Samantha Cook
Ms. Huntemann
AP Biology
30 July 2014
Chapter 41: Animal Behavior
1. Behavior can be affected by proximate and ultimate causes. Proximate causes consist of
behaviorism and ethology. Behaviorism has to do with the conditioned reflex while
ethology was centered on behavior “fixed action patterns.” These are triggers that are not
learned rather genetically programmed, unlike the former. Ultimate causes consist of the
evolutionary processes that allow the animal to participate in certain behaviors.
2. Behavior is influenced by genetic factors through modification to any gene or gene
expression. Even though behavior is a complex trait, alterations in one gene can still
influence animal behavior.
3. Fixed action behaviors are triggered by simple stimuli known as releasers. This can be
triggered by something as simple as a certain color on a bird’s beak signifying to her
offspring to peck there for food.
4. Innate behavior is different than learned behavior in that innate behavior is a trait that
comes from birth and is not learned.
5. Imprinting is when an animal learns a specific set of stimuli to create a parent-offspring
relationship. If certain conditions or time restraints are not met then the parents may not
be able to recognize their offspring later.
6. Operant behavior and classical conditioning are types of behavior adjusters. Operant
behavior uses positive and negative reinforcement to teach a new behavior, and classical
conditioning uses certain stimuli to teach a new behavior much like Pavlov’s experiment.
7. Individual behavior, the series of choices an animal makes, is influenced by natural
selection. Animals use environmental cues to determine better actions to impact their
fitness which will pass down to their offspring.
8. Individuals live in a group to have better foraging efficiency and protection from
predators, but greater competition for mates and for food is the downside to communal
living.
9. The daily cycle of behavior is controlled by circadian rhythms. Normally entrained to
light-dark cycles—circadian rhythms can run without light based on a genetically
programmed cycle.
10. The cost-benefit approach is taken by animals in which they expend their energy in
certain aspects of their life to maximize their fitness while being aware of the energetic,
risk, and opportunity costs. Territorial behavior such as mating and defending resources
is an example of this concept.
11. Culture has a role in adaptation in the case of the bees. Bees have haplodiploidy—males
are haploid and females are diploid—this adaptation allows for bee colonies to thrive and
increase their inclusive fitness. This system produces nonreproductive workers and the
queen is the only reproductive member; this allows for sexual selection.
12. Altruistic behavior benefits other individuals rather than the performer. This type of
behavior is exhibited when the inclusive fitness highly benefits. This is much like kin
selection: behaviors that increase the reproductive success of relatives even when they
cost the performers.
Chapter 42: Organisms in Their Environment
1. Abiotic factors are the nonliving components of an ecosystem, while the biotic factors are
the living components. Abiotic factors would include parts of the environment like
mountains or streams. Biotic factors would simply be the animals living in that particular
ecosystem.
2. Weather is the conditions of a particular time, while climate is the sum of how the
atmosphere acts over long period of time.
3. Latitudinal differences in solar energy cause north-south patterns of atmospheric
circulation which influence precipitation. Seasonality results from the tilt of the Earth on
its axis relative to the sun’s position.
4. Atmospheric and oceanic circulation are related because the winds from the atmospheric
circulation influence the circulation of the ocean. Atmospheric temperature greatly
affects the temperature of land, but since water has a high heat capacity, it does not
change the temperature of the ocean very much.
5. Biome: A major division of the ecological communities of Earth, characterized primarily
by distinctive vegetation.
Mountain: The mountain biome is found on all continents. The mountain biome is extremely
cold and immensely windy. This is because the mountain biome is only found at really high
altitudes. The higher the altitude the colder and windier it gets. The air even gets thinner, which
means there is less oxygen.
Tundra: The Tundra biome is a very vast, desolate and cold place. It contains small amounts of
trees, the Sun does not rise for nearly six months of the year; this is hardly surprising considering
the fact that the temperature can go down to minus 30˚Celsuis. The arctic tundra biome has
permanently frozen subsoil (the dirt just beneath the top layer of soil) called permafrost, which
makes it impossible for trees to grow. The average winter temperature in the tundra biome is
minus 34˚Celsius but the average summer temperature is 3 to 12˚Celsius. Even prehistoric
remains have been found buried in permafrost.
Temperate Forest: Trees populate the temperate forest biome more than any other living
animal. Much of the land once taken up by the temperate forest biome has been cleared for
farming. Many edibles grow in the temperate forest biome including apples, mushrooms and
walnuts. In temperate forests each season is easily recognised such as no leaves in autumn and
cold in winter.
Aquatic: The aquatic biome is the largest of all the biomes. In the aquatic biome salt water and
marine animals are both plentiful, but this biome is most susceptible to pollution because of wind
and water currents. This biome also contains the smallest of Earth’s creature’s phytoplankton and
zooplankton. These animals are essential to aquatic food chains.
