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COMMUNITY ECOLOGY
A community is an assemblage of plant and animal populations that live in a particular area or habitat.
Populations of the various species in a community interact and form a system with its own emergent properties.

Pattern vs. Process


Pattern is what we can easily observe directly - vegetation zonation, species lists, seasonal distribution of activity, and association of certain species. Process gives rise to the patternherbivory, competition, predation risk, nutrient availability, patterns of disturbance, energy flow, history, and evolution.

Goals of Community Ecology


Community ecology seeks to explain the underlying mechanisms that create, maintain, and determine the fate of biological communities. Not all science is experimental. Community ecologists describe communities (descriptive science) and then develop hypotheses to explain why they are the way they are, what regulates them, and how they change. Both tasks have their roots in nineteenth century natural history.

Emergent Properties of a Community Scale Spatial and Temporal Structure Species Richness Species Diversity Interactions Among Members Trophic structure Succession and Disturbance

Scale
Scale is the size of a community. Provided that the area or habitat is well defined, a community can be a system of almost any size, from a drop of water, to a rotting log, to a forest, to the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

Spatial Structure
Spatial Structure is the way species are distributed relative to each other. Some species provide a framework that creates habitats for other species. These species, in turn create habitats for others, etc.

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Example of spatial structure


Trees in a rainforest are stratified into several different levels, including a canopy, several understories, a ground level, and roots. Each level is the habitat of a distinct collection of species. Some places, such as the pools of water that collect at the base of tree branches, may harbor entire communities of their own.

Temporal Structure
Temporal sturcture is the timing of the appearance and activity of species. Some communities, i.e., arctic tundra and the decay of a corpse, have pronounced temporal species, other communities have less.
Example: Many desert plants and animals are dormant most of the year. They emerge, or germinate, in response to seasonal rains. Other plants stick around year round, having evolved adaptations to resist drought.

Species Richness
Species Richness - is the number of species in a community. Clearly, the number of species we can observe is function of the area of the sample. It also is a function of who is looking. Thus, species richness is sensitive to sampling procedure

Diversity
Diversity is the number of species in the community, and their relative abundances. Species are not equally abundant, some species occur in large percentage of samples, others are poorly represented. Some communities, such as tropical rainforests, are much more diverse than others, such as the great basin desert. Species Diversity is often expressed using Simpsons diversity index: D=1- (pi)2

Example Problem
A community contains the following species: Number of Individuals Species A 104 Species B 71 Species C 19 Species D 5 Species E 3 What is the Diversity index of this Community? Total Individuals= (104+19+71+5+3)=202

PA=104/202=.51 PB=19/202=.09 PC=71/202=.35 PD=5/202=.03 PE=3/202=.02 D=1-{(.51)2+(.09)2+(.35)2+(.03)2+(.02)2} D=1-.40=.60

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The Niche
The niche is one of the most important concepts in ecology. Paradoxically, it is also one of the hardest to define (Ecology is still a young science). In essence, an organisms niche is how it makes a living: the environmental conditions it tolerates, the important resources it needs to survive, and its ways of obtaining those resources. In obtaining energy, nutrients, etc.. a populations of one species frequently interact with populations of other species.

Competition and the Niche


An ecological niche can be thought of in terms of competition. The fundamental niche is the set of resources and habitats an organism could theoretically use under ideal conditions. The realized niche is the set of resources and habitats an organism actually used: it is generally much more restricted due to interspecific competition (or predation.)

Two organisms cannot occupy exactly the same niche. This is sometimes called Gausses rule(although Gausse never put it exactly that way).
-Experiments by Gausse (Paramecium), Peter Frank (Daphnia), and Thomas Park (Triboleum) have confirmed it for simple laboratory scenarios.

Resource Partitioning
Species that share the same habitat and have similar needs frequently use resources in somewhat different ways so that they do not come into direct competition for at least part of the limiting resource. This is called resource partitioning.

-This creates a bit of a paradox, because so many species


exist in nature using the same resources.

-The more complex environments found in nature may


enable more resource partitioning.

Succession, Disturbance and Change In terms of species and physical structure, communities change with time.
Ecological succession, the predictable change in species over time, as each new set of species modifies the environment to enable the establishment of other species, is virtually ubiquitous.

Examples of Change
Example, a sphagnum bog community may persist for only a few decades before the process of ecological succession changes transform it into the surrounding Black Spruce Forest. A forest fire may destroy a large area of trees, clearing the way for a meadow. Eventually, the trees take over and the meadow is replaced.

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Disturbance
Disturbances are events such as floods, fire, droughts, overgrazing, and human activity that damage communities, remove organisms from them, and alter resource availability.

Some Natural Agents of Disturbance


Fire Floods Drought Floating Logs Large Herbivores Storms Volcanoes

Disturbance, Invasion, Succession


Disturbance creates opportunities for new species to invade an area and establish themselves. These species modify the environment, and create opportunities for other species to invade. The new species eventually displace the original ones. Eventually, they modify the environment enough to allow a new series of invaders, which ultimately replace them, etc.

Succession
Disturbance of a community is usually followed by recovery, called ecological succession.
The concept of succession developed by two early ecologists, Warming and Cowles. Cowles studied dune succession along Lake Michigan between 1898 and 1911. He emphasized the dynamic nature of vegetation, and the process by which pioneer species gradually modify their environment to enable replacement by their competitors.

