Chapter 53 Notes (Community Ecology)
AP Biology & Honors Human Anatomy
1.
The Definition of Community
a.
Community: An assemblage of populations of various species living close
enough for potential interaction
2.
Interspecific Interactions
a.
Interspecific interactions: any interactions that affect the survival and
reproduction of the species engaged in the interaction.
b.
It can be +/-: Positive or negative effect,
c.
Different types of interactions
i.
Competition (-/-)
Interspecific competition occurs when species compete for a
particular resource that is in short supply.
Strong competition can lead to competitive exclusion.
The local elimination (reduction) of one of the two competing
species.
Even a slight reproductive advantage will eventually lead to the
elimination (reduction) of inferior species.
Competitive Exclusion Principle
-
Two species competing for the same limiting resources
cannot coexist in the same place.
-
Therefore, two species cannot occupy the same niche
according to this theory.
Ecological Niche
-
The total of an organism’s use of the biotic and abiotic
resources in its environment.
-
The niche concept allows restatement of the competitive
exclusion principle – Two species cannot coexist in a
community if their niches are identical.
-
As a result of competition, a species’ fundamental niche
may be different from its realized niche.
Resource partitioning
-
The slight variations (differentiation) of niches that enables
similar species to coexist in a community.
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- Fall '11
- StephenGammie
- Ecology, Ecological niche, (Community Ecology)
-
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