Ecosystem Services
Anthropogenic activity that converts continuous wild habitat into smaller, isolated patches, reducing ecosystem service efficiency.
What is habitat fragmentation?
Due to limited resources and specialized niches, island species are particularly vulnerable to this biological threat.
What are invasive species (or habitat loss/extinction)?
This type of ecological succession occurs on newly exposed surfaces where no soil previously existed, such as after a volcanic eruption or glacier retreat.
What is primary succession?
The two main components used to measure species diversity in an ecosystem.
What are species richness and species evenness?
Species that have narrow niches, require specific habitats, and are easily impacted by environmental change.
What are specialist species?
These ecosystem services provide actual products obtained from ecosystems, such as timber, medicinal plants, and clean drinking water.
What are provisioning services?
According to island biogeography theory, this type of island will have the highest species richness.
What is a large island close to the mainland?
Mosses and lichens are classic examples of these early-arriving organisms that help form soil in primary succession.
What are pioneer species?
This type of diversity allows a particular species to have a good chance of surviving a natural disruption IF the diversity is high.
What is genetic diversity?
This type of species are able to live in a variety environments and are highly adaptable.
What are generalist species?
Ecotourism, recreational fishing, and aesthetic appreciation fall under this category of ecosystem services.
What are cultural services?
A sharp reduction in population size due to environmental events, severely reducing genetic diversity and leaving survivors vulnerable to disease.
What is the bottleneck effect?
This type of succession occurs after a disturbance disrupts an existing ecosystem without destroying the soil, such as after a forest fire or abandoned farmland.
What is secondary succession?
This type of diversity explains that ecosystems that have a larger number of species are more likely to recover from disruptions.
What is species diversity?
A measure of how quickly the ecosystem can “bounce back” from the disturbance.
What is resilience?
Elements like carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus move through organisms and the physical environment, keeping soils and waters fertile is what type of ecosystem service?
What is supporting service.
Organisms that exist only on a specific island.
What are endemic species.
The late stage of succession resulting in a stable, mature community of plants and animals (though modern ecology recognizes this is rarely static).
What is a climax community?
A species whose presence, absence, or abundance reflects a specific environmental condition or health state of an ecosystem, such as amphibians sensitive to water pollution.
What is an indicator species?
Physical or behavioral changes that occur over generations via natural selection, enabling organisms to survive environmental changes.
What are adaptations?
Water purification, climate regulation, and pollination fall under this category of ecosystem services.
What are regulating services?
The process where isolated island species evolve into many different species to fill vacant ecological niches.
What is adaptive radiation?
The hypothesis proposing that species diversity is maximized when ecological disturbance is neither too rare nor too frequent.
What is the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis?
A range of environmental conditions (such as temperature or pH) in which an organism can survive, grow, and reproduce.
What is the range of tolerance?
Disturbances occurring occasionally and at irregular intervals
What are episodic?