Introduction to Community Ecology exam Flashcards

The study of interactions among various species within a community, focusing on structure, diversity, and abundance.

Multiple populations of different species living and interacting in the same area.

Refers to the diversity, abundance, and overall organization of different species in a community.

Competition, exploitation, mutualism, and commensalism.

An interaction where species vie for the same resources in an ecosystem.

An interaction where one species benefits at the expense of another, including predation, herbivory, and parasitism.

An interaction where both species benefit from the relationship.

An interaction where one species benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed.

The principle that two species competing for the same resources cannot coexist if other ecological factors are constant.

The division of limited resources by species to help avoid competition in an ecological niche.

The phenomenon where differences among similar species are accentuated in regions where the species co-occur.

An interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, the prey.

An interaction where an organism eats parts of a plant or alga.

An interaction where one organism, the parasite, lives on or in another organism, the host, causing it harm.

The feeding relationships between organisms in a community.

Bottom-up effects are driven by the presence or absence of producers, while top-down effects are driven by the presence or absence of top predators.

The process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time.

Succession that occurs in an area where no previous community existed.

Succession that occurs in areas where a community previously existed but was disturbed.

The concept that moderate levels of disturbance can foster greater species diversity than low or high levels of disturbance.

The influence of geographic factors like latitude and area on community composition.

The observation that species diversity tends to be higher near the equator and lower towards the poles.

The principle that larger areas tend to have more species than smaller areas.

A model that describes the balance between immigration and extinction rates on islands.

Biodiversity enhances ecosystem stability by providing a variety of species that can adapt to changes and disturbances.

The various ways in which species interact within a community, including competition, exploitation, mutualism, and commensalism.

It focuses on the interactions among species, community structure, diversity, abundance, and the effects of geographic factors.

The influence that a species has on the structure and function of a community.