honors biology ~ ecology 1314
TRANSCRIPT
Ecology
Honors Biology ~ Edgar
N-alkanes
Quesitons on ArticleWhat emergent property is discussed in the red
harverster ants?How is this property chemically achieved?What is the role of the control, and the positive
control in this experiment?What information is shown in the caption of the
graph?Why is this a bar graph rather then a line graph?What is the conclusion of the study in this “brief
communication”?
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
Overview: The Scope of Ecology
• Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the environment
• These interactions determine distribution and abundance of organisms and their abundance
• Ecology reveals the richness of the biosphere
Fig. 52-1
Dangers of Migration
Eschrichtius robustus
What environmental factors determine geographical distribution?
How do variations in their food supply affect the size of populations?
Fig. 52-2Organismalecology
Populationecology
Communityecology
Ecosystemecology
Landscapeecology
Globalecology
Fig. 52-4
Fig. 52-5
Kangaroos/km2
0–0.10.1–11–55–1010–20> 20Limits ofdistribution
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
• Ecologists consider multiple factors when attempting to explain the distribution of species
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
Climate
• Four major abiotic components of climate are temperature, water, sunlight, and wind
• The long-term prevailing weather conditions in an area constitute its climate
• Macroclimate consists of patterns on the global, regional, and local level
• Microclimate consists of very fine patterns, such as those encountered by the community of organisms underneath a fallen log
Fig. 52-20
Tropical forestTemperate grasslandDesert
Temperatebroadleafforest
Northernconiferousforest
Arctic andalpinetundraA
nn
ual
mea
n t
emp
erat
ure
(ºC
)
Annual mean precipitation (cm)
30
15
0
0–15
100 200 300 400
Populations
Fig. 53-4a
(a) Clumped
Fig. 53-4b
(b) Uniform
Fig. 53-4c
(c) Random
Fig. 53-3
Births
Births and immigrationadd individuals toa population.
Immigration
Deaths and emigrationremove individualsfrom a population.
Deaths
Emigration
Survivorship Curves
Isle Royale
Fig. 53-25
Rapid growthAfghanistan
Male Female Age AgeMale Female
Slow growthUnited States
Male Female
No growthItaly
85+80–8475–7970–74
60–6465–69
55–5950–5445–4940–4435–3930–3425–2920–2415–19
0–45–9
10–14
85+80–8475–7970–74
60–6465–69
55–5950–5445–4940–4435–3930–3425–2920–2415–19
0–45–9
10–14
10 10 8 866 4 422 0Percent of population Percent of population Percent of population
66 4 422 08 8 66 4 422 08 8
Community Ecology
Trophic Structure
Coral Reefs
Cnidaria
Acropora millipora
Orange Bushy Coral
Parrotfishes Conversion of primary production to fish-based trophic pathways
Provision of suitable settlement substrata for new corals
Mediation of competition between corals and macroalgae
Diadema antillarium
Epinephelus striatus
Community Interactions
Predation & herbivory, Competition
Symbiosis (mutualism, commensalism, parasitism)
Disease
Competition (competitive exclusion)
Intertidal Community
– Chthalamus more tolerant of dessication than Balanus
– Balanus a more successful competitor
– Chthalamus restricted to upper intertidal zone
– realized niche < fundamental niche
Competition and niche differentiation in barnacles
(Connell 1961)
– Testing the competitive exclusion principle• Two species of barnacles on intertidal rocks• Remove Balanus -- Chthamalus spread• Chthamalus distribution limited by Balanus
Chthamalus
Balanus
High tide
Chthamalusrealized niche
Balanusrealized niche
Low tide
Ocean
Figure 37.2A
Niches: fundamental and realized
The realized niche is often smaller than the fundamental niche
• restricted by factors eg, competition, predation, parasitism.
The fundamental niche is the n-dimensional hypervolume describing the full range of conditions that the species can use in the absence of competition
• defined by an organism’s adaptations to persist in a given abiotic environment
Modes of Competition
Intraspecific: – Competition among members of the same species.
– e.g. density dependent factors
Interspecific: – Competition among individuals of two or more
different species • reduces fitness of both. • Interspecific competition can occur only if species have
similar resource requirements– i.e. must have overlapping niches.
Predation
Fig. 54-6
Cuscuta pentagonaDodder predation
Batesian Mimicry
Mullerian Mimicry
Helminthic Therapy
Keystone Predator
Ecosystem Ecology
Primary ProductivityNutrient Cycling
NPP=GPP-R
phytoplankton
Who are the Phytoplankton?
Coccolithophore
Diatoms
Dinoflagellates
Gulf of Maine Data: Wilkinson and Jordan
Basins
Wilk. Basin
Jordan Basin
Nucleic AcidsLipidsProteinsCarbohydrates
CO2
LightNutrients (N, P, etc)
The Redfield Ratio106106 Carbon : 1616 Nitrogen : 11 Phosphorus
Liebig’s Law:Liebig’s Law: Growth of a “plant” is determined by availability of the single most limiting
resource. Redfield
Duck?
Nutrient Cycle
The Whale Pump
Figure 1. A conceptual model of the whale pump.
Roman J, McCarthy JJ (2010) The Whale Pump: Marine Mammals Enhance Primary Productivity in a Coastal Basin. PLoS ONE 5(10): e13255. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013255http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0013255
Copepods
Figure 2. Shipboard incubation time-course experiments on Humpback whale samples collected on Stellwagen Bank, Gulf of Maine.
Figure 3. The flux of nitrogen in the Gulf of Maine (a) at present and (b) before commercial hunting.