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After you have finished reading this chapter, you should be able to:
Differentiate between a population and a community.
Identify several types of symbiotic relationships.
Define succession and give an example of one kind of succession.
There is no exception to the rule that every organic being naturally increases
at so high a rate, that, if not destroyed, the Earth would soon be covered by
the progeny [offspring] of a single pair.
Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species
Introduction
Article I, Section 2, of the Constitution states that every person in the
United States is to be counted every 10 years. The Constitution indicates
that this counting, or census, determines how many representatives will
be sent from each state to Congress. “The number of representatives shall
not exceed one for every thirty thousand.”
A census is a way of determining the size of the human population in
a country at a particular moment in time. In many ways, a census has a
lot to do with ecology. Much of the work done by scientists who study
ecology is about numbers. Ecologists are more interested in groups of
organisms than in individuals. All the organisms of one species that live
in one place at a particular time make up a population. No population
ever lives alone. Other organisms—plants, animals, fungi, and microor-
ganisms—are also present. For example, a field has a population of mice,
but populations of wildflowers, insects, mushrooms, birds, and snakes
also live in the field. All of the populations that interact with each other
in a particular place make up a community. In large part, the study of
ecology is about populations and communities. (See Figure 25-1.)
536
Figure 25-1
The bison
population and
the pronghorn
antelope
population
interact with
each other and
with populations
of plants and
other organisms
in the area to
make up a
community.
As you will see, similar questions and answers are related to our study
of ecology.
■■ PROPERTIES OF A POPULATION
Figure 25-2 You can visualize the population density of New York City from this
photograph taken at night by the crew of a space shuttle. The brighter areas are
those where population density is higher.
United States, this would work out to a population density of 30.7 per-
sons per square kilometer, a relatively low density. In this case, however,
population density is more meaningful if we examine the density in a spe-
cific area. For example, in Alaska, the population density is less than 0.4
person per square kilometer, while in Manhattan, New York, population
density is greater than 25,800 people per square kilometer. In nature, many
environmental factors affect population density. Some of these factors are
climate, availability of food, the number of predators, and disease. (See
Figure 25-2.)
Ecologists also study the distribution of individuals in a population
throughout the habitat. One pattern of distribution is called clumped.
Elephants are usually clumped; they live in herds. Daffodils grow in
clumps, as do palm trees. Members of many other populations are spread
out evenly throughout a habitat. This is called uniform distribution. Dan-
delions grow in a uniform pattern in a field, as do oak trees. Individual
plants of a particular species in these populations grow roughly equidis-
tant from each other. Tigers do not live in herds. Their distribution is uni-
form. Uniform distribution occurs when individuals in a population
interfere in some ways with other individuals of the same species. For
example, they may compete for food. This kind of competition keeps
them from living too close together. (See Figure 25-3.) Finally, individu-
Chapter 25 / Populations and Communities 539
Data:
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number of 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1024
Individuals
Graph:
1000
Number of Individuals
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
Figure 25-4 The data table 200
and graph show population 100
growth when doubling 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
occurs every year. Year
The most basic needs of organisms from their habitats are food and
LIVING ENVIRONMENT BIOLOGY, 2e/fig. 25-4 s/s
space. However, every habitat has limits. When population density
increases too much, the available food and space decrease. More organ-
isms die, and the birth rate drops. The population density has reached a
maximum for the particular habitat. The size of a population that can be
supported by an ecosystem is called the carrying capacity. Population
growth slows and may reach a stage of zero growth as the population den-
sity comes close to an area’s carrying capacity. Zero growth means that the
size of the population is no longer increasing—the birth rate and death
rate are about equal. (See Figure 25-5.)
The rate at which a population grows can be shown in a graph. At the
beginning, the population is small. Because there are few individuals pres-
ent, the growth rate of the population is slow. As the population increases,
the rate at which it grows begins to speed up as more individuals repro-
duce. After some time, however, the growth slows and finally reaches zero
growth as the population approaches the area’s carrying capacity. This
population growth curve is known as an S-shaped curve.
Factors that limit the size of a population were described in Chapter
24. Some of these factors become more important as population density
increases. These are called density-dependent factors. Obviously, com-
petition for food and space increases as population density increases. For
example, owls usually build nests in tall dead trees. As the number of owls
in an area increases, the availability of tall nesting trees decreases. Some
owls will have to nest in shorter trees. In a shorter tree, a predator may
more easily find the owl’s nest.
