Ecology exam III Review Life Histories The adaptations of organisms that influence age specific survival and

fecundity # of off spring (Brood size; fecundity) Size of young at birth (hatching/ germination) Age distribution of reproductive effort (age of first reproduction, changes in fertility with age)

Principle of Allocation
When organisms use energy for one function (ex. growth) it will reduce the amount of energy available for other functions when resources are limited there will be a tradeoff for number and size of young CONCEPT: (usually larger species produce fewer offspring and smaller produce many offspring)

Turner and Trexter found for Darter (Fish) Females that produced larger eggs laid fewer, and females that produced smaller eggs laid many. (supports Principle of allocation)

Adult survival and Reproductive Allocation

Before reaching sexual maturity, energy acquired by an individual is allocated to Maintenance Growth of individual at sexual maturity some energy goes into reproduction

when ADULT SURVIVAL is LOW- organisms will usually reproduce earlier (more energy into reproduction) When ADULT SURVIVAL is HIGH- organisms will usually reproduce later (less energy into reproduction)

Life History classifications r-selection (per capita rate of increase) High population growth rate
favorable in (unpredictable environments)

K-selection (carrying capacity) efficient resource use/ competitive

favorable in (Predictable environments)

Intrinsic Rate of increase: Highest in r-selected species (ex. Mice) smaller/ rapidly produced Competitive ability: Highest in K-selected species (ex. Elephant) larger/ slowly reproduced (older age of reproduction) *when resources are limited there is competition that drives natural selection *Individuals with phenotypes that increase their ability to get scarce resources will be more frequent in the next generation.

Types of competition
INTERFERENCE COMPETITION when one species actively interferes with the ability of another species to use a resource (ex. Plants releasing chemicals, fighting) EXPLOITATIVE COMPETITION when the actions of one species reduce the amount of available resource for another species (reduced food/nutrient/water levels) good at exploiting resources

INTERspecific COMPETITION interaction between 2 or more species for a common resource

(reduces fitness for all species) **predicted to lead to directional selection for reduced niche overlap.

INTRAspecific COMPETITION competition occurs between individuals of the same species INTRAspecific competition Amoung herbaceous plants
Evidence for intraspecific competition Biomass (weight) of individual plants have been found to increase in low density populations (also true for growth rates) study done with sorghastrum nutans (HERBACEOUS PLANTS) At LOW population DENSITIES- biomass of individual plants (& growth rates) are higher with more nitrogen (therefore NITROGEN is a LIMITING resource) *competition is more intense at higher population densities (which leads to death/mortality among some of the competing plants) SELF THINNING demonstrated Among ALFALFA PLANTS Denno and Roderick demonstrate intraspecific competition with populations of Planthopper (Prokelesisia marginata) Planthoppers lower survivorship, longer developments, smaller adult size result of limited resources Heavily infested plants had reduced protein/chlorophyll/and moisture in their leaves Quality of the food was being reduced intraspecific competition can cause oscillations in the population increased population size will increase intraspecific comp

INTERspecific comp between species (usually with similar environmental requirements)

NICHE- the environmental requirements of a species ( summarizes the environmental factors that influence growth, survival, and reproduction of a species)

Ch. 13 COMPETITION
Niche summarizes environmental factors that influence growth, survival, and reproduction of a
species. (Hutchinsons def. of niche *n-dimensional hyper-volume) n = # of environmental factors important for survival

Fundamental niche = hypervolume all combinations of possible conditions in which an organism

can survive, grow, and reproduce (in the absence of interactions with other species)

Realized niche included interactions such as competition (also predation & parasites) that may
restrict environments where a species can survive Galapagos Finches- food availability affects survival and reproduction also (size and shape of beaks reflect the kind of food a bird can use) varies for diff. finch species *Size of seeds eaten can be estimated by measuring beak depths- Grant The drought in 1977 left only very hard seeds and mortality was higher among birds with smaller beaks

Algal niches appear to be defined by their nutrient requirements. *** Tilman found coexistence of
freshwater diatoms depended upon the ratio of silicate and phosphate (diatoms held different trophic niches; thus different diatoms dominated different areas) -Asterionella always outcompetes cyclotella for phosphorus. - if phosphorus alone limits growth than cyclotella will always be competitively excluded - when Silica conc. Is low cyclotella will outcompete asterionella, at higher silica conc. Asterionella will outcompete based on its higher growth rate. Flow rate is the measure of nutrient supply and how fast they are added, diff. conc. Of nutrients create diff. niches thus different areas where dif. Species compete +++ Adding nutrients to water or soils generally reduces diversity of plants and algae WHYYY??? Because it reduces the # of limiting nutrients therefore causing more niche OVERLAP

Intertidal (littorina) snails fed on Green and red algae, but preferred green. Green would normally outcompete red algae without the presence of snails. Green crabs control the littorinas and green crabs are controlled by seagulls.\

With medium snail density- algal diversity is increased

Competitive Exclusion Principle:

*2 species with identical niches cannot COEXIST indefinitely (one will be a better competitor thus having a higher fitness and eventually outcompete and exclude the other, can lead to local extinction of a poorer competitor) Example: Paramecium grow at the same rate when separated, but when together growth of both is slowed but P. Aurelia grows faster and gets more food driving P. caudatum to extinction

FLOUR BEETLE EXPERIMENTS (Tribolium beetles infest stored grain products)

*PARK studied INTERspecific comp. between T. confusum and T. castaneum under varied environmental conditions. (growing both together suggests INTERspecific comp. which restricts realized niches of both species to fewer environmental conditions)

Grown alone- (high temp/moist) both survive in abundance (low temp/dry) only T. confusum survives Grown together- (high temp/moist) only the T. castaneum survives (low temp/dry) only T. confusum survives

