Community Structure Flashcards

1
Q

Community

A

Interactions between
populations of species within a
common area

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2
Q

Community zones reflect…

A

changes in species
composition over space

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3
Q

Community zones are based on…

A

dominant species or physical conditions (temp, alt, salinity)

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4
Q

Ecotones are

A

sharp boundaries between zones

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5
Q

Ecotones usually have

A

high diversity of species

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6
Q

independent communities

A

Species can be in a community because they share
similar habitat requirements:

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7
Q

interdependent communities

A

species can be in a community because they
depend on each other:

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8
Q

Methods to quantify a community

A

1) Species richness: number of species
2) Abundance: number of individuals of each species
3) Rank-abundance curves
4) Species diversity indexes

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9
Q

Abundance normally shows a

A

log-normal distribution

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10
Q

The majority of species
show

A

intermediate values
of abundance

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11
Q

Rank-abundance curves illustrate

A

both species
richness and species evenness

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12
Q

Species richness

A

number of species (points)
within each community

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13
Q

Species evenness

A

comparison of the
relative abundance of each species in
a community

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14
Q

Maximum evenness:

A

all species have
the same relative abundance

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15
Q

Simpson’s varies between

A

1 (if S = 1) and S

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16
Q

Shannon’s varies between

A

0 (if S = 1) and ln S

17
Q

Factors affecting species richness

A

1) Resources
2) Habitat diversity and connectivity
3) Presence of keystone species
4) Frequency and magnitude of disturbances

18
Q

Most common pattern for species richness

A

Hump shaped
(stl arch shape)

19
Q

Higher habitat diversity and connectivity

A

increase species richness

20
Q

More diverse habitats can offer more

A

potential niches

21
Q

More connected habitats promote

22
Q

Keystone species affect the ____ despite not being very abundant

A

structure of a community

23
Q

keystone species considered ecosystem engineers

24
Q

Intermediate levels of disturbance maintain

A

more diverse communities

25
Food chain:
linear representation of species that consume each other (transfer of energy and nutrients).
26
Food web:
all possible feeding relationships among the species of a community (way more realistic).
27
Trophic levels
help understanding food webs with high species richness
28
Terciary consumers
top predators: large carnivores that consume herbivores and mesopredators; parasites
29
Secondary consumers
(mesopredators: small carnivores that consume herbivores; parasites, parasitoids)
30
Primary consumers
(herbivores, parasites, parasitoids)
31
Producers
(mostly photosynthesis: plants, algae)
32
Guilds
group species feeding on similar items within each trophic level
33
Trophic cascade
(indirect effects initiated by a predator)
34
Indirect effects can even happen
between neighboring communities
35
Bottom-up control:
the abundance of trophic groups is determined by the energy available from producers.
36
Top-down control:
the abundance of trophic groups is determined by the existence of top predators.
37