Ecological continuum. All the environments favourable to a group of species and functionally linked between each other form an ecological continuum. This continuum thus consists of nodal zones ( hearts of forest massifs, rivers, etc.), buffer zones and the ecological corridors that link them together.
What is the nature of communities?
What is niche in ecology?
What is Clements' magnus opus?
What are the four essential ingredients of biogeographic patterns?
What are the four fundamental processes of ecology?
Who wrote the individualistic concept of the plant association?
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What is meant by Continuum Concept?
The continuum concept is an idea, coined by Jean Liedloff in her 1975 book The Continuum Concept, that human beings have an innate set of expectations (which Liedloff calls the continuum) that our evolution as a species has designed us to meet in order to achieve optimal physical, mental, and emotional development and ...
What is continuum concept botany?
The phrase “continuum concept of vegetation” means that an uninterrupted series of elements form a sort of continuum, there being no sharp transitions or ecotones between communities, and that species composition changes gradually from place to place or time to time (Mcintosh, 1967).
What is the continuum of life?
The Continuum Concept, explained by Jean Liedloff in her book of the same name, is the idea that in order to achieve optimal physical, mental and emotional development, human beings — especially babies — require the kind of experience to which our species adapted during the long process of our evolution.
What does community and continuum mean?
community unit, which describes ecological. communities as distinct and repeatable units, and. the continuum, which focuses on the continuous. and stochastic nature of compositional variation. in space and time.
Why is it called continuum?
1640s, "a continuous spread or extension, a connection of elements as intimate as that of the instants of time," from Latin continuum "a continuous thing," neuter of continuus "joining, connecting with something; following one after another," from continere (intransitive) "to be uninterrupted," literally "to hang ...
What is an example of a continuum?
Continuum definition The definition of continuum is a continuous series of elements or items that vary by such tiny differences that they do not seem to differ from each other. An example of a continuum is a range of temperatures from freezing to boiling.
What is another word for continuum?
What is another word for continuum?limitlessnessinfinitudeimmensityvastnessboundlessnessinfinitenessexpanseextentperpetuitycontinuity11 more rows
What are the stages of continuum?
The framework suggests four stages—awareness, attraction, attachment and allegiance—to describe how sport and event involvement progressively develops with corresponding behaviours (e.g., playing, watching, buying).
What are the four stages of continuum?
There are four different stages on the stress continuum: thriving, surviving, struggling, and crisis.
What is the difference between continuum and continuous?
To be continuous is to constitute an unbroken or uninterrupted whole, like the ocean or the sky. A continuous entity—a continuum—has no “gaps”.
What is the best definition for continuum of care?
A Continuum of Care (CoC) is a regional or local planning body that coordinates housing and services funding for homeless families and individuals.
What is a continuum in research?
continuums represent the philosophical paradigms of the researcher and discipline (Burrell and Morgan, 1979;Hunt, 1992). They can range from positivist on one extreme to relativist/interpretivist on the other (Figure 1). ...
What is the speciation continuum?
The “speciation continuum” can be defined as the continuous sequence of genetically-based changes that occur as two lineages diverge from one another on the pathway to reproductive isolation.
What are the four stages of continuum?
There are four different stages on the stress continuum: thriving, surviving, struggling, and crisis.
(PDF) Community Ecology | Kate Gould - Academia.edu
The effects of top-down and bottom-up forces on species abundance and diversity were quantified in the inquiline communities found in the water-filled leaves of the pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea.
Community Ecology: Definition and Characteristics of Community Ecology
(b) Minor Community: It is a smaller community which is not a self sustaining unit. It is dependent on other communities for its existence. The major community exemplified by a forest has many minor communities namely the plant community (the plant population of the forest), the animal community (the animal population of the forest) and the microbial community (bacteria and fungi population).
Community Ecology - R. Putnam - Google Books
Over the past two decades much progress has been made in the study of ecology at the level of whole communities. The development of sophisticated modelling techniques capable of handling the complexity of interactions, together with increased rigour of analysis of field observation and recognition of the need for controlled experimentation, have led to tremendous advances in our understanding ...
Community Ecology - R.J. Putman, Rory Putman - Google Books
"Chapter 1 establishes the context of such a search for pattern, presenting essential definitions and exploring early work on community structure and organization. The various biotic and abiotic factors which may influence communities and their dynamics are reviewed in Chapter 2, while the way in which the interrelationships between organisms are structured within the community in food webs or ...
