Eco & Ev final

Trophic cascade

rate of consumption at one trophic level changes species abundance at lower trophic level

Trophic facilitation

a third party changes the environment or a prey's behavior, making it easier for a consumer to find or eat its food

Competitive interactions

all negative, maintain species richness in communities, dilute harmful effects

Interaction strength

effect of one species on the abundance of other species.

True context dependency

an ecological interaction is not fixed; its outcome changes based on the surrounding environment or the presence of other species

Community

groups of interacting species that occur together at the same time and space

Guild

group of species that all use the same resources

Functional group

group of species that all function in a similar way

Alpha diversity

number of species within an area.

Beta diversity

comparison of diversity between areas

Gamma diversity

overall diversity of a large region

Keystone species

species with a large effect due to their role within the community

Ecosystem engineers

species who create, modify, or maintain habitat for themselves or other species

Redundant species

species that have the same function within a community

Foundation species

species that have large effects on other species because of their abundance in the community

Apparent context dependency

looks context dependent but it's actually because of methods used like confounding factors, problems of statistical interference, methodological differences among species

agents of change

events or processes that shift community structure over time

Disturbance

physically injures or kills some individuals and creates opportunities for others to grow or reproduce

Stress

reduces the growth or reproduction of individuals and creates opportunities for other individuals

Succession

process by which species composition of a community changes over time

Primary succession

succession in areas completely devoid of life in habitats that have catastrophic disturbance or are newly formed

Secondary succession

reestablishment of community where most but not all organisms are destroyed in habitats that retain soil or are not strongly altered by catastrophe

Facilitation

Pioneers facilitate the next community by modifying environments so it’s more suitable for late successional species

Tolerance

species that can tolerate current conditions become established. Modify the environment so it’s less suitable for other early successional species, no effect on later species

Inhibition

early species inhibit all other species. Disturbance or stress allows the next stage to occur

Biogeography

The study of variation in species composition and diversity among geographic locations

Vicariance

Division of a population through the formation of a barrier

Dispersal

Population is divided through movement of individuals across an already existing barrier

apparent competition

indirect interaction where two or more prey negatively affect each other by increasing the density of a shared predator

Exploitative competition

Indirect interaction where one organism reduces resource availability for another by consuming it first before the can

Interference competition

A direct interaction between organisms to stop each other from accessing resources