Desert: In the hot desert biome there are small amounts of animals and plants. In the cold desert
biome there are scarce amounts of plants and small amounts of animals. Similar animals live in
the hot desert biome and the cold desert biome because of the need to hide from the elements.
Most animals from these biomes can burrow underneath the ground to stay warm and to keep
cold.
Cold Forest: In the cold forest biome many coniferous trees grow, which means they grow
cones of sorts. These trees are usually lush and are pointy. In winter the cold forest biome is
covered head to toe with snow and ice. Many animals live in this biome some of these are bears,
moose and wolves. Most animals that live in this biome hibernate during certain months of the
year when the temperatures are too cold.
Grassland: The grassland biomes are places where the hot dry climate benefits the people living
there significantly because it makes growing food and farming cattle easy and efficient. The
grassland biome is mainly made up of grass and dirt and does not receive much rain all year
round. Many of the local fauna is endangered because of local hunting.
Savannah: The savannah biome is an area in which little life is exists because of the lack of
water available to the plants and animals. The main inhabitants of the savannah biome are
animals that are specially adapted to live in their environment such as the cheetah and the
cantaloupe. The main plants that grow in the savannah are small shrubs and trees.
Rainforest: The rainforest biome is a very active place containing more plants and animal
species than any of the other biomes. Rainforest biomes can have up to 70 inches of water each
year. The rainforest biome has three levels; the bottom level is where the fungi, herbs and mosses
grow. The highest-level 100-200 meters up is the canopy where the highest trees block the
sunlight for the plants below. The middle level or ‘understory’ contains; smaller trees, shrubs,
palms and vines.
External Links:
http://d43fweuh3sg51.cloudfront.net/media/assets/wgbh/tdc02/tdc02_doc_biomesummary/td
c02_doc_biomesummary.pdf
http://call911quick.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/characteristics-of-the-nine-biomes-2/
6. Human effects on the biomes: Humans have converted almost half of Earth’s biomes into
ecosystems dominated by humans. These manmade ecosystems are significantly less
complex and inhibit natural ecological systems that remain in nature.
Deforestation harms forests because it removes the habitat and the animals have no place
to live, plus increased competition from the lower amount of prey. Deforestation also
removes trees that exchange CO2 for O2, which animals need to breathe. When forests
are torn down, lakes and swamps are filled in, or hills are leveled out to create usable
farmland, farmers destroy the ecosystem that depended on those animals to live. Some
say that human pollution is destroying polar ice caps through global warming. Aquatic
biomes are hurt through pollution. Pollution can destroy corals reefs; the chemicals cause
bleaching of the coral causing the algae to die and then the coral itself to die. Tourism
along beaches often hurts the local ecosystems because of unwanted breakage or oils
from hands. City expansion hurts shorelines because the city builders sometimes rebuild
the coastlines to allow for more waterfront access and this kills the current ecosystem. Oil
spills hurt the biomes by coating the organisms with oil and making it hard for them to
breathe, feed, etc. Plants cannot perform photosynthesis if they are coated in crude oil.
7. Location
http://www.exploringnature.org/graphics/ecology/biomes_7_map72.jpg
http://www.bio.miami.edu/dana/pix/biomes.jpg
Temperature/Rainfall/Climate:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/29/PrecipitationTempBiomes.jpg
http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/temp/rainfall.gif
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/World_Koppen_Map.png/600pxWorld_Koppen_Map.png
Animals and Plants:
External Link:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/
Desert: dingo, kangaroo, marsupial mole
Tundra: wolf, snowy owl, reindeer, cacti
Mountain: cougars, little vegetation
Temperate Forest: bald eagle, beaver, cardinal, azaleas, hickory, elm
Aquatic: alligator, crane, crawfish, cattail, sawgrass, water lily
Cold Forest: pines, rabbits
Grassland: black-tailed jack rabbit, bumble bee, burrowing owl, deep rooted grasses
Savannah: tall grasses, rodents
Rainforest: flying foxes, sugar gliders, butterflies
Biome
Desert
Chaparal
(scrub)
Tundra
Water
Almost none
Temperature
Soil
Plants
Animals
poor
sparse succulents (like
cactus), sage
brush
sparse - insects,
arachnids, reptiles
and birds (often
nocturnal)
poor
shrubs, some
woodland (like
scrub oak)
drought and fireadapted animals
cold
permafrost
(frozen soil)
lichens and
mosses
migrating animals
conifers
many mammals,
birds, insects,
arachnids, etc.
deciduous trees
many mammals,
birds, reptiles,
hot or cold
dry summer, hot summer, cool
rainy winter
winter
dry
Taiga
(coniferous
forest)
adequate
cool year-round
poor, rocky
soil
Temperate
Deciduous
adequate
cool season and
warm season
fertile soil
insects, arachnids,
etc.
