Community Ecology

Cartoon

In the cartoon, Egyptian Plovers Links to an external site.are picking bits of food from between the teeth of a crocodile.  One says to the other '' Food's okay.. I just can't get used to the atmosphere.''  What type of species interaction is there between the birds and the crocodile. What type of adaptations do you think each would need to have to benefit from this relationship?

Learning Objectives 

At the end of this module, students will be able to

• Identify and describe inter species interactions: predation, competition, herbivory, parasitism, mutualism.
  • Define niche.
  • Describe types of species interactions.
  • Define competitive exclusion and resource partitioning principles.
  • Use food webs to infer examples of species interaction within a community.
  • Use ecological models to appropriately predict how an abundance of species may impact other species within a community.
• Describe the process of succession from disturbance, through the pioneer species to climax stage.
  • What types of disturbance can cause succession
  • What are characteristics of pioneer species
  • Give examples of how pioneer species change the landscape so that the next species outcompete them
• Apply knowledge of succession to fire ecology
• Explain the interaction of fire suppression and climate change on California's plant communities. 

Study Guide Questions

1. Species interactions lead to natural selection for adaptations. For each type of interaction, describe a specific example of the interaction and adaptations.

• • • Predation
    • Competition
    • Parasitism
    • Herbivory
    • Commensalism
    • Mutualism 

2.  Multiple species interactions: What happens to the species in a community when the keystone species is removed or reduced? Use the kelp  forest and sea otters as your example: When sea otters are removed, what happens to

• • • sea urchins
    • kelp 
    • fish that live in the kelp forest
    • the diet of gulls and bald eagles

3. Describe the process of succession from disturbance, through the pioneer species to climax stage.  Use a specific example:

• • • What types of disturbance can cause succession?
    • What are characteristics of pioneer species?
    • Give examples of how pioneer species change the landscape so that the next species outcompete them?
    • Why does each group of species replace the previous? 

4. Below are myths about fire and  California. Write a response that is grounded in the content covered in this module. Each response should be three to five sentences long and include evidence in support of your response.

Statement #1. All wildfires are bad and should be stopped immediately.

Statement #2. Wildfires are natural and should be allowed to burn freely.

Statement #3. Fires are the result of forest mismanagement.

Statement #4. Logging forests prevents wildfires.

Statement #5. Mechanical thinning for fuels reduction is harmful to forest health.

Statement #6. The fires are caused by climate change.