Ecology:

Greek oikos (house) + logos (study)

Interactions of biotic and abiotic factors

Ecology of communities

Community: assemblage of populations (of species) interacting with one another

in the same environment

Ecology of communities: why some species are found in a community

Individualistic hypothesis (HA Gleason): a chance assemblage (aggregation) of

certain populations of species in the same area due to similar abiotic requirements of each population

Interactive hypothesis (RE Clements): an assemblage of closely linked species bound into association by mandatory biotic interactions; the entire community
functions as one whole integrated unit or super-organism.

Ecology of communities: natural selection pressures

Industrial melanism

Community interactions (intra- and inter-species) and abiotic factors act as natural selection pressures to initiate evolutionary adaptation response(s) among organisms.
Predator-prey interactions as a natural selection pressure may result in co-evolution of adaptive traits.

Inter-species interactions: predation

Herbivory Parasitism

Inter-species interactions: predation

Cycling of predator and prey densities

Inter-species interactions: predation

Predator adaptations

Anti-predator adaptations

Inter-species interaction: predation as a biological pest control

Competition: intra-species
Like other biotic interactions, competition influences the carrying capacity of a population of species. Increasing competition may result in: a) lower population growth rates; b) increased mortality rates and reduced birth rates; and c) direct physical contact.

aggressive behavior ritualistic behavior

Competition: intra-species
dominance hierarchy

emigration

territoriality

Competition: inter-species

Competitive exclusion principle: two or more species competing for common resources cannot co-exist

Competition: inter-species
Natural selection favors phenotypes that are able to reduce or escape competition.

sympatric population

allopatric population

Competition: inter-species

Resource partitioning among Anolis lizards

Inter-species interaction: symbiosis

commensalism

Inter-species interaction: mutual symbiosis (=mutualism)