Contents

• Flashcards (test your vocabulary)

• Introduction to ecology and the abiotic environment

• ecology
• natural selection
• terrestrial environments - soils
• terrestrial environments - climate and biomes
• aquatic environments
• The ecology of individual organisms
• principles of physiological ecology
• illustrating physiological ecology - temperature relations
• applying physiological ecology to conservation
• The ecology of populations
• patterns of distribution and density
• population dynamics
• population growth
• Ecological interactions among species
• classifying interactions according to fitness consequences
• competition
• exploitation
• commensalism and mutualism
• Ecology of communities and ecosystems I
• general introduction
• species abundance and diversity
• Ecology of communities and ecosystems II
• the trophic structure of communities
• energy flow within ecosystems 
• Ecology of communities and ecosystems III
• community succession and stability
• nutrient cycling and retention
• Large-scale ecology
• landscape ecology
• geographic ecology
• global ecology

2. Describe the relationship between ecology and evolution.

3. Briefly describe the "kinds" of ecology (i.e., give a few examples of the kinds of 
 what those ecologists might study) as classified according to levels of biological
 organization.

B.  Natural selection
1. Describe the conditions under which natural selection will occur and explain what the result of selection will be.  Are those conditions met in nature?  Illustrate your description with the example of the increase in frequency of DDT resistance in mosquitoes.

2. Briefly discuss the relationship between natural selection and genetic variation. 
 Does selection cause favorable variation to arise?  Use the DDT example to
 illustrate.

3. Describe the principle of allocation and explain its effect(s) on natural selection.

4. Describe developmental/mechanical constraints on selection

C.Terrestrial environments - soils 
1. What is soil?  Describe the basic structure of soil with attention to the processes 
 involved in forming each and the relationship(s) among the layers.

2. What are the major components of soil? 

3. Describe the relationship (including underlying causes) between soil particle 
 size and nutrient capacity (cation exchange capacity) and water capacity. 

4. Do soils with high cation exchange capacities always "hold" large quantities of 
 nutrient cations?  Explain. 

5. Do soils with high water capacity always have high amounts of water available to 
 plants?  Explain. 

D.Terrestrial environments - climate & biomes
1. Describe the general effects of the earth's tilt on its axis on patterns of sunlight, 
 daylength, and temperature. 

2. Discuss the mechanism(s) by which variation in sunlight gives rise to global 
 patterns of air circulation and precipitation (and describe those patterns!). 

3. Describe the genreal effects of mountains and ocean currents on local climate. 

4. Discuss the general factors that determine productivity in terretrial biomes. 

5. Compare and contrast the general climate conditions, approximate locations, 
 soil properties (not technical names), types of vegetation, and diversity 
 of vegetation (not names or numbers of species), and general levels of 
 productivity in tropical rainforest, boreal coniferous forest, temperate 
 deciduous forest, and temperate grasslands.   How do fire and grazing affect 
 the structure of temperate grasslands? 

E. Aquatic environments
1. List the major reservoirs of water on earth, the approximate proportion of water 
 in each, and the patterns and processes involved in the hydrologic cycle. 

2. Describe the major zones of oceanic environments.  In which zone(s) does/do PSN  take place? 

3. Describe the physical characteristics that are primarily responsible for the 
 ecological characteristics of ocean environments.  Describe the general patterns 
 of variation for each of those characteristics. 

4. List the major types of water movements in the ocean and briefly discuss their 
 effects on ocean ecology. 

5. What key factors determine the productivity of oceanic environments (be sure 
 to mention any major limitations on productivity as well)?  Describe the general 
 conditions in salt marshes and coral reefs, and explain how those systems 
 "overcome" limitations to productivity

2. How does the abiotic environment constrain individual organisms?  Define 
 "microclimate" and contrast variation in microclimate with variation in macroclimate. List (and, if necessary, briefly describe) some of the main factors that cause microclimate variation.  Give an example of each. 

3. Discuss the consequences for individual organisms of the fact that biological
 molecules have limited tolerance to abiotic conditions. 

4. Outline the general "flow of energy" through an individual organism.  Define the
 allocation principle, and discuss the implications of that principle for homeostasis.
 What general "rule" should organisms follow when "deciding" how much energy
 to allocate to homeostasis? 

