Exam 17: Community Dynamics

Groups of sites within an area that are at different stages of succession are known as

In primary succession, only ________ species function as pioneers.

Although community composition changes during succession, diversity rarely changes.

Diversity often decreases during the later stages of succession.

Community structure changes over relatively short time scales through succession, but generally is stable over longer geological time scales.

The sequence of communities from the pioneer community to the climax community is called a ________.

In the early stages of plant succession, shade-intolerant species are often common.

________ is a temporal change in community composition and structure.

Within an area, a group of sites that are at different stages of succession is known as a ________.

Outline and describe the three proposed mechanisms used in early succession.

Most forests in the eastern United States are greater than 100 years old.

Define Old Growth and outline the strengths and weakness of the Canadian approach to these types of forests.

The hypothesis that moderate frequencies of disturbance result in the highest species diversity is called the ________ hypothesis.

Succession involves

Define the term chronosequence. Under what conditions is this method of study most valid?

Explain how a chronosequence can be used to understand succession.

Primary succession occurs when the community at a site is disturbed and then replaced by a different community.

Define the intermediate disturbance hypothesis.

During the early stages of succession, diversity typically

Succession that occurs on a site that was previously occupied by another community is called ________ succession.