Lecture 25- Community Ecology Flashcards
How is community defined?
An interacting group of various species in a common location
What is the difference between intraspecific competition and interspecific competition?
Intraspecific competition occurs between members of the same species, whereas interspecific competition occurs between members of different species
What is species richness?
The number of different species represented in an ecological community, landscape, or region
What is character displacement?
The phenomenon where differences among similar species whose distributions overlap geographically are accentuated in regions where the species co-occur
What is the difference between fundamental niche and realized niche?
Fundamental niche is the entire set of conditions under which an organism can survive and reproduce itself, whereas realized niche is the set of conditions actually used by the organism
A biological species that displays physical (phenotypic) markings to inhibit predation is said to be existing _______________
Aposematic coloration
What is competitive exclusion?
The inevitable elimination from a habitat of one of two different species with identical needs for resources
What is parasitism?
Symbiotic relationship in which an organism (the parasite) lives on/inside another organism (the host), causing it some harm (and occasionally death)
What is the difference between Batesian mimicry and Mullerian mimicry?
Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry wherein one harmless species that is palatable to a predator, mimics the appearance of a harmful or noxious species, whereas in Mullerian mimicry, two or more equally noxious species evolve to appear similar to each other (predator only has to learn one color, etc)
What is mutualism?
Ecological interaction between two or more species where each species has a net benefit
What is resource partitioning?
The division of limited resources by species to help avoid competition in an ecological niche
What is commensalism?
Long-term biological interaction in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed
The biological terminology for camouflage is __________
Cryptic coloration
What is the difference between dominant and keystone species?
A dominant species is the most abundant species present (makes up the highest percentage of total biomass in a system), whereas a keystone species is one that has the greatest effect on all of the other species within an ecosystem
What is the difference between primary and secondary succession?
Primary succession is the process in which plants and animals first colonize a barren habitat (volcanic) whereas secondary succession refers to the change in species composition over time in a previously inhabited habitat (an area previously occupied is disturbed/disrupted eg. wildfire and then recolonized)
