2.3 community ecology: the florida everglades: a community in crisis

community ecology

the study of all the populations (plants, animals, and other species) living and interacting in an area

habitat

the physical environment in which individuals of a particular species can be found

niche

the role a species plays in its community, including how it gets its energy and nutrients, which habitat requirements it has, and with which other species and parts of the ecosystem it interacts

niche specialists

a species with very specific habitat or resource requirements that restrict where it can live

niche generalists

a species who occupies a broad niche because it can utilize a wide variety of resources

food chain

a simple, linear path starting with a plant (or other photosynthetic organism) that identifies what each organism in the path eats

food web

a linkage of all the food chains together that shows the many connections in the community

producers

an organism that converts solar energy to chemical energy via photosynthesis

consumers

an organism that obtains energy and nutrients by feeding on another organism

indicator species

a species that is particularly vulnerable to ecosystem perturbations, and that, when we monitor it, can give us advance warning of a problem

trophic levels

feeding levels in a food chain

detritivores

consumers (including worms, insects, and crabs) that eat dead organic material

decomposers

organisms such as bacteria and fungi that break organic matter all the way down to constituent atoms or molecules in a form that plants can take back up

resilience

the ability of an ecosystem to recover when it is damaged or perturbed

species diversity

the variety of species, including how many are present (richness) and their abundance relative to each other (evenness)

ecotones

regions of distinctly different physical areas that serve as boundaries between different communities

edge effects

the change in species diversity that occurs due to the different conditions that either attract or repel certain species at an ecotone

keystone species

a species that impacts the community more than its mere abundance would predict, often altering ecosystem structure

predation

species interaction in which one individual (the predator) feeds on another (the prey)

competition

species interaction in which individuals are vying for limited resources

resource partitioning

the use of different parts of aspects of a resource by different species rather than direct competition for exactly the same resource

symbiosis

a close biological or ecological relationship between two species

mutualism

a symbiotic relationship between individuals of two species in which both parties benefit

commensalism

a symbiotic relationship between individuals of two species in which one benefits from the presence of the other but the other is unaffected

parasitism

a symbiotic relationship between individuals of two species in which one benefits and the other is negatively affected

restoration ecology

the science that deals with the repair of damaged or disturbed ecosystems

ecological succession

progressive replacement of plant (and then animal) species in a community over time due to the changing conditions that the plants themselves create (more soil, shade, etc)

primary succession

ecological succession that occurs in an area where no ecosystem existed before (like on bare rock with no soil)

pioneer species

species that move into an area during early stages of succession

secondary succession

ecological succession that occurs in an ecosystem that has been disturbed but not rendered lifeless