ENVS 1000U Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Soil Life, Primary Succession, Ecological Footprint
1 Nov 2016
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Document Summary
Species interactions are the backbone of communities. One of the most important species interactions is who eats whom. Matter and energy move through the community. Trophic levels = rank in the feeding hierarchy: producers, consumers, detritivores and decomposers. Food chain= relationship of how energy is moved through tropical levels (linear) Take-away message: a hu(cid:373)a(cid:374) vegetaria(cid:374)"s ecological footprint is smaller than a meat-eater"s footprint. Food chain= relationship of how energy is moved through trophic levels (linear) Food web= a more realistic visual map of all feeding relationships in a community: very complex. Keystone species = have a strong or wide-reaching impact far out of proportion to its abundance. Removal of a keystone species has substantial ripple effects: alters the food chain. Succession= predictable series of changes in a community following a disturbance. Primary succession= disturbance eliminates all vegetation and/or soil life: glaciers, drying lakes, volcanic lava.
