32. Community Ecology Flashcards
What is community ecology?
A BIOLOGICAL community is an assemblage of populations of VARIOUS SPECIES living close enough for potential interactions that affect their survival and reproduction. Co existing Same niche
How are community interactions classified?
By whe there they help, harm or have no effect on the species they involve
What does inter mean in animal biology
Two species, interactions together
What is interspecific competition?
Species COMPETING for a resource that there’s not a lot of
What does interspecific competition give rise to and what does this mean?
The competitive exclusion principle - Means two species with interspecific competition cannot live side by side in the same place without one of them dying
What is the difference between fundamental niches and realised niche?
Fundamental niche - niche POTENTIALLY occupies - its potential Realised niche - niche ACTUALLY occupied Its as a result of competitions
What is predation?
An interaction when one species, the predator, kills the other, the prey
What is cryptic colouration
Comflage making an animal difficult to spot
What are the different types of defensive coloration in animals? (4 types - this will be in test)
Cryptic colouration Aposematic coloration Bayesian mimicry Mullerian mimicry
What is herbivory?
An interaction in which a herbivore eats parts of a plant
What is symbiosis?
A relationship where two or more species live in direct contact with each other - eg parasites
What are four types of symbiosis? Give descriptions of them
Parasitism - parasites Mutualism - benefits both species Commensalism - one species is benefited and the other is not harmed all helped Facilitation - one species has positive effects on another species without direct contact, facilitating an area
What are the two features of community structure?
Species diversity Feeding relationships
What is species diversity?
Variety of organisms make up the community - species richness (number of different species) and relative abundance (proportion of species)
What is trophic structure?
The feeding relationship between organisms in a community
What is the intermediate disturbance hypothesis?
Suggests that moderate levels of disturbance can help higher species diversity, compared to low levels of disturbance
