Community and Population Ecology
Community Ecology
I.
Types of Species
A. Native vs nonnative
1.
Native
2.
Nonnative/exotic/alien: three possible destinies:
disappear
naturalized
invasive
B. Indicator species: the canary in the coal mine
Ex:
C. Keystone species
Ex:
D. Foundation species
Ex:
II.
Competition
A. Caused by:
B. Interspecific vs intraspecific
C. Solutions
1.
2.
3.
D. Types
1.
2.
E. Law of Competitive Exclusion
F.
Resource Partitioning
Lions & leopards/Hawks & owls/Warblers
III.
Predation
A. predator and prey
B. Adaptations and the coevolution of predator and prey
IV.
Symbiosis
A. Parasitism:
Ex:
B. Commensalism:
Ex:
C. Mutualism:
Ex:
V.
Community Structure and Species Diversity
A. Community Structure
1.
physical appearance
2.
species diversity
a.
species richness
b.
species evenness
Tropical rain forest, e.g.
3.
niche structure
Note: Also review the definitions of niche, habitat, generalist, and specialist from
chapter 5.
B. Things that effect species diversity
1.
Latitude (the latitudinal species diversity gradient, if you want to sound smart)
2.
pollution
3.
NPP
4.
habitat availability and condition
5.
time
VI.
Succession
A. ecological succession
B. primary succession
long time…starts on bare rock, e.g.
starts w/: pioneer species:
then come: early successional plant species:
then…midsuccessional plant species:
late successional plant species:
C. secondary succession
begins in what type or area?
Climax community
D. Characteristics of immature and mature ecosystems (see table 8-1, p. 158)
E. Disturbance
1.
2.
VII.
catastrophic
a.
natural
b.
human-caused
gradual
a.
natural
b.
human-caused
Ecological Stability
A. inertia/persistence
B. constancy
C. resilience
Tropical rainforest:
Temperate grassland
Population Ecology
VIII.
Population Dynamics
A. size
B. density
C. dispersion
1.
clumping
reasons
2.
uniform
3.
random
D. Age structure
1.
2.
3.
IX.
Carrying capacity
A. Population growth
1.
population change = (Births + Immigrants) – (Deaths + Emigrants)
N = (B + I) – (D + E)
2.
If N = 0, it’s called ZPG
B. Limits on population growth
1.
biotic potential
2.
intrinsic rate of increase (r)
3.
critical size/ minimum viable population
4.
environmental resistance
C. Carrying capacity (K)
D. Exponential and Logistic growth
E. What happens when N > K?
F.
Population density and population growth
1.
density-independent controls:
2.
density-dependent controls:
G. Population cycles
1.
2.
3.
4.
H. Predator-Prey population cycles
X.
Reproductive strategies/patterns and survival: the struggle for genetic immortality
A. How do species reproduce?
1.
asexual: the original brand of cloning
2.
sexual: do the gene shuffle
3.
disadvantages and advantages to sex (yes, there are disadvantages)
a.
disadvantages
1. childbirth: tough on females
2. errors
3. courtship: tough on males
b.
advantages
1. shuffling of genes= variability
2. males help out. Well, some do.
B. r-strategists
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
C. Survivorship curves
vs
K-strategists