Community Ecology and Interspecific Interactions

This set of flashcards covers essential vocabulary and concepts related to community ecology and interspecific interactions, focusing on competition, predation, symbiosis, and coevolution.

Interspecific Interactions

Interactions that occur between different species in a community.

Competition

A negative interaction where species compete for limited resources like food, space, and sunlight.

Predation

An interspecific interaction where one individual consumes part or all of another individual.

Carnivory

The act of animals eating other animals.

Herbivory

The act of animals eating plants or photosynthetic organisms.

Mutualism

A symbiotic relationship where both species benefit from the interaction.

Parasitism

A symbiotic relationship where the parasite benefits at the expense of the host.

Ectoparasites

Parasites that feed on the surface of their host.

Endoparasites

Parasites that feed within their hosts.

Parasitoidism

A form of symbiosis where the parasitoid benefits and the host is harmed.

Coevolution

The process of reciprocal evolutionary changes that occur among interacting species over generations.

Aposematic Coloration

Warning coloration in prey species that signifies toxicity.

Batesian Mimicry

A form of mimicry where a harmless species resembles a toxic species.

Mullerian Mimicry

A form of mimicry where two toxic species resemble each other for mutual benefit.

Disease Vectors

Organisms, such as parasites, that carry and transmit pathogens to hosts.

Pathogen

A microbe that obtains nutrients from its host and may cause disease.