Species Interactions

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering species interactions, predation and prey defenses, mimicry, parasitic life histories, mutualisms, competition types, and ecological niches based on Lecture 3.

Community

An assemblage of species living close enough together for potential interaction.

Predation

A +/- interaction in which predators gain nutrients and energy while prey are killed or injured.

Herbivory

A +/- interaction in which herbivores gain nutrients and energy while plants are killed or injured.

Parasitism

A +/- interaction in which parasites gain nutrients and energy while feeding on the cell contents, tissues, or body fluids of a host, injuring or harming it without usually killing it.

Competition

A -/- interaction in which both competing populations lose access to some limited resources.

Commensalism

A +/0 interaction where one population benefits while the other population is unaffected.

Mutualism

A +/+ interaction in which both interacting populations benefit.

Coevolutionary Arms Race

A process where interacting species constantly evolve adaptations and countermeasures to cope with one another over evolutionary time, such as predators evolving insensitivity to prey venom.

Aposematic Coloration

A bright, high-contrast coloration pattern used by toxic or venomous animals to warn potential predators to avoid them.

Batesian Mimicry

A form of mimicry in which a harmless or non-toxic species (the mimic) resembles a poisonous or harmful species (the model), benefiting the non-toxic mimic.

Müllerian Mimicry

A form of mimicry in which two or more poisonous or unpalatable species resemble each other, benefiting both toxic models.

Direct Transmission

A parasite life history category where parasites transfer from an infected host to a susceptible host via physical contact, the fecal-oral route, or contaminated food and water.

Vector-Borne Transmission

A parasite life history category where an intermediate organism (vector), such as a blood-sucking insect, is required to transmit the parasite between hosts.

Complex Parasite Life Cycle

A parasite life history pattern that requires multiple different host species to complete its lifecycle.

Lichen

A tight-knit mutualism between a fungus (which provides protection, water, and minerals) and an alga or cyanobacterium (which provides photosynthetic sugars).

Endomycorrhizal Fungus

A type of mycorrhizal fungus whose hyphae grow directly into plant root cells between the cell wall and cell membrane to facilitate exchange of nutrients and sugars.

Ectomycorrhizal Fungus

A type of mycorrhizal fungus whose hyphae grow between plant root cells and form a sheath around the root without penetrating the cell membrane.

Intraspecific Competition

Competition for limited resources that occurs between individuals of the same species.

Interspecific Competition

Competition for limited resources that occurs between individuals of different species.

Exploitative Competition

An indirect form of competition where organisms compete by depleting a limited shared resource without interacting directly with one another.

Interference Competition

A direct form of competition where organisms interact aggressively or physically exclude others from accessing a limited resource.

Allelopathy

A form of interference competition in plants involving chemical warfare, where a plant releases chemicals to inhibit the growth of neighboring plants.

Competitive Exclusion Principle

The ecological principle stating that two species competing for identical resources cannot long coexist in the same place.

Ecological Niche

The role a species plays in its environment, including its resource use, habitat requirements, and relationships with other species.

Fundamental Niche

The full range of environmental conditions and locations where a species could potentially live and reproduce in the absence of predators and competitors.

Realized Niche

The actual range of environmental conditions and locations where a species lives and reproduces in the presence of predators and interspecific competitors.

Resource Partitioning

The division of environmental resources among sympatric species into different microhabitats or niches to reduce interspecific competition.

Character Displacement

The evolutionary divergence of heritable physical traits between similar species in sympatry, driven by competition to facilitate resource partitioning.

Sympatry

The condition in which two or more species live in the same geographic area.

Allopatry

The condition in which species live in different geographic areas.