ECOLOGY

Chapter 8

Learning Objectives
i. ii. iii. Define population, community and ecosystem Distinguish between inter and intraspecific interaction Describe community interactions (interspecific) that includes predation, herbivory, disease, parasitism, mutualism and commensalism Summarize the concept of an energy flow through a food chain and a food web Explain typical pyramids of numbers and biomass

iv. v.

Population
A population is a group of individuals of the same species that is colonizing an area or habitat Population ecology is a major subfield of ecology that deals with the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment

Population

Community
A community consists of all the organisms from different species that colonize an area Community ecology consists of the study on number and types of species present, relative abundance of each species, interaction among species and community resilience to disturbances

Community

Ecosystem
An ecosystem consist of all the abiotic factors in addition to the entire community of species that exist in a certain area.

Intra-specific interactions
Among intra specific interaction between individuals are competition (A - / - effect) Competition occurs when two or more individuals attempt to use the same essential resource, such as food, water, shelter, living space, or sunlight Competition can occur among individuals from the same species within a population (intraspecific competition) or between different species (interspecific competition).

Intra-specific competition
According to Darwins theory, genetic variation can be seen in a giraffe population according to the length of the neck where it varied. Some have longer, intermediate and short neck. This increase their chances in surviving, by having longer necks.

Intra-specific competition
Due to competition in order to get food sources that is limited especially those that is present on the ground, all the giraffe population had to shift their eating habit in order for survival. Giraffes with longer necks survived due to their ability to get food and later interbreed

Intraspecific competition

Intra-specific competition
In a study of southern Utah Gila monsters it was observed that from late April through late May some shelters were occupied by as many as six Gila monsters at the same time.

Intra-specific competition
Male-male combat can be observed in these Gila monsters as a test of strength and endurance. The loser leaves the area and it is presumed that the winner of such fights then has access to females for mating.

Inter-specific competition
Competition between species with overlapping niches may lead to competitive exclusion When two species compete for resources one will always be a better competitor the other will lose out and disappear unless it evolves some adaptation to escape / minimize competition

Inter-specific competition
Gause Experiments (1934) Paramecium Aurelia and P. caudatum P. Aurelia has a higher rate of population increase grows faster and can tolerate higher density When grown alone both survive well and established a logistic growth

Inter-specific competition
When mixed together in a fixed food medium (bacteria) P. caudatum died out P. Aurelia interfered with the population growth of P. caudatum because of its higher growth rate

Inter-specific competition
Gause concluded that when two species compete for the same limiting resources, one species will use the resources more efficiently and thus reproduce more rapidly than the other. They cannot live occupy the same niche unless they modify their behaviour

Inter-specific competition
Next he used P. bursaria and P. caudatum. Both sp. reached stability P. bursaria feeds at the bottom of tube while P. caudatum feed in the solution Even though both utilize the same food supply they occupied different part of the test tube This is called resource partitioning

Inter-specific competition
This is the way of species to reduce competition. It is called resource partitioning, in which they evolve differences in resource use May include timing of feeding, location of feeding, nest sites

Inter-specific competition
Flowers of two species of Solanum in Mexico are quite similar in areas either one or the other occurs However, in areas where their distributions overlap, the two differ significantly in flower size and are pollinated by different kinds of bees This can be referred as character displacement

Inter-specific competition
Two species of barnacles Chthamalus and Balanus, grow in the intertidal zone of a rocky shore in Scotland. Chthamalus inhabit the upper rock while Balanus inhabit the lower rock.

Inter-specific competition
When Chthamalus individuals were experimentally removed, Balanus individuals did not expand into their section of the rock. But when Balanus individuals were removed, Chthamalus individuals spread into the empty area. This is because Chthamalus is more resistant to dryness than Balanus.

Inter-specific competition
This shows that biotic and abiotic factors can affect species competition

Inter-specific interactions
Besides competition for certain resources, a community will interact by ways of predation, herbivory, parasitism, disease, mutualism and commensalism

Predation
Predation is the consumption of one species (the prey) by another (the predator).

