are a good idea? 3 reasons to support.
Pop. control is mandatory if the human race wishes to exist indefinitely. This world is overpopulated because
none of us is dying fast enough. Every single one of us pollutes air, water, and earth. Eventually few will be
born that wont suffer environmental diseases. Most, because of how overpopulated we are will not be able to
receive proper attention in education or nutrition. I feel the best way to attack this right now is to make abortion
and birth control free and without issue.
8. See attachment.
Frances Coronel
Chapter 47- Community Interactions
1. The 5 factors that shape community structure:
a. Interactions between climate & topography dictate rainfall, temp., soil composition, & so on; b. Availability
of food & resources affects inhabitants; c. Adaptive traits enable individuals to exploit specific resources.
d. Interactions of various kinds occur among inhabitants; including competition, predation, & mutualism.
e. Physical disturbances, immigration, & episodes of extinction affect habitat.
2. Fundamental vs Realized Niches:
--Fundamental niche: where a species CAN live, negating effects of predation, resource limitation, etc.
--Realized niche: where species DOES live, b/c factors have forced it to retreat from parts of fundamental niche
3. See attachment
4. How does long term predator prey relationships result in co evolution? Include defense mechanisms &
predator adaptations.
In a predator-prey coevolution, if prey gains a defense to stop predation, then predator may evolve in a way that
enables it to overcome prey's defense. Its like an arms race. This is why some snake venom is extremely potent;
some prey evolved a tolerance to weaker venom, necessitating evolution of stronger venom. That's why some
predators like eagles have very keen eyesight, to spot prey which lies motionless & camouflaged.
5. Primary vs Secondary succession.
Primary: starting off with bare/sterile rock. New lifeless area with NO LIVING SOIL.
Secondary: "greatly disturbed ecosystem" (former forest area devastated by a fire) HAS LIVING SOIL
6. Effect of eliminating keystone species from ecosystem
Without them, ecosystem would disintegrate/ be severely damaged. An ex. is California Sea Otter. Without otter
which feeds on sea urchins, sea urchin population would explode & devastate kelp forest populations, as well as
all animals which depend on kelp forests for food and shelter.
7. Why is kudzu an exotic species? Why are exotic species such a problem?
Kudzu grows quickly & covers an area thickly. Native plants are crowded out. Native animals that depended on
those plants will be gone. What you have left are kudzu and whatever can eat kudzu. This type of exotic species
does not fit into local ecosystem, as it has not evolved or co-existed with local species. Exotic species may be a
fantastic predator which could result in a local species being wiped out, & disrupting a trophic level, at very
least. Competition for resources may be overtaken by invading species too.
8. Why is biodiversity important & something that needs to be preserved?
Biodiversity makes up structure of ecosystems & habitats that support essential living resources, including
wildlife, fisheries & forests. It helps provide for basic human needs such as food, shelter, & medicine. It
composes ecosystems that maintain oxygen in air, enrich soil, purify water, protect against flood & storm
damage & regulate climate. Biodiversity also has recreational, cultural, spiritual & aesthetic values.
Frances Coronel
Chapter 48- Ecosystems
1. Nutrient Flow vs Energy Flow
Nutrient cycles refer to cycles like nitrogen/carbon. Main difference from energy flow is that nitrogen/carbon
atoms can be 'recycled' in ecosystem via processes like denitrification & combustion to form different
molecules & nutrients. But energy flows & not cycles due to property of energy- it can be lost but NOT created.
2. What does food web show that food chain cannot? What limits length of food chain?
Food webs: show how plants and animals are connected in many ways to help them all survive.
Food chains: follow just 1 path as animals find food, hence its shorter.
3. See attachment.
4. Why is each cycle important for life (carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen, water)?
Phosphorus cycle: phosphorus is essential nutrient for plants/animals in form of ions and very important in
circulating phosphorous in plants as well as whole of atmosphere b/c it occurs as solid & not as gas.
