BSC 385 Midterm: Test 1 Study Guide
10 Feb 2017
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Abiotic (physical) environment: temperature, water availability, soil, salinity, nutrients. Biotic (biological) environment: predators, prey, parasites, pathogens, symbionts. Organismal ecology: interactions between individuals and their environment: physiological ecology, behavioral ecology. Population ecology: dynamics of a group of individuals of a single species: population genetics, demography. Community ecology: interactions among a group of coexisting species. Ecosystem ecology: interactions between ecological communities and their abiotic environment. Ecosphere or biosphere: sum of all earth"s ecosystems. Observations: coat color of a snowshoe hare changes in spring and fall, color change is asynchronous among individuals, highest mortality is observed in spring and fall (compared to winter and summer) Proximate causes: direct effects of external stimuli; direct, immediate causes, e. g. , temperature and photoperiod. Ultimate causes: evolutionary factors that led to appearance of certain traits, e. g. , selective pressure from predation. Natural history: observational study of plants and animals in their natural environment. Environmental science: the study of the impact of humans on the environment.
