1. Community Ecology

2. Ways organisms interact ______________________ Between SAME and DIFFERENT kinds of organisms Compete with each other for available resources __________________________ Between DIFFERENT kinds of organisms Hunt and kill other organisms to supply their energy needs __________________________ Between SAME kind of organisms Live together and help each other __________________________ Between DIFFERENT kinds of organisms live in close association with another kind of organism COMPETITION PREDATION SYMBIOSIS COOPERATION

3. WHAT IS A RESOURCE? Anything needed by an organism for life ____________________________________________ Examples: ________________________ Nutrients, water, light, space

4. COMPETITION FOOD Organisms in an ecosystem have to compete with each other for available resources.

5. COMPETITION Organisms in an ecosystem have to compete with each other for available resources: SHELTER

6. COMPETITION Organisms in an ecosystem have to compete with each other for available resources MATES

7. COMPETITION Organisms in an ecosystem have to compete with each other for available resources: Space/territory Prairie dogs - 5 to 35 per acre Mountain lion- 1 male per 50-300 sq. mi

8. COMPETITION Organisms in an ecosystem have to compete with each other for available resources: LIGHT

9. Ways organisms interact ___________________ Between DIFFERENT kinds of organisms Hunt and kill other organisms to supply their energy needs PREDATION

10. Organisms in an ecosystem that capture and eat other organisms to supply their energy needs

11. Predator/Prey Adaptations There are three strategies for fooling predators; 1. To mimic a species that is distasteful or threatening to a predator. 2. To camouflage, blending into the background. 3. To use deceptive behavior whenever a predator is about to attack.

12. Batesian Mimicry Batesian mimicry involves a palatable, unprotected species (the mimic) that closely resembles an unpalatable or protected species (the model). One example is this fly which looks like a bee. Birds know not to attack a bee as they will be stung.

13. Mullerian Mimicry In Mullerian mimicry, the model is not defined and several unpalatable species share warning colors or patterns to evade predation. Both models and mimics are toxic. Several species from several different orders may comprise a mimicry complex. The advantage is that the predators need only encounter one form to shun the entire complex. MonarchViceroy

14. Wasmannian Mimicry Wasmannian Mimicry is when the mimic resembles it's host (the model) in order to live within the same nest or structure. For example, several jumping spiders closely resemble ants. In order to get "lost in the crowd" and thus avoid predators.

15. Peckhamian (Aggressive) Mimicry The predator mimics its prey to capture it. The most known example is Bird-dropping Spider. This spider hunts definite species of moths. The spider has specific glands on the abdomen which produce analogous of moths’ pheromones. Moth males allured by the pheromone fly towards the spider.

16. Camouflage To look, act, smell or sound such that it blend in with their surroundings.

17. Leaf Mantis

18. Dead Leaf Butterfly

19. Deceptive Behavior To display unusually pattern, which is weir to the predator, includes color, pattern, sound, chemical (smell), to increase their chances of escape and survival.

20. Reduced Niche Size Due to competition and predation: –Fundamental niche - range of conditions that an organism can potentially tolerate and the range of resources that it can potentially use –Realized niche – part of the niche that the species actually uses due to limits set by competition and predation

21. Character Displacement Evolution of differences in a character due to competition ~ way of reducing niche overlap

22. Resource Partitioning When similar species coexist, each species may avoid competition with others by using a specific part of an available resource –Example: Robert MacArthur (1930-1972) discovered that when more than one species of warbler is foraging within the same tree, each species hunts for insects only in a particular section of the tree!

23. INTERDEPENDENCE All living and non-living things in an ecosystem are interconnected and changing even one thing impacts the whole ecosystem. When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. ~John Muir, naturalist, Sierra Club founder

24. If a nutrient is in _____________ OR __________________ it will LIMIT the growth of the population = _____________ LIMITING FACTOR SHORT SUPPLY CYCLES SLOWLY Kinchega National Park was drought- stricken for most of 1982 and part of 1983. Extremely low pasture biomass led to a high mortality of kangaroos. An estimated 14500 ± 1450 kangaroos died, of which 9400 were western grey kangaroos and 5100 were red kangaroos!