5. Compare and contrast conformers and regulators in terms of their levels of
 homeostasis and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each strategy. 
 Can most organisms be classified as either strict conformers or strict regulators?
 Defend your answer. 

B. Illustrating physiological ecology - temperature relations
1. Why is temperature considered an important abiotic factor for most organisms? 

2. Compare and contrast the thermal properties of air and water and explain how
 those differences constrain the potential thermoregulatory strategies of aquatic
 organisms. 

3. Write the model for the heat budget we used in class and define each of its terms. 

4. Define the terms poikilotherm, homeotherm, endotherm, ectotherm, and   heterotherm as used in this course.  Be sure to explain the relationships (if any)
 among them.  Describe the relative costs and benefits of each strategy. 

5. Explain the thermal challenges faced by desert plants and describe the adaptations of non-succulents to those "meet" those challenges.  Be sure to discuss any constraints that "prevent" potential strategies from being used. 

6. Explain the thermal challenges faced by the alpine lizards of the high Andes.
 What general kinds of thermoregulatory strategies are available to animals
 that aren't available to plants?  Describe the adaptations of alpine lizards,
 including attention to any constraints that they may face. 

7. How do large moths maintain constant body temperature?  Describe Heinrich's
 experiments and explain how his experimental design and results confirm
 his hypothesis. 

8. Describe the thermal strategies of skunk cabbage.  What "advantage" do these
 plants gain from the ability to maintain "body" temperatures above ambient? 
 What is/are the likely cost(s) of this strategy? 

9. What advantage do large pelagic fishes gain from regional heterothermy?  Why 
 aren't these animals "strict" homeotherms?  Briefly describe the anatomical/
 physiological mechanisms of regional heterothermy in these animals. 

10. Describe the pattern of heterothermy seen in hummingbirds.   Be sure to indicate
 the conditions under which heterothermy is used. 

C. Applying physiological ecology to conservation
1. Read about the problems currently facing amphibian populations on a global scale by checking out these links.

2. Give specific examples explaining and illustrating how studies of physiological
 ecology are being used to address the problem(s) of world-wide declines in
 amphibian populations and in the increased prevalence of deformed frogs
 in the U.S

2. Describe the two general factors that determine the dispersion of individuals within  a population, and the three general dispersion patterns that result from their 
 interaction.  Explain how dispersion patterns may vary with differences in ecology, 
 differences in spatial scale, and over time using the examples discussed in class. 

3. What general dispersion pattern is seen across species ranges on a continental 
 scale?  Does this pattern hold only for species with wide distributions?  What 
 explains this pattern? 

4. Describe and discuss Rabinowitz's model of rarity by explaining the three major 
 factors that determine rarity.  Under what conditions will a species be considered 
 common?  Give examples of each of the major "forms" of rarity. 

B. Population dynamics
1. Briefly explain how interactions between birth and death affect patterns of 
 population distribution, abundance, and growth. 

2. What is a life table?  Compare and contrast cohort and static life tables.  Which is  generally easier to construct?  Which is more useful? 

3. Explain the major components of a life table, including where the data come from.  Given data on survivorship and fecundity, be able to perform the calculations  necessary to use life table data to analyze patterns of population growth. 

4. What is a survivorship curve?  Describe the three general types of survivorship and  give examples of each.  Which of the three types most closely resemble(s) patterns  actually found in nature?  Which least resemble(s) patterns found in nature.  Do all  species fall into one of the three categories?  Justify your answer. 

5. For sexual species, how is fecundity defined as used in life tables?  Define the 
 "iteroparity" and "semelparity."  For iteroparous individuals, what are the common 
 patterns of fecundity variation with age? 

6. For each of the following terms, give (1) the proper abbreviation; (2) a general  description of the pattern or process the term describes (if it's not obvious from the  term itself); and (3) the mathematical equation used to calculate it.  Given data 
 in the form of a life table, be able to calculate each.  Terms: net reproductive rate, 
 generation time, per capita rate of increase. 

7. What values of net reproductive rate and per-capita rate of increase indicate a 
 growing population?  A stable population?  A declining population? 

8. Clearly distinguish between the per capita rate of increase and the intrinsic rate 
 of increase.  In general, what the relationship between these two be? 

