In-Class Learning Objectives
List the categories of interspecific
interactions and explain how each interaction may affect the population densities
of the two species involved.
Define an ecological niche and restate the competitive exclusion principle using
the niche concept.
Distinguish among parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism.
Define and compare predation, herbivory, and parasitism.
Give specific examples of adaptations of predators and prey.
Explain how dominant and keystone species exert strong control on community
structure. Describe an example of each.
Explain the relationship between species richness and relative abundance and
explain how both contribute to species diversity.
Describe and distinguish between the bottom-up and top-down models of community
organization. Describe possible features of a model that is intermediate between
these two extremes.
Provide examples of how disturbance may increase or decrease species diversity.
Distinguish between primary and secondary succession.
Give examples of humans as widespread agents of disturbance.
Describe how species that arrive early in succession may facilitate, inhibit,
or tolerate later arrivals.
Explain why species richness declines along an equatorial-polar gradient.
Define the species-area curve.
Explain how species richness on islands varies according to island size and
distance from the mainland.
Out of Class Concepts
State the competitive exclusion principle.
Key Terms
Coevolution
Commensalism
Community
Competition
Competitive exclusion
Disturbance
Dominant species
Ecological niche
Ecological succession
Food chain
Food web
Herbivory
Intermediate disturbance
Hypothesis
Interspecific interaction
Invasive species
Keystone species
Mutualism
Parasite
Parasitism
Predation
Primary succession
Relative abundance
Resource partitioning
Secondary succession
Species diversity
Species richness
Species-area curve
Trophic structure