BIOL 1200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Insular Biogeography, Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis, Interspecific Competition

49 views2 pages
17 Dec 2017
School
Department
Course

Document Summary

Certain species have a very large impact on community structure. Such species are highly abundant or play a pivotal role in community dynamics. Dominant species: those that are most abundant or have the highest biomass. One hypothesis suggests that dominant species are most competitive in exploiting resources. Another hypothesis is that they are most successful at avoiding predators and disease. Bottom-up model: community organization proposes a unidirectional influence from lower to higher trophic levels. Availability of mineral nutrients determines the abundance of primary producers. Abundance of primary producers controls food availability and abundance for all higher trophic levels. Community structure: research on species interactions usually focuses on just two species at a time - but biological communities contain many thousands of species. High levels of disturbance exclude many slow-growing or slow-colonizing species. Low levels of disturbance allow dominant species to exclude less competitive species. Human disturbance: human activities represent the strongest disturbances to ecosystems worldwide.

Get access

Grade+20% off
$8 USD/m$10 USD/m
Billed $96 USD annually
Grade+
Homework Help
Study Guides
Textbook Solutions
Class Notes
Textbook Notes
Booster Class
40 Verified Answers
Class+
$8 USD/m
Billed $96 USD annually
Class+
Homework Help
Study Guides
Textbook Solutions
Class Notes
Textbook Notes
Booster Class
30 Verified Answers

Related Documents

Related Questions