Marine Ecology Flashcards
What is ecology
Ecology is the study of the interaction between organisms and their environment
what is a community
all populations of organisms living in a defined area
Niche
- the recources (biotic and abiotic) an organism uses for growth, survival, and reproduction
what is the carrying capacity
- the maximum number of organisms that any habitat can support
- as a population becomes more crowded, the growth rate will decrease
Competative exclusion
when one individual excludes the other as a result of interspecific competition
recource partitioning
when an individuals are able to coexist with the given recources
fundamental niche
all resources a species is capable of using
Realized niche
all resources a species actually uses in a community
facultative symbiosis
if species in a symbiotic relationship can live without each other
obligate symbiosis
if the partners cannot live without eachother
symbiont
the smaller partner
host
the larger parnter
energy flow of an ecosystem
route energy flow determined by trophic structure
energy needs of individual take up most of the energy created or consumed
on avarage ~10% is transferred to the next level of the food chain
why do food chains rarely extend beyond four trophic levels except in the ocean
there is more biomass created at the bottom of the trophic level - the primary producer level, so the system can support additional secondary consumers
gross primary production vs net primary production
gross= total amount of primary production before producers meet their own needs
net=total after producer meet their own needs
