Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
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• Community – group of interacting populations
that inhabit the same region
– Biotic – living organisms
• Ecosystem – includes all the organisms plus
abiotic, or nonliving, environment with a defined
area
• Some connections between species are so
strong they result in coevolution – genetic change
in one species selects for subsequent change in
the genome of another species
• Habitat – physical place
where members of a
population typically live
• Habitat is a subset of niche
• Niche – total of all the
resources a species exploits
for its survival, growth, and
reproduction
• Competition occurs when 2
or more species vie for some
limited resource
• Competitive exclusion – 2
species cannot coexist
indefinitely in the same niche
– Species that acquires more
resources will replace the less
successful species
• Species with similar
needs can (and do)
coexist in communities
• Resource partitioning –
multiple species use
the same resource in a
slightly different way or
at a different time
• Birds of each species
feed in different ways
and on different parts
of the tree
• Symbiosis – one species lives in or on
another
– Mutualistic – both partners benefit
• Cow and cellulose-digesting microbes
– Commensalism – one species benefits, other
not significantly affected
• Tiny mites that live in human hair follicles
– Parasitism – one species benefits at the
expense of another
• Mistletoe taps into host plant vascular system
• Predators eat prey
– Predation exerts a strong
selective pressure on prey
to avoid being eaten
– Camouflage
– Warning colors
– Weapons and structural
defenses
• Predators have to defeat
prey defenses
• Keystone species –
makes up a small
proportion of the
community by weight, yet
exerts a disproportionate
influence on community
diversity
Communities change over time
• Succession – gradual change in a community’s
species composition
• Occurs as competing organisms, especially
plants, respond to and modify the physical
environment
• May lead to a climax community – community
remains fairly constant
• Primary succession – occurs in an area where
no community previously existed
– Pioneer species are the first to colonize
• Secondary succession – occurs where a
community is disturbed but not destroyed, with
some soil and life remaining
– An abandoned farm field