Community Ecology: Feel the Love - Crash Course Ecology

The video explores the role of competition in ecology, highlighting the competitive exclusion principle through Gause's experiments. It discusses ecological niches and resource partitioning, exemplified by MacArthur's warbler study. Character displacement is illustrated by the Grants' finch research. The video also covers mutualism and commensalism, showing how species interactions can avoid direct competition.

What drives competition among species according to the introduction?

• Abundance of resources

• Finite resources on the planet

• Lack of predators

• Climate change

What is the competitive exclusion principle?

• One species will eventually outcompete the other

• Species always share resources equally

• Competition leads to mutual benefits

• Two species can coexist indefinitely

What is an ecological niche?

• A place where species hide

• A species' role in its environment

• A specific climate zone

• A type of food a species eats

What is the difference between a fundamental niche and a realized niche?

• Fundamental niche is ideal, realized niche is actual

• Fundamental niche is larger than realized niche

• Realized niche is ideal, fundamental niche is actual

• Both niches are the same

What did Robert MacArthur discover about warblers?

• They all occupy the same niche

• They partition resources to coexist

• They migrate to different areas

• They compete until one species is extinct

What is resource partitioning?

• Sharing resources equally

• Dividing resources to reduce competition

• Competing for the same resources

• Eliminating weaker species

What is mutualism?

• Neither species benefits

• One species benefits, the other is unaffected

• Both species benefit

• One species benefits, the other is harmed

What is commensalism?

• Both species benefit

• One species benefits, the other is unaffected

• One species benefits, the other is harmed

• Neither species benefits

What is character displacement?

• Traits remain unchanged

• Species become more similar over time

• Traits diverge to reduce competition

• Species merge into one

How do species avoid competition through mutualism?

• By migrating to new areas

• By eliminating competitors

• By forming beneficial relationships

• By fighting for resources