unit 8b Flashcards
competitive exclusion
elimination of inferior species
resource partitioning
differentiation of niches that enables similar species to coexist in community
character displacement
tendency for characters to diverge more in sympatric than allopratic populations of two species
aposematic coloration
bright warning coloration
cryptic coloration
camouflage
batesian mimicry
harmless species mimics a harmful model
mullerian mimicry
two unpalatable species resemble each other
commensalism
+/0
biomass
total mass of all organisms
energetic hypothesis
length is limited by inefficient energy transfer
foundation species
have strong effects because of their large size/abundance
keystone species
exert strong control on community by their pivotal ecological roles
ecosystem engineers
create/alter their physical environment
bottom-up control
abundance of organisms at each trophic level is limited by nutrient supply/food availability at lower levels
top-down control
abundance of organisms at each tropic level is controlled by abundance of consumers at higher levels
nonequilibrium model
communities constantly change after disturbance
intermediate disturbance hypothesis
moderate levels of disturbance foster greater diversity than high/low levels of disturbance
primary succession
process begins in lifeless area
secondary succession
recolonization after disturbance removed most but not all organisms
evapotranspiration
evaporation of water from soil/transpiration of water from plants
- species richness correlates w it
species-area curve
larger geographic area has more species