Chapter 25 / Populations and Communities 541
Carrying capacity
Number of flies
Days
Figure 25-5 A new population increases rapidly at first, then levels off to
zero growth when it reaches the carrying capacity.
sufficient time for the population of deer to increase, the cold winter
killed the remaining deer. Now the population size is zero. No more deer
exist in the habitat. If this was the last remaining population of those
deer, the species would no longer exist. Extinction would have occurred.
The deer would never be seen alive again. (See Figure 25-7.)
Carrying capacity
Number of individuals
■■ COMMUNITY INTERACTIONS
In 1624, the poet John Donne wrote, “No man is an island, entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” The poet’s
words are actually one of the main ideas of ecology. No organism lives
alone. No population lives alone. Organisms that live in the same envi-
ronment are always interacting with each other. The survival of many
plants and animals often depends on the relationships they have with
other organisms. We will examine some of the main types of these rela-
tionships now. (See Figure 25-8.)
Competition is one of the main interactions between organisms. Sup-
pose a population of small brown birds lived in a forest. These birds eat
yellow butterflies found at the tops of trees. If a population of small blue
Figure 25-8 The survival of many plants and animals depends on the relationships
they have with other organisms in their environment.
LIVING ENVIRONMENT BIOLOGY, 2e/fig. 25-8 s/s
birds lived in the same forest and ate the same yellow butterflies from the
treetops, there would be competition between the two types of birds. This
competition between two species is interspecific competition, and it
would be intense, in this case, because of the overlap in the birds’ niches.
However, if the two bird species fed in the same treetops on different
insects, there would be less overlap in their niches and less competition
between the two species.
The greatest competition of all occurs between members of the same
species. This is called intraspecific competition. Intraspecific competi-
tion occurs because individuals of the same species most likely share iden-
tical niches. In other words, they live in exactly the same way. Therefore,
they compete most intensely for the limited resources in the environ-
ment. Both intraspecific and interspecific competition result in natural
Figure 25-9
This female lion—
a predator—
competes with
other lions for
food.
selection. Only the most fit individuals survive and pass on their genes to
their offspring. Therefore, competition is an important force in the
process of evolution. (See Figure 25-9.)
Predation is another of the most basic relationships that occur in
nature. In many cases, as an individual member of a population, you
either “eat or are eaten.” That is, you are either a predator or the prey. In
predation, members of one population are the food source for members
of another population. It may seem a strange way to think about it, but
grass seeds are prey when a mouse—a predator—eats them. Of course the
mouse can become the prey when a snake, another predator, eats it. (See
Figures 25-10a and 25-10b.)
Figure 25-10a The mouse preys on Figure 25-10b The rattlesnake preys
plants and seeds. on the mouse.
Chapter 25 / Populations and Communities 545
140
120
Numbers in thousands
100
80
60
40
20
0
1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940
Years
floor, you might not be able to see the woodcock lying on top of the
leaves. By keeping a low profile, and with good camouflage, the wood-
cock might not be seen by a passing predator.
Other organisms have different types of adaptations that help them
avoid becoming prey. For example, the bombardier beetle uses a chemical-
attack method. It produces an irritating chemical that it sprays into the
mouth of any animal that tries to eat it. This annoying chemical confuses
the predator and gives the beetle time to escape.
Another defense adaptation makes use of disguises that allow an
organism to pretend to be something it is not. The brilliantly colored
orange-and-black monarch butterfly has a bitter taste. A bird that tries to
eat a monarch butterfly will spit it out in disgust. The viceroy, another
type of butterfly, tastes just fine, and birds
would be glad to eat it. However, they
leave this tasty butterfly alone. Why? The
viceroy resembles a monarch. The viceroy
uses a technique called mimicry. As a
mimic of the monarch butterfly, it has
evolved almost identical orange-and-
black wing markings. Because the vice-
roy resembles the monarch, which tastes
awful, birds tend to leave the viceroy
alone. Of course, in order for the viceroy’s
clever disguise to work, a bird must first
Figure 25-12 The viceroy
butterfly, at top, mimics the try to eat a monarch butterfly! Through
markings of the unpleasant- basic ecological interactions, evolution
tasting monarch butterfly, at has produced amazing results in the liv-
bottom. ing world. (See Figure 25-12.)
■■ SYMBIOSIS
type of organism can live near, on, or even in another organism. Each
partner in the relationship can help the other, harm the other, or have no
effect on the other partner.
Fungus Tapeworm
Ameba Tongue worm
Flagellate Leech
Plasmodium Bug
Spirochete Flea
Figure 25-13 One bird may be host to many different kinds of parasites. Some of
those parasites may have parasites of their own as well.
of a shark. It feeds on the leftovers from the shark’s meals. The remora
benefits; the shark, as far as we know, is unaffected. In the rain forest,
epiphytic plants, such as some bromeliads, attach themselves to the bark
of trees far above the ground. Living up high, these plants are able to cap-
ture more of the sun’s light while not affecting the tree they are growing
on. (See Figure 25-14.)
