Communities in Motion

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts related to biological communities and their dynamics.

Biological Community

An assemblage of populations of various species living close enough for potential interaction.

Interspecific Interactions

Relationships between species in a community that may help, harm, or have no effect on the involved species.

Competition

An interaction where species compete for a resource that limits their growth or survival.

Competitive Exclusion Principle

States that two species competing for the same limiting resources cannot coexist in the same place.

Ecological Niche

The specific set of biotic and abiotic resources used by an organism; also thought of as an organism's ecological role.

Realized Niche

The niche actually occupied by a species due to competition.

Character Displacement

A tendency for characteristics to be more divergent in sympatric populations than in allopatric populations.

Predation

An interaction where one species, the predator, kills and eats another, the prey.

Herbivory

An interaction in which an herbivore eats parts of a plant or alga.

Symbiosis

A relationship where two or more species live in direct and intimate contact with one another.

Mutualism

An interspecific interaction that benefits both species involved.

Commensalism

An interaction where one species benefits and the other is neither harmed nor helped.

Species Diversity

The variety of organisms that make up a community, with components including species richness and relative abundance.

Trophic Structure

The feeding relationships between organisms in a community.

Keystone Species

Species that exert strong control on a community due to their ecological roles.

Disturbance

An event that changes a community, removes organisms from it, and alters resource availability.

Ecological Succession

The sequence of community and ecosystem changes after a disturbance.

Latitudinal Gradients

Refers to the phenomenon where species richness is especially great in the tropics and generally declines towards polar regions.

Evapotranspiration

The combined process of evaporation of water from soil and transpiration of water from plants.

Pathogens

Organisms that can alter community structure locally and globally, often with dramatic effects.