Community Ecology Flashcards
(39 cards)
What are the 3 levels Organisms interact with the environment?
- Individual
- Population
- Community
What is a community?
A community is a set of species occurring at a specific place.
What are the 2 ways communities can be characterized?
- Species richness+species assemblage
- Inter Specific interactions
What are interspecific interactions?
A set of interactions between species.
What is species richness?
How many species
What is species assemblage?
Which species
What is interspecific competition?
Negative effect one species has on another when two species attempt to use the same resource and there is not enough to satisfy both.
What is interference competition?
Physical interactions over access to resources, typically leading to displacement of one species.
What is exploitative competition?
Consuming the same resources.
What is the competitive exclusion principle?
No two species can occupy the same niche indefinitely when resources are limiting.
What is competitive exclusion?
If two species are competing for a limited resource, the species that uses the resource more efficiently will eventually eliminate the other locally.
What is a Niche?
The total of all the ways an organism uses its environment.
What is a fundamental niche?
The entire niche that a species is capable of using, based on physiological tolerances, limits, and resource needs.
What is a realized niche?
Actual set of environmental conditions in which species can establish a stable population.
What are 3 ways a niche may be restricted?
- Presence/absence of other species (competition)
- Predator absence/presence
- Absence of pollinators
Competition between species for resources can lead to ?
- Resource partitioning (behavioral adjustments)
- Character displacement (evolutionary adjustment)
What is predation?
Consuming of one organism by another.
Insects and other animals that are poisonous use what coloration?
Warning coloration
Non-poisonous animals may have what kind of coloration that helps them blend into surrounding?
Cryptic Coloration
What is mimicry?
Allows one species to capitalize on the defensive strategies of another.
What is Batesian mimicry?
Mimics look like distasteful species.
What is mullerian mimicry?
Several unrelated but poisonous species come to resemble one another.
What is parasitism?
Exploitation where one species benefits at the expense of another.
What are Ectoparasites?
Feed on exterior surface of an organism.
