32. Community Ecology

Question 1

What is community ecology?

Answer 1

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

Question 2

How are community interactions classified?

Answer 2

By whe there they help, harm or have no effect on the species they involve

Question 3

What does inter mean in animal biology

Answer 3

Two species, interactions together

Question 4

What is interspecific competition?

Answer 4

Species COMPETING for a resource that there’s not a lot of

Question 5

What does interspecific competition give rise to and what does this mean?

Answer 5

The competitive exclusion principle - Means two species with interspecific competition cannot live side by side in the same place without one of them dying

Question 6

What is the difference between fundamental niches and realised niche?

Answer 6

Fundamental niche - niche POTENTIALLY occupies - its potential Realised niche - niche ACTUALLY occupied Its as a result of competitions

Question 7

What is predation?

Answer 7

An interaction when one species, the predator, kills the other, the prey

Question 8

What is cryptic colouration

Answer 8

Comflage making an animal difficult to spot

Question 9

What are the different types of defensive coloration in animals? (4 types - this will be in test)

Answer 9

Cryptic colouration Aposematic coloration Bayesian mimicry Mullerian mimicry

Question 10

What is herbivory?

Answer 10

An interaction in which a herbivore eats parts of a plant

Question 11

What is symbiosis?

Answer 11

A relationship where two or more species live in direct contact with each other - eg parasites

Question 12

What are four types of symbiosis? Give descriptions of them

Answer 12

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

Question 13

What are the two features of community structure?

Answer 13

Species diversity Feeding relationships

Question 14

What is species diversity?

Answer 14

Variety of organisms make up the community - species richness (number of different species) and relative abundance (proportion of species)

Question 15

What is trophic structure?

Answer 15

The feeding relationship between organisms in a community

Question 16

What are the two reasons that some species have a large impact in the community?

Answer 16

1. They are highly abundant 2. Play an important role in community dynamics

Question 17

What controls the relationship between trophic levels? Two points

Answer 17

Top down - controls come from the top of the food chain Bottom up - bottom species in the food chain influence the rest of the food chain

Question 18

What is disturbance?

Answer 18

An event that changes a community and removes organisms from it.

Question 19

What is the intermediate disturbance hypothesis?

Answer 19

Suggests that moderate levels of disturbance can help higher species diversity, compared to low levels of disturbance