9. Briefly explain the role of dispersal in population dynamics. 

C. Population growth
1. Under what conditions will organisms grow exponentially?  Give a verbal description  of exponential growth, clearly explaining and distinguishing (1) the change in  population size and (2) the change in population growth rate over time.  Draw  a graph of this process.  What "part" of the graph represents population size?  What "part" represents the rate of population growth? 

2. Write the equation for the rate of exponential population growth.  In this model, is  r constant or variable?  Explain why the rate of growth increases over time. 

3. Under what kinds of condition in nature do we expect to see exponential growth?  Give examples to illustrate your answer. 

4. Define the term "carrying capacity".  Explain the general pattern of population 
 growth expected under conditions of limited resources.  Clearly explain and 
 distinguish (1) the change in population size and (2) the change in population 
 growth rate over time.  Draw a graph of this process.  What part of the 
 graph represents population size?  What part of the graph represents carrying 
 capacity?  What part of the graph represents the rate of population growth? 

5. Write the equation for logistic population growth.  To what part of the equation does  the term "environmental resistance" apply?  What does the term mean biologically?  In this model, is r variable or constant?  Explain the relationship between r and  environmental resistance.  Explain the relationship between the population growth  rate and environmental resistance. 

6. Why are biotic interactions like competition, parasitism and disease called 
 density-dependent regulating mechanisms (be sure to address both the "density- 
 dependant" and "regulating" parts of that phrase!). 

7. Why are abiotic factors like harsh climatic conditions called density-independent 
 factors? 

8. Are biotic and abiotic environmental factors independent in their effects on 
 population growth rates?  Justify your answer with examples. 

9. What is the general relationship between population growth rate and body size? 
 Are there many major groups of organisms that don't exhibit this pattern? 

10. Describe the three general types of age distribution in populations.  For populations  with type I survivorship, which age structure is associated with increasing  population size?  With decreasing population size?  With stable populations? 

11. What form of population growth do humans as a whole exhibit currently?  Why  are human populations expected to continue growing fairly rapidly in spite of 
 declines in fertility (in at least some parts of the world)?  Hint: you probably need 
 to refer to patterns of distribution, survivorship, fecundity, and age distributions! 

12. Explain the general pattern of correlation among patterns of environmental 
 change, carrying capacity, physiology, life history traits, and population dynamics by  comparing selected traits in organisms adapted to relatively stable vs. 
 fluctuating environments.

B. Competition
1. Explain the competitive behavior illustrated by threespot damselfish on coral
 reefs.  Briefly describe the important features of competition this system
 illustrates. 

2. Compare and contrast interference and exploitation competition. 

3. Describe the relationship between resource limitation and competition.  Describe
 how studies of intraspecific competition in Sorghastrum and planthoppers are used
 to infer that resource limitation exists and that the intensity of intraspecific 
 competition increases with population density.  Be sure to explain  specific 
 evidence as well as general reasoning. 

4. Define the term "ecological niche" in both general terms and according to the
 Hutchinsonian model.  Briefly describe the development of this term, including
 the contributions of Grinnell, Elton, Gausse, and Hutchinson.  Explain the
 relationship between the modern niche concept and interspecific competition. 
 Compare and contrast realized and fundamental niches, using examples from
 class to illustrate. 

5. How does interspecific competition affect population size in coexisting competing species?  Illustrate your answer with Brown et al.'s studies of desert rodents.  Be sure to describe the experimental design used as well as the evidence obtained.  Explain the concept of apparent competition, and explain its relationship to exclusion experiments of interspecific competition. 

6. Describe the process/pattern of niche (=habitat) partitioning.  Clearly explain its
 relationship to competitive exclusion and its effect on fundamental and realized
 niches.  Illustrate your answer using Tansley's experiments on bedstraw and 
 Connell's studies of barnacles. 

7. Briefly describe the phenomenon of competitive replacement.  Why is this process of concern to conservation ecologists? 

8. Describe the process of morphological character displacement.  Clearly explain
 its relationship to competitive exclusion, fundamental niches, and realized
 niches.  Illustrate your discussion with the example of Galapagos finches. 
 Does current evidence suggest that this process has been widespread over
 evolutionary time?  Why or why not (hint: be sure to think about what kinds of
 evidence are required to strongly support the hypothesis that character
 displacement has occurred)?

