Ecology important terms

1. The period of inactivity in which animals must withstand extended periods of drying is called Aestivation.

2. Gross Energy Intake is the total energy contained in the food an animal eats.

3. For any environmental factor, animals live within a certain range of values called the tolerance range.

4. A photoperiod is the length of a light period in a 24-hour day.

5. Circadian means "about a day".

6. The upset in the timing of daily activities like in a night shift job is called jet lag.

7. Changes in the tolerance range of animals in response to altered environmental conditions called acclimation.

8. A condition in which animals decreased their metabolism and lowered body temperature in daily activity cycles is known as torpor.

9. The rate of population increase under optimal conditions is known as the intrinsic rate of growth.

10. Diagonal Populations have a constant probability of death throughout their lives.

11. In exponential growth, the population increases by the same ratio per unit of time.

12. Carrying Capacity of an environment refers to the population size that a particular environment can support.

13. Camels can tolerate water loss of 25 to 40% of their total body weight.

14. Range of optimum defines the conditions under which an animal is most successful.

15. Sigmoid growth curve is an example of logistic population growth.

16. Density is the number of individuals per unit of space. 

17. Competition for resources is an example of density-dependent factors.

18. Territorial behavior is an example of direct interference.

19. Populations whose size tends to evolve toward their carrying capacity are called K-selected populations.

20. Natural selection promotes rapid population growth in r-selected populations.

21. Aposematic means " away from the sign".

22. When each species exerts a strong selective influence on the other during the evolution of ecologically related species, it is called coevolution.

23. The host that harbors the sexual stages of the parasite is said to be the definitive or final host.

24. When the effects of interspecific competition are less severe than the effects of intraspecific competition then coexistence can occur.

25. Animals that feed on grasses and other herbaceous vegetation are called grazers.

26. When one species gains protection by the resemblance to the other species, it is called mimicry.

27. The interaction in which one organism attaches itself to another organism only for travel is called phoresis.

28. When some invertebrates or small fishes swim into the mouth of larger fishes to remove ectoparasites, it is called cleaning mutualism.

29. The most common example of coevolution is seen in predator-prey relationships.

30. The two species with the same requirements of food, nest sites, habitat, and other conditions of life cannot coexist is called as competitive exclusion principle.

31. Less parental care of offspring is the characteristic of the r-selected population.

32. California red scale is an insect pest of citrus trees.

33. The animals having combined features of parasite and predator are said to be parasitoids.

34. When animals advertise their condition by conspicuous coloration that signals predators to stay away, it is called aposematic coloration.

35. Flour beetles survive only on water from cellular metabolism.

36. Animals feed on the leaves and twigs of woody plants and are called browsers.

37. Animals fed on fruits are called frugivores. 

38. An accounting of an animal's total energy intake and a description of how that energy is used and lost is called an energy budget.

39. The metabolic rate is expressed in milliliters of oxygen consumed per gram of body weight per hour.

40. The energy devoted to minimal maintenance and necessary activities is called existence energy.

Reference book: Zoology by Miller and Harley.