Predation
It is a ( + / - ) interaction
Includes animals eating other animals, as well as animals eating plants During coevolution between predator and prey, the predator evolves more efficient ways to catch prey, and the prey evolves better ways to escape predator

Predation
Predators have several adaptation in order to become successful predators such as i. Acute sense to identify preys ii. Adaptations such as claws, teeth, fangs, stingers or poison to catch their prey. iii. Ability to pursuit (fast) and ambush (disguised) besides being intelligent

Predation
Sharks have well developed sense organs that could locate prey in water. Electroreceptor on the sharks head detect weak electrical signals from muscular activity of animals. Rattle snakes have heat-sensing organs besides capable of killing prey with toxins from their fang

Predation
A brown pelican are capable of diving into water at the speed of 72 km/h to catch fish Orcas (killer whales), which hunt in packs, often herd salmon or tuna into a cove so that they are easier to catch. Speed of brown pelican or intelligence of orcas will increase hunting efficiency

Predation
Yellow crab spider is the same color as the white or yellow flowers on which it hides. This camouflage keeps insect from noticing the spider until its too late

Predation
Many animals flee from predators, some have mechanical defenses, and some associate in groups Large grazing mammals defend their young from lions

Predation
Some animals that possess chemical defenses also exhibit aposematic coloration, which is called warning coloration Example is poison arrow frog that can synthesize toxin and display bright warning coloration

Predation
Some animals exhibit cryptic coloration that helps them hide from predators by blending into their surroundings Certain caterpillars are the same color of leaves or twigs that reside on to avoid being spotted by predator.

Predation
In Batesian mimicry, a harmless or edible species resembles another species that is dangerous in some way. Example, harmless scarlet kingsnake looks so much like the venomous coral snake that predators may avoid it

Predation
Larva of hawkmoth puffs up its head and thorax looking like a small poisonous snake. Larvae weave its head back and forth and hisses like a snake.

Predation
In Mllerian mimicry, several different species, all of which are poisonous, harmful, or distasteful resemble one another. This will give benefits to both because the greater number of harmful prey, the more the predators adapt by avoiding any prey with the same appearance

Predation
The cuckoo bee and the yellow jacket resembles each other

Predation
Predators also use mimicry to trap / confuse preys Alligator snapping turtles have tongue that resembles wriggling worms. They display their tongue as a bait for small fish before snapping them

Herbivory
Is a type of ( + / - ) interactions where a herbivourous animal eat parts of a plant / algae Herbivores are capable of distinguishing toxic and non toxic plants by using sensors Insects have chemical sensors at their feet whereas goats depend on their sense of smell to distinguish plants

Herbivory
Plants possess several adaptations that protect them from being eaten, including spines, thorns, tough leathery leaves, and protective chemicals that are unpalatable or toxic to herbivores. This is because they cannot flee from predators

Herbivory
Milkweeds produce alkaloids and cardiac glycosides, chemicals that are poisonous to all animals except for a small group of insects Herbivorous animals avoid consuming these insects because of accumulation of toxins

Parasitism
In parasitism, one organism (the parasite) benefits while the other (the host) is harmed Is a ( + / -) relationship Parasites that lives in the body of their hosts are called endoparasites e.g. tapeworms and Plasmodium

Parasitism
Parasites that feed on the external surface of the host are called ectoparasites e.g. mosquitoes, tick and lice

Parasitism
Parasites have a complex life cycle where involving primary host and intermediate hosts e.g blood fluke

Parasitism
Parasitic proboscis worm caused their crustacean hosts to move away from their cover to the open Can be consumed by birds that is their second host

Disease
Disease causing agents are simlar to parasite by causing a ( + / - ) relationship Pathogens are smaller than usual parasites (invertebrates) and have lethal effects Mostly virus, prions, bacteria (prokaryotes), protists and fungi

Disease
In plants, a popular pathogen caused a famine in Ireland between 1845 and 1849. The famine was caused by potato blight, that almost instantly destroyed the primary food source for the majority of the Irish people

Disease
West Nile virus mainly infects birds, but is known to infect humans and mammals. The main route of human infection is through the bite of an infected mosquito. From 1999 to 2004, they killed thousands of crows and human death increase

Mutualism
An interspecific interaction that benefits both species ( + / + ) Seen in acacia trees and ants Ants feed in the sugar produced by nectaries on the tree and on the protein rich swellings at the tip of the leaflets Acacia will benefit because ants attack anything that might harm the tree such as fungal spores and vegetation growing close to the tree.

Mutualism

Mutualism
Mycorrhizae are mutualistic relationship between fungi and the roots of plants. Occurs in 90% of plant families. The mycorrhizal fungus benefits the plant by decomposing organic materials in the soil and providing water and minerals such as phosphorus to the plant. It also increases the plants absorptive area and allows movement of organic materials from tree to tree. At the same time, the plant roots supply sugars, amino acids and other organic materials to the fungus.

