Marine Ecology: Concepts and Applications - Competition and Succession

Flashcards created based on lecture notes covering key concepts in marine ecology, focusing on competition and ecological succession.

Intraspecific Competition

Competition that occurs among individuals of the same species for limited resources.

Interspecific Competition

Competition that occurs between individuals of different species for limited resources.

Self-Thinning Process

A phenomenon where, despite high initial population densities, only a limited number of individuals survive due to competition for resources.

Carrying Capacity

The maximum number of individuals of a species that an environment can sustain based on available resources.

Fecundity

The ability to produce offspring; often increases with size in marine organisms, especially females.

Benthic Substrates

The bottom surface of a body of water; important for the life cycles of many marine species.

Ecological Succession

The process by which ecosystems change and develop over time, typically following a disturbance.

Resource Partitioning

The process whereby competing species utilize different resources or different portions of the same resource to coexist.

Fundamental Niche

The full range of conditions and resources under which a species can survive and reproduce.

Realized Niche

The actual conditions and resources a species uses in the presence of competitors.

Chemical Compounds in Competition

Substances released by some species that can inhibit the growth or reproduction of nearby competitors.

Community Structure

The organization and distribution of various species in different habitats within an ecosystem.

Predator-Prey Dynamics

The relationships and interactions between predators and their prey, influencing population dynamics.

Competitive Exclusion Principle

The concept that two species competing for the same resources cannot coexist at constant population values.

Settlement Preferences

The characteristics of a substrate or environment that determine where organisms, such as larvae, will settle and grow.

Larval Dispersal

The movement of offspring from their parents to new locations, which is critical for species survival and ecosystem dynamics.

Apical Dominance

The preference for growth in stems or branches while suppressing the growth of lateral buds, influencing competition.

Biofilm

A thin, slimy film of bacteria that sticks to a surface, often important for the settlement of marine organisms.

Gregarious Settlement

The phenomenon where organisms, such as barnacles, settle in close proximity to each other to enhance reproductive success.

Trophic Levels

The hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, defined by the organism's role in the food chain.

Ecological Interactions

Relationships between organisms that can influence species distribution and abundance.

Abiotic Factors

Non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect ecosystems, such as sunlight, temperature, and water.

Biotic Factors

Living components of an ecosystem, including plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi.

Niche Differentiation

The process by which competing species use the environment differently to coexist in the same area.

Population Dynamics

Study of how and why population sizes change over time.

Habitat Fragmentation

The process where large habitats are divided into smaller, isolated patches, affecting the survival of species.

Keystone Species

A species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance.

Biomagnification

The process by which concentrations of toxins increase in organisms at each successive level of the food chain.

Trophic Cascade

An ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators, resulting in changes in ecosystem structure and nutrient cycling.

Ecosystem Services

The benefits that humans obtain from ecosystems, including provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services.

Invasive Species

Non-native species that, when introduced to a new environment, can disrupt local ecosystems and outcompete native species.

Food Web

A complex network of feeding relationships among various organisms in an ecosystem.

Trophic Efficiency

The percentage of energy that is transferred from one trophic level to the next in a food chain.

Symbiosis

A close and long-term interaction between two different species, which can be mutualistic, commensal, or parasitic.

Migration

Seasonal movement of animals from one region to another for feeding or breeding purposes.

Biodiversity Hotspots

Regions that are both rich in biodiversity and threatened by human activities.

Conservation Biology

The scientific study of the conservation of biodiversity and the management of natural resources.

Greenhouse Effect

The warming of Earth’s surface caused by the trapping of heat in the atmosphere due to greenhouse gases.

Allee Effect

A phenomenon where a population's growth rate decreases as the population density decreases, leading to challenges in reproduction.

Biological Invasion

The introduction of species to ecosystems where they do not normally occur, which can lead to ecological harm.

Eutrophication

A process in which water bodies become overly enriched with nutrients, leading to excessive growth of algae and depletion of oxygen.