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ECOLOGY 3: COMMUNITY ECOLOGY - SPECIES INTERACTIONS Objectives: By the end of this lecture you should be able to: Describe and provide examples of the types of interactions that occur among different species and predict how these interactions affect the distribution of species. For example: Describe how resources and conditions set niche space for organisms. Explain the relationship between niche overlap and realized/fundamental niches of organisms. Predict the outcome of niche overlap. Text References: Chapter 53 pp. 1255-1268 Online quiz: Community Ecology (covers material for this and the next two lectures, all of Chapter 53) must be completed before class starts. Community:

Interspecific interactions

Animals

Plants

Niche:

Fundamental niche:

Realized niche:

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TYPES OF INTERACTIONS

1) Competition: -/-

Intraspecific competition

Interspecific competition

Different species can compete for (examples): Food Fig. 53.2 f Nutrients Fig 53.2 a Chemical competition

Consequences of competition a) Exclusion - overlapping niches Fig. 53.4c

Example Fig. 53.4 a

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b) Resource partitioning niches not completely overlapping Fig. 53.4d

Example of effect of competition on distribution (Fig. 53.5) Joseph Connell late 1950s Observations:

Question: Hypotheses:

Experiment:

Predictions:

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Results and conclusions Fig. 53.6:

Mechanisms of coexistence Fitness trade-off

Niche differentiation and character displacement Fig. 53.7

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e.g., Galpagos finches Fig. 53.8

2) Consumption +/a) Herbivory

b) Parasitism

Ascaris lumbricoides (Roundworms) c) Predation

Eat or be eaten: predator strategies and defense mechanisms

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Characteristics of predators

Defense Mechanisms Against herbivores

Camouflage

Against carnivores Fig. 53.9 a Constitutive defenses Camouflage Schooling

Weaponry

Induced defenses Bombardier beetles Diploptera Thomas Eisner For Love of Insects

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Warning colouration to indicate a predator is near

Mimicry Fig. 53.9 b

3) Mutualism +/+

Legume e.g. pea plant

root nodule with Rhizobium

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4) Commensalism +/0 e.g. barnacles on other organisms such as seaweeds

Summary of species interactions: Table 53.1 Discussion Questions 1. Discuss additional examples of biotic interactions limiting the distribution of organisms (these can come from your own experiences, material you have read or seen on TV, etc.) 2. Two species cannot occupy the same niche. One way that niche differentiation can occur is when the two species occupy different parts of the habitat, for example one species may be better adapted to live on the higher branches of a tree, the other may live on the ground. What other ways are there for niche differentiation to occur?