Community

Interactions
 Forest of New Guinea
 Community includes nine species of
pigeons that partition the food
supply
 Pigeons disperse seeds of the trees
that provide their food (fruit)
 These are just a few of the many
interactions that shape this
community
 New Guinea Crowned Pigeon

www.worldwildlife.org/newguinea/spec_pigeons.cf
 Map of New Guinea
 New Guinea is an Island north of
Australia www.worldwildlife.org
 Community

 All the populations that live together in a

habitat
 Habitat is the type of place where
individuals of a species typically live
 Type of habitat shapes a community’s
structure
 Communities

 Don’t
confuse meanings of
“community”
 Factors Shaping
Community Structure
 Climate and topography
 Available foods and resources
 Adaptations of species in community
 Species interactions
 Arrival and disappearance of species
 Physical disturbances
 Niche

Sum of activities and relationships in

which a species engages to secure

and use resources necessary for

survival and reproduction

 Realized &
Fundamental Niches
 Fundamental niche
– Theoretical niche occupied in the
absence of any competing species
 Realized niche
– Niche a species actually occupies
 Realized
niche is some fraction of the
fundamental niche
 Species Interactions

 Most interactions are neutral; have

no effect on either species

 Commensalism helps one species

and has no effect on the other

 Mutualism helps both species

 Commensalism
The commensal shrimp
Periclimenes
imperator on
Chromodoris tinctoria,
Koumac, New
Caledonia, Oct, 1993.

www.seaslugforum.ne
t
Photo: Bill Rudman.
 Mutualism
Clownfish and Sea Anemone

From : Essentials of Oceanography, 4th ed. 199

 Species Interactions
 Interspecific competition has a
negative effect on both species
 Predation and parasitism both
benefit one species at a cost to
another
Alligator
Parasite “Cattle Tick”
 Symbiosis

 Living together for at least some part

of the life cycle

 Commensalism, mutualism, and

parasitism are forms of symbiosis
 Mutualism

 Both species benefit

 Many examples in nature

 Some mutualisms are obligatory;

partners depend upon each other

 Yucca and Yucca Moth

 Example of an obligatory mutualism

 Each species of yucca is pollinated

only by one species of moth

 Moth larvae can grow only in that

one species of yucca
 Yucca Moth Caterpillar

www.bobjensenphtography.com
 Mycorrhizae

 Obligatory mutualism between

fungus and plant root

 Fungus supplies mineral ions to root

 Root supplies sugars to fungus

 Laccaria bicolor basidioma
developing on a Pinus strobus
seedling under controlled
environment.
 Competition

 Interspecific - between species

 Intraspecific - between members of the

same species

 Intraspecific competition is most intense

 River Otters Avoid Each Other
Thus Reducing Intraspecific
Competition

www.sms.si.edu
 Forms of Competition

 Competitors may have equal access

to a resource; compete to exploit
resource more effectively

 One competitor may be able to

control access to a resource, to
exclude others
 Elephants Exclude Competitors

www.save-the-elephants.org
Competitive Exclusion Principle

When two species compete for

identical resources, one will be more

successful and will eventually

eliminate the other

Competitive Exclusion Expt

Paramecium caudatum

Paramecium aurelia
 Keystone Species

A species that can dictate community

structure

 Removal of a keystone species can

cause drastic changes in a
community; can increase or decrease
diversity
 Lubchenco Experiment

Periwinkles promote or limit diversity in different habitats

Tidepools Rocks exposed at high tide

 Resource Partitioning

 Apparent competitors
may actually have
slightly different
niches
 Species may use
resources in a
different way or time
 Minimizes
competition and
 Predation

 Predators are animals that feed on other

living organisms

 Predators are free-living; they do not

take up residence on their prey

 Coevolution

 Natural selection promotes traits that

help prey escape predation

 It also promotes traits that make

predators more successful at
capturing prey
 Predator-Prey Cycles
 Predator
and prey populations may
show an apparent correspondence

PREY
POPULATION

PREDATOR
POPULATION
 Variation in Cycles
 An association in predator and prey
abundance does not always indicate
a cause and effect relationship
 Variations in food supply and
additional predators may also
influence changes in prey abundance
 Prey Defenses

 Camouflage

 Warning coloration

 Mimicry

 Moment-of-truth defenses
 Predator Responses
 Any adaptation that protects prey
may select for predators that can
overcome that adaptation
 Prey adaptations include stealth,
camouflage, and ways to avoid
chemical repellents
 Parasitism

 Parasites drain nutrients from their

hosts and live on or in their bodies

 Natural selection favors parasites that

do not kill their host too quickly

Types of Parasites

 Microparasites

 Macroparasites

 Social parasites

 Parasitoids
 Micro and Macroparasites

Human tapeworm Trypanosome, malaria

 Social Parasites
Once limited to grasslands, brown - headed cowbirds have extended their range
to all 48 contiguous states and Canada. They are a major threat to
songbirds.

