Plant and Animal Interactions Flashcards
What are ecological communities?
All the populations inhabititng a given area
How do community members interact?
Community members occupy distinct niches within the same habitat
What is a habitat?
Physical surroundings in which a species is normally found-its “address”
What is a niche?
Mode of living and resource acquisition for a given organism-its “occupation”
What are interspecific interaction?
relationships with other species in the community
What are interspecific competition?
two differnt species compete for the SAME limited resoure
(i.e. squirrels and black bears both compete for acorns)
Where do competitions for resources usually occur?
in closely related species (interpecific competition) and in overlapping niches
What is a fundamental niche?
The whole area (the whole tree)
What is a realised niche?
a specific part of the given area (specific elevation of the tree)
What is predation?
one freestanding organism feeding on parts or all of a second organism
Describe predator-prey relationships
the interaction between two species in which one species (the predator) hunts, captures, and kills the other species (the prey) for food
(ie. lions hunt and kill zebras, which they rely on for sustenance, while zebras have evloved behaviors and phsyical traits to avoid being caught)
What is parasitism?
predator feeds on prey but does not immediately kill it
(ie. ticks attach themselves to the skin of a dog and feeds on its blood, gaining nourishment while harming the dog by otentially cuasing irritation, blood loss, and transmitting disease)
How are modes of interaction seen as positive?
competition drives evolutionary change and adaptations
(new defenses and new offensive measures)
In competition, one organism is_____, while the other is_____
harmed and harmed
In predation and parasitism, one organism_________ while the other is_________
gains, harmed
In mutualism, one organism___________while the other_______
gains and gains
In commensalism, one organism______while the other is__________
gains, and unaffected
What is herbivory?
interaction in which a plant or portions of the plant are consumed by an animal
How can herbivory benefit the plant?
By stimulating growth (grow back stronger and produce more shoots, leaves, or flowers), seed dispersal (animals can deposit seeds elsewhere helping plants spread), nutrient cycling (animals break down plant material and return nutriends to soil/fertilization), defense mechanisms (stronger defense to make them resistant to future attacks)
What is pollination?
transfer of pollen from one flower to the stigma (female reporductive organ) of another, leading to fertilization and seed formation
What are the modes of pollination?
wind, water, and animals
How has pollination evolved?
Earliest plants were pllinted by wind, but evolution led to bright, showy flowers to attract pollinators
What is mutualism?
obligate interaction between organisms that requires contributions from both organisms and in which both benefit
What is protection?
defenses developed to protect from predators
