23. Community Structure

Question 1

food webs

Answer 1

summarize feeding relationships in a community

Question 2

keystone species

Answer 2

species that, despite its low biomass, exerts strong effects on the structure of communities they inhabit

Question 3

predation and diversity

Answer 3

• Robert Paine observed that a relatively simple temperate food web contained a relatively low proportion of predatory species
• while a diverse subtropical food web contained a higher proportion of predatory species

Question 4

ecosystem engineers

Answer 4

species whose activity creates, or fundamentally alters, habitat

Question 5

effect of beavers

Answer 5

• more stems cut closer to water’s edge

- highest species diversity at intermediate distances from water