Warm Up #8
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
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
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??
Quick Quiz #4
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?