“Of 220 species known to have been

parasitized by Brown-headed Cowbirds,
and 144 have raised young Brown-headed Cowbirds successfully.”

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/bfl/speciesaccts/parasites.html
Parasitoids
Chemical communication: Butterfly
anti-aphrodisiac lures parasitic
wasps
Male butterflies of the genus, Pieris, pass an
anti-aphrodisiac during mating to females.
This chemical, benzyl cyanide, renders the
mated females less attractive to other
males.
This strategy tends to maximize the mating
males chances of getting their genes into
the next generation.
Or so it was thought….
The Butterfly and its Parasitoid,
Wasp
 The Wasp highjacks the Sexual
Communication Signal of the
Butterfly
The female wasps are attracted to the
anti-aphrodisiac of the mated female
butterflies.
Often they will hitch a ride on the
female butterfly.
When butterfly lays her eggs, the
wasp inserts her egg into the
butterfly egg.
The larval wasp eats its host alive.
 A Serve Limitation on the Butterfly Populations

This parasitism constrains the the butterfly

populations.
“If this fascinating strategy is wide spread in
nature, it could severely constrain the
evolution of
sexual communication
between hosts.”
The wasp is tiny (.5 mm)
It is located below the eye
Of the butterfly.
NATURE|VOL433|17 FEBRUARY 2005| page 704
 Bloodsucking leech spends
month up Hong Kong hiker's
nose
HONG KONG (AFP) - A Hong Kong
woman hiker who washed her face in
a freshwater stream unwittingly
returned home with a leech
embedded in her left nostril.
“Doctors finally managed to remove it
using a nasal spray to anaesthetise
the five-centimetre-long (two-inch)
bloodsucker a month after it had
invaded her nostril.” 4/15/05
 Succession

Change in the composition of species

over time
 Types of Succession

 Primary succession - new

environments

 Secondary succession -
communities were destroyed
or displaced
 Primary Succession

Sterile lava converted to a mature ecosystem overtime….

 Secondary Succession

Over time, old fields are gradually

and naturally converted to mature
and healthy forests….example:
Westminster’s forests.
 Pioneer Species

 Species that colonize barren habitats

 Lichens, small plants with brief life

cycles

 Improve conditions for other species

who then replace them
 Climax Community
 Stable array of species that persists
relatively unchanged over time
 Succession does not always move
predictably toward a specific climax
community; other stable
communities may persist
 Cyclic Changes
 Cyclic, nondirectional changes also
shape community structure
 Tree falls cause local patchiness in
tropical forests
 Fires periodically destroy underbrush
in sequoia forests
 Restoration Ecology
 Natural restoration of a damaged
community can take a very long time
 Active restoration is an attempt to
reestablish biodiversity in an area
 Ecologists are actively working to
restore reefs, grasslands, and
wetlands
 Restoration Ecology

http://www.planetdrum.org/toc.htm
 Community Instability

 Disturbances can cause a community

to change in ways that persist even if

the change is reversed

 Species Introductions

 Introduction of a nonindigenous
species can decimate a community

 No natural enemies or controls

 Can outcompete native species

Santa Cruz Fox and Feral Pigs

Species interactions
 Exotic Species

 Species that has left its home range

and become established elsewhere

 Becomes part of its new community

 Can have beneficial, neutral, or harmful

effects on a community
 Don’t Worry About the Walking
Catfish!

3.1 meter Burmese Python, Everglades NP

 Predators in Paradise
EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, Florida (CNN)
(10/22/04) -- A dangerous intruder has invaded
Everglades National Park, and it's putting the native
wildlife at risk.