C. Exploitation
1. Briefly describe or define the terms herbivory, predation, parasitism, pathogen,
 and parasitoid.  Do these terms adequately express the diversity of exploitative
 interactions in nature?  Why or why not? 

2. Describe the effects exploitation may have on the abundance, distribution, and age structure of "exploited" populations.  Support your answer with evidence from 
 the studies of caddisfly larvae and Australian Opuntia we discussed in class.  Be
 sure to explain each study in detail. 

3. Discuss the examples we used in class of parasites that change the behavior of
 their hosts.  What benefits do the parasites receive from this ability? 

4. Describe the potential effects of predation on species diversity within prey 
 communities, using Paine's studies of Pisaster to illustrate. 

5. Define the terms functional response and numerical response.  Describe 
 the common pattern(s) of each and illustrate with an example. 

6. Describe the relationships between snowshoe hare, plant, and lynx populations.
 What general phenomenon (-a) do these relationships illustrate? 

7. Discuss the various types of  "refuge" hosts/prey may take to persist in the face
 of exploitation.  Illustrate each with a specific example.

D. Commensalism and mutualism
1. List, define, and give at least one example of each of the major types of   commensalism. 

2. Defend the statement that mutualistic interactions are critical to the structure and
 diversity of the biosphere. 

3. Distinguish between obligate and facultative mutualisms. 

4. List, define, and give at least one example of each of the major classes of   mutualism. 

5. Describe the mutualistic relationship between mycorrhizae and plant roots.
 Discuss the relationship between the "strength" of the mutualism and soil
 fertility as revealed by Johnson's work with Andropogon.  Be sure to include
 a good description of the experimental protocol as well as the reasoning
 behind the hypothesis tested and the evidence used to support that
 hypothesis. 

6. Discuss the three-way mutualism among corals, zooxanthellae, and crustaceans.
 Be sure to describe the benefits each species receives, and include any
 experimental or observational evidence for those benefits.  Review the
 information on coral bleaching linked to the course home page.  List some
 of the major factors leading to coral bleaching and describe, based on what
 you know about the role of coral in marine systems, the potential consequences
 of this phenomenon. 

7. Describe the mutualism between African honeyguides and traditional
 honey gatherers, including the evidence that birds are able to provide
 honey gatherers with information about direction, distance to nests, and
 location of nests.

2. Describe the ways in which community ecologists might "subdivide" ecological
 communities.  Why do they do this?

B. Species abundance and diversity
1. Describe the lognormal distribution of species abundance as documented by
 Preston and others.  What property of community structure, specifically, do
 these distributions describe?  What pattern do they describe? 

2. How widespread is the lognormal distribution of species abundance?  Are its
 underlying mechanisms known?  If not, what are the major competing hypotheses
 used to explain it? 

3. Describe the important implications and uses of the lognormal distribution for
 practicing ecologists.  What are its possible applications to conservation
 ecology? 

4. Define and describe the two components that collectively define species diversity
 within communities.  Given the appropriate information, be able to calculate 
 H' (the Shannon-Wiener diversity index) and use that calculation to compare
 species diversity between communities. 

5. Describe rank-abundance curves and explain how they illustrate patterns of
 species diversity.  Given rank abundance curves for different communities, be
 able to accurately interpret differences in species richness and evenness
 among those communities. 

6. Discuss the relationship between species diversity and environmental/habitat
 complexity (heterogeneity).  Explain why a pattern of increasing diversity
 with increasing heterogeneity should be expected, and describe how Robert
 MacArthur's studies bear on this question.  Is the relationship universal, at
 least for animal communities? 

7. What are the primary limiting resources for algal and plant communities?  Do
 those communities follow the same pattern of increasing diversity with
 increasing environmental heterogeneity?  Be sure to include relevant information
 about actual environmental heterogeneity as well as examples of studies of
 plant community diversity in your answer. 

8. What is the general relationship between species diversity in plant and algal
 communities and soil/water fertility?  Explain this relationship in terms of
 environmental heterogeneity and competitive exclusion.  Illustrate your
 answer with examples from class. 

