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20.2
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| climax community | a community that, after a process of ecological succession, has reached a generally stable state |
| disturbance | in ecology, an event that changes a community by removing or destroying organisms or altering resource availability |
| ecological succession | a gradual process of change and replacement in a community |
| pioneer species | a species that colonizes an uninhabited area and that starts an ecological cycle in which many other species become established |
| primary succession | succession that begins in an area that previously did not support life |
| secondary succession | the process by which one community replaces another |
| species-area effect | a pattern in which the number of species in an area increases as the area increases |
| species evenness | a measure of the relative abundance of each species in an ecological community |
| species richness | the number of different species in an area or community |
| stability | the tendency of a community to maintain a relatively constant structure |