Communities

Terms:
community, life zones, ecotone, community structure, species richness, species diversity, selective predation, disturbance, intermediate disturbance model, edge effect, induced and inherent ecotone, habitat heterogeneity, foliage height diversity

community:  An association of interacting populations at the same place and same time.

community structure: The diversity and abundance of species in a community that give it its physiognomy.

disturbance: Any discrete event that removes organisms in a community and opens space for colonization by the same or different organisms.

ecotone:  A transition zone between two communities where a  mixture of species from both communities occurs. 

edge effect: When higher species richness occurs where two communities meet (ecotone) than found in either community by itself due to mixture of species from both communities.

foliage height diversity:   An index used to assess the structural complexity of a community by measuring leaf area at various heights above ground in a defined area. 

habitat heterogeneity: Describes a habitat or community that has a complex physiognomy or structure, including in the distribution, density, and relative heights of plants within it.

induced ecotone: An ecotone created artifically by human disturbance to one or both communities that border it.

inherent ecotone: A ecotone that exists due to natural physical and/or biological processes that limit the distribution of the two communities in contact.

intermediate disturbance model: A model that predicts that greatest species richness will occur in communities that are subjected to intermediate levels of disturbance, whereas lower richness will occur where there are too many or too few disturbances.

life zones: A fixed community of plants and animals associated with a particular elevational range.

selective predation:  When predators select specific prey species more than others. 

species diversity: The total number and abundance of species in a defined area or community.

species richness:  The total number of species found in a defined area or community.