1. Animal Population

2. Diversity and Structure
Species diversity – number of different species a community contains combined with the abundance of individuals within those species.
Community niche structure – how ecological niches vary and differ.
Niche – a species role in the community
Most diverse or species rich environments are the tropical rain forests and some coral reefs.

4. Species types
Native Species – normally live in and thrive in a particularly area
White Tailed Deer, Bald Eagle, Opossum
Nonnative Species – accidentally or deliberately introduced to an area
Horses
Invasive Species/Alien Species – wreak havoc on the environment. No natural predators

5. Invasive Species Asian Carp Kudzu Vine Mississippi River
No natural predators
Eats all the plankton
Kudzu Vine
South United States
7 million acres
Grows 1 ft per day
Kudzu bug (also invasive) started eating all of the soybean crop.

6. 4. Indicator Species – a species that serves as early warnings of danger to an area
Ex – Butterflies, trout, frogs
Butterflies-
They have brief life cycles and are affected by climate change and pesticides. Birds plan their breeding season around when the caterpillers are most abundant
Trout-
Healthy stream=abundant trout
They need clean water, a specific temperature, protection, unsilted gravel to spawn and an abundant food supply.

7. Indicator Species What about the frogs? Well…
Vulnerable because different life cycles involve different habitats
Tadpoles – live in water and eat plants
Adults – live on land and eat insects that can be exposed to pesticides
Eggs – have no protective shell so are vulnerable to increased UV rays or pollution

8. Hundreds of species have vanished since 1980
¼ of all amphibian species are extinct, endangered or vulnerable
Why should we care?
Their death indicates that there is some deterioration of the environment
Large part of the ecological pyramid – they are predator and prey
Secretions in the skin - Can be used in the pharmaceutical industry for medication

10. 5. Keystone Species – species that have a significant role in the community
Examples:
A.Pollinators such as bees, humming birds, bats
B. Top predators such as wolves, lions, alligators, and sharks
C. Decomposers such as beetles
A loss of these types of species leads to population crashes and extinctions

11. 6. Foundation species – species that shape communities by creating and enhancing their habitats in ways that benefit others
Ex – Elephants, beavers

12. Energy in an Ecosystem
Energy is the most important factor in determining how many and what kinds of organisms live in an ecosystem.

13. Trophic Levels 1st Level
Producers: take in energy from their surroundings and store it in complex molecules.
Also called autotrophs/ photosynthetic
Use the sun to power the production of food.

14. 2nd Level Primary Consumers Obtain energy by consuming Autotrophs.
Also called heterotrophs.

15. 3rd Level
Secondary consumers
Obtain energy by consuming both producers and primary consumers

16. Tertiary Level
Apex predators
Top of the food chain
Will consume anything from all of the previous levels

17. Decomposers
Consumers that obtain energy by consuming organic wastes (feces, urine, leaves, dead plants) and dead bodies.
Recyclers of nutrients.

18. Food Chain
Single pathway of feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem that results in energy transfer.
Example:
grass  mice  snake  hawk

20. Food Web Multiple food chains in a ecosystem
Many consumers eat more than one kind of food.
More than one species may eat the same organism.

23. Species interaction 5 Basic types of interaction
1. Interspecific competition – competition between species for shared resources such as space and food
2. Predation – one species (predator) directly feeds on another (prey)
Ex – lions eat gazelle
3. Parasitism - when one species (parasite) feeds on part of another organism (host)
Ex – Ticks, Tapeworm

25. 4. Mutualism – two species interact in a way that benefits both
4. Mutualism – two species interact in a way that benefits both. Ex – Oxpeckers and Rhinos Clown fish and sea anemones

26. 5. Commensalism – one species benefits and the other is not effected Ex – Epiphytes and tropical trees Remora Fish and the Shark

27. Avoiding Predation
1. Camouflage – uses shape or color to hide

28. 2. Chemical warfare – examples are poisons, irritants (stingers), Foul smells (skunk), tasting bad (monarch butterfly)

29. 3. Warning colors – bright colors indicate an organism is poisonous

30. 4. Mimicry – looking and acting like another animal

31. Limits on Population Growth
Environmental resistance – factors that act to limit the growth of a population
Examples:
disease, predators, natural events, humans
Logistic growth – involves exponential growth followed by a steady decrease in population growth with time until the population size levels off.

33. Human Impacts We Have: Reduced biodiversity
Used, wasted, or destroyed net primary productivity that supports all consumers
Strengthened some populations of pests and bacteria
Eliminated some predators
Introduced nonnative species in communities
Interfere with chemical cycles and energy flow