Term
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Definition
| All the organisms that inhibit a particular area; an assemblage of populations of different species living close enough together for potential interaction |
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| interspecific interactions |
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Definition
| Relationships between species within a community |
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Term
| interspecific competition |
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Definition
| Competition for resources between plants, between animals, or between decomposers when resources are in short supply |
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Definition
| The 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 |
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Definition
| The sum total of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment |
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Definition
| The division of environmental resources by coexisting species such that the nice of each species differs by one or more significant factors from the niches of all coexisting species |
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Definition
| The tendency for characteristics to be more divergent in sympatric (reproductive/genetic isolation) populations of two species than in allopatric (geographically isolated) populations of the same two species |
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Definition
| An interaction between species in which one species, the predator, eats the other, the prey |
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Term
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Definition
| Camouflage, making potential prey difficult to spot against its background |
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Definition
| The bright coloration of animals with effective physical or chemical defenses that acts as a warning to predators |
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Definition
| A type of mimicry in which a harmless species looks like a species that is poisonous or otherwise harmful to predators |
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Definition
| a mutual mimicry by two unpalatable species |
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Definition
| An interaction in which an herbivore eats part of a plant or alga |
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Term
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Definition
| An ecological relationship between organisms of two different species that love together in direct contact |
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Term
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Definition
| A symbiotic relationship in which the symbiont (parasite) that benefits by living in or on another organism at the expense of the host |
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Term
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Definition
| An organisms that benefits by living in or on another organism at the expense of the host |
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Term
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Definition
| The larger participant in a symbiotic relationship, serving as home and feeding ground to the symbiont |
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Term
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Definition
| A parasite that lives within a host |
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Term
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Definition
| A parasite that feeds on the external surface of a host |
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Term
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Definition
| A symbiotic relationship in which both participants benefit. |
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Term
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Definition
| A symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is neither hurt nor helped |
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Term
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Definition
| The number and relative abundance of species in a biological community |
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Term
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Definition
| The number of species in a biological community |
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Term
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Definition
| Differences in the abundance of different species within in a community |
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Term
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Definition
| An index commonly used to characterize species diversity within a community. Accounts for both species abundance and evenness of the species present. |
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Term
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Definition
| The different feeding relationships in an ecosystem, which determine the route of energy flow and the pattern of chemical cycling. |
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Term
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Definition
| The pathway along which food is transferred from trophic level to trophic level, beginning with producers |
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Term
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Definition
| The elaborate, interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem |
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Term
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Definition
| The concept that the length of a food chain is limited by the inefficiency of energy transfer along the food chain |
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Term
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Definition
| The dry weight of organic matter comprising a group of organisms in a particular habitat |
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Term
| dynamic stability hypothesis |
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Definition
| The idea that long food chains are less stable than short chains |
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Term
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Definition
| Those species in a community that have the highest abundance or highest biomass. These species exert as powerful control over the occurrence and distribution of other species. |
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Term
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Definition
| A species that takes hold outside its native range; usually introduced by humans |
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Term
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Definition
| A 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 |
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Definition
| A species that has a positive effect on the survival and reproduction of other species in a community and that contributes to community structure |
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Term
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Definition
| A model of community organization in which mineral nutrients control community organization because nutrients control plant numbers which in turn control herbivore numbers, which in turn control predator numbers. |
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Definition
| A model of community organization in which predation controls community organization because predators control herbivores, which in turn control nutrient levels; also called the trophic cascade model |
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Term
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Definition
| A technique for restoring eutrophic lakes that reduces populations of algae by manipulating the higher-level consumers in a community rather than by changing nutrient levels or adding chemical treatments |
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Definition
| A force that changes a biological community and usually removes organisms from it. Disturbances, such as fire and storms, play pivotal roles in structuring many biological communities. |
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Definition
| The model of communities that emphasizes that they are not stable in time but constantly changing after being buffeted by disturbances |
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Term
| intermediate disturbance hypothesis |
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Definition
| The concept that moderate levels of disturbance can foster gr4eater species diversity than low or high levels of disturbance |
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Term
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Definition
| Transition in the species composition of a biological community, often following ecological disturbance of the community; the establishment of a biological community in an area virtually barren of life |
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Definition
| A type of ecological succession that occurs in a virtually lifeless area, where there were originally no organisms and where soil has not yet formed |
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Term
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Definition
| A type of succession that occurs where an existing community has been cleared by some disturbance that leaves the soil intact |
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Term
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Definition
| The evaporation of water from soil plus the transpiration of water from plants |
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Definition
| The biodiversity pattern, first noticed by Alexander von Humbolt, that illustrates that the larger the geographic area of a community, the greater the number of species |
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Definition
| Pathogens naturally transmitted between animals and humans |
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Definition
| An agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism |
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