Ecological Interactions

Question 1

Ecological Niche

Answer 1

role of a species in a community

Question 2

what determines the species’ distributions in a community/ecosystem

Answer 2

environmental factors

Question 3

endemic species

Answer 3

species that occur only in one area or one environment

Question 4

the total environment which can be exploited without basic constraints

Answer 4

fundamental niche

Question 5

resources actually utilized due to environmental constraints or other species/limiting factors

Answer 5

realized niche

Question 6

what limits the growth, distribution, and abundance of a population

Answer 6

limiting factors

Question 7

indicator species

Answer 7

organisms whose sensitivities can tell about the environmental conditions in an area

Question 8

principle- no two species can occupy the same niche indefinitely
more efficient species in resource will exclude the other

Answer 8

principle of competitive exclusion

Question 9

when excluded species will disappear or develop a new niche and use resources differently

Answer 9

resource partitioning

Question 10

when two or more species live intimately together with their fates linked: “living together”

Answer 10

symbiosis

Question 11

species w very close interaction adapt together and form an evolving system

Answer 11

coevolution

Question 12

organisms that play a critical role in a biological community that is out of proportion to its abundance
-effect ripples across multiple trophic levels
-ecosystem heavily depends on them

Answer 12

keystone species

Question 13

organisms that supports a network of species
ex- pollinators, nutrient circulators

Answer 13

critical link species

Question 14

organisms abundant in ecotone boundaries

Answer 14

edge species

Question 15

area where two major communities meet or blend together

Answer 15

ecotone