9. Define the term disturbance.  Describe Connell's "intermediate disturbance 
 hypothesis" for species diversity by stating the hypothesis and explaining
 Connell's reasoning for it.  Describe experimental evidence that supports the
 hypothesis. 

10. Discuss the relationship between the "environmental heterogeneity" hypothesis
 for species diversity and the "disturbance hypothesis" for species diversity.  Are
 the two mutually exclusive? 

11. Describe the conservation implications of the "disturbance" hypothesis.

2. Describe the two major ways in which complex food webs are simplified for 
 analysis.  Illustrate your description using examples from class.  What are the 
 advantages and disadvantages of simplifying food webs?  Be as specific as 
 possible. 

3. Describe and define the three elements of food web structure that are typically 
 quantified.  Why is quantification of food web structure a valuable tool (at least 
 in theory)? 

4. Do ecologists agree on major patterns of food web structure that hold across 
 communities?  If so, describe those patterns.  If not, describe why general 
 patterns have been difficult to identify.  Be specific. 

5. What was MacArthur's (and others') early hypothesis for the relationship between  food web complexity and community stability?  What general kinds of studies have  been done to test that hypothesis? Has that hypothesis been supported? 

6. Compare and contrast dominant and keystone species. 

7. Describe Lubchenko's work on the effects of the keystone species Littorina littorea  on tidepool algal communities.  What major factors did she identify that determine  the effect(s) of keystone species on trophic structure?  What kind of evidence did  she use to support her conclusions?  What specific relationships did she find  between snail density and algal species richness in tide pool and emergent 
 communities?  How do these findings relate to her intial hypothesis? 

8. Briefly discuss the potential consequences of exotic predators on food web 
 structure using aquatic systems to illustrate. 

B. Energy flow within ecosystems
1. Define the terms primary productivity, net primary productivity (NPP), gross 
 primary productivity (GPP), trophic level, annual evapotranspiration (AET). 

2. Describe the relationship Rosenzweig identified between NPP and AET. 
 In general, what does this tell us about the primary factors affecting 
 productivity in terrestrial systems?  What is/are the major secondary 
 factor(s)?  Be specific. 

3. What is/are the major limiting factors to productivity in aquatic systems?  Under 
 what specific conditions is productivity highest in freshwater and marine 
 systems?  Identify the factors or processes underlying high levels of 
 productivity as appropriate. 

4. Using the examples we discussed in class (piscivorous fish, grazers in the 
 Serengetti), describe the possible effects of consumers on productivity. 
 Be sure to identify and describe any relevant underlying mechanisms. 

5. Describe the relative amounts of energy (beginning with 100% of incoming 
 solar energy) fixed as NPP and ingested by primary consumers in the 
 Hubbard Brook system.  Explain why only a relatively small amount of the 
 energy at one trophic level can be converted to energy at the next level. 
 Discuss the implications of this for trophic pyramid structure in general 
 and for conservation issues. 

2. List and briefly describe the major model systems that have been important in 
 our understanding of ecological succession.  Be sure to explain how we have been 
 able to construct "succession timelines" for each of these systems (i.e., have we 
 simply been able to observe the full process directly, or have we inferred the 
 process -- and, if so, how?). 

3. Identify the major community-level changes that take place during succession.  Be  sure to describe any general patterns that apply to those changes as well as 
 important elements of variation, using examples from class to illustrate your 
 answer. 

4. Identify the major ecosystem-level changes that take place during succession and  describe, as appropriate, the processes involved in those changes.  Use 
 information from the Hubbard Brook experimental forest to illustrate your answer. 

5. Define, describe, and give at least one example each of facilitation and inhibition.  Define tolerance. 

6. Identify and describe the major abiotic factors that affect species composition 
 and turnover during succession. 

7. Compare and contrast the characteristics commonly found in early and late 
 successional plant species.  Relate these to our earlier discussion of life 
 history patterns in equilibrial and non-equilibrial habitats. 

8. Define the terms stability, resistance, and resilience.  Have ecologists identified 
 general patterns of stability that apply across communities?  Describe the effects of  scale on our perception of community stability using the Park Grass system to 
 illustrate. 

9. Using the Sycamore Creek system to illustrate, explain how stability can be 
 a function of complex interactions between biotic an abiotic features of an 
 ecosystem. 
B. Nutrient cycling and retention
 1. Describe the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous cycles with attention to the 
  unique characteristics of each, the major anthropogenic effects on each, 
  and the potential consequences of those effects. 

