Species Diversity in Communities

Vocabulary flashcards based on concepts from the lecture on species diversity, community membership, resource partitioning, and the effects of diversity on human disease.

Species Diversity

The variety of different species within a given community.

Community Membership

The collection of species that inhabit a specific area and the factors that determine which species are included or excluded.

Filters

Factors that can include or exclude species in particular communities, such as species supply and environmental conditions.

Resource Partitioning

A process whereby species divide resources to reduce competition and coexist.

Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis

The theory that species diversity is highest at intermediate levels of disturbance.

Zoonotic Diseases

Diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans.

Complementary Hypothesis

Each species has a unique and equal effect on community function, leading to a linear increase in function with increasing richness.

Redundancy Hypothesis

Species have overlapping effects on community function such that additional species after a certain point do not increase function.

Idiosyncratic Hypothesis

Different species have different effects on community function, which is highly dependent on dominant species composition.