Community Ecology

Question 1

What are the four types of interactions between members of a species?

Answer 1

Competition, Consumption, Mutualism, Commensalism

Question 2

Coevolution

Answer 2

A pattern of evolution in which two interacting species reciprocally influence each other’s adaptations over time.

Question 3

Coevolution arms-race

Answer 3

A series of adaptations and counter-adaptations observed in species that interact closely over time and affect each other’s fitness.

Question 4

intraspecific competition

Answer 4

Competition between members of the same species for the same limited resource.

Question 5

niche

Answer 5

The particular set of habitat requirements of a certain species and the role that species plays in its ecosystem.

Question 6

competitive exclusion principle

Answer 6

The principle that two species cannot coexist in the same ecological niche in the same area because one species will out-compete the other.

Question 7

asymmetric competition

Answer 7

Ecological competition between two species in which one species suffers a much greater fitness decline than the other

Question 8

symmetric competition

Answer 8

Ecological competition between two species in which both suffer similar declines in fitness.

Question 9

fundamental niche

Answer 9

The ecological space that a species occupies in its habitat in the absence of competitors.

Question 10

realized niche

Answer 10

The ecological niche that a species occupies in the presence of competitors.

Question 11

niche differentiation

Answer 11

The change in resource use by competing species that occurs as the result of character displacement.

Question 12

character displacement

Answer 12

The tendency for the traits of similar species that occupy overlapping ranges to change in a way that reduces interspecific competition.

Question 13

three types of consumption?

Answer 13

Herbivory, parasitism and predation

Question 14

constitutive defenses

Answer 14

A defensive trait that is always manifested even in the absence of a predator or pathogen. Also called standing defense.

Question 15

mullerian mimicry

Answer 15

A type of mimicry in which two (or more) harmful species resemble each other.

Question 16

batesian mimicry

Answer 16

A type of mimicry in which a harmless or palatable species resembles a dangerous or poisonous species

Question 17

inducible defenses

Answer 17

A defensive trait that is manifested only in response to the presence of a consumer (predator or herbivore) or pathogen

Question 18

meta-analysis

Answer 18

A comparative analysis of the results of many smaller, previously published studies.

Question 19

what factors limit herbivory consumption?

Answer 19

top-down control, nitrogen limitation and effective defense

Question 20

climax community

Answer 20

The stable, final community that develops from ecological succession.

Question 21

keystone species

Answer 21

A species that has an exceptionally great impact on the other species in its ecosystem relative to its abundance.

Question 22

disturbance

Answer 22

In ecology, any event that disrupts a community, usually causing loss of some individuals or biomass from it.

Question 23

disturbance regime

Answer 23

The characteristic disturbances that affect a given ecological community.

Question 24

succession

Answer 24

In ecology, the gradual colonization of a habitat after an environmental disturbance (e.g., fire, flood), usually by a series of species.

Question 25

primary succession

Answer 25

The gradual colonization of a habitat of bare rock or gravel, usually after an environmental disturbance that removes all soil and previous organisms.

Question 26

secondary succesion

Answer 26

Gradual colonization of a habitat after an environmental disturbance (e.g., fire, windstorm, logging) that removes some or all previous organisms but leaves the soil intact.

Question 27

pioneering species

Answer 27

Those species that appear first in recently disturbed areas.

Question 28

What are the three effects existing species have on subsequent species during succession?

Answer 28

Facilitation, tolerance, inhibition

Question 29

species richness

Answer 29

The number of species present in a given ecological community.

Question 30

species diversity

Answer 30

The variety and relative abundance of the species present in a given ecological community.

Question 31

intermediate disturbance hypothesis

Answer 31

The hypothesis that moderate ecological disturbance is associated with higher species diversity than either low or high disturbance.

Question 32

What main hypotheses explain higher species diversity in the tropics than in the poles?

Answer 32

High productivity hypothesis, energy hypothesis, area and age hypothesis, intermediate disturbance hypothesis

Question 33

interspecific competition

Answer 33

The hypothesis that moderate ecological disturbance is associated with higher species diversity than either low or high disturbance.