How do limiting factors and ecological niches factor into species competition within a given ecosystem context? Why does competition for scarce resources tend to promote increased speciation (i.e., species richness) over time? Discuss some ways in which “disturbance” can serve as a force for maintaining, or even, increasing biodiversity within a given ecosystem area. Also describe some examples in which disturbance can decrease biodiversity. What are some of the characteristics of human disturbance that tend to cause reduced abundances and, in some cases, extinction of specialist species?
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