Exam 19: Community Dynamics

Although community composition changes during succession,diversity rarely changes.

Grasses are usually the first plant species to colonize sand dunes.

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

Succession in a community involves

Autogenic environmental change always occurs in plant succession.

The ________ model of succession proposes that early successional species modify the environment so that it becomes more suitable for later successional species.

Light is the only environmental factor that changes during the course of succession in a community.

The organismal concept of communities argues that species distributions along environmental gradients form clusters because they are interdependent.

________ environmental change is a direct result of the organisms within the community.

As glaciers in North America melted,formerly glaciated areas were invaded by

In succession,which type of environmental change occurs when the physical environment changes,such as an increase in temperature or salinity?

Community structure changes over relatively short time scales through succession,but it tends to be stable over longer geological time scales.

An example of secondary succession is

Pollen preserved within lake sediments can be used to reconstruct historical changes in the geographic ranges of plant species.

During plant succession,animals can quickly lose their habitat by vegetation change.

Communities vary in composition over space but usually not in composition over time.

The study of the distribution and abundance of ancient organisms and their relationship to the environment is referred to as ________.