Commensalism
An interaction that benefits one species but neither harm nor help the other ( + / 0 ) Cattle egrets feed on insects out of the grass that is grazed by cows / buffalo, therefore they get food

Commensalism
Clownfishes live within the waving mass of tentacles of sea anemones Most fishes avoid the poisonous tentacles, therefore clownfishes are protected from predators.

Commensalism
Epiphytes, e.g some tropical orchids use trees or branches of trees for support without harm or benefit to the tree. The epiphyte obtains more light and air in this manner

Commensalism
Remora, a sucker-fish, lives in close association with sharks or other larger fish. The dorsal fin of the sucker-fish is modified to form a sucker; it uses this to attach itself to the shark; The sucker-fish is small and does not injure (or benefit) the shark, but envoys the shark's protection and lives on the food scraps formed as the shark attacks its prey

Energy Transfer
The structure and dynamics of a community depends on the extend feeding relationship between organisms. The feeding relationship can be referred as trophic structure in the community. A food chain is the flow of energy from one organism to the next.

Food chain
The transfer of food energy will start from photosynthetic organisms (primary producers) Herbivores (primary consumers) Carnivores (Secondary and tertiary consumers) and ends up with decomposers.

Food chain
Primary producers, or autotrophs, are species capable of producing complex organic substances (essentially "food") from an energy source and inorganic materials. These organisms are typically photosynthetic plants, bacteria or algae

Food chain
Organisms that get their energy by consuming organic substances are called heterotrophs. Heterotrophs include herbivores, which obtain their energy by consuming live plants; carnivores, which obtain energy from consuming live animals

Food chain
Detritivores, scavengers and decomposers will be the end trophic structure in a food chain because they consume dead biomass. Decomposers return the energy from food to the ecosystem by decomposing dead organisms thus recycling their organic matter

Food chain
Most food chains have no more than four or five links. There cannot be too many links in a single food chain because the animals at the end of the chain would not get enough food (and hence energy) to stay alive.

Food chain

Food webs
A food web extends the food chain concept from a simple linear pathway to a complex network of interactions. The earliest food webs were published by Victor Summerhayes and Charles Elton in 1923 and Hardy in 1924. Summerhayes and Elton's depicted the interactions of plants, animals and bacteria on Bear Island, Norway. Therefore, they discovered that food chains are not isolated units but instead are linked together, max 7 links

Food webs
For example, the Antarctic marine food web starts with the phytoplankton, that serves as a food for two types of zooplankton, which are the crustaceans krill and copepods Zooplankton will be eaten by various carnivores like other carnivorous zooplankton, fishes, birds, seals, squids. Human is on top, catching whales, fishes and krills

Food webs

Pyramid of numbers

A pyramid of numbers shows the number of organisms at each trophic level in a given ecosystem It represents the number of individual organisms in each trophic level

Pyramid of numbers
Most food webs have four to five links This is because only 0.1% of the chemical energy fixed by photosynthesis can flow to the tertiary consumer Top level predators are fairly large animals at a smaller number

Pyramid of numbers
The dynamics of energy flow through ecosystems
Have important implications for the human population

Eating meat
Is a relatively inefficient way of tapping photosynthetic production Human may get far more calories by consuming grains instead of eating meat from grain-fed animals

Pyramid of numbers
Worldwide agriculture could successfully feed many more people
If humans all fed more efficiently, eating only plant material Trophic level
Secondary consumers

Primary consumers Primary producers

Pyramid of biomass
A pyramid of biomass illustrates the total biomass at each successive trophic level. Biomass is a quantitative estimate of the total amount of living materials indicating the amount of fixed energy at a particular time Biomass may be represented as total volume, dry weight, or live weight Typically, these pyramids show a progressive reduction of biomass in succeeding trophic levels

Pyramid of biomass
Trophic level Tertiary consumers Secondary consumers Primary consumers Primary producers Dry weight (g/m2) 1.5 11 37 809

Most biomass pyramids show a sharp decrease in biomass at successively higher trophic levels, as illustrated by data from a bog at Silver Springs, Florida.

Most biomass pyramids

Show a sharp decrease at successively higher tropic levels

In some aquatic ecosystems, such as the English Channel, a small standing crop of primary producers (phytoplankton) supports a larger standing crop of primary consumers (zooplankton).

Pyramid of biomass
Dry weight (g/m2)

Certain aquatic ecosystems

Have inverted biomass pyramids This is because the phytoplankton quickly grow, reproduce and are quickly consumed by zooplankton causing them not able to develop a large population size.