Two Types of Succession

Primary Secondary

Primary succession is the sequence of species on newly exposed landforms that have not previously been influenced by a community, e.g., newly formed sand dunes, lava flows, areas exposed by glacial retreat. Sequence of succession is driven by the interactions among dispersal, ecological tolerances, and competitive ability.

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Early successional species are generally excellent dispersers. As ecological succession progresses, they are replaced with species which are superior competitors, (but not as good at dispersing). Early successional species frequently modify their environment in such a way as to make it possible for the next round of species. These, in turn, make their own replacement by superior competitors possible.

Secondary succession occurs in cases which vegetation of an area has been partially or completely removed, but where well developed soil, seeds, and spores remain. Thus, the resulting sequence of species is driven principally by interactions such as competition and herbivory, e.g., familiar oldfield succession.

CLIMAX COMMUNITY
A climax community is a more or less permanent and final stage of a particular succession, often characteristic of a restricted area. Climax communities are characterized by slow rates of change, compared with more dynamic, earlier stages. They are dominated by species tolerant of competition for resources.

Stream lotic water system


Streams unidirectional current (due to gravity) most important environmental feature the amount and quality of load, and flow velocity determine the characteristics of the streambed, rate of nutrient replenishment, adaptations of organisms

STREAM COMMUNITY

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Regions of the stream categorized according to flow rate:


RIFFLE (Fast Velocity) rocky streambed; rocks hinder movement of water causing decrease in volume of passing water, therefore causing turbulence, thus faster movement of the shallow water; turbulence causes increase in dissolved oxygen (DO) Medium Velocity combination of small rocks and some sand POOL (Slow Velocity) sandy/silty/muddy substrate, slow-moving water will allow sedimentation of humus and other organic matter from upstream; deeper water thus less DO.

Physico-chemical parameters
Temperature affected by depth of water, current velocity, bottom materials, temperature of entering tributary water, exposure to direct sunlight, degree of shading, time of day air temp > water

Light Intensity affected by shading by nearby vegetation, time of day, weather condition affects temperature and primary productivity

pH pH 6-7 is the normal range influences the availability of nutrients particularly CO2 Affects density and diversity of organisms living in the stream

Velocity affected by shape of channel, roughness of channel, size/width, slope/steepness, depth, wind factor, and intensity of rainfall affects types of organisms present, only those w/ favorable structures, adaptations can withstand the constant turbulence

Electrical conductivity indicates presence of dissolved salts and metal ions in water affected by pH high velocity , high EC

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Dissolved oxygen affected by temperature, velocity, abundance of primary producers higher velocity, higher DO ; lower temperature, higher DO

COASTAL MARINE COMMUNITY (Intertidal Zone)

Recall: the sun is the basic source of energy of the planet energy is utilized by autotrophs during photosynthesis light can only penetrate the water surface until a certain level only (light compensation point) Intertidal zone (Eulittoral zone) - transition area between marine and terrestrial environment.

Intertidal Zone communities are defined by:

Physico-chemical parameters
Temperature affected by climate, season, condition of the sky, time of the day may result to desiccation of exposed organisms ~27C on the surface of tropical waters

Tidal exposure low tides expose organisms to dry air, high temp., predation by land animals, salinity fluctuations Bottom type fine/loose sediment vs. solid substrate; flat vs. terrained Wave action smashes/tears away objects, disperses organisms, stirs up sediments, mixes gases

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Light intensity Affects water surface temperature Affects primary productivity Controls distribution of producers, vision, rhythms, rate of photosynthesis abundance of producers

pH 7.5-8.4 is the normal range basic pH due to presence of strongly alkaline ions (Na, K, Ca) maintenance of a buffer system affects abundance and type of organisms

Salinity ~35 ppt; dissolved organic salts such as Cl, Na, SO4, Mg, Ca, K factors affecting salinity are precipitation/runoff, evaporation, mixing

Dissolved oxygen Not limiting in the intertidal zone due to wave action High DO is favorable for the heterotrophs

Electrical conductivity Indicates presence of ions related to biogeochemical cycles occurring in the marine community

Microhabitats in marine community Comparison of the 2 microhabitats Rocky: less of the sea grasses, more of the brittle stars, starfish, algae Sandy: less of the echinoderms, more of the sea grasses Index of Similarity depends on the situation but usually ranges from 50-90% due to wave action

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Adaptations
Rocky: animal - attachment, hiding in rock crevices Plant/algae - holdfasts, flexible thallus, gas-filled bulbs for floatation of thallus Sandy: animal - burrowing, highly mobile, attach to sea grasses, suspension/filter feeders, grazers of sea grasses, detritus feeders plant - extensive rhizomes hold the sand, flattened leaf blades glide through the waves

Intra- and Interspecific interactions Intraspecific: competition for food, space, and light Interspecific: grazing, predation, competition, plantanimal interactions Productivity Productivity is high for both rocky and sandy microhabitats

Sea Grasses Contributes to high primary productivity Stabilizes and builds-up shoreline bottom Act as shelters and nursery grounds for other organisms Leaves act as protection against UV light and desiccation

Wave action
Disperses organisms, stirs up sediments, mixes gases Tides bring food and carry away metabolites Reduces predatory activity against sessile organisms more even distribution of light more efficient PS Open up space for colonization, thus reducing strong interspecific competition Thus, wave action, being the disturbance which influences community structure so much, is also the root of intertidal productivity

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