Warm Up #4
The Giant Panda, which lives in China and eats only
bamboo, is on the verge of extinction due to a
variety of factors.
• How are humans contributing to the Panda’s
extinction?
• How are other animals contributing to the Panda’s
extinction?
• How is the Panda contributing to its own extinction?
Animal Populations
Laying the Land
• Niche – conditions a species
needs in order to survive and
reproduce in an ecosystem
▫ Conditions = physical
(temperature) and chemical
(salinity, acidity)
• IMPORTANT to study:
▫ Human impact effects
▫ Species interaction
▫ Extinction rates
The Lockett Niche
In our class, 34 desks
• Fundamental Niche – full
range of resources and
conditions a species can use
▫ You can sit at ANY desk
• Realized Niche – the part of
the fundamental niche a
species TENDS to occupy
▫ The desk you normally sit at
▫ Why? Competition for
resources
Why the Panda is killing itself
• Generalist species – can
survive in a large variety of
niches (flies, cockroaches,
mice, etc)
• Specialist species – can
only survive in a very
particular
niche/environment (Panda)
• Less tolerant = less likely you
are to survive
Other threats to the Cuteness
• Non-Native Species –
species introduced to a niche
by humans
• Competition for resources
(food, light, shelter, etc)
• Non-Native species usually
more Generalist (can tolerate
more)
• WHAT’S A PANDA TO DO??
The Grossness of the Cockroach
• Literally eats anything (including
electrical cords and glue)
• Can breed anywhere (except polar
regions)
• 1 cockroach  10 million babies in
one year.
• One species can survive frozen for
48 hours
• Can survive nuclear bomb
Quick Quiz #2
In a hypothetical world where all things are
possible, you are now a cute Panda and want to
survive:
• You are an extreme specialist species, how would
you change that?
• If a non-native species came into your niche,
how would you adapt?
Adaptation to a Competitor
Adaptation Strategy Plan A
Scenario: Non-native species
thrive in cold and moderate
temperatures
1.
Directional Selection –
reproductive rates better on
one side of curve than other
Solution: You learn to love the
heat
Adaptation Strategy Plan B
Scenario: Non-native species
loves either really hot or really
cold climates
2. Stabilizing Selection –
highest reproduction =
center of curve
Solution: You, as a cute panda,
adapt to living in moderate
climates
Adaptation Plan C
Scenario: Non-native species
thrives in moderate
temperatures
3. Disruptive Selection –
high reproduction at BOTH
extremes
Solution: You either get a jacket
or embrace sweating
Warm Up #5
Scenario: You are officially a honey-badger…and you just
don’t care. Use your prior knowledge of how bad-ass the
honey-badger is to answer the following questions:
• Would you classify the honey-badger as a specialist species
or a generalist species? Why would you say this?
• If the honey-badger was a non-native species, would any
other species stand a chance? Why?
• Say you try to stand against the honey-badger’s
awesomeness. You discover the honey-badger only eats
small and medium sized larva. Show, on a bell curve, how
you would adapt, showing the type of selection as well.
Avoiding Competition
Review…with some new
• Directional – shifting
toward ONE extreme
• Stabilizing – shifting
toward the MIDDLE
• Disruptive – shifting
toward BOTH extremes
This is character
displacement –
physical/behavioral changes
for more stuff
Competition is Drama
To avoid drama…
• Resource Partitioning –
dividing resources amongst
competing species
• Use at different times,
different ways, different places
Example: Diurnal vs. Nocturnal
animals (hawks vs. owls)
“I WANT TO WATCH FOOTBALL”
“I WANT TO WATCH DESPERATE
HOUSEWIVES!!”
More Cowardly Avoidance (but also
kind of BA)
• Camouflage – resembling
the abiotic factors around it
• Chemical warfare – using
poisonous/odorous
chemicals
• Coloration – certain colors
= danger
• Mimicking – Looking like
something more dangerous
Predator-Prey Relationship
Negative Feedback Loop
1. Predators kill prey (obviously)
2. More prey die = less food for
predators
3. Predators die (less food)
4. Prey start to repopulate, cycle
repeats
A Predator-Prey Fad Diet
• Parasitism – one species
(parasite) gets nourishment
by living on another species
(host)
• Smaller than host, weakens
host, rarely kills it
• Ex. Virus
• Tapeworm Diet – ingest
tapeworm, eats contents of
stomach (along with actual
stomach)
Symbiotic Relationships [less gross]
Symbiotic Relationship –
interaction between two
species
Mutualism – both species
benefit (+, +)
• Normally 1 species is
protected, the other gets food
Commensalism – one species
benefits, the other is
unaffected (+, 0)
• Shark (0) and Pilot Fish (+)
Quick Quiz # 3
• Describe what resource partitioning is, and give
a real life example.
• How is mimicking an effective way to avoid
being eaten?
• Why do you think a parasite rarely kills its host?
Warm Up #6
• What is the difference between mutualism and
commensalism?
• Describe how an owl (nocturnal) and a hawk
(diurnal) use resource partitioning.
• Nemo is a cute saltwater clownfish. A
competitive (and not as cute) fish species thrives
in moderate levels of salinity. Show, using a bell
curve, show how Nemo would respond to this
invasive species. What type of selection is this?
Ecological Succession
Ecological Succession
The E.N.D. or the Beginning?
Either way, it’s so 2000 and late….
Heidi Montag’s Ecological Succession
• Ecological Succession –
gradual, predictable changes
in species composition
Ex. Heidi Montag 
Hollywood pressures =
Plastic Heidi
• Primary – establishing life
where life NEVER existed
• Secondary – REestablishing life after a
disaster
When the World was Young
• Atmosphere:
▫ Hydrogen CYANIDE
▫ Carbon MONOXIDE
▫ Hydrogen SULFIDE
• Earth Cools (water)
• Miller-Urey Experiment
– organic matter from gasses
of Earth
• Asteroids  Archaebacteria
Primary Succession Steps
• Pioneer Species – first species to
inhabit area (ballers)
▫ Lichens (fungi + algae)
▫ FORMS SOIL
• Early Successional – small life
forms, generalists
• Mid Successional – larger, more
specific life
• Late Successional – larger, diverse
species
• Wilderness – most diverse, large
species
Plant Evolution During Succession
• Early – reproduce quickly,
close to ground, survive harsh
conditions (facilitation)
▫ Lichens
• Mid – less hardy plants,
larger, reproduce slowly, need
more soil (inhibition)
▫ Shrubs, grasses
• Late – larger, slow
reproducing, very stable
(tolerance)
▫ Trees
New York Without People
Secondary Succession – Starting Point
Catastrophic – sudden change in
ecosystem
• Natural – disease, flood, volcanic
eruption
• Human Caused – toxic waste,
overgrazing, urbanization
Gradual – slow, steady change in
ecosystem
• Natural – climate change, evolution
• Human Caused – soil/air pollution,
“pest” elimination, non-native
species
Fire…It’s Complicated, Okay.
Fire = thought of as bad
• Wipes out entire
ecosystems if uncontrolled
CONTROLLED fires = a
good thing (Yosemite)
• Prevents build up of
flammable shrubs, allows
trees to germinate
Quick Quiz #3
• What do pioneer species do in primary
succession?
• Describe the plants living in the later stages of
ecological succession. What do they look like?
How efficiently do they reproduce? Give some
examples.
• Give an example of a catastrophic human-caused
environmental disaster we have discussed in
class. How did this disaster negatively damage
the ecosystem and how the environment
recovered (if at all).