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