Chapter 53 Key Terms Flashcards

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1
Q

aposematic coloration

A

The bright coloration of animals with effective physical or chemical defenses that acts as a warning to predators.

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2
Q

Batesian mimicry

A

A type of mimicry in which a harmless species looks like a species that is poisonous or otherwise harmful to predators.

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3
Q

biomanipulation

A

A technique for restoring eutrophic lakes that reduces populations of algae by manipulating the higher-level consumers in the community rather than by changing nutrient levels or adding chemical treatments.

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4
Q

biomass

A

The dry weight of organic matter comprising a group of organisms in a particular habitat.

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5
Q

bottom-up model

A

A model of community organization in which mineral nutrients control community organization because nutrients control plant numbers, which in turn control herbivore numbers, which in turn control predator numbers.

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6
Q

character displacement

A

The tendency for characteristics to be more divergent in sympatric populations of two species than in allopatric populations of the same two species.

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7
Q

coevolution

A

The mutual evolutionary influence between two different species interacting with each other and reciprocally influencing each other’s adaptations.

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8
Q

commensalism

A

A symbiotic relationship in which the symbiont benefits but the host is neither helped nor harmed.

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9
Q

community

A

All the organisms that inhabit a particular area; an assemblage of populations of different species living close enough together for potential interaction.

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10
Q

competitive exclusion

A

The concept that when populations of two similar species compete for the same limited resources, one population will use the resources more efficiently and have a reproductive advantage that will eventually lead to the elimination of the other population.

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11
Q

cryptic coloration

A

Camouflage, making potential prey difficult to spot against its background.

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12
Q

disturbance

A

A force that changes a biological community and usually removes organisms from it. Disturbances, such as fire and storms, play pivotal roles in structuring many biological communities.

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13
Q

dominant species

A

Those species in a community that have the highest abundance or highest biomass. These species exert a powerful control over the occurrence and distribution of other species.

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14
Q

dynamic stability hypothesis

A

The idea that long food chains are less stable than short chains.

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15
Q

ecological niche

A

The sum total of a species’ use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment.

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16
Q

ecological succession

A

Transition in the species composition of a biological community, often following ecological disturbance of the community; the establishment of a biological community in an area virtually barren of life.

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17
Q

ectoparasite

A

A parasite that feeds on the external surface of a host.

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18
Q

endoparasite

A

A parasite that lives within a host.

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19
Q

energetic hypothesis

A

The concept that the length of a food chain is limited by the inefficiency of energy transfer along the chain.

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20
Q

evapotranspiration

A

The evaporation of water from soil plus the transpiration of water from plants.

21
Q

facilitator

A

A species that has a positive effect on the survival and reproduction of other species in a community and that contributes to community structure.

22
Q

food chain

A

The pathway along which food is transferred from trophic level to trophic level, beginning with producers.

23
Q

food web

A

The elaborate, interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem.

24
Q

herbivory

A

An interaction in which an herbivore eats parts of a plant or alga.

25
Q

host

A

The larger participant in a symbiotic relationship, serving as home and feeding ground to the symbiont.

26
Q

individualistic hypothesis

A

The concept, put forth by H. A. Gleason, that a plant community is a chance assemblage of species found in the same area simply because they happen to have similar biotic requirements.

27
Q

integrated hypothesis

A

The concept, put forth by F. E. Clements, that a community is an assemblage of closely linked species, locked into association by mandatory biotic interactions that cause the community to function as an integrated unit, a sort of superorganism.

28
Q

intermediate disturbance hypothesis

A

The concept that moderate levels of disturbance can foster greater species diversity than low or high levels of disturbance.

29
Q

interspecies interaction

A

Relationships between species of a community.

30
Q

interspecific competition

A

Competition for resources between plants, between animals, or between decomposers when resources are in short supply.

31
Q

keystone species

A

A species that is not necessarily abundant in a community yet exerts strong control on community structure by the nature of its ecological role or niche.

32
Q

Müllerian mimicry

A

A mutual mimicry by two unpalatable species.

33
Q

mutualism

A

A symbiotic relationship in which both participants benefit.

34
Q

non-equilibrium model

A

The model of communities that emphasizes that they are not stable in time but constantly changing after being buffeted by disturbances.

35
Q

parasite

A

An organism that absorbs nutrients from the body fluids of living hosts.

36
Q

parasitoidism

A

A type of parasitism in which an insect lays eggs on or in a living host; the larvae then feed on the body of the host, eventually killing it.

37
Q

pathogen

A

A disease-causing agent.

38
Q

predation

A

An interaction between species in which one species, the predator, eats the other, the prey.

39
Q

primary succession

A

A type of ecological succession that occurs in a virtually lifeless area, where there were originally no organisms and where soil has not yet formed.

40
Q

redundancy model

A

The concept, put forth by Henry Gleason and Brian Walker, that most of the species in a community are not tightly coupled with one another (that is, the web of life is very loose). According to this model, an increase or decrease in one species in a community has little effect on other species, which operate independently.

41
Q

relative abundance

A

Differences in the abundance of different species within a community.

42
Q

resource partitioning

A

The division of environmental resources by coexisting species such that the niche of each species differs by one or more significant factors from the niches of all coexisting species.

43
Q

rivet model

A

The concept, put forth by Paul and Anne Ehrlich, that many or most of the species in a community are associated tightly with other species in a web of life. According to this model, an increase or decrease in one species in a community affects many other species.

44
Q

secondary succession

A

A type of succession that occurs where an existing community has been cleared by some disturbance that leaves the soil intact.

45
Q

species diversity

A

The number and relative abundance of species in a biological community.

46
Q

species richness

A

The number of species in a biological community.

47
Q

species-area curve

A

The biodiversity pattern, first noted by Alexander von Humboldt, that illustrates that the larger the geographic area of a community, the greater the number of species.

48
Q

top-down model

A

A model of community organization in which predation controls community organization because predators control herbivores, which in turn control plants, which in turn control nutrient levels; also called the trophic cascade model.

49
Q

trophic structure

A

The different feeding relationships in an ecosystem, which determine the route of energy flow and the pattern of chemical cycling.