Chapter 54: Community Ecology Flashcards
1
Q
Chapter 54
What are interspecfic interactions?
A
- def: relationships between species in a community
- examples: competiton, predation, herbivory, parasitism, mutalism, & commensalism
2
Q
Chapter 54
What is competition?
A
- species compete for a resouce that are short in supply
- can limite survival and reproduction
- competitve exclusion: when strong competition cause local elimiation of competing species
3
Q
Chapter 54
What is an ecological niche?
A
- the sum of an organism’s use of biotic & abiotic resources
- an organism’s ecological role
4
Q
Chapter 54
What is resource partitioning?
A
when similar species coexist in a community despite differentiation in ecological niches
5
Q
Chapter 54
What is the difference between an organisms’s fundamental and realized niche?
A
- fundamental niche - potentially occupied by that species
- realized niche - actually occupied by that species
6
Q
Chapter 54
What is exploitation?
A
- def: any interaction in which one species benefits by feeding on other species
- these interactions include: predation, herbivory, & parasitism
7
Q
Chapter 54
What is predation?
A
- one species (predator) kills & eats the other (prey)
- predators have adaptations that help them find & catch their prey
- prey have adaptations to avoid being eaten
8
Q
Chapter 54
What are examples of these defense adaptations
A
- mechanical defense & chemical defense
- apopsematic coloration: warning color
- batesian mimicry
- cryptic coloration: camouflage
- mullerian mimcry
9
Q
Chapter 54
What is herbivory?
A
- herbivore eats parts of a plant/alga
- herbivores have specialized adaptations
- plants may produce toxins & mechanical defenses as protection
10
Q
Chapter 54
What is parasitism?
A
- parasite derives nourishment from host w/ harming it
- endoparasites live in body of host
- ectoparasites live on surface of host
- parasites can directly/indirectly affect survical & density of host population
11
Q
Chapter 54
What is mutalism?
A
- both specis benefit from interaction
- some species depend on the other for survival/reproduction
- ex: a bee pollinates a flower for honey; bee carries pollen to another flower which helps plant reproduction
12
Q
Chapter 54
What is commensalism?
A
- one species benefits and the other is harmed nor helped
- ex: wildfowers depend on shade provided by trees; trees are not affected
13
Q
Chapter 54
What is species diversity?
A
- variety of organisms that make up a community
- two components
- species richness: # of different species in community
- relative abundance: proportion each species respresents of all individuals in the community
14
Q
Chapter 54
Communities w/ high diversity are…
A
- more productive
- more stable
- can withstand & recover from environmental stresses
- more resistant to invasive species
15
Q
Chapter 54
What is the trophic structure?
A
- the feeding relationships between organisms in a communty
- can greatly affect community structure & dynamics