Chapter Objectives

Chapter 19

Community Ecology

Overview:  Key Properties of Communities

1. Define a community and describe some of the key properties.

 Interactions in Communities

2. Define the following ecological terms:  habitat (fundamental and natural), niche, symbiotic, competition, predation, parasitism, and mutualism.

3. Discuss the positive and negative aspects of predators on prey populations.

4.  Explain how a species can become "endangered."

Disturbance of Communities

5. Explain why stability and balance are not characteristic of most communities.

6. Distinguish between primary and secondary succession.

7. Explain why the concept of climax community can be problematic.

Human Impact on Biological Communities

8. Propose some reasonable reconciliations of biodiversity with human demands.

9. Provide an example that illustrates the impact of a human-introduced species.