C. Ecology I. Ecosystems and Communities

Biodiversity

Zebra Mussels

Predator Removal

Climograph

Community Ecology

Interspecific Interactions and Community Structure

Disturbance and Community Structure

Biogeographic Factors

Competitive Exclusion Hypothesis

Microhabitats of Lizard Species

Anolis distichus – sunny leaf surface

Anolis insolitus – shady branch

Deceptive coloration

Camouflage – chick (poorwill); lizard

Aposematic (warning) coloration

Batesian mimicry – the hawkmoth larva (left) resembles a snake when

disturbed{harmless resembles harmful}

Mullerian mimicry – the cuckoo bee (left) and the yellow jacket both

have stingers that release toxins {both harmful but more exposure to potential

predators of linking markings with harm}

Mutualism – between acacia trees

and ants

Parasitic Nasonia (wasps)

Commensalism – one species

benefits, the other is neither harmed

nor helped (usually)

Trophic levels

– terrestrial and marine food chains

{make sure your assignment doesn’t

resemble this one! ; ) }

Antarctic marine food

web

Partial food web

Without Pisaster

ochraceous (sea stars) as

keystone predators…,

…the Mytilus californianus monopolized the space

Sea Otters are

keystone predators in the North

Pacific

A fire on a grassland burns the detritus and rejuvenates the prairie so that virtually all the biomass is living a month after a burn (right)

Large disturbances occur more often when small disturbances are prevented. Lodgepole pine cones

require intense heat to open and germinate.

Soil nitrogen concentration during succession after a glacial retreat

Forest community 1 is

more diverse b/c it has greater

heterogeneity – both in species

richness (number) and

relative abundance

Species richness generally

decreases towards the poles

Energy and Species Richness - annual available energy is measured by evapotranspiration

(combining solar radiation and temperature) and expressed as rainfall equivalents in mm/yr.

The number of plant species on the

Galapagos Islands in relation to the area of

the island.

Ecosystems

Primary Production

Secondary Production

Cycling of Chemical Elements

Human Impact

Energy flow = broken red lines; Material cycling = solid blue

lines

Energy = solar radiation chemical

transfers in food web heat radiated to space

Materials = pass through trophic levels

detritus back to primary producers

Fungi decomposing a log

Primary Production

Net Primary Production

II. Biomes

Lake Zonation

Oligotrophic Lake

Eutrophic Lake

Wetlands

Estuaries

Marine: 1. Tide Zone 2. Coral Reef 3. Benthos

Terrestrial Biomes

Tropical Forests: 1. Highland 2. Lowland 3. Seasonal

Deserts

Tundra

the Biosphere

Behavioral Ecology

Learning

Animal Cognition

Sociobiology

Behavior Components

Digger Wasp Behavior

Female Songbird Preferences

Geese Imprinting

Two types of bird-song development

Electronic Surveillance of honeybees

Cooperative Prey Capture

Territories (small!)

Staking Territories with Chemical Markers

Three-spined stickleback

courtship behavior

Bee Communication

Colonial Mammals

Naked Mole Rats the Common Mole Rat

Kin Selection and Altruism in the Belding Ground Squirrel

Ecology

• the biosphere• behavioral biology• population biology• community ecology• ecosystems

Population Ecology

Populations

Life Histories

Population Growth

Population Limiting Factors

Human Population /Growth

Conservation Ecology

Biodiversity Crisis

Conservation at the Population and Species Level

Conservation at the Community, Ecosystem, and Landscape Levels