community ecology Flashcards
describe what an ecological niche is
a niche is the role of an organism in its community
what are the different types of niches
- the fundamental niches
- the realised niche
describe what fundamental niches are
is the ideal niche that an organism would occupy if there were no biotic restrictions
describe what realised niches are
is the actual niche that an organism occupies as a result of there restrictions
describe resource partioning
is the observable separation of resources into categories where each specific species can occupy and exploit that resource
what is the principle of competitive exclusion
two similar species that occupy the same ecological niche cannot co-exist
define the emigration
when organisms move into an environment
define immigration
when organisms leave an environment
define birth rate
the population of organisms born in an environment
define death rate
the population of organisms that die in an environment
what are the different ways populations can be distributed
- uniform
- clumped
- random
what is carrying capacity
is the size of a population that an ecosystem can comfortably support
describe the lag phase
the establishment of a growing species
describe the exponential phase
when the population is large enough to find mates the population spikes
describe the stationary phase
when resources become limited the population size remains constant
