Community Ecology

Population Interactions
Community- group of organisms living close enough to interact

Interactions classified by whether they harm, help, or have no effect

on organisms

Symbiotic relationships- mutualism, commensalism, parasitism

Defense mechanisms (predation)
Cryptic coloration- camouflage, makes it difficult to see the organism

Aposematic coloration- warning coloration, warns other animals of its

dangers

Batesian mimicry- mimic appearance of other organisms

Mullerian mimicry- unpalatable species mimic each other

Cryptic
coloration
Competitive Exclusion
Without disturbance, one species will be more efficient than other

For species with same niche

Inferior species may be eliminated

Ecological Niches
Ecological niche- sum of an organism's use of biotic and abiotic factors

Habitat- address, Niche- profession

Fundamental niche- niche potentially occupied by species

Realized niche- portion of fundamental niche actually occupied by

species

Resource partitioning- differentiation in niches that allows species to

coexist in a community
Character Displacement
Tendency of populations to diverge more in sympatric populations
(geographically together) than in allopatric populations(geographically
separate)
Species Diversity
Species richness- number of different species in a community

Relative abundance- proportion each species represents of all

individuals in a community

Community 1: 25A, 25B, 25C, 25D

Community 2: 80A, 10B, 5C, 5D

Species richness is the same (4), but the relative abundance is

different

Shannon Diversity- formula used to measure diversity

Trophic Structure
Trophic structure- feeding structure of a community

Food chain- transfer of energy from primary producers (autotrophic) to

primary consumers (herbivores) to secondary, tertiary, and quaternary
consumers (carnivores)

Food web- food chains linked together

Limits on Food Chain Length
Energetic Hypothesis- limited by inefficiency of energy transfer

Dynamic stability hypothesis- long food chains are less stable

Species with a Large Impact
Dominant species- most abundant, highest biomass

Invasive species- organisms that take hold outside their native

range

Keystone species- species the ecosystem depends on, not necessarily

very abundant

Foundation species- important mainly due to physical changes to their

environment

Sometimes act as facilitators- positive effect on survival and

reproduction of other species
Bottom-Up and Top-Down Controls
V H HV H V

Bottom-Up: V H

Influence comes from lower trophic level

Top- Down: H V

Influence comes from higher trophic level

Biomanipulation: manipulate algae levels by changing number of

higher-level consumers
Disturbances
Disturbance- event that changes community by removing organisms or
altering resource availability

Nonequilibrium model- most communities constantly changing after

disturbance

Storms, fires, floods, droughts, frosts, human activities

Intermediate disturbance hypothesis- moderate levels of disturbances

have greatest effect on species diversity
Ecological Succession
Ecological succession- gradual process by which ecosystems grow and
develop over time

Primary succession- process begins on virtually lifeless area

Secondary succession- occurs when existing community has been

cleared
Biogeographic Factors
Location and size of community

Species richness generally declines along an equatorial-polar

gradient

Evapotranspiration- evaporation of water plus transpiration of water

Pathogen Life Cycles
Pathogens- disease causing microorganisms, viruses, viroids, prions

Can alter community structures quickly

Zoonotic Pathogens- transferred from other animals to humans

Can be by direct contact or by contact with intermediate species

(vectors)
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