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In ecology, functional equivalence (or functional redundancy) is the ecological phenomenon that multiple species representing a variety of taxonomic groups can share similar, if not identical, roles in ecosystem functionality (e.g., nitrogen fixers, algae scrapers, scavengers). [1] This phenomenon can apply to both plant and animal taxa.
The stable state landscape is changed by environmental drivers, which may result in a change in the quantity of stable states and the relationship between states. By the ecosystem perspective, the landscape of the ecological states is changed, which forces a change in the ecosystem state.
Functional redundancy refers to the phenomenon that species in the same ecosystem fill similar roles, which results in a sort of "insurance" in the ecosystem. Redundant species can easily do the job of a similar species from the same functional niche. [13] This is possible because similar species have adapted to fill the same niche overtime.
Functional diversity is widely considered to be "the value and the range of those species and organismal traits that influence ecosystem functioning" [3] In this sense, the use of the term "function" may apply to individuals, populations, communities, trophic levels, or evolutionary process (i.e. considering the function of adaptations). [3]
The balance of nature, also known as ecological balance, is a theory that proposes that ecological systems are usually in a stable equilibrium or homeostasis, which is to say that a small change (the size of a particular population, for example) will be corrected by some negative feedback that will bring the parameter back to its original "point of balance" with the rest of the system.
Paramecium aurelia and Paramecium caudatum grow well individually, but when they compete for the same resources, P. aurelia outcompetes P. caudatum.. Based on field observations, Joseph Grinnell formulated the principle of competitive exclusion in 1904: "Two species of approximately the same food habits are not likely to remain long evenly balanced in numbers in the same region.
Ecological succession is the process of change in the species that make up an ecological community over time. The process of succession occurs either after the initial colonization of a newly created habitat, or after a disturbance substantially alters a pre-existing habitat. [ 1 ]
Frank W. Preston, an early investigator of the theory of the species–area relationship, divided it into two types: samples (a census of a contiguous habitat that grows in the census area, also called "mainland" species–area relationships), and isolates (a census of discontiguous habitats, such as islands, also called "island" species–area ...