Ecology

• What is reciprocal altruism?

  Reciprocal altruism is a behaviour whereby an organism acts in a manner that temporarily reduces its fitness while increasing another organism's fitness, with the expectation that the other organism will act in a similar manner at a later time
• What is non-associative learning?

  Learning in absence of an outcome
• What is associative learning?

  Learning that occurs when it is tied to an outcome.
• what is operant conditioning?

  Learning through consequences and rewards.
• What is classical conditioning?


  Conditioning that uses the pairing of two stimuli to get a certain reaction.
• Where do nutrients primarily come from in deep waters?

  Detritus sinking from more productive surface waters
• What is upwelling in the ocean?

  Upwelling is the process in which cold, nutrient-rich water from the ocean depths rises to the surface.
• Why are regions of high primary productivity in the ocean around 60 north and 60 south?

  Because this is where upwelling takes place
• What is latitude?


  Distance north or south of the equator.
• What is longitude?


  Distance east or west of the prime meridian.
• What is a proximate question?


  A question that focuses on immediate causes or mechanisms.

  Happens within an individuals life time.
• What is an ultimate question?

  Long-term questions that look at evolutionary processes that affect behaviour.
• According to Niko Tinberg, what best describes the proximate implementation of a behaviour?

  Mechanistic explanations
• What is sexual imprinting?

  The social attachment to a sexual partner
• What are the ultimate causes of migration?

  Typically follows food availability
• What is true navigation?

  The ability to return somewhere without using any familiar land marks
• What are kinesis?


  A random undirected movement towards favourable conditions
• What is a taxes?


  Specific movements in a specific direction in response to a stimulus.
• What is Mullerian mimicry?


  Protective resemblance where two or more harmful species resemble each other to be a shared protective device.
• What is Aposematism?


  Warning coloration in animals.
• What is the formula for mark and re-capture?

  N=(C/R)xM, where C is the total captured on the second day R is total recaptured and M is total animals caught on first day.
• What type of survivorship curve is Type 1?

  Late life mortality
• What is fecundity?


  The number or offspring produced by each female in the population
• What is life history?

  How an individual allocates resources to growth, reproduction, and behaviours or morphology related to survival.
• What type of fertilization do k-strategists use?

  Internal fertilization
• What affects population density in r-strategist species?

  Density independent factors.
• What is a niche?

  A physical habitat and ecological role of a species
• What is a fundamental niche?

  The ideal conditions that a species can inhabit and thrive.
• What is a realized niche?

  A niche that an organism inhabits and the resources it can access as a result of limiting pressures from other species.
• What is an antagonistic interaction?

  An interaction that results in a negative outcome for at least on individual that is involved.
• What is resource partitioning the same as?

  Niche differentiation
• What is niche divergence?


  A move from fundamental niche to realized niches for both species.
• In measuring cost and benefits in terms of energy gained or lost, what outcomes do individuals have in competition?

  A loss for both indaviduals
• Do large islands have higher or lower rates of extinction?

  Lower
• If a primary producer has a large biomass what does that mean for the rest of the animals in the trophic pyramid?

  They will also have a larger biomass because more energy is available between the level of primary producer and primary consumer.