1. Community Ecology
Notes

2. Habitat vs. niche Habitat - place where an organism lives
Niche - how it uses the abiotic and biotic components of its habitat

3. Competitive Exclusion Principle

4. Habitat vs. Niche

5. Interspecies competition (-/-)
If niches overlap
Vs.

7. Predation (+/-)
Lion eats Cape Buffalo
Tiger eats Blesbuck

8. Predation
Sidewinder eats a Lizard
Spider eats a frog

9. Video: Shark Eating a Seal
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
For many students, understanding ecosystems is like appreciating art. Although both are visible to the naked eye, some background is required to understand the method of composition, the significance of components, and the nature of interactions. The fundamentals introduced in this chapter are new ways to see generally familiar systems.
Teaching Tips
1. Students have often had prior exposure to the concepts of food webs and food chains. Present a food web (perhaps Figure 37.9) to your class and challenge them to predict the consequences of a decrease or increase in the population of one of the organisms. This activity can help students understand how difficult it is to make precise predictions about these complex systems.
2. Many students have been exposed to diverse ecosystems only through television and movies, which have likely focused on a few species. Before discussing this chapter, consider showing the class a good video (it need not be long) about an ecosystem. The video can then serve as a shared recent experience to which you can relate the content of this chapter. Alternately, you can relate some of the basics of this chapter to a local or regional example with which most students are familiar. There may even be a distinct community on your campus, such as a pond, wooded area, etc., that students could visit and return from with new insights.
Video: Shark Eating a Seal
Use window controls to play
© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. 9

11. Anglerfish
Use a part of their body to lure curious fish within striking distance, improving odds for success of passive strategists
(0.004 seconds!!)

12. Protection against predation…
Camouflage - blending in with your environment
Green tree frog
Chameleon
Polar Bears

13. Video: Seahorse Camouflage
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
For many students, understanding ecosystems is like appreciating art. Although both are visible to the naked eye, some background is required to understand the method of composition, the significance of components, and the nature of interactions. The fundamentals introduced in this chapter are new ways to see generally familiar systems.
Teaching Tips
1. Rattlesnakes are a good example of a highly specialized predator. Since they are unable to move fast enough to catch their prey, rattlesnakes typically ambush them, a process facilitated by their camouflaged bodies. Rattlesnakes often feed during the cooler parts of the day, using heat-detecting facial pits to identify prey before injecting them with fast-acting venom. The prey is immediately released (perhaps to avoid damage to the snake from struggling prey), but is disabled by the venom within seconds. The rattlesnake then uses a variety of senses to track the prey the short distance to where it has collapsed.
2. Many students have been exposed to diverse ecosystems only through television and movies, which have likely focused on a few species. Before discussing this chapter, consider showing the class a good video (it need not be long) about an ecosystem. The video can then serve as a shared recent experience to which you can relate the content of this chapter. Alternately, you can relate some of the basics of this chapter to a local or regional example with which most students are familiar. There may even be a distinct community on your campus, such as a pond, wooded area, etc., that students could visit and return from with new insights.
Video: Seahorse Camouflage
Use window controls to play
© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. 13

14. Figure 37.5A
Figure 37.5A Camouflage: a gray tree frog on bark 14

15. More camouflage…
Rock grasshopper

16. Arctic rabbit
Flounder fish

17. Mimicry - resemble another species
Moth
Leaf Insect
Monarch
Viceroy

18. Figure 37.5B
Figure 37.5B Chemical defenses: the monarch butterfly 18

19. Symbiosis
Relationship between two species that live together, usually in physical contact

20. Mutualism (+/+)
Acacia trees and ants
Pollination by bat

21. Mutualism (+/+)
Cows and the bacteria in their stomach

22. Commensalism (+/0)
Fish in coral reef
Reef Shark and Remora

23. Video: Clownfish and Anemone
Student Misconceptions and Concerns
For many students, understanding ecosystems is like appreciating art. Although both are visible to the naked eye, some background is required to understand the method of composition, the significance of components, and the nature of interactions. The fundamentals introduced in this chapter are new ways to see generally familiar systems.
Teaching Tips
1. Students who are business-oriented may also enjoy this analogy. Many corporate leaders describe the best business deals as mutualistic, fostering a win-win relationship. For example, perhaps a new company creates a marketable product from another company’s wastes.
2. Many students have been exposed to diverse ecosystems only through television and movies, which have likely focused on a few species. Before discussing this chapter, consider showing the class a good video (it need not be long) about an ecosystem. The video can then serve as a shared recent experience to which you can relate the content of this chapter. Alternately, you can relate some of the basics of this chapter to a local or regional example with which most students are familiar. There may even be a distinct community on your campus, such as a pond, wooded area, etc., that students could visit and return from with new insights.
Video: Clownfish and Anemone
Use window controls to play
© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. 23

24. Commensalism (+/0)
Mites in your eyelashes

25. Parasitism (+/-)
Tick on a dog
Flea on a dog

26. Parasitism (+/-)
Cowbirds
Mosquito

27. Parasitism ex. Cymothoa exigua
WARNING: gross picture ahead. Be prepared.

28. Parasitism (+/-)
Guinea worm