Biology Notes
Some of my (Theun's) collected notes: not guaranteed to be accurate (and potentially extended…)
Biology
(see also category biology)
Chemoreception: Ability to perceive chemical signals
Phytoncide: volatile compounds, healthy for breathing
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Phylogeny: evolutionary history of a species
Trophotraxis: Physical adaptation to food sources
Davis' law: how tissue forms along imposed demands
Species
Foundation species: grass
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Keystone species: High impact relative to its biomass.
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Casual Species: alien species unable to form self-replacing population but relying on continual reintroduction
Colonizing Species
Sentinel species: organisms, often animals, used to detect risks to humans by providing advance warning of a danger
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Ecosystem
Biodiversity
Taxon richness: Amount of species found
Taxonomic diversity: One type of chicken, cactus and otter (4) ≠ Four types of Chicken (4)
Feature diversity: Richness in functions and behaviours
Allodiversity: The amount of species introduced by man, human activity
Endemism: only occurring locally (is a crude approximation of)
Phenotypic Diversity:
Phenotypic Plasticity:
Species Distribution:
Dark Biodiversity: trace biodiversity that is invisible to science: lives and dies at densities below our capacity to see it
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Symbiogenesis: the merging of two organisms resulting in new features (much faster than classic genetic mutation)
Functional Trait Biodiversity: beyond knowing simply what is present, to form a picture of the impact of different species to ecosystem health / but may be misused as economic arguments in conservation
Phylogenetic diversity: level of species that have few or no close relatives and that are very different from other species, which may mean that they can contribute in very different ways to an ecosystem
Biocapacity: carrying capacity of an ecosystem
Genomics
Geodiversity
Nomadism:
Ecosystem Dynamics:
Dynamic Vegetation Model:
Climate Excursion:
Dispersal Jump: Dispersal Scenarios:
Zoochorie: Seed Dispersal by Frugivores, or more generally by Animal Furr
Hysteresis: system depending heavily on past environment
Phenotypic Plasticity: the ability of one genotype to produce more than one phenotype when exposed to different environments
Characteristic Return Time: rate at which a population returns after disturbance
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Regime Shifts:
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Global Tipping Points & Safe Operating Space for Humanity
Eutrophication: Nutrient Loading
Refugia: Sky Island ecology
Succession: Early Succesional (pioneer), Late Succesional (climax veg) Problematic because soils, climate are not constant. Longliving species may reflect past climate rather than present. Spread from refugia may not be complete yet. Recently evolved species may not have reached the limit of potential range. Birch is late successional in some areas, but early in others.
Extinction
Biodiversity Loss:
Species Extinction: indicating biodiversity loss by extinct species hides the enormous decline in individuals or biomass
Mass Extinction: examining the drop in the total number of animals, capturing also the plight of the world’s most common creatures
Age of Loneliness: Edward O. Wilson proffered an alternate name for this new epoch - the Eremozoic, meaning “the age of loneliness.”
Genetic Erosion: not enough individuals to meet and breed
Regeneration
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Muvuca: hundreds of native tree seeds from a variety of species are planted over every inch of the deforested land
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Observation
Initiatives