APES Chapter 5 vocab Essay Example

APES Chapter 5 vocab Essay Example APES Chapter 5 vocab Paper APES Chapter 5 vocab Paper interspecific competition occurs when members of two or more species interact to gain access to the same limited resources such as food, light, or space predatation occurs when a member of one species feeds directly on all or part of a member of another species parasitism occurs when one organism feeds on the body of, or the energy used by, another organism, usually by living on or in the host mutualism an interaction that benefits both species by providing each with food, shelter, or some other resourcea commensalism an interaction that benefits one species but has little, if any, effect on the other predator-prey relationship relationships between a predator and its prey coevolution evolution in which two or more species interact and exert selective pressures on each other that can lead each species to undergo adaptations resource partitioning occurs when species competing for similar scarce resources evolve specialized traits that allow them to reduce niche overlap population dynamics a study of how the distribution, numbers, age structure, and density of populations change in response to changes in environmental conditions age structure the proportions of individuals at various ages biotic potential capacity for population growth under ideal conditions intrinsic rate of increase (r) the rate at which the population of a species would grow if it had unlimited resources intrinsic rate of increase (r) the rate at which the population of a species would grow if it had unlimited resources carrying capacity (K) the maximum population of a given species that a particular habitat can sustain indefinitely without being degraded logistic growth involves rapid exponential population growth followed by a steady decrease in population growth until the population size levels off (S-shaped curve) r-related species species that have many, usually small, offspring and give them little or no parental care or protection K-related species tend to reproduce later in life and have a small number of offspring with fairly long life spans. They also tend to mother and protect their young population density the number of individuals in a population found in a particular area or volume ecological succession during which, some species colonize an area and their populations become more numerous, while populations of other species decline and may even disappear primary succession involves the gradual establishment of biotic communities in lifeless areas where there is no soil in a terrestrial ecosystem, or no bottom sediment in an aquatic ecosystem secondary succession in which a series of communities or ecosystems with different species develop in places containing soil or bottom sediment tipping point where any additional stress can cause an ecosystem to change in an abrupt and usually irreversible way that often involves collapse