CHAPTER 5

Factors That Limit Distribution & Abundance:

BIOTIC COMPONENTS

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 Learning Outcome
Define biotic factors
Acquire knowledge on the
interrelationship between organism
Describe the criteria proposed for predator
to restrict its prey
Explain resource partitioning

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 What is biotic factors?
Biotic factors are factors produced by
living organisms that affect the ability of
other living organisms to survive in an
environment.
Example: disease, parasitism, predation,
allelopathy and competition.

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 PREDATION
1)PREDATOR RESTRICT PREY

Works by Kitching & Ebling (1967) studies in Ireland

on the mussel (Mytilus edulis).
Exposed rocky shores = small mussels
Sheltered area = larger mussels
Kitching transferred rock with attached mussels from
one area to another

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 Results
Small mussels transplanted to/within the are
survived only on open coasts while in other
areas they disappeared-because of the influence
of predators.

Large mussels only survived in their natural

habitat but disappeared in transplanted areas

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How predator restrict its prey?
Area Mussel Predator type Predator Predator
type distribution/habitat Abiotic
Tolerance
Lough Small Small mussel- Exposed area- Strong
Ine, mussel Carcinus Marthasterias wave,
exposed maenas (crab) glacialis (Starfish) High
area Portunus salinity-
(Site A) puber (crab)
Nucella
lapillus (snail)
Shelter, Large Large mussel- Shallow water- Weak
shallow mussel Marthasterias Carcinus maenas wave,
(Site B) glacialis (crab) Low
(Starfish) Portunus puber salinity-
(crab)
Nucella lapillus
(snail)
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 Example 2
Kitching & Ebling (1961) relationship
between sea urchin, Paracentrotus lividus
and algae.

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 The predator (sea urchin) lives in the shallow
part of the sublittoral zone (under beach) just
below the tide level.

In areas where there is abundant sea urchins the

area is relatively free of algae

In areas where there is little sea urchin the algae

are abundant

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 They did experiments of clearing 1957 sea
urchins (290 m2)
- Algae immediately began to colonize and grow
in the sea urchin cleared area.

In adjacent areas where there were sea urchin,

algae cover was not visible.

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 The authors then transferred the sea
urchin into areas that had high growth of
algae the areas began to be clear of
algae.

There was thus a reverse relationship

between sea urchin and algae cover

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 Example 3
Small kangaroos a.k.a rock
wallabies (prey) have been
driven to extinction by:

1. Predation of introduced sp.

i.e, the red fox (predator).
2. Competition for food with
rabbits.

Habitat: Rocky hills

Declining and numerous
colonies have become extinct

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 Kinnear et al. (1998) tested the hypothesis that
red fox predation was sufficient to limit the
population and size distribution of rock
wallabies
Test: They poisoned red foxes around experimental
colonies at rocky hills
Result:
1. it showed that the populations of wallabies
recovered (in absence of red fox)
2. Without foxes, wallabies ranged further from rocky
sites to feed better species distribution.

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 Example 4 Rat Kangaroo
Previously found extensively over Australia.

Presently only found at 3 islands off the coast of

Western Australia where there are no red foxes.

1992 - Reintroduced to mainland, isolated by electric

fence to prevent fox immigration and poisons to
eliminate foxes.

Reintroduction was a success.

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 4 criteria for predator to restrict its prey:
1) Suspected predator is able to kill prey in lab
(experiment) and field (nature)
2) Suspected predator is responsible for
destruction of prey in transplantation
experiments
3) prey survives after transplanted if they are
protected from predators
4) prey distribution and suspected predator are
inversely related

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 PREDATION
2) PREY RESTRICT PREDATOR

- plant (food) vs herbivore (insect)

- herbivore vs carnivore
- Such predators are called specialists or monophagous
predators

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 Example 1

Chrysolina quadrigemina introduced in US to control the Kalmath weed,

Hypericum perforatum.

Adults and larvae of beetle will only feed on the Hypericum or they will
die if feed on other plants

Adult beetles display an obligatory feeding response to the chemical

hypericin (Schoeps et al., 1996)

The beetles refuse to stand on other leaves that have different surface
feature to that of Hypericum

The life history, feeding habits, behavior and distribution of the beetle
(predator) is restricted by its single plant (prey) 16
 Insects that feed on only one host plant (monophagous
insects) could be limited in their distribution by the
host plant.

