Competition

Front 1

balance of nature

Back 1

the delicate balance between organisms and their environment

Front 2

extrinsic limiting factors

Back 2

Limiting factors can act from outside the population. abiotic:
Sunlight
Water
Nutrients
Food
Resources

or

biotic:
Competition
Predation
Symbiosis

Front 3

intrinsic limiting factors

Back 3

Limiting factors can also act from inside the population
Changes in reproductive physiology Changes in behavior

Front 4

abiotic limiting factors

Back 4

physical factors: forest fires, floods

Front 5

biotic limiting factors

Back 5

diseases, parasites

Front 6

density-dependent lim. factor

Back 6

act in proportion to how dense the population has become

Front 7

density-independent lim. factor

Back 7

have the same effect regardless of how dense the population has become (forest fires, tidal waves)

Front 8

non-equilibrium theory

Back 8

stresses the importance of disturbance

Front 9

disturbance

Back 9

Most populations are regulated by a combination of limiting factors - they never reach their full reproductive potential

Front 10

competition

Back 10

occurs when two or more organisms use the same resource in a way that affects the birth rate or death rate of the competitors.
Competition is an extrinsic, density-dependent limiting factor

Front 11

intraspecific competition

Back 11

the most intense. between members of the same species

Front 12

interspecific competition

Back 12

between members of different species

Front 13

niche

Back 13

the ecological role that a species plays in a biological community, the sum total of its needs and the parameters within which it can survive (niche = job, habitat = address)

Front 14

niche overlap

Back 14

Individuals of different species will occupy a different niche
The intensity of the competition between them depends on the extent to which their niches overlap

Front 15

fundamental niche

Back 15

its full potential

Front 16

realized niche

Back 16

Competition forces organisms into a much narrower niche

Front 17

competitive exclusion

Back 17

occurs when one species is a better competitor than another, and forces it into local extinction

Front 18

coexistence

Back 18

-Live in different geographic areas
-Live in same geographic area, but in a different habitat
-Live in same geographic area, and same habitat, but use it at a different time of day
-Live in same geographic area, same habitat, use it at same time of day, but exploit the resource in a different way - resource partitioning
– Like mixed species foraging flocks

Front 19

scramble competition (exploitation)

Back 19

exploit resources by using them up (exploitative)

Front 20

Contest competition

Back 20

engage in a face to face contest over limited resources (interference)

Front 21

Territory

Back 21

any area that an animal defends against other animals

Front 22

“floaters”

Back 22

Bachelor males with no territory thus no mate.

Front 23

territoriality

Back 23

Advertise your ability to defend your territory with recognized signals - body postures, vocalizations, plumage displays

Front 24

resource partitioning

Back 24

Another way to coexist. exploit the resource in a different way, like mixed species foraging flocks.

Front 25

character displacement

Back 25

Another way to coexist. Modify your physical shape through natural selection

Front 26

mixed species foraging flocks

Back 26

use resource partitioning to coexist. specialize in different feeding zones, and places on the tree