Environmental Science Chapter 5: Species Interactions, Ecological Succession, and Population Control
commensalism
an interaction that benefits one species but has little, if any, beneficial or harmful effect on the other
secondary ecological succession
community or ecosystem develops on the site of an existing community or system, replacing or adding to the existing set of resident species
intraspecific competition
competition among members of the same species
interspecific competition
competition between different species
primary ecological succession
involves the gradual establishment of communities of different species in lifeless areas where there is no soil in a terrestrial ecosystem or no bottom sediment in an aquatic ecosystem
resource partitioning
occurs when different species competing for similar scarce resources evolve specialized traits that allow them to "share" the same resources
parasitism
one species (the parasite) lives in or on another organism (the host)
What are the two major types of ecological succession?
primary ecological succession and secondary ecological succession
r-selected species
species with a capacity for a high rate of population increase (r)
k-selected species
tend to produce later in life, have few offspring, and have long life spans
ecological resilience
the ability of an ecosystem to be restored through secondary ecological succession after a severe disturbance
ecological inertia or persistence
the ability of an ecosystem to survive moderate disturbances
population size
the number of individuals organisms in a population at a given time
predation
the predator feeds directly on all or part of a member of another species, the prey
ecological succession
the species composition of a community or ecosystem can change in response to changing environmental conditions
survivorship curve
Graph showing the number of survivors in different age groups for a particular species.
mutalism
two species behave in ways that benefit both by providing each with food, shelter, or some other resource
limiting factors
various physical or chemical factors can determine the number of organisms in a population and how fast a population grows or declines
Environmental Resistance
All the limiting factors that act together to limit the growth of a population.
5 types of interactions among species as they share limited resources such as food, shelter, and space
1. interspecific competition 2. predation 3. parasitism 4. mutalism 5. commensalism
population distribution
Description of locations on Earth's surface where populations live
S-Curves
Used to describe the patter of growth over an extended period of time. Population size initially increased due to unlimited resources but then begin to slow down and stabilize around the carrying capacity
population
a group of interbreeding individuals of the same species
J-Curves
a growth curve that depicts exponential growth
coevolution
a natural selection process in which changes in the gene pool of one species lead to changes in the gene pool of another species
range of tolerance
a range of variations in its physical and chemical conditions within which it is most likely to survive