Read the summary and the most important questions on Leereenheid 1 - Ecologie en evolutie

• 1 Ecology and how to do it

• 1.2.1 Questions of scale

• What is ecological succession?

  The successive and continuous colonization of a site by certain species populations, accompanied by the extinction of others.

• 2 Ecology's evolutionary backdrop

• 2.2 Evolution by natural selection

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• What are the 4 truths of the theory of evolution by natural selection?

  1. Individuals that form a population of a species are not identical.
  2. Some of the variation between individuals is heritable.
  3. All populations could grow at a rate that would overwhelm the environment; but in fact, most individuals die before reproduction and most (usually all) reproduce less than their maximal rate. 
  4. Different ancestors leave different numbers of descendants: they do not all contribute equally to subsequent generations. Those that contribute most, have the greatest influence on heritable characteristics of subsequent generations. 

• 2.3.1 Geographic variation within species

• When does evolution force the characteristics of populations to diverge?

  1. Only if there is sufficient heritable variation on which selection can act; and
  2. provided that the forces of selection favoring divergence are strong enough to counteract the mixing and hybridization of individuals from different sites. 

• When will 2 populations not diverge completely?

  If their members are continually migrating between them, mating and mixing their genes.

• What are reciprocal transplant experiments?

  A test to see if organisms have evolved to become specialized to their environment, comparing their performance when they are grown at home vs when they are grown away from home.

• 2.4.1 What do we mean by a 'species'?

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• What is a biospecies?

  A species that is tested and defined according to previous definition of species.

• When can 2 parts of a population evolve into distinct species?

  Only if some sort of barrier prevents gene flow between them.

• 2.7 Interpreting the results of evolution: convergents and parallels

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• What are analogue structures?

  Structures that are similar in superficial in form or function.

• What are homologue structures?

  Structures that derive from an equivalent structure in a common ancestry.

• 8 Evolutionary ecology

• 8.2.3 Differentiation between species: the red wolf !!!

• How does the red wolf relate to the grey wolf and the coyote?

  The red wolf is a hybrid arising from interbreeding between grey wolves and coyotes.