Community (Ecology): Definition, Structure, Theory & Examples
Foundation species, like coral in a coral reef community, play a pivotal role in community ecology and shaping structure.Coral reefs are commonly called “rainforests of the sea” because they provide food, shelter, breeding areas and protection for up to 25 percent of all marine life, according to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
continuum index
continuum index A measure of the total environment of a stand of trees, expressed in terms of species composition and their relative abundance. In the Wisconsin ordination scheme the index is calculated by multiplying the importance value of each species in each sample by the adaptation number, and summing these results for each stand.
continuum index
continuum index A measure of the total environment of a stand of trees, expressed in terms of species composition and their relative abundance. In the Wisconsin ordination scheme the index is calculated by multiplying the importance value of each species in each sample by the adaptation number, and summing these results for each stand.
What is the nature of communities?
At that time, two extreme views dominated the discussion: one view considered a community as a superorganism, the member species of which were tightly bound together by interactions that contributed to repeatable patterns of species abundance in space and time. This concept led to the assumption that communities are fundamental entities, to be classified as the Linnaean taxonomy of species. Frederick E. Clements was one of the leading proponents of this approach, and his view became known as the organismic concept of communities. This assumes a common evolutionary history for the integrated species. The opposite view was the individualistic continuum concept, advocated by H. A. Gleason. His focus was on the traits of individual species that allow each to live within specific habitats or geographical ranges. In this view a community is an assemblage of populations of different species whose traits allow persisting in a prescribed area. The spatial boundaries are not sharp, and the species composition can change considerably. Consequently, it was discussed whether ecological communities were sufficiently coherent entities to be considered appropriate study objects. Later, consensus was reached: that properties of communities are of central interest in ecology, regardless of their integrity and coherence. From the 1950s and 1960s onward, the discussion was dominated by the deterministic outcome of local interactions between species and their environments and the building of this into models of communities. This approach, indicated as “traditional community ecology,” led to a morass of theoretical models, without being able to provide general principles about many-species communities. Early-21st-century approaches to bringing general patterns into community ecology concern (1) the metacommunity approach, (2) the functional trait approach, (3) evolutionary community ecology, and (4) the four fundamental processes. The metacommunity approach implicitly recognizes and studies the important role of spatiotemporal dynamics. In the functional trait approach, four themes are focused upon: traits, environmental gradients, the interaction milieu, and performance currencies. This functional, trait-focused approach should have a better prospect of understanding the effects of global changes. Evolutionary community ecology is an approach in which the combination of community ecology and evolutionary biology will lead to a better understanding of the complexity of communities and populations. The four fundamental processes are selection, drift, speciation, and dispersal. This approach concerns an organizational scheme for community ecology, based on these four processes to describe all existing specific models and frameworks, in order to make general statements about process–pattern connections.
What is niche in ecology?
Although recently the niche concept has had a negative connotation among ecologists, Chase and Leibold argue that the niche is an ideal tool for unifying disparate research and theoretical approaches in contemporary ecology . Their niche concept is flexible enough to include a variety of small- and large-scale processes, from resource competition, predation, and stress to community structure, biodiversity, and ecosystem function.
What is Clements' magnus opus?
Clements’s magnus opus, in which he conceived of the community as a superorganism whose member species are tightly bound together both now and in their common evolutionary history. His ideas are out of date but are referred to in a historical context.
What are the four essential ingredients of biogeographic patterns?
According to MacArthur the structure of the environment, the morphology of the species, the economics of species behavior, and the dynamics of population changes are the four essential ingredients of biogeographic patterns.
What are the four fundamental processes of ecology?
The four fundamental processes are selection, drift, speciation, and dispersal. This approach concerns an organizational scheme for community ecology, based on these four processes to describe all existing specific models and frameworks, in order to make general statements about process–pattern connections.
Who wrote the individualistic concept of the plant association?
Gleason, H. A. 1926. The individualistic concept of the plant association. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 53.1: 7–26.
What is the effect of turbidity on aquatic plants?
Increasing turbidity reduces sunlight to the streambed causing a reduction in rooted aquatic plants. Backwaters may exist where turbidity has settled and aquatic plants are abundant. Fish species are omnivores and plankton feeders such as carp, buffalo, suckers, and paddlefish.
