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Communtiy Patterns
20.2
Question | Answer |
---|---|
species richness | the number of species in the community. A simple count of the species in the community. |
species eveness | the ralative abundance of each species in the community. Takes into account how common each species is in the community. |
species-area effect | Larger areas usually contain more species than smaller areas do. Is most often applied to island, where area is clearly limited by geography. |
Disturbances | events that change communites, remove or destroy organisms from communities, or alter resource availability. Examples are fires, floods, droughts |
stability | is the tendency of a community to maintain relatively constant conditions. Relates to the cmmunity's resistance to disturbances |
ecological succession | The gradual, seequential regrowth of a community of species in an area. |
Primary succession | the development of a community in an area that has not supported life previously, such as bare rock, a sand dune, or an island formed by a volcanic eruption |
Secondary Succession | the sequential replacement of species that follows disruption of an existing community. |
Pioneer Species | The species of organisms that predominate early in succession. Thend to ve small, to grow quickly, and to reproduce quickly, so they are well suited for invading and occupying a disturbed habitat. |
climax community | the traditional description of succession is that the community proceeds through a predictable series of stages until it reaches a stable end point. |