Forest
Grassland
warm to hot
wet season,
(often with a cold
dry season
season)
fertile soil
grasses (few or
no trees)
many mammals,
birds, insects,
arachnids, etc.
Tropical rain
forest
very wet
always warm
poor, thin soil
many plants
many animals
Swamp
very wet
warm
nutrient-rich
soil
many plants
many animals
Cave
(terrestrial)
variable
cool (and dark)
rocks
almost no plants
few animals
8. The main deciding factor in aquatic biomes is salinity. This divides aquatic into
freshwater, saltwater, and estuarine. Freshwater biomes are differentiated by water
movement and the velocity of the water’s flow (this in turn affects the stream bottom
characteristics). Aquatic zones are also separated by water-depth for example, the photic
zone VS the aphotic zone.
Chapter 43: Populations
1. Population density is the number of animals in a population per area of land. Dispersion
is movement away from an animal’s original population. The main types of population
dispersion are clumped, uniform, and random dispersion. Clumped dispersion allows for
the same species to grow isolated from each other since they are separated and live only
by resources they need. Uniform dispersion is when a species can draw what they need
from a wide area and therefore can be found at any point within the area. Random
dispersion is often used by species that are immobile, their seeds are randomly placed and
fertilized.
2. Population size can be affected by birth rate, death rate, immigration, and emigration.
The formula for solving population size problems follows: N(t+1)=Nt+B-D.
3. The principle of allocation determines the pattern of resource usage an organism pursues
because this principle states that once an organism obtains a certain amount of some
resource, it can only be used to complete one function per time. The organism has to
prioritize its functions to be able to use the resources it has.
4. The intrinsic rate of increase is the rate at which a population increases in size if there are
no density-dependent forces regulating the population. Carrying capacity is the number of
people, other living organisms, or crops that a region can support without environmental
degradation. An S-shaped curve means it has hit its level of capacity while a J-shaped
curve has not leveled out yet.
5. Density-dependent factors are as following: competition, disease, predation, and
parasitism. Density-independent factors also include weather, natural disasters, seasonal
cycles, and human interaction/ interference.
6. Carrying capacity (K) is the number of individuals the environment can support for an
indefinite period. Each individual has just enough within the ecosystem to survive and
reproduce. If individuals can more than replace themselves, then the population density is
less than K. If individuals cannot replace themselves because it doesn’t have the
resources, then the population density is more than K.
7. Wild life corridors have allowed humans to revive once-declining populations by
connecting different habitats to increase diversity of species, and therefore decrease
isolation.
Chapter 44: Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Species Interactions
1. Competition [-/-]
Consumer-resource, predation, herbivory, parasitism [+/-]
Mutualism, sometimes symbiosis [+/+]
Commensalism [+/0]
Amensalism [-/0]
2. Competition- A symbiotic relationship between or among living things for resources,
such as food, space, shelter, mate, ecological status, etc.
Interspecific Competition- A form of competition between members of different species
inhabiting the same ecological area.
Intraspecific Competition- A form of competition between members of the same species.
3. A limiting resource is in the rarest supply relative to demand. It is a resource that is most
competed for. Resource partitioning are differences in species for differing resource use.
Resource partitioning decreases interspecific competition, but increases intraspecific
competition.
4. The interests of a consumer species and a resource species are inversely proportional.
Throughout evolution, a predator versus prey adaptation war takes place for ultimate
survival. Each species continually evolves better defenses and offenses to gain an
advantage over the other.
5.
An example of mutualism is the relationship between the coral polyps―organisms which
come together to form corals―and zooxanthellae―a single-celled algae which lives
within the coral polyps―is one of the best trophic mutualism examples. In this case,
coral polyps depend on the photosynthesis process carried out by zooxanthellae, while
zooxanthellae depend on nitrogen which the coral polyps derive from hunting at night.
An example of parasitism is fungi species on tree trunks in the wild, or around your
house for that matter. In this case, the fungi is a parasite while the tree is the host
organism. Many birds form a commensal relationship with some species of ants like the
army ants. A great number of army ants trail on the forest floor, and while moving, stir up
many insects lying in their path. The birds follow these army ants and eat up the insects
that try to escape from them. The birds benefit by catching their prey easily, while the
army ants are totally unaffected. An example of amensalism is when sheep or cattle make
trails in grass that they trample on, and without realizing, they are killing the grass.
(Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/examples-of-mutualism.html)
6. When Kangaroo Rats find extra seeds, they bury them in the soil. They serve one of two
purposes: (a) dug up and eaten if there is a harsh winter, or (b) left in the soil to become
reproducing trees themselves.
7. By consuming slightly different forms of a limiting resource or using the same limiting
resource at a different place or time, individuals of different species compete less with
one another (interspecific competition) than individuals of the same species (intraspecific
competition). Species, therefore, limit their own population growth more than they limit
that of potential competitors, and resource partitioning acts to promote the long-term
coexistence of competing species.
(http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/resource-partitioning-and-why-itmatters-17362658)
8. Directional Selection: Change in environmental conditions causing one phenotype to
replace another in the gene pool; change does not occur on individual basis (only on the
entire species). For example, industrial melanism of peppered moth. It was originally
white, but darker phenotypes survived with the introduction of dark smog.
9. Mimicry is something that occurs when a group of organisms, the mimics, have evolved
to share common perceived characteristics with another group through a selective action.
The monarch butterfly eats milkweed and is so bitter to the taste because of it, that birds
avoid it. The viceroy butterfly mimics/has a similar appearance to the monarch and thus it
receives the same protection.
10. An invasive species is a plant or animal that is not native to a specific location (an new
species to a specific area); and has a tendency to spread, which is believed to cause
damage to the environment. An example of an invasive species is any type of cash crop.
These plants were introduced to an area where other wildlife use to grow and then was
cleared.
Chapter 45: Ecological Communities
1. A niche is (1) The specific area where an organism inhabits. (2) The role or function
of an organism or species in an ecosystem. (3) The interrelationship of a species with
all the biotic and abiotic factors affecting it. A fundamental niche is the full range of
environmental conditions and resources an organism can possibly occupy and use,
especially when limiting factors are absent in its habitat. A realized niche is the part
of fundamental niche that an organism occupies as a result of limiting factors present
in its habitat.
2.
(https://mrswolfgang.wikispaces.com/file/view/andersonvenn.png/75431593/andersonve
nn.png)
3. With energy, the plants and other primary producers gain solar energy through
photosynthesis. Only 10% of the energy is passed on to the primary consumers. Then
only 10% of the primary consumers energy is passed on to secondary consumers.
Therefore, only 1% of energy goes from producer to primary consumer to secondary
consumer, and so on. This is the 10% rule.
4. Biomass is the dry mass of the tissue exchanged (consumed) during a period of time
as NPP. Biomass is used to quantify the energy exchange between each levels. The
more extensive a food web is, then the greater diversity there is in an ecosystem.
5.
6. Species richness is the number of species in a community, and as this number
increases, the community becomes more diverse. As a community becomes more
diverse and makes more food web connections, it becomes more and more stable.
7. A trophic cascade is a ripple effect from consumer-resource interactions. When
wolves were eliminated from Yellowstone, the elk population increased dramatically,
and the elk ate all the aspen trees. The aspen trees did not return to their normal
numbers until the wolf population was restored. This removal of wolves caused an
unexpected trophic cascade onto other parts of the food web.
8. Islands are interesting to study because they show how isolated populations develop
separately from one another. Darwin, for example, studied a variety of different birds
from the Galapagos islands, and, only after returning, was he told that they were all
the same species but had just been separated and so they developed separately.
9. The top-down approach is used with deductive reasoning and it is breaking down a
system to see the workings of the sub-systems. In ecology, the tertiary consumer
controls the structure and population of the ecosystem. The bottom- up approach is
used with inductive reasoning and is the piecing together of smaller systems to create
a larger system. In ecology, the nutrients and primary producers control the structure
and growth. Top-down can improve diversity by limiting the amount of tertiary
consumers so that the other parts of the ecosystem can develop. With the bottom-up
approach, you could reintroduce native plants to an environment.
Chapter 46: The Global System
1.
2. Nitrogen is a limiting factor in NPP because, while it is abundant on Earth, it is in short
supply in biological communities. Most organisms cannot break down the nitrogen in the
atmosphere and must get their supply from bacteria that ammonium to nitrate. This is
why many fertilizers have nitrogen.
3. Dead zones are created when nitrogen fertilizers drain into nutrient-poor water and
stimulate phytoplankton and algae growth. These producers use up all the oxygen in the
water so the bigger fish cannot live. That is why it is called a dead zone, the result of
eutrophication.
4. Greenhouse gasses include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane gas, and nitrous oxide.
The greenhouse effect is how the Earth is warmed by the retention of heat by the Earth’s
atmosphere.
5. This cycle is alarming to some scientists because the composition of the atmosphere is
changing. This will cause harsher storms, drier deserts, wetter and larger tropics, and a
more intense water cycle. Some blame humans for the sudden onset of this cycle as well.