Community Ecology

Cards (43)

  • Community Ecology
    The study of pattern and processes involving at least two species at a particular location
  • Community Ecology Focuses on
    interactions between species, how communities change (community dynamics) and effects of disturbances (how communities develop/recover
  • types of species interactions
    Consumption, competition, mutalism and commensalism
  • Consumption (+/-)
    One organism eats another, 3 types, predation, herbivory and parasitism
  • Predation
    One organism (PREDATOR) kills and consumes most/all of the other organism (PREY)
  • Herbivory
    plant eaters (HERBIVORES) eat PLANT tissue
  • Parasitism
    A symbiotic interaction in which one species (parasite) feeds off the tissue/nutrients of another (host, but the parasite rarely kills the host
  • Adaptions for feeding
    Predators/herbivores have many adaptations for feeding including location (sensory systems), capture/eating (special behaviors/mouthparts, anatomical structures) and food processing (specialized teeth/digestive systems
  • Behavioral Prey Defenses
    hiding, running, changing appearance, making yourself look bigger, playing dead, flighting, flocking/schooling, spraying chemicals and acting aggressive
  • Morphological Prey Defenses
    cryptic coloration (camouflage), mechanical defenses (spines, prickles, shells, thorns) warning coloration (common in organisms with chemical defenses), eye spots, startlement, and mimicry
  • Chemical Prey Defenses
    stored in tissues, spraying, some can make chemicals themselves while others get them from their food
  • Defenses mimicry
    one or more species closely resemble another, two types Mullerian and Batesian
  • Mullerian Mimicry
    both species look alike but both are harmful
  • Batesiam Mimicry
    A harmless species mimics a harmful one
  • Mimicry Ring
    Large assemblages of species, both Mullerian and Batesian mimics exhibiting the same color patterns
  • Intraspecific
    Between members of the same species
  • Interspecific
    between members of differet species
  • Symmetrical competition
    Both species have equal decreases in fitness
  • Asymmetrical competition
    Reduction in fitness is more in one species than the other
  • Competitive exclusion
    One species is eliminated from the area
  • Competitive exclusion principle
    Populations of two or more species cannot coexist indefinitely if they rely on the same limiting resources and exploit them in the same way
  • Niche compression
    when competition narrows down the resoucres used
  • Fundemental niche
    niche in the absence of competition
  • Realized niche
    niche used when competition occurs
  • Resource partitioning
    use of resources in different ways or at different times
  • Character displacement
    the phenomenon that species occurring separately are similar in appearance and resources use, but when they occur together they look different and use different resources
  • Rewards of mutualism
    -transportation of gametes, -food, -housing, -medical help, -protection
  • Plant-pollinator interaction
    Bee eats nectar, feed pollen to larvae, carry pollen from one plant to others
  • Cleaner Shrimp
    Shrimp eat parasites off the fish (dinner/medical attention)
  • Rancher ants and aphids
    ants protect aphids, aphids feed ants sugary secretions
  • Symbiosis

    Close ecological relationship between species or individuals, species live in direct or inimate contact
  • Types of symbiosis
    Mutualistic (ants and Acacia trees), Commensaltistic (Follicle mites and humans) and Parasitic (Tapeworm and host)
  • Species Richness
    number of species in an area
  • Evenness
    -the extent to which the species in a community are equally abundant, similar species abundance within the community = higher evenness
  • Diversity
    Includes both richness AND evenness
  • Species composition
    Identity of all the different organisms that make up a community
  • Community dynamics
    changes through time, responds to living and non-living factors, disturbances
  • Disturbance
    events that removes individuals/biomass
  • Succession
    Gradual change in a community's species composition
  • Climax community
    a relatively stable, late successional stage