Final: competition Flashcards
interspecific
different species compete for the same resources in an ecosystem, such as food, space, or nesting sites
intraspecific
a common interaction between individuals of the same species that occurs when they compete for limited resources
interference
one organism prevents other organisms from using the resource
scramble
Exploitative Competition
Think of an easter egg hunt. Get all the eggs before anyone else can
exploitative (scramble) competition
-scramble (think of eater egg hunt)
- exploiting resources before others
fundamental vs. realized niche
fundamental: full range of environmental conditions that a species can occupy and use without any other limiting factors.
realized: environmental position that a species actually occupies after interactions with other species, such as predation and competition, have been taken into account
ghost of competition past
Competing species may be less fit than a species which avoids competing because it occupies a fundamental niche which does not overlap theirs
evidence for competition
Morphological: character displacement
Behavioral: territoriality
Adaptive: radiation
Apparent: competition
territoriality
Preventing others from accessing resources
adaptive radiation
the diversification of a group of organisms into forms filling different ecological niches
African cichlids
-Morphological Evidence of competition.
-cichlids share a common ancestor, however, competition forced the fish to fulfill unique niches. This was accomplished by developing unique physical traits that helped certain species fulfill that niche
experiment with 3 sunfishes: allopatry vs. sympatry
Allopatry: Populations that live in different areas (Alone)
Sympatry: Species living in the same geographic area (Together)
niche shifts
when a fish’s ecological niche changes its position and breadth
experimental design
1: Appropriate control
2. Randomization
3. Replication
Werner and Hall paper