Carbon: allows most abundant element (carbon) to be recycled & reused through biosphere & all of organisms
Nitrogen: Nitrogen essential for many biological processes; crucial for any life on Earth b/c its in all amino
acids, is incorporated into proteins, & is present in bases that make up nucleic acids (DNA/RNA). Nitrogen also
used in chlorophyll molecules, which are essential for photosynthesis & further growth.
5. Are humans causing global temperature? Why or why not?
Underlying warming is natural but recent warming of past decades is attributable to human activities. Vast
majority of warming is natural & this maintains a more or less steady equilibrium, its component over & above
this which is cause for concern. Based on current average global temperatures then approximately 3% of the
total warming is manmade, the other 97% is natural. While 3% may not sound like a lot, its extremely
significant and big enough to cause large consequences.
6. Why is it important to keep fertilizer out of storm drains?
These chemicals applied to your lawn kill beneficial insects and are long lasting in the soil. But if put into storm
drains, this will run into our bodies of water and pollute them.
7. Gross vs net primary productivity? How do scientists measure it?
Gross primary production (GPP) is rate at which an ecosystem's producers capture & store a given amount of
chemical energy as biomass in a given length of time. Some fraction of this fixed energy is used by primary
producers for cellular respiration & maintenance of existing tissues. Remaining fixed energy is referred to as net
primary production (NPP).
EXAMPLE: GPP is total amount of CO2 that is fixed by the plant in photosynthesis. Respiration, R, is amount
of CO2 that is lost from an organism or system from metabolic activity. Respiration can be further divided into
components that reflect source of CO2. NPP is net amount of primary production after costs of plant respiration
are included. Therefore, NPP = GPP - R
Frances Coronel
Chapter 50- Humans & Biosphere
1. Summarize history of DDT. How does DDT demonstrate biological magnification?
--DDT was developed as 1st of modern synthetic insecticides in 1940s. It was initially used with great effect to
combat malaria, typhus, & other insect-borne human diseases among both military & civilian populations & for
insect control in crop & livestock production, institutions, homes, & gardens. However, DDT's quick success as
a pesticide & broad use in US & other countries led to & development of resistance by many insect pest species.
--Essentially with DDT and biological magnification, it means as you go up the food pyramid, each trophic
level accumulates more DDT, because animals eat other animals that have it in their bodies faster than they can
get rid of it in their own. So effect is one of magnification as you go to higher predators. As you go backwards
toward producers, each organism has less of DDT, but to get enough energy to survive, each predator has to eat
many of smaller organisms below it in food pyramid.
2. Define CFCs & describe effect on ozone layer.
CFCS are man made chlorine containing substances found in refrigerant, aerosols, & solvents. Due to their long
lifetimes & fact that they dont wash away in rain, its possible for CFCs to rise up into ozone layer above earth,
where they eventually break down due to exposure to ultraviolet radiation. As they decompose, they release
chlorine & bromine into ozone layer, which both damage and deplete the ozone layer. For every one chlorine
atom that is released into the ozone layer, 100,000 ozone molecules are destroyed. Thus, CFCs cause ozone
layer to break down faster than it can replace itself.
3. Describe possible consequences of deforestation & desertification.
Deforestation: species extinction, loss/degradation of biodiversity/habitat, climate change (global warming)
Desertification: vegetation deterioration, erosion, salinization, and loss of soil fertility/compaction/crusting
4. What are current forms of energy & what forms are probably going to be used in future?
Non-renewable resources, on the other hand, include such energies as fossil fuels, natural gases, wood, coal, and
pretty much any Hydrocarbon. Renewable resources include such energies as wind, solar power, geothermal
and hydropower. In the future, undoubtedly, we will have to use more renewable resources.
5. Do you feel nuclear power is safe to use?
Nuclear power is most efficient & cost effective form of energy currently in operation today. As far as safety
goes, there has been only ONE nuclear incident in US, which did not have any detrimental environmental
problems since it was quickly resolved (unlike Russia's Chernobyl plant). Still, I believe that a responsible
organization should oversee all nuclear plant operations & security at high priority.
Frances Coronel