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Chapter 54 Community Ecology

Campbell 9e biology

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139332215CommunityA group of populations of different species living close enough to interact.
139332216Interspecific InteractionsIncludes competition, predation, herbivory, symbiosis, mutualism, and commensalism, and facilitation.
139332217Interspecific Competitionis a -/- interaction that occurs when individuals of different species compete for a resource that limits their growth and survival.
139332218Competitive ExclusionThe concept that when populations of two similar species compete for the same limited resources, one population will use the resources more efficiently and have a reproductive advantage that will eventually lead to the elimination of the other population.
139332219Ecological NicheThe sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment.
139332220Resource PartitioningThe differentiation of niches that enables similar species to coexist in a community.
141237645Character DisplacementThe tendency for characteristics to be more divergent in sympatric populations of two species than in allopatric populations of the same two species.
141237646PredationRefers to a +/- interaction between species in which one species, the predator, kills and eats the other, the prey.
141237647Cryptic ColorationCamouflage, makes prey difficult to see.
141237648Aposematic ColorationWarning coloration, such as that of the poison dart frog.
141237649Batesian MimicryA palatable or harmless species mimics an unpalatable or harmful one.
141237650Mullerian MimicryTwo or more unpalatable species, resemble each other.
141237651HerbivoryRefer to a +/- interaction in which an organism eats parts of a plant or alga.
141237652SymbiosisWhen individuals of two or more species live in direct and intimate contact with one another.
141237653ParasitismIs a +/- symbiotic interaction in which one organism, the parasite, derives its nourishment from another organism, its host, which is harmed in the process.
141237654EndoparasitesParasites that live within the body of their host.
141237655EctoparasitesParasites that feed on the external surface of a host.
141237656MutualismIs an interspecific interaction that benefits both species (+/+)
141237657CommensalismAn interaction between species that benefits one of the species but neither harms nor helps the other (+/0).
141237658FacilitationSpecies can have positive effects (+/+ or 0/+) on the survival and reproduction of other species without necessarily living in the direct and intimate contact of symbiosis.
141237659Species DiversityThe variety of different kinds of organisms that make up the community.
141237660Species RichnessThe number of different species in the community.
141237661Relative AbundanceThe proportion each species represents of all individuals in the community.
141237662Invasive SpeciesOrganisms that become established outside their native range.
141237663Trophic StructureThe structure and dynamics of a community also depend on the feeding relationships between organisms.
141237664Food WebsFood chains that are not isolated units but are linked together.
141237665Energetic HypothesisSuggests that the length of a food chain is limited by the inefficiency of energy transfer along the chain.
141237666BiomassThe total mass of all individuals in a population.
141237667Dynamic Stability HypothesisProposes that long food chains are less stable than short food chains.
141237668Dominant SpeciesAre species in a community that are the most abundant or that collectively have the highest biomass.
141237669Keystone SpeciesA species that is not necessarily abundant in a community yet exerts strong control on community structure by the nature of its ecological role or niche.
141237670Ecosystem EngineersFoundation species
141596185Bottom-up ModelWhich postulates a unidirectional influence from lower to higher trophic levels.
141596186Top-down ModelPostulates that predation mainly controls community organization because predators limit herbivores, herbivores limit plants, and plants limit nutrient uptake.
141596187BiomanipulationAn approach that applies the top-down model of community organization to alter ecosystem characteristics.
141596188DisturbanceAn event, such as a storm, fire, flood, drought, overgrazing, or human activity, that changes a community by removing organisms from it or altering resource availability.
141596189Nonequilibrium modelDescribes most communities as constantly changing after being affected by disturbances.
141596190Intermediate Disturbance HypothesisStates that moderate levels of disturbance foster greater species diversity than do low or high levels of disturbance.
141596191Ecological SuccessionTransition in the species composition of a community following a disturbance; establishment of a community in an area virtually barren of life.
141596192Secondary SuccessionOccurs when an existing community has been cleared by some disturbance that leaves the soil intact.
141596193EvapotranspirationThe total evaporation of water from an ecosystem, including water transpired by plants and evaporated from a landscape, usually measured in millimeters and estimated for a year.
141596194Species-area curveThe biodiversity pattern that shows that the larger the geographic area of a community is, the more species it has.
141596195PathogenAn organism, virus, viroid, or prion that causes disease.
141596196Zoonotic PathogensPathogens that are defined as those that are transferred to humans from other animals. either through direct contact with an infected animal or by means of an intermediate species.
141596197VectorAn organism that transmits pathogens from one host to another.

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