Chapter 54 Community Ecology Flashcards
What is a community?
An assemble of populations of various species living close enough for potential interaction
What are interspecific interactions?
Interactions in a community that either help, harm, or have no effect on the species involved
What are some examples of interspecific interactions? (5)
- competition
- predation
- herbivory
- symbiosis (parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism)
- facilitation
What is interspecific competition?
Occurs when species compete for a resource in a short supply
What is negative/negative interaction? Provide an example.
Interaction between species are harmful on each other
Example: Interspecific competition
What is competitive exclusion?
Local elimination of a competing species
What is the competitive exclusion principle?
States that 2 species competing for the same limiting resources cannot coexist in the same place.
What is ecological niche?
The sum of a species’ use of biotic and abiotic resources
What is resource partitioning?
Differentiation of ecological niches, enabling similar species to coexist in a community
What is a species’ fundamental niche?
The niche potentially occupied by that species
What is a species’ realized niche?
The niche that is actually occupied by that species
What is character displacement?
Tendency for characteristics to be more divergent in sympatric populations of two species than in allopatric populations of the same two species
What is predation?
An interaction in which one species, the predator, kills and eat the other, the prey
What is positive/negative interaction? Provide 2 examples.
One species benefits from the interaction, the other species is harmed
Example: Predation and Herbivory
What are some feeding adaptations of predators? (3)
- claws
- fangs
- poison
What are the various types of defensive adaptations of prey? (5)
- Behavioral defenses
- Morphological defenses
- Physiological defenses
- Mechanical/chemical defenses
What is aposematic coloration?
A bright warning coloration as an effective chemical defense of animals
What is cryptic coloration?
Camouflage/ coloration that makes prey difficult to spot
What is atesian mimicry?
Palatable or harmless species mimics an unpalatable or harmful model
What is Mullerian mimicry?
Two or unpalatable species resemble each other
Can mimicry also be used by predators?
Yes, predators can use mimicry to confuse/manipulate the prey
What is herbivory?
Refers to an interaction in which an herbivore eats parts of a plant of algae
What is symbiosis?
Relationship where two or more species live in direct and intimate contact with one another
What happens in parasitism?
One organism, the parasite, derives nourishment from another organism, its host, which is harmed in the process
What are endoparasites?
Parasites that live within the body of their host
What are ectoparasites?
Parasites that live on the external surface of a host
What is positive/positive interaction? Provide an example.
Interspecific interaction that benefits both species.
Example: Mutualism
What are the two types of mutualism?
- Obligate
- Facultative