Species and Community Interactions Flashcards
What is a community?
group of different species living in the same area
What are some ways we can characterize a community?
- species richness
- species diversity
- primary productivity
What is species richness?
how many species are there
What is species diversity?
how many species and how evenly distributed are they
What is primary productivity?
rate at which biomass is produced by organisms that covert inorganic materials into organic materials
What is an ecological niche?
total of all the ways an organism can use the resources in its environment
What is a fundamental niche?
what organisms can actually use
What is realized niche?
what organisms are actually using
What is the range of realized niche compared to that of the fundamental niche?
realized niche is either the same or smaller than the fundamental niche
What is resource partitioning?
division of a niche (like splitting up where to nest on a tree)
Why do organisms resource partition?
because competition is tiring
What is character displacement?
evolution so character traits enable better use of different parts of a niche
What does character displacement need?
time
Is herbivory a predator prey relationship?
yes
What can too much predation do for prey population?
extinction of prey population and then extinction of predator
What is an example of non-lethal predator effect?
to avoid predators, prey may remain in less food abundant areas, and then the prey suffers from food loss (not directly affected by a predator)