*environment modifies Niche ****Hutchinson: paradox of the plankton- basically the environment the plankton live in is
so stochastic (probabilistic) that the system never reaches equilibrium and competitive exclusion can never run its course

If competitive interactions are strong and pervasive enough it could produce an evolutionary response in the competitor population Tansley (1917) one of the first scientists to test the role of comp. (in how species are distributed in the environment) tested 2 species of bedstraw (Galium spp.) Both (Galium spp.) grew well in acidic or basic soil when grown alone. When grown in the Basic Soil (G. sylvestre) outcompeted (G. saxatile) when grown in Acidic Soil growth for both was slow so initially population size stayed small and reduced competition. (after 6 years one dominated the Acidic soil)

Tansley concluded that ** INTERspecific comp. over time restricted the realized niche of each of two species of bedstraw (Galium spp.) to a narrower range of soil types than their fundamental niches **BROWN predicted that competition of among rodents is mainly for food, the removal of larger granivorous rodents would increase population of small granivorous rodents, but so insectivorous rodents would show little or no response. ***Results supported Hypothesis***

****if competition is important, expect either. 1. Weaker competitors to go extinct (at least locally) 2. One species will evolve to use a different set of resources (either way competition is either reduced or eliminated)

Allopatric 2 species live apart from each other

*sometimes this is cause by BEHAVIOR- when animals will change where they feed so they dont overlap with similar species (resource partitioning) **allopatric FINCHES have complete overlap in beak size

Sympatric 2 species live in the same geographic area

Usually sympatric species are similar with slightly different niches *sympatric FINCHES have no overlap of beak size (more distinction between species)

**sometimes the differences of the niches of overlapping (sympatric) and non-overlapping (allopatric) environments are reflected in morphological differences (character displacement) must have a known effect on use of resources MORE Morphological differences in sympatric species rather than allopatric species Dispersal can be a response to changing food supply: predators move into new areas with higher prey densities and leave due to reduced prey densities, Ex. (owls and kestrels) REFUGE: protection in space opunita stricta (invasive cactus) in Australia prey of the moth (cactoblastis cactorum) since moth couldnt find all of the cactus populations the cactus was NOT driven to extinction. The moth was not as effective at high elevations (cool temps) moth was not effective where low nutrient soils are found therefore poor food quality of cactus leads to reduced survival of moths larvae Refuge can also be considered by size, if an animal is too large a predator might ignore it Ex. Mayfly nymphs make themselves look larger in the face of their predator stonefly nymphs, marine mussels are prey for some sea star species and if they grow large enough they will be ignored. Also if an animal is too small it may be ignored by its predators Ex. Jurgens filterfeeder only removed larger bacteria

CAMOUFLAGE- owl butterfly, snake caterpillar, or poisonous frogs.

Batesian mimicry - appearing like a prey that is poisonous, viceroy imitates the monarch

Refuge: protection in numbers

(prey consumed)/(predator)*(predators)/(area)= (prey consumed)/(area)

MASTING- synchronous widespread seed and fruit production Fire stimulates Masting in
Eucalyptus trees from seed removal by ants ODowd and Gill
Janzen says- seed predation is a major selective force favoring mast crop production

CH. 15 Mutualism
MUTUALISM- interactions between individuals of different species that benefit both partners
FACULTATIVE MUTUALISM- occurs when a species is NOT dependent on its mutualistic partner OBLIGATE MUTUALISM- occurs when a species is dependent on a mutualistic relationship.

CH. 16- PART II

Tropical forest diversity by Jordan: - Large # of species live within most tropical forest communities - Large # of plant communities in a given area, each with a distinct species
composition *** variation in soil characteristics influences the communities in the area Ex. Amazon forests.

Disturbance and diversity

-

Disturbance is the change from normal conditions to abnormal conditions; has

TWO major characteristics- FREQUENCY & INTENSITY White and Pickett any relatively discrete event in time that disrupts ecosystem, community, or population structure and changes resources, substrate availability, or the physical environment. **Also noted SCALE was important, disturbance on given temporal(time) or spatial scales may be important to some species and irrelevant to other species.

*** Connell- says that high & low levels of disturbance will reduce diversity, but intermediate levels will promote higher diversity ..sufficient time between disturbances allows a wide variety of species to colonize, but not long enough to allow for competitive exclusion.

Disturbance and diversity in the intertidal ZoneSousa- predicted that disturbance level depended on boulder size for ALGAE and other
INVERTEBRATES, medium size boulders supported the greatest diversity of species and was subject to intermediate levels of disturbance.

Whicker and Detling: Prairie dogs

Build extensive burrow systems, remove vegetation around burrows, area opens to colonization.

Prairie dogs were an intermediate level of disturbance to surrounding plants. They allowed mixtures of grasses/forbs, and forbs/shrubs to grow, but in areas where they were removed there were only grasses that grew. Prairie dogs aerate the soil and allow for more water and also their nitrogen rich dung improves the quality of the soil

CH. 17 Community structure; Food Webs

Keystone species- exert strong effects on their community structure despite low biomass Dominant species- exert strong effects on their community structure because of high biomass 2 fish species acting as a River Keystone species (California roach & Steelhead trout) ADD more Fish causes Fewer predatory insects More herbivorous insects Reduces Algae

EXCLUDING Fish causes More predatory insects Fewer herbivorous insects Increases Algae

Birds reduced insect larvae (feeding on dominant understory shrub) less plant damage

Exotic predators- ex. Nile Perch- introduction of the Nile Perch to Lake Victoria left the
Nile Perch with no predators other than humans. *** Was hundreds of species before introduction of the Nile Perch, 3 species left (including the Nile Perch) that dominate the Biomass. Indirectly affects the ecosystem.