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TASEnvironmental ScienceQuick questions
Ecological Processes
Quick questions on Population and Community Dynamics - TCE Environmental Science (Tasmania)
3short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What are limiting factors?Show answer
Factors that slow or stop population growth fall into two groups. Density-dependent factors have a stronger effect as the population gets denser. Competition for food, predation, parasitism and the spread of disease all increase when individuals are crowded together. Devil Facial Tumour Disease spreads more easily where Tasmanian devils are dense, because the cancer is passed on through biting.
What is interactions between species?Show answer
Species in a community interact in several characteristic ways.
What is ecological succession?Show answer
Communities are not fixed; they change over time through succession. Primary succession begins on bare ground with no soil, such as a newly exposed surface, where hardy pioneer species like lichens and mosses arrive first and slowly build soil. Secondary succession begins where a disturbance such as fire has removed vegetation but the soil remains, so recovery is faster.
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