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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.
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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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
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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 COMMUNITY
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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
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.
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