EVSC 1200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Habitat Fragmentation, Species Richness, Ecotone
18 Feb 2016
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Document Summary
Gamma diversity a measure of the overall diversity within a large region. Alpha diversity the diversity within a particular area or ecosystem; usually expressed by the number of species (i. e. species richness) in that ecosystem. Where all the interactions occur gives us the community of the interacting species. Physical structure: physical characteristics of the particular community. Zonation spatial changes in the physical and biological structure of the community. Species differ in the range of environmental conditions over which they can survive, grow, and reproduce. Species differ in their response to environmental gradients. As a consequence as environmental conditions change, the set of species that are found to inhabit an area (the community) will change. Role of competition in zonation (fundamental vs realized niche) individual species are capable of surviving in large niches, but due to competition with other organisms, their realized (or actual) niche is much smaller.
