Practice - 2.3 Community Ecology: Species Interactions
Practice Questions
Test your understanding with targeted questions
Define an ecological community.
- Answer: A community consists of all the different populations of different species that live and interact in a particular area.
- Hint: It is the level of organization above a population.
💡 Hint: It is the level of organization above a population.
Which type of symbiotic relationship is represented by the symbols (+/+)?
- Answer: Mutualism.
- Hint: Both species come away with a benefit.
💡 Hint: Both species come away with a benefit.
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Interactive Quizzes
Quick quizzes to reinforce your learning
Which interaction is characterized by both species being negatively affected (-/-)?
- Type: mcq
- Options: A) Mutualism, B) Competition, C) Parasitism, D) Commensalism
- Correct Answer: B
- Explanation: In competition, both species lose energy or access to resources because they are vying for the same limited supply.
- Hint: Both sides pay a price in this "fight."
💡 Hint: Both sides pay a price in this "fight."
True or False: In commensalism, one species is harmed while the other benefits.
- Type: boolean
- Options: True, False
- Correct Answer: False
- Explanation: That describes parasitism. In commensalism, one benefits (+) and the other is neutral (0).
- Hint: Check the "0" symbol in the summary.
💡 Hint: Check the "0" symbol in the summary.
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Challenge Problems
Push your limits with advanced challenges
Co-evolution Case Study: Describe an adaptation a predator might evolve to catch a faster prey animal, and a corresponding adaptation the prey might evolve to escape that predator.
- Solution Example: The predator might evolve better camouflage or increased speed (like a cheetah). The prey might evolve more acute hearing or warning coloration to signal they are poisonous.
- Hint: This is an "evolutionary arms race."
💡 Hint: This is an "evolutionary arms race."
Ecosystem Disruption: If a non-native "Super-Competitor" species is introduced to a pond and uses the exact same nesting sites as the native frogs, use the concepts of Competition and Interdependence to predict what might happen to the pond's community.
- Solution: Through interspecific competition, the native frogs might face competitive exclusion and disappear. This disruption would ripple through the community: the insects the frogs used to eat might overpopulate, and the snakes that used to eat the frogs might starve or leave. The balance of the whole system is threatened.
- Hint: If you remove one piece of a web, what happens to the other strands?
💡 Hint: If you remove one piece of a web, what happens to the other strands?
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