2 Species Interaction And Community Structure Flashcards
The feeding level in a food chain or web
Trophic level
Are autotrophs which gets energy from the sun and photosynthesis
Producers
Are heterotrophs which eat othe organisms for energy
Consumers
Determined by the feeding relationships between organisms
Trophic structure
The transfer of food energy up to the trophic levels from its source
Food chain
In the 1920, oxford univ biologist charles elton recognized that food chains are not isolated units but are limited into ____
Food webs
A series of arrow, each pointing one species to another, representing flow of food from prey to predator
Food chain
An abstract representation of feeding relationships within a community.
Food web
Suggests that the length of food chain is limited by the inefficiency of energy transfer along the chain
Energetic hypothesis
Suggests that long food chains are less stable than short food chains
Dynamic stability hypothesis
The primary producer of the ecosystems, ultimately support all other organisms
Autotrophs
The primary producers in deep-sea hydrothermal vents
Chemosynthetic prokaryotes
Eat primary producers and are called primary consumers.
Herbivores
Herbivores are also called
Primary consumers
Eat secondary producers and are called tertiary consumers
Carnivores
Carnivores are also called
Tertiary consumer
Get energy from detritus, nonliving organic material
Detritivores
Non living organic material
Detritus
The position it occupies in the food chain
Trophic level
Play an important role in making elements available to producers
Detritivores
Recycles the elements from detritivores into organic material
Producers
An ecosystem main decomposers
- Fungi
- Prokaryotes
Are those species in a community that are most abundant or have the highest biomass
Dominant species
The sum weight of all individuals in a population
Biomass
2 characteristics of dominant species
- Competitively successful at exploiting limiting resources
- Most successful at avoiding predation or disease
Not necessarily abundant in community
Keystone species
If it is removed, community structure is greatly affected
Keystone species
Example of keystone species
- Coral species (Oculin arbuscula)
- African elephants
- Sea otters
- Wolves in yellowstone national park
Postulates V-> linkages, in which the presence or absence of mineral nutrients (N) control plant (V) numbers, which controls (H) Herbivore numbers, which control predator (P) numbers.
Bottom-Up Model
Simplified bottom-up model
N -> V -> H -> P
Postulates that it is mainly predation that controls community organization
Top-down model
A simplified top-down model
N <- V <- H <- P
The top-down control of community structure is called the _____
Trophic Cascade Model
