functional ecology and the niche Flashcards
What is the role of mangroves in coastal ecosystems?
Mangroves serve as a bridge between marine and land environments, offering valuable coastal habitats by storing carbon, sheltering marine nurseries, stabilizing sediment, and providing protection against waves and storm surges.
What ecosystem services do mangroves provide?
- Store carbon
- Shelter marine nurseries, especially in their roots
- Stabilize sediment and reduce erosion
- Protect coastal areas by dissipating waves and storm surges
What are seagrasses and their ecosystem services?
Seagrasses act as feeding grounds and create a carpet in the marine environment, providing important ecosystem services such as habitat for marine life and contributing to nutrient cycling and water clarity.
What is a species’ niche?
A niche is an n-dimensional hypervolume of resource axes, where each axis represents an environmental factor important for a species’ survival and reproduction.
What is the difference between a fundamental niche and a realized niche?
- Fundamental niche: The full range of conditions where a species could survive in the environment.
- Realized niche: The actual space an organism occupies, considering competition and interactions with other species. The realized niche is usually smaller than the fundamental niche.
What are traits in ecology?
Traits are measurable, heritable features at the individual level, such as reproduction, growth, and feeding. They can influence how species survive and reproduce in their environment.
What is trait variation and how does it affect species?
Trait variation arises from competing demands between different activities, and traits can be positively or negatively correlated. This affects species’ ability to survive and reproduce in certain environments.
What is functional group ecology?
Functional group ecology classifies species based on shared traits, using multivariate methods to group species that perform similar ecological functions, affecting how ecosystems function.
What is environmental filtering in ecology?
Environmental filtering refers to how traits are influenced by the environment. It emphasizes that not all organisms can establish and persist in all abiotic conditions, shaping the composition of species in an ecosystem.
What is functional ecology?
Functional ecology studies organisms based on the functions they perform in the environment. It focuses on functional traits that affect ecosystem processes and allows comparisons among unrelated species, unlike traditional taxonomic studies.
What is a keystone species?
A keystone species is one that provides a unique function in an ecosystem, and its removal causes a cascading effect. These species typically have low functional redundancy, meaning no other species can replace their role.
Are there keystone species in coral reefs?
In coral reefs, due to high biodiversity, there is functional redundancy, so removing one species may not have a significant impact. It’s more useful to think of keystone functions, such as large predators or herbivores.
