ENVS200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Species Richness, Species Evenness, Pioneer Species
20 Mar 2016
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Document Summary
Why we use scientific, latin names: common name are not universal (eg. beans, it is a tool to organize/interpret relationships between organisms, latin names are specific and traceable. Community: an association of interacting species inhabiting a defined area. Alpha ( ) diversity: species richness within a community. Beta ( ) diversity: species diversity between ecosystems. Gamma ( ) diversity: total species richness in the region. Sampling considerations: the number of species you find will increase with sampling effort, creating a standard sampling method (same amount of time, same methods, importance of proper id, enumerating modular vs unitary organisms, disturbance: frequency, intensity and scale. Succession following a forest fire in an ontario mixed forest: fire, annual plants, grasses and perennials, grasses, shrubs, pines, young oak and hickory, mature oak and hickory forest. Facilitation hypothesis: pioneer species modify the environment in ways that make it less suitable for their own survival, but more suitable for survival of late- successional species.