Figure 25-14 The relationship between the shark and remora, as well as that of
the bromeliad and tree, are examples of commensalism.
American acacia tree and a species of stinging ants. The trees produce hol-
low thorns. The ants make their nest in these thorns and feed on sugars
produced by the plant. If any other insect lands on the acacia, the ants
quickly surround and kill it. The ants also cut down competing plants
that grow near the tree. In one experiment, scientists removed all the ants
that lived on several trees. Without the ants, after a period of time, the
trees died.
The living world contains many examples of mutualism: the bacteria
that live in our own intestines and make some of the vitamins we use; the
microorganisms that live in a cow’s intestines and help the cow digest
the cellulose in the grass it eats; insects that collect food from flowers and
unknowingly pick up pollen and pollinate the flowers as they move
among them. (See Figure 25-15.)
■■ CHANGING COMMUNITIES
Did these tremendous fires destroy life in the most famous national
park in the United States? Definitely not. What scientists observed is the
process of succession. Usually, succession is a series of slow changes that
occur in an area until a stable community is reached. It takes a long time.
Most naturally occurring successions in an area take longer than a per-
son’s lifetime. However, a stable community after a sudden disturbance
quickly begins to go through a series of changes. These changes often fol-
low similar patterns in different places whenever the same kind of dis-
turbance has occurred. (See Figure 25-17 on page 552.)
As a result of the 1988 fires, the forests in Yellowstone became open
fields filled with blackened tree stumps. Soon the fields were covered with
552 Interaction and Interdependence
INTRODUCTION
Ecologists spend much of their time studying populations of organisms
and the interactions between populations. Ecologists also study how pop-
ulations change over time. In these studies, the growth of the population
is investigated, as well as the ways in which population growth is depend-
ent on available resources. In this investigation you will study a popula-
tion of fruit flies as it changes over time.
MATERIALS
Sets of culture vials of fruit flies of various ages (each vial should have
been started in the same manner, with approximately six male and six
female flies; the vials should be one day, one week, two weeks, three
weeks, and four weeks old), hand lens, chart or handouts of the life cycle
of the fruit fly, petri dishes that contain fruit flies in each life-cycle stage,
dissecting microscope
PROCEDURE
1. Observe a starter vial. Note your observations in your log book. Record
the environmental conditions in the vial and any organisms in the
vial.
2. Continue your observations of each of the other vials. Make notes of
the environmental conditions present in each vial. In a data table,
record the number of organisms in each vial. Also record the number
of individuals in each of the stages in a fruit fly’s life cycle. Use the
hand lens when necessary.
3. If you have a dissecting microscope available, use it to observe the fruit
flies in the vials, and make drawings of the organisms you observed.
■■ CHAPTER 25 REVIEW
VOCABULARY
The following list contains all of the boldfaced terms in this chapter. Define
each of these terms in your own words.
9. Certain moths have spots on their wings that look like owl eyes.
Flashing these spots at an insect-eating bird usually confuses the
bird into thinking it has discovered a bird-eating owl, so the bird
leaves the moth alone. This is an example of a. symbiosis
b. mimicry c. commensalism d. competition.
10. Which of these would tend to limit population growth?
a. crowding b. increase in food supply c. decrease in predators
d. decrease in competitors
11. Fleas live on a dog and drink its blood, causing itchy bites that
make the dog miserable. This is an example of a. commensalism
b. mutualism c. mimicry d. parasitism.
12. Over a long period of time, a pond fills up and becomes first a
field and then a forest. This is an example of a. succession
b. commensalism c. interspecific competition d. predation.
13. Population density increases with an increase in a. emigration
b. birth rate c. death rate d. density-dependent limiting
factors.
14. Which of the following are competitors to wild grazers such as
zebras and antelope? a. tick-eating birds b. vultures c. lions
d. cattle
15. Many corals have algae that live inside their tissues. The algae are
protected by the coral, and the coral needs the algae to survive.
This is an example of a. parasitism b. mutualism
c. intraspecific competition d. commensalism.
21. How does a small Brazilian tree provide a home for a particular
species of tiny Allomerus ants?
22. Explain why researchers allowed some of the branches of these
trees to grow without any ants in them.
23. Explain how the tiny ants are both beneficial and harmful to the
tree branches, and state the action taken by the trees to minimize
the ant damage.