Communities
LIFE1031 Evolution, Ecology & Behaviour
Sophie Evison
[email protected]
B117 Life Sciences
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Learning outcomes
• What is an ecological community
• Boundaries and ecotones
• Changes in space
• Changes through time
• Pathways of succession
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English rush moth
• Specialised feeder
• Lay eggs on flowers
• Larvae on developing seeds
• Moth survives above 600 m Coleophora alticolella
• Rush can’t ripen seeds
• Interdependence
Juncus squarrosus
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Communities
• Collection of interacting species in a given location
• Consistent through time and space
• Particular combinations recur (non-random)
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Types of organism
• Primary producers (Autotrophs)
Plants & algae
Some bacteria
• Consumers (Heterotrophs)
Herbivores
Predators
Parasites
Decomposers
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Networks or food webs
Ecology involves describing, understanding and predicting resource
relationships Link
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rThe University of
Nottingham
Direct & indirect effects UNITED KINGDOM • CHINA • MALAYSIA
Direct: competition, predation, parasitism, mutualism
Indirect: mediated through another species, e.g. trophic cascades
Adult dragonfly Pollinator
Larval
dragonfly
Direct effect
Indirect effect
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Trait-mediated indirect effects
• Herbivory in grasslands
• Caged experimental plots
• Spiders → grass ↑
Eating grasshoppers?
Or just scaring them?
• Glued spider jaws
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Ecosystem-level effects
• Perceived predation risk
• Less efficient foraging
• Grasshopper bodies [N] ↓
• Decomposition rates ↓
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Boundaries
• Often arbitrary
• Defined by dominant species
Structural: coral reef
Biomass: grassland
• Or by physical environment
Lake, stream, mountain
• Dispersal in and out
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Crossing boundaries
• Communities are not closed
• Mosquitoes
Larvae in freshwater
Adults airborne
• Frogs & toads
• Salmon spawning
• Migrants
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Ecotones
• Combine species from adjoining habitats
• Also specialists on specific environmental conditions
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Gradients and zonation
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Altitudinal
• Climate & resources
• Disturbance
• Map ranges on transect
• Independent turnover?
• Or interdependent species?
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Alpine plants
• 115 plant species in 11 montane sites
• Remove neighbouring plants & measure response
• Competition v. facilitation
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TAKE A BREAK FROM THIS LECTURE
Instructions: Take a look at this webpage about
ecological succession:
https://www.britannica.com/science/ecological-su
ccession
Consider different stages of succession and the
characteristics of the organisms that dominate at
each stage…
Make notes, jot down questions you might have
Disturbance
• External disruption to a community causing death of individuals
• Natural (e.g. wind, fire, flood) or anthropogenic
• Communities either recover (resilience) or change
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Succession
• Directional change
• Primary:
Glacial moraine, volcanoes
Student kitchens
• Secondary:
Abandoned fields
Forest gaps (regeneration)
• No end point!
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Seral stages
• Component communities form a time series
• Variation in timing & sequence but common end point
off
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The University of
Nottingham
Succession in animals UNITED KINGDOM • CHINA • MALAYSIA
Vegetation forms the matrix on land but animals can modulate
Yellowthroat Black and
white
Eastern Bed-eyed
meadowlark Wood thrush warbler
Field vireo
Grasshopper sparrow
sparrow
Hickory
Hardwood
Aster . Shrubs
understory
..- Horsewe Broomsedge
d . Pi n es
C r a b g r a s s .
. -
Year 1 Years 3-25 Years 25-100 Years 100+
Bare field Grassland Grass-shrub Pine forest Oak-hickory forest climax
Figure 19.6
EcologyibeEconolnyof Nature, Seventh Edition
g 2014 W. H. Freeman and Corn pa ny
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Intertidal succession
• Frequent storm disturbance
• Boulders turned over
• Rapid recovery of alga
• Colonist: sea lettuce
• Eaten by crabs
• Competitor: red alga
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Nottingham UN ITED
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Red alga
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a .
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F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D I J
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Red alga
40
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Sea lettuce
F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J
(b) Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
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Stream succession
• Heavy rainfall scoured stream in Arizona
• Nearly all algae & 98% of invertebrates removed
• Rapid recovery from upstream or insect eggs
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Pond succession
• Shallow lakes, e.g. left by retreating glaciers
• Sediment accumulates as peat and forms a bog
• Gradually forms soil and invaded by surrounding vegetation
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Alternative pathway
• Drought causes shallow lakes to dry out; plants invade
• Water returns and floating detritus covers lake
• Intermittent rapid changes with long periods of stasis
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Plant traits
• Match spectrum of life history traits
• Trade-off: rapid colonists versus resource competitors
• Shade tolerance required in dense vegetation
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Three forces of succession
• Facilitation: species improve conditions for others
• Inhibition: prevent others from entering community
• Tolerance: species enter when able to do so
• Which forces dictate order on a rocky shore?
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Three forces of succession
• Barnacles invade empty rock faces (tolerance)
• Acorn barnacle excludes little brown barnacle (inhibition)
• Acorn barnacle shells allow macroalgae to enter (facilitation)
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Climax communities
• Final stage of succession at a given site — system stabilises
• Species of largest possible biomass, but still change slowly
• Can be set by disturbance (e.g. fire) or interactions (e.g. grazing)
• Sometimes transient, e.g. vernal pools
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Restoration ecology
• Promote succession
• Abandoned strip mines
• Natural recovery
takes centuries
• Active: sow native
seed
• Better: cover with
hay Protects seeds
Prevents erosion
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Conclusions
• A community is a consistent set of species in a location over time
• Dynamics incorporate many species interactions, direct & indirect
• Succession is directional change in composition
Extra reading
Ch 18–19 in Ecology: The Economy of Nature
