Ecology: Biology of Interaction. 5.08. Terms Describing Organism Tolerance
Different organisms differ both in the width and in the position of their characteristic tolerance ranges. Range width is indicated by the prefix “eury-” (broad) versus “steno-” (narrow); adaptation to high values by “poly-”, and to low values by “oligo-”.
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5.07. Shelford's Law of Tolerance
D. Shabanov, M. Kravchenko. Ecology: Biology of Interaction, Chapter 5. Autecology and Fundamentals of Environmental Science
5.09. 'Factor Interaction' and Hutchinson's Niche
5.08. Terms Describing Organism Tolerance To make the master's work feared, he knows many scary words (author unknown) Different organisms differ in both the width and the value of their characteristic tolerance ranges. The width of the tolerance range is indicated by the prefix 'eury-', narrowness by 'steno-'. Adaptation to high values of the considered factor is indicated by the prefix 'poly-', to low values - 'oligo-'. Thus, with respect to temperature, among organisms, one can distinguish euritherms, stenotherms, oligotherms, and polytherms. The copepod crustacean Copilla mirabilie cannot tolerate temperatures outside the range of 23–29°C, while the Dahurian larch (Larix gmelinii) can withstand temperature fluctuations from +30°C to –70°C. The root '-halinity' is used in terms describing tolerance to salinity, '-oxybiont' - to oxygen content in water, '-hygric' - to humidity, etc. Regarding the general width of ecological niches, eurybionts and stenobionts can be distinguished. For example, trout is a stenooxybiont and polyoxybiont, while crucian carp is a eurioxibiont. The grey crow, found in a wide variety of habitats, is a eurybiont, and the black woodpecker (żołna), associated with a strictly defined type of old-growth forest, is a stenobiont. Tolerance limits differ for different developmental stages of organisms, for different sexes, for different processes. Aquarium hobbyists are well aware of the generative stenothermy (and more broadly, generative stenobionty) of many aquarium fish. It is much easier to keep adult fish alive than to achieve reproduction in captivity and keep the young alive. The Russian botanist and ecologist Leontiy Grigoryevich Ramensky formulated the principle of individuality of species ecology (it would be more accurate to say uniqueness), according to which each species is characterized by unique features in its environmental requirements.
5.07. Shelford's Law of Tolerance
D. Shabanov, M. Kravchenko. Ecology: Biology of Interaction, Chapter 5. Autecology and Fundamentals of Environmental Science
5.09. 'Factor Interaction' and Hutchinson's Niche