25. REMEMBER: EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED ! A decrease in the prey population means some predators will starve. Fewer predators mean prey population will increase. Increase in prey means more food for predators. Predator population will increase until there is not enough food... and the cycle repeats itself. BIOLOGY; MIller and Levine; Prentice Hall; 2006

26. LIMITING NUTRIENT When an ecosystem receives a LARGE input of limiting nutrient (ie.,fertilizer runoff) the population increases dramatically = ___________ http://www.greenfacts.org/images/glossary/algae-bloom.jpg The short supply of a limiting nutrient keeps the population in check. ALGAL BLOOM

27. Ways organisms interact __________________ Between SAME kind of organisms Live together and help each other COOPERATION http://www.mark-ju.net/wildlife/images/monkey03.jpg

28. COOPERATION Same species live together in groups e.g. herds, packs, colonies, families, etc Share food & childcare responsibilities Groom each other Take care of sick

29. COOPERATION Same species live together in groups EX: herds, packs, colonies, families, etc Hunt in packs Provide protection

30. Ways organisms interact __________________________ Between DIFFERENT kinds of organisms Live in close association with another kind of organism SYMBIOSIS

31. 3 KINDS of SYMBIOSIS ______________________ Both organisms benefit ______________________ One organism benefits; Other is neither harmed nor helped _____________________ One organism benefits; Other is harmed in some way (Endoparasites/Ectoparasites) MUTUALISM COMMENSALISM PARASITISM

32. MUTUALISM “Good for me - Good for you” Birds eat parasites living on the hides of giraffes and rhinos while enjoying protection from predators. Groomed animals lose their pests.

33. MUTUALISM “Good for me - Good for you” Insects transfer pollen between plants as they gather nectar for food.

34. MUTUALISM “Good for me - Good for you” Clown fish gets protection from enemies by hiding out in poisonous sea anemones Sea anemone gets scraps of leftover food dropped by fish

35. COMMENSALISM “Good for me - Doesn’t bother you” Pilot fish receive scraps of food dropped by shark; Shark is neither harmed nor helped

36. COMMENSALISM “Good for me - Doesn’t bother you” http://www.abyssal.com/meeks/images/hermit_crab.jpg Hermit crabs make homes in shells abandoned by snails; Snail is not harmed by crab

37. Commensalism Cattle egrets and Cape buffaloes in Tanzania – birds feed on small animals, such as insects and lizards that are forced out of their hiding places when buffaloes roam

38. PARASITISM “Good for me - Hurts you” Barnacles are crustaceans that attach to the surface of whales and feed on their skin and fluids; Whale is harmed

39. PARASITISM “Good for me - Hurts you” Tick feeds on dog’s blood; Dog has discomfort - can get diseases/infection from bite! Ehrlichiosis* Babesiosis Lyme Disease Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) (Also – mosquitoes cause heartworm!)

40. PARASITISM “Good for me - Hurts you” Tapeworms absorb food by living inside host intestine; host is harmed Rover licks himself and swallows flea infested with tapeworms! Tapeworm segments end up in Rover’s stool in about three weeks time!

41. Parasitism Zebra mussels grow in thick mats on each other and other shells. Colonies can suffocate freshwater mussel beds; they are expected to cause the elimination of 8-10 species of native mussels. Some rocky areas in Lake Erie are covered with a 10-inch deep layer of zebra mussel shells (up to 90,000 per square yard).

42. Patterns in communities Species richness: number of species in the community – simple count of species in community (decreases as one moves away from the equator) –Species-area effect: larger areas usually contain more species than smaller areas do Species evenness: relative account how abundance of each species – takes into common each species is in the community

43. Disturbances Episodes that damage biological communities, at least temporarily, by destroying organisms and altering the availability of resources (storms, fires, droughts, earthquakes, floods, human activities, clear-cutting, paving, bulldozing, etc.) Changes that communities go through is called ecological succession

44. PRIMARY SUCCESSION 1.Autotrophic microorganisms move in 2. Lichens and mosses Soil accumulates from organic matter 3. Grasses, shrubs, and trees move in 4. Prevalent form of vegetation establishes self --May take hundreds to thousands of years Community establishes self in an area that has not supported life previously, e.g., bare rock, sand dune, island formed by volcanic eruption

45. PRIMARY SUCCESSION

46. SECONDARY SUCCESSION Community establishes self where an existing community has been cleared by a disturbance, but soil has remained in tact, e.g., agriculture Secondary succession is usually much quicker than primary succession for the following reasons: There is already an existing seed bank of suitable plants in the soil. Root systems undisturbed in the soil, stumps and other plant parts from previously existing plants can rapidly regenerate. The fertility and structure of the soil has also already been substantially modified by previous organisms to make it more suitable for growth and colonization.

48. CLIMAX COMMUNITY Final stage in succession High nutrient content in soil Environment can support a wide array of life forms Many complex organisms can survive Community composition remains relatively stable, barring further disturbances Organisms exist in roughly equivalent ratios