To date there is no indication that the ranges of food

plants and their monophagous insect herbivore
coincide (Quinn et al., 1998)

Example of the butterfly in Britain no association

between food plant distribution and butterfly
distribution

Even for widespread species of butterflies the host

plant occurs in many areas in which the butterfly does
not something else must limit butterfly distribution

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Disease & Parasitism

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 Disease & Parasitism
Parasites and pathogens can limit and restrict
distributions
Example - native bird fauna of Hawaii
Native birds of Hawaii have become extinct due to
introduced disease (Warner, 1968):
1. avian pox (initially) and 2. avian malaria (later) were
instrumental in causing extinction in the Hawaiian
Islands

Bill tumors results of avian pox

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 The idea that disease might be involved
arose from observations that:
native birds occupy upperland in Hawaii
and are relatively common only at
elevation above 1500 m
while introduced birds occupy lowland

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 Female Culex quinquefasciatus

The malarial vector, Culex quinquefasciatus is

conversely most common in lowland areas

Male Culex quinquefasciatus

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 The initial extinction of native birds was initially
influenced by habitat clearing for agriculture
and introduction of rats, cats, and pigs and avian
pox (before 1900) and subsequent extinction by
introduction of avian malaria.

Birds that went extinct at this time (early 1900)

lived in the mid-elevation forests where malaria
parasites are most common.

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Allelopathy

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 Allelopathy
Definition: The inhibition of growth and development
in one species of plants by chemicals produced from
another species. Plant vs plant.

Impact :
- Decrease in yields - did not increase even after adding of
fertilizers.
- E.g Grass and apple trees
- Experiment: Apple trees supplied with 3 different sources of water:
a. a primary source: tap water
b. a secondary source: water passing through grass and soil
c. water that passed through soil only
The growth of apple seedling was inhibited by something
produced by the grass and carried by water.

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 alfalfa plants

Example 2
Effect of black walnut trees (Juglans nigra)
on grass and alfalfa plants.
Roots secrete a toxin to which tomatoes
and alfalfa could not grow but others
like corn and beet showed no ill effect
The chemical is juglone, 5 hydroxy--
napthaquinone) from roots and hulls of
black wallnut.
Some close relatives of black walnut
(Juglans regia, J. bindsii, J. califronica) do
not produce toxins
Inhibitor of seed germination
Tomatoes and alfalfa wilt when grown
near black walnuts, and their seedlings
die if their roots contact walnut roots.

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Juglans nigra
 Presence of other organisms may limit
distribution of some species through
competition.

Allelopathy is one specific type of competition

for living space.

Allelopathy vs competition.

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Competition

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 Competition happen when 2 or more species uses the
same resources and live in the same places.
Birds, rodents and ants may compete for seeds in desert
environments.
Herbs and shrubs compete for water in dry areas.

Competition among animals is usually for food, mate,

habitat.

Plants compete for sunlight, nutrients, water, even

pollinators

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 How do we know if competition is restricting
geographic distribution?
when sp A is absent, sp. B lives in a wider
range of habitats.

In some extreme cases a habitat will contain only

sp A or B and never both.

The difficulty is that competition is only one of

the several hypotheses that can account for the
observed distributions.

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 Example 1, Checkerbord
distribution
Checkerboard distribution of closely related sp
ecologically related sp. in an island archipelago
interdigitating distributions (become interlocked) each
island supporting only 1 sp.

The fruit pigeon in the Bismarck Archipelago Ptilinopus

rivoli and P. solomonensis.

The successful colonist is either first-come-first basis or

on the basis of slight competitive advantage.

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 Resource partitioning
When 2 sp compete for resources:
i. one will always be a better competitor and the other
will lose out and disappear.

ii. evolves together, adapt to Resource

escape/ minimize competition partitioning

2 evolutionary strategies a weaker competitor species

can develop:
i. avoid the superior competitor by selecting different part of
the habitat (E. umbrinus arboreal)
ii. avoid the superior competitor by selecting a different diet
(diet shift)
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 Example 2
Competition among cliff chipmunks Eutamias dorsalis,
E. umbrinus
E. dorsalis (lower elevation) excludes E. umbrinus (higher
elevation)
The 2 sp interact at about 2100 m where the levels of
competition are highest.

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Eutamias dorsalis Eutamias umbrinus
 Habitat structure
E. dorsalis
- lower elevation prefers lives on the ground, less trees
- aggressive to its own and other chipmunk sp.
E. umbrinus
- higher elevation
- lots of trees
- spends its time on trees
- moves from tree to tree along interlocking branches

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 At lower elevation where trees are sparse,
E. dorsalis exludes E. umbrinus by its superior
aggression.

Aggression become ineffective when tress are

close (dense) spaced because the arboreal
umbrinus escapes through the trees.

Competitive success of E. umbrinus is

determined by habitat structure.

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 Example 3
Crossbill finches extract seeds from cones 3 sp live in
Eurasia and are adapted for eating different foods
i) Small crossbill (Loxia leucoptera) small bill feeds on larch seeds
cones are soft
ii) Medium sized crossbill (L. curvitrostra) eats spruce seeds
iii) Large crossbill (L. pytyopsittacus) eats the hard cones of Scotch
pines.

This minimizes dietary overlap in regions where all three

possible competitors live.
Loxia leucoptera

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Loxia pytyopsittacus