2.  Review some of the potential consequences of global warming as reported by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change by reading #3 "Vulnerability to Climate Change" from the summary report at  IPCC summary: effects of climate change

 2. Describe the major biotic and abiotic factors affecting nutrient cycling.  Use 
  examples as appropriate

2. Of what does landscape structure consist?  Explain the kinds of patterns that can be quantified – and why quantification is important – using Ohio forest landscapes as an example. 

3. In what two ways is scale important in landscape ecology?  Illustrate your answer with specific examples, including Milne’s measurements of the perimeter of Admiralty Bay and the problem(s) posed by trying to study landscape change using satellite imagery.

4. Define the term “metapopulaiton.”  Why is understanding the relationship between patch structure and biological processes in a landscape important? 

5. In what specific ways does the patch structure of a landscape affect ecological processes?  Illustrate your answer using Diffendorfer et al.’s study of patch size and movement in small mammals, Hanski et al.’s study of patch size and population size in butterflies, and Merriam et al.’s studies of the effects of patch structure on movement and population dynamics in chipmunks and white-footed mice. 

6. What are source and sink patches, and why is being able to identify each important for conservation?

7. Using the landscape of the Tucson Mountain bajadas to illustrate, explain how climate and geology can interact to produce landscape mosaics. 

8. Describe some of the ways animals can influence landscape structure using elephants, alligators, kangaroo rates, termites, and beavers to illustrate your answer.  For beavers, provide appropriate details.

9. In what kinds of communities is fire an important determinant of landscape structure?  What are the general effects of fire on landscapes?  Illustrate your answer with information about stand-replacing fires in coniferous forests.

10.Describe the general relationship between rivers and their floodplains.  Describe the Kissimmee River landscape, with attention to both landscape structure and landscape function.  Why was flood control initiated in this landscape, and how was it carried out?  What were the results?  Why was restoration initiated, and how has it been carried out?  What were the results?  What are the long-term plans for this landscape?

B. Geographic ecology
1.Define geographic ecology. Describe the general relationship between species richness on islands/habitat fragments and the area and isolation of those islands/fragments. What process(es) explain(s) the relationship? Is the pattern of the relationship the same for all groups of organisms and all islands? Use results of individual studies to support your answers.

2. Describe MacArthur and Wilson’s equilibrium model of island biogeography, being sure to explain the precise meaning of each of the variables involved and how those variables are expected to change with island area and distance from source populations. Be able to represent the model graphically and identify equilibrium points.

3. What key prediction does the equilibrium model of biogeography make about species composition on islands (and why)? Is the prediction met? Defend your answer using evidence from Diamond’s and Wilson and Simberloff’s studies (be sure to describe the studies themselves!).

4. What is the general relationship between species richness and latitude? Describe the “time since perturbation”, “productivity”, and “favorabless” hypotheses for this pattern, including the reasoning behind each and any weaknesses each may have. Describe Rosenzweig’s land-area hypothesis for this pattern, being sure to address how he thinks area affects both speciation and extinction rates. How has his model been tested? What have been the results?

5. Use the exceptional patterns of plant species richness in the Cape Floristic Province of south Africa and tree species richness in eastern Asia to discuss the roles of history and geography in producing patterns of species diversity that do not conform to the simple area/isolation model. For each, be sure to describe the pattern and explain its historic and geographic causes.

C. Global ecology: deforestation
1. To what extent have humans altered the ice-free area of the earth?  List the major causes of this alteration and illustrate its extent using specific examples from both forest and non-forest habitats.

2. In what countries is the bulk of current tropical forests found?  Which country has the greatest extent of tropical rainforest?  What are the major causes of tropical deforestation (be specific if causes vary among countries).  Explain how Skole and Tucker measured deforestation rates in Brazil and discuss their major findings.

3. Outline and discuss the major consequences – direct and indirect – of deforestation.  Be sure to illustrate your discussion with specific examples as appropriate.  Pay particular attention to the causes and consequences of edge effects and the relationship between edge effect and patch shape.

4. What problems limit our ability to predict the specific outcomes of deforestation in specific areas?