What is the RCC concept?
The River Continuum Concept (RCC) describes the entire river system as a continuously integrating series of physical gradients and associated biotic adjustments as the river flows from headwater to mouth.
What is the energy source of a headwater woodland stream?
Sunlight is limited by overhanging trees, so photosynthesis is limited. Energy comes instead from leaves and woody material falling into the stream. Aquatic insects break down and digest the terrestrial organic matter.
What is the river continuum?
The river continuum concept emphasizes the longitudinal dimension of the stream ecosystem. The RCC proposes a progressive shift, from headwaters to mouth, of physical gradients and energy inputs and accompanying shift in trophic organization and biological communities (Vannote et al, 1980, graphic Stream Corridor, FISRWG).
How does water affect trout?
Water is cooled by springs and often supports trout. In the mid-reaches, the gradient decreases and there are fewer rapids and falls. The stream is wider, sunlight reaches the water allowing growth of aquatic plants. Insects feed on algae and living plants.
What do insects eat?
Insects feed on algae and living plants. Proportion of groundwater to runoff is lower so stream temperatures are warmer. The larger stream supports a greater diversity of invertebrates and fish. The river grows and the gradient lessens with few riffles and rapids.
What is longitudinal connectivity?
Within the stream system, longitudinal connectivity refers to the pathways along the entire length of a stream. As the physical gradient changes from source to mouth, chemical systems and biological communities shift and change in response. The River Continuum Concept can be applied to this linear cycling of nutrients, continuum of habitats, influx of organic materials, and dissipation of energy.
How do asexual populations accumulate genetic variation?
Asexual populations accumulate genetic variation only at the rate at which their genes mutate. Favourable mutations arising in different asexual individuals have no way of recombining and eventually appearing together in any one individual, as they do in sexual populations.
How does natural selection help to reduce genetic variation?
Natural selection, therefore, continually works to reduce genetic variation within populations, but populations risk extinction without the genetic variation that allows populations to respond evolutionarily to changes in the physical environment, diseases, predators, and competitors.
How can genetic variation be sustained?
Over long periods of time, genetic variation is more easily sustained in large populations than in small populations. Through the effects of random genetic drift , a genetic trait can be lost from a small population relatively quickly ( see biosphere: Processes of evolution ). For example, many populations have two or more forms of a gene, which are called alleles. Depending on which allele an individual has inherited, a certain phenotype will be produced. If populations remain small for many generations, they may lose all but one form of each gene by chance alone.
How does natural selection affect a species?
These genetic differences manifest themselves as differences among populations in morphology, physiology, behaviour, and life histories; in other words, genetic characteristics ( genotype) affect expressed, or observed, characteristics ( phenotype ). Natural selection initially operates on an individual organismal phenotypic level, favouring or discriminating against individuals based on their expressed characteristics. The gene pool (total aggregate of genes in a population at a certain time) is affected as organisms with phenotypes that are compatible with the environment are more likely to survive for longer periods, during which time they can reproduce more often and pass on more of their genes.
What are the two major factors that contribute to the genetic variation of asexual species?
Two major factors are responsible for this variety: mode of reproduction and population size.
How do sexual populations inherit their genes?
In sexual populations, genes are recombined in each generation, and new genotypes may result. Offspring in most sexual species inherit half their genes from their mother and half from their father, and their genetic makeup is therefore different from either parent or any other individual in the population.
How does natural selection work?
Natural selection, therefore, continually works to reduce genetic variation within populations, but populations risk extinction without the genetic variation that allows populations to respond evolutionarily to changes in the physical environment, diseases, predators, and competitors. Load Next Page.
Why is ecological gradient analysis important?
Today, this field is of special interest because of the landscape effect of climate change. Ecological gradient analysis are conducted and modeled to understand how specific climactic factors are affecting community composition along a gradient. It is also used to assess distribution of species along these gradients.
What determines the presence or absence of an organism in an ecosystem?
The presence or absence of an organism in any ecosystem is determined by the sum of abiotic and biotic factors.
Why did landscape ecology evolve?
