Chapter 58: Community Ecology

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts from Chapter 58 on Community Ecology, focusing on community structure, species interactions, and ecosystem dynamics.

Community

The assemblage of populations that live in the same place at the same time.

Community Ecology

Studies how groups of species interact and form functional communities.

Species Richness

The number of different species in a community.

Community Stability

A community is stable when little to no change can be detected in the number of species and their abundances over time.

Diversity-Stability Hypothesis

Suggests that disturbances in a species-rich community are cushioned by large numbers of interacting species.

Shannon Diversity Index

A measure of the species diversity of a community, calculated using proportions of species.

Species Evenness

A measure of biodiversity that represents the relative abundance of different species in a community.

Primary Succession

Succession that begins on a newly exposed site not previously occupied by living organisms.

Climax Community

The final stage of ecological succession, where a stable community of organisms persists.

Inhibition

A mechanism of succession where early colonists exclude subsequent colonists.

Tolerance

The process where established species do not change the environment in ways that affect subsequent colonists.

Ecosystem

A system formed by the interaction between a community of organisms and its physical environment.

Trophic Level

Each level in a food chain, defined by its position with respect to energy flow.

Keystone Species

A type of organism that plays a critical role in maintaining the structure of a community.

Gross Primary Production

The total amount of energy that is captured by autotrophs in an ecosystem.

Net Primary Production

The remaining energy in the producer level after autotrophs have used some of it for their own needs.