Community Ecology

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary and concepts in community ecology as presented in the lecture notes.

Ecological Community

A group of populations/species that live in the same ecological area together, occupying different niches.

Species Composition

The identity and variety of species present in a community.

Species Diversity

A measure that describes the variety of different species and their relative abundance within a community.

Niche

The specific ecological role or function of a species within a community, including its habitat, resource use, and interactions with other species.

Natural Selection

The process by which competing species are driven into different ecological niches, impacting community structure.

Carrying Capacity

The maximum population size of a species that an environment can sustain indefinitely, given the available resources.

Parasitism

A type of interaction where one species benefits at the expense of another, ultimately harming it.

Simpson's Diversity Index

A quantitative measure used to assess the biodiversity of a community, taking into account species richness and abundance.

Species Richness

The number of different species present in an ecosystem.

Species Abundance

The total number of individuals of each species found in a community.