1. Community Ecology Chapter 21

2. I. Species Interactions
Review:
A Population is a group of individuals of the same species
A Community is a group of interacting populations of many species

3. 5 ways species interact:
Predation
Competition
Parasitism
Mutualism
Commensalism
(Symbiotic relationships -next 3)
Categories are based on whether each species causes
benefit or harm to the other in the relationship

4. 1. Predation Predator- the one that does eating. Prey –the eaten
When one organism kills & eats another.
Predator- the one that does eating.
Prey –the eaten
Examples:
Lions –eat zebras Birds - insects
Cougars –eat deer Blue whale- krill
Snakes – eat mice Fox- rabbits
Starfish- clams Eagle- prairie dog

5. Predator-Prey http://www.bcseakayak.com/i/destinations2-pic.jpeg

6. Predator-Prey
The predator, Didinium nasutum, a medium sized predatory  ciliated protist
(length c. 0.1mm) is preying on the larger ciliated protist.

7. Predator-Prey
Adaptations - improve hunting in predators or escaping in prey
Examples of Predator Adaptations:
Rattle snakes have good smell & heat sensing
Spiders make webs
Tiger striped coat = camouflage
Examples of Prey Adaptations:
Mantis coloration
Mimicry

8. Spider web- a predator’s adaptation

9. Wild Tiger of Kanha camouflage in the grass

10. Mimicry Defense mechanism for prey
Predator- Prey Adaptations
Mimicry
Defense mechanism for prey
Deception - A harmless species LOOKS like a harmful, poisonous or bad tasting species.
A predator will avoid BOTH species

11. Monarch and viceroy butterflies are an example of mimicry
Similar in appearance & are distasteful to predators.
A strong black line traversing the middle of the hindwing distinguishes the monarch (right) from the viceroy (left).

12. Mimicry-snakes

13. 2. Competition
*The relationship between species in which they attempt to use the same limited resource.
*To fit into a niche, an organism must compete.
*Competition occurs when fundamental niches overlap

14. Competitive Exclusion- When 2 species of paramecium are grown in same media- note that 1 species wins, other eliminated.

15. Character Displacement & Resource Partitioning
Competition Interactions:
Character Displacement & Resource Partitioning
Evolution of niche differences or anatomical differences to lessen competition
Occurs because
Competition may eliminate species from the community.
Species may change under the pressure of natural selection
Example- Darwin’s finches have different shaped beaks & eat different foods

16. Competition Interactions:
Organisms can compete even if they never come into contact with each other.
Examples:
**One species can feed on a certain plant at night while another eats the same plant in the daytime.
**2 Flowers compete for pollinators

17. What happens when competition for the same niche is unnaturally changed?
Example- the Red Fire Ant- originally from South America-competes for the same niche as the native Black Ant
Why is the Fire ant dominating?

18. Red Imported Fire Ant
Introduced from western Brazil- quickly becomes the number 1 ant pest wherever it occurs. 
The main reason -its natural enemies from its native habitat were left behind in South America
Queen ants can live 7 years or more, while worker ants generally live about 5 weeks, although they can survive much longer.
The venom burns like a hot match and causes tiny blisters or white pustules that persist for days if left untreated or for weeks if scratched or infected and may leave permanent scars.

19. Symbiosis Parasitism Mutualism Commensalism
Is a close, long-term relationship between 2 organisms.
3 categories:
Parasitism
Mutualism
Commensalism

20. 3. Parasitism Host- organism that provides nourishment
Organism that lives on or in another organism and feeds on it without immediately killing it.
Parasites HURT the host
Host- organism that provides nourishment
Parasite- Organism that does the feeding
Most populations are negatively affected- weakened, sickened, shorten lifespan
Parasitic micro-organisms
(roundworm, protozoan, bacterium,
fungus, yeast)

21. Niche:
role that a species plays in its environment.
Fundamental Niche: range of conditions that an organism can potentially tolerate.
Realized Niche: The niche that the species actually uses.

22. Parasite examples

23. 4. Mutualism Cooperative partnership of 2 species Examples:
** Bacteria in your intestines- help you digest food,make vitamin K & fight off other bacteria. You give them a warm, moist habitat to live in. (Lactobacillus sp. & Bifidobacteria sp.
**Central Africa-Ants and Acacia Trees- Trees provide nectar for ant food, ants defend tree against herbivores like grasshoppers and beetles

24. 5. Commensalism
A relationship in which 1 species benefits and the other is neither helped or harmed
Example:
Remoras are fish that attach
themselves to sharks. The
remoras get food but the sharks
do not appear to get anything back.
                                                         remoras on tiger shark

25. II. Properties of Communities
Species Richness- number of species it contains.
(greater number of organisms= increased species richness)
Species diversity- how common each species is in the community (takes into account the population size - are some species rare or are their lots of most populations?)

26. Patterns of Species Richness
Species- Area Effect- larger areas contain more species than smaller areas.
Predators may promote richness by preventing competitive exclusion in their prey.
Community Stability- resistance to change & disturbances.

27. III. Succession
A regular pattern of change over time in the types of species in a community.
Begins when an area is made partially or completely devoid of vegetation because of a disturbance.
2 types- primary & secondary

31. Primary Succession
Development of a community in an area that has not previously supported life.
Bare rock
Sand dune
New volcanic island
Areas exposed after a glacier retreats

32. Primary succession on lava flows, island of Hawaii

33. Primary succession- on bare rock

34. Secondary Succession
Is the sequential replacement of species after a disruption of an existing ecosystem.
Fires
Hurricanes
Burned, flattened forest after volcanic eruption
Abandoned farmland
New pond formed

35. Secondary succession- on cleared land

36. Regrowth, four years after major forest fire, Colorado. In May, 1996
ecolibrary.org/page/DP420

37. Primary succession is slower than secondary succession because it begins where there is no soil.
It takes several hundred years to produce fertile soil naturally.
Secondary succession can occur in less than a hundred years

38. Pioneer Species LICHENS- colonizing bare rock
First organisms into the
area.
Small, fast growing, fast
reproducing
Examples- primary succession
LICHENS- colonizing bare rock
“WEEDS” – colonizing cement parking lots.
MOSS on old roof.

39. Moss on rock

40. A recently cleared patch of ground

41. Same ground 2 years later, now covered in grass, low flowering plants

42. Example of a Pioneer Species
Lichens- a mutualistic association between fungi & a photosynthetic organism- either a cyanobacteria or an algae.
Lichens , along with weathering, break up barren rock in primary succession.
Decaying dead lichens accumulates and is the first step in creating soil.

43. Lichen on rock

44. Lichen on
tree bark

45. Secondary succession Occurs when an existing community disrupted.
Pioneer species usually=grasses.
EX-After agricultural clearing in Temperate Deciduous Forest
Early stages- pioneer species like annual grasses & dandelions
Later perennial grasses & shrubs.
Next Dogwoods, Pine
Last, large Maple, Oaks, Forest trees

46. Climax Community
Plant community that no longer undergoes changes in species composition due to succession.
Considered the “stable end point”.
Doesn’t “really “ exist- because communities continue to change-
Regularly “reset” due to disturbances.