Landscape ecology has evolved specifically because of certain phenomena that are unique to the scale at which it is viewed . One such phenomenon is the variation of vegetation along a gradient. This gradation is central to the vegetation continuum concept, which seeks to explain that presence or absence of a species in an area has as much to do ...
What determines the species composition of a landscape?
Over a landscape, the environmental gradient explains what determines the species composition.
What is an example of elevation gradient?
For example, let us take an elevation gradient. If we were to go up the side of a mountain, the elevation gradually increases . Along with this, there is a corresponding change in the vegetational composition (and as a consequence, the animal life as well).
When you put together multiple environmental gradients over any landscape—be it a mountain slope, an alluvial?
When you put together multiple environmental gradients over any landscape—be it a mountain slope, an alluvial plain or a forest—all of them together determine the environmental conditions that an organism will have to tolerate. This forms one-half of what an organism needs to adapt to. The other half comes from the responses of different organisms to the same environment, thus creating a thriving community.
Who proposed the vegetation continuum?
This concept was proposed and worked upon by Whittaker and Curtis in the 1950’s. As opposed to the prevailing individualistic concept, which said the a species is found in an area independent of other species, vegetation continuum believed that species are present because of their relationship with other species and also with the environment.
What is the nature of communities?
At that time, two extreme views dominated the discussion: one view considered a community as a superorganism, the member species of which were tightly bound together by interactions that contributed to repeatable patterns of species abundance in space and time. This concept led to the assumption that communities are fundamental entities, to be classified as the Linnaean taxonomy of species. Frederick E. Clements was one of the leading proponents of this approach, and his view became known as the organismic concept of communities. This assumes a common evolutionary history for the integrated species. The opposite view was the individualistic continuum concept, advocated by H. A. Gleason. His focus was on the traits of individual species that allow each to live within specific habitats or geographical ranges. In this view a community is an assemblage of populations of different species whose traits allow persisting in a prescribed area. The spatial boundaries are not sharp, and the species composition can change considerably. Consequently, it was discussed whether ecological communities were sufficiently coherent entities to be considered appropriate study objects. Later, consensus was reached: that properties of communities are of central interest in ecology, regardless of their integrity and coherence. From the 1950s and 1960s onward, the discussion was dominated by the deterministic outcome of local interactions between species and their environments and the building of this into models of communities. This approach, indicated as “traditional community ecology,” led to a morass of theoretical models, without being able to provide general principles about many-species communities. Early-21st-century approaches to bringing general patterns into community ecology concern (1) the metacommunity approach, (2) the functional trait approach, (3) evolutionary community ecology, and (4) the four fundamental processes. The metacommunity approach implicitly recognizes and studies the important role of spatiotemporal dynamics. In the functional trait approach, four themes are focused upon: traits, environmental gradients, the interaction milieu, and performance currencies. This functional, trait-focused approach should have a better prospect of understanding the effects of global changes. Evolutionary community ecology is an approach in which the combination of community ecology and evolutionary biology will lead to a better understanding of the complexity of communities and populations. The four fundamental processes are selection, drift, speciation, and dispersal. This approach concerns an organizational scheme for community ecology, based on these four processes to describe all existing specific models and frameworks, in order to make general statements about process–pattern connections.
What is niche in ecology?
Although recently the niche concept has had a negative connotation among ecologists, Chase and Leibold argue that the niche is an ideal tool for unifying disparate research and theoretical approaches in contemporary ecology . Their niche concept is flexible enough to include a variety of small- and large-scale processes, from resource competition, predation, and stress to community structure, biodiversity, and ecosystem function.
What is Clements' magnus opus?
Clements’s magnus opus, in which he conceived of the community as a superorganism whose member species are tightly bound together both now and in their common evolutionary history. His ideas are out of date but are referred to in a historical context.
What are the four essential ingredients of biogeographic patterns?
According to MacArthur the structure of the environment, the morphology of the species, the economics of species behavior, and the dynamics of population changes are the four essential ingredients of biogeographic patterns.
What are the four fundamental processes of ecology?
The four fundamental processes are selection, drift, speciation, and dispersal. This approach concerns an organizational scheme for community ecology, based on these four processes to describe all existing specific models and frameworks, in order to make general statements about process–pattern connections.
Who wrote the individualistic concept of the plant association?
Gleason, H. A. 1926. The individualistic concept of the plant association. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 53.1: 7–26.
