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A generalist species is able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and can make use of a variety of different resources (for example, a heterotroph with a varied diet). A specialist species can thrive only in a narrow range of environmental conditions or has a limited diet.
Animals that have S 1 s that reach the threshold are defined as generalists. In nature, generalists include a wide range of prey items in their diet. [11] An example of a generalist is a mouse, which consumes a large variety of seeds, grains, and nuts. [12] In contrast, predators with relatively short S 1 s are still better off choosing to eat ...
Polyphagy is the habit in an animal species, of eating and tolerating a relatively wide variety of foods, whereas monophagy is the intolerance of every food except for one specific type (see generalist and specialist species).
Evolution occurs continuously both in time and space, so that ecotypes or forms may qualify as distinct species in a few generations. [22] Begon, Townsend, and Harper use an illuminating analogy on this: ... the origin of a species, whether allopatric or sympatric, is a process, not an event. For the formation of a new species, like the boiling ...
There is a trade off between offspring quality and quantity; the specialist maximises the chances of its young thriving by paying great attention to the choice of host, while the generalist produces larger numbers of eggs in sub-optimal conditions. [19] Some insect micropredators migrate regularly from one host to another.
This term is used for organisms that "directly or indirectly modulate availability of resources (other than themselves) to other species, by causing physical state changes in biotic or abiotic materials". Beavers are an example of such engineers. Other examples include earthworms, trees, coral reefs, and planktonic organisms.
Generalist species, especially invasive ones, have been seen to benefit from this landscape change whilst specialist species are suffering. [3] For example, the alpha diversity of edge-intolerant birds in Lacandona rainforest , Mexico, is decreasing as edge effects increase.
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