Factors Shaping Community Structure

• Environment Heterogeneity - patchiness of the environment of a community
• Disturbance Frequency - Frequency of disturbances/disruptive events (eg. wildfires)
• ✩Species interactions types:

  
  

  1. Competition - 2 organisms compete for the same resources

  2. Predation - where an organism consumes another organism

  • True predators - kill and consume their prey
  • Grazers - typically do not kill their prey (eg. mosquitoes)

  3. Symbiosis - long-lasting interaction between 2 species where one or both benefit
• All factors:

  1. Climate patters
  2. Geography
  3. Environment heterogeneity
  4. Disturbance frequency
  5. Species interactions