Shirt of
missing
camper!
 How Big Do They Get?
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/scien
ce/10/22/predators.in.paradise/
 Python Invasion Spawns Cottage
Industry
 Python-Tracking Puppy Trains to
Patrol Everglades
 Stefan Lovgren
for National Geographic News

 February 3, 2005
 In their growing battle against giant
pythons that have invaded the Florida
Everglades, national park officials there
have recruited an unlikely ally: a beagle
puppy nicknamed "Python Pete."
 Nile Monitors
 “Recently (Sept. 2005) a small
population of around 1000 Nile
Monitors have begun to rise in the
area around Cape Coral Florida. They
are most likely the offspring of a few
Monitors let free by local pet
owners.”
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_monitor
 Nile Monitor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_monitor
 Wis. Considers Legalizing Cat
Hunting

Recently in the news (4/15/05)

 Wis. Residents Seek Legalized Cat Hunting
Feral cats, which volunteers have been feeding
for the past 10 years, feed in Anoka, Minn., Feb.
21, 2005. A new Wisconsin plan would declare
free-roaming wild cats an unprotected species,
just like skunks or gophers. Anyone with a small-
game license could shoot the cats at will, legally.
The proposal gets tested April 11 at the Wisconsin Conservation
Congress spring hearings, where outdoor enthusiasts gather in
every county to vote on hunting and fishing issues. (AP Photo/St. Paul
Pioneer Press, Joe Rossi)
 Africanized Killer Flea Invasion
 ATLANTA—Panic is spreading among American dog
owners, following the Center for Veterinary Medicine's
Monday announcement that the arrival of a deadly mutant
strain of Africanized killer fleas is imminent.
Crossed Texas Border in 2004
Bred in Brazil at the Sao Paulo Animal Research
Facility in the late '60s, Ctenocephalides canis
africanus is a crossbreed of the common North
American flea and an African variant that infests
the tough hides of bull elephants. The Sao Paulo
entomologists never meant to release the mutant
fleas into the wild, but a 1974 fire at the lab led
to the dangerous subspecies' escape. In the past
30 years, Africanized fleas spread from Brazil to
South and Central America and on to Mexico.
 RED LIONFISH

Pterois volitans

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/RedLionfish/RLionfish.html
 Accidental Release….
 “The native distribution of the red lionfish is restricted to
appropriate reef habitats of the Indo-Pacific. Recently, a number
of specimens of red lionfish have been observed and/or captured
off the eastern coast of the United States in various locales from
Florida to New York. Its presence in these waters may stem
from the release of captive specimens along the southeast coast
of the United States.”

www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/RedLionfish/RLionfish.html
 Endangered Species

A species that is extremely

vulnerable to extinction

 Close to 70 percent of endangered

species have been negatively
affected by exotic competitors
 Georgia’s Endangered and
Threaten Plants
 Plants -- 22
 StatusListingTAmphianthus, little ( Amphianthus
pusillus)ERattleweed, hairy ( Baptisia
arachnifera)EConeflower, smooth ( Echinacea
laevigata)TPink, swamp ( Helonias bullata)EQuillwort,
black spored ( Isoetes melanospora)EQuillwort, mat-
forming ( Isoetes tegetiformans)TPogonia, small whorled (
Isotria medeoloides)EPondberry ( Lindera
melissifolia)TButton, Mohr's Barbara ( Marshallia
mohrii)EDropwort, Canby's ( Oxypolis canbyi)EHarperella (
Ptilimnium nodosum)ESumac, Michaux's ( Rhus
michauxii)TWater-plantain, Kral's ( Sagittaria
secundifolia)EPitcher-plant, green ( Sarracenia
oreophila)EChaffseed, American ( Schwalbea
americana)ESkullcap, large-flowered ( Scutellaria
montana)ECampion, fringed ( Silene polypetala)TSpiraea,
Virginia ( Spiraea virginiana)ETorreya, Florida ( Torreya
taxifolia)ETrillium, persistent ( Trillium
persistens)ETrillium, relict ( Trillium reliquum)EGrass,
Tennessee yellow-eyed ( Xyris tennesseensis)

http://www.endangeredspecie.com/states/ga.htm
 Nile Perch in East Africa
 Nile perch were introduced into Lake
Victoria as a food source
 This predator ate native cichlids;
drove many species to extinction
 Now Nile perch species is close to
crashing
 Nile Perch

They have put tremendous pressure

On native species.
 Nile Perch
 Food fish
 Rabbits in Australia
 Rabbits were introduced for food and
hunting
 Without predators, their numbers
soared
 Attempts at control using fences or
viruses have thus far been
unsuccessful
Rabbits in Australia
Rabbits were hunted
 Environment minister endorses
violent means to slow toxic toads'
spread across Australia
 Campbell endorsed the bloody response
advocated by the government lawmaker
who represents Darwin, David Tollner.
Tollner created public outrage last
week when he said the best way to
stop the toads' spread was to
bludgeon them on the head with golf
clubs or cricket bats as he did as a
child. (Thursday April 14, 9:51 PM AP News)
 The Response is Mixed…
 “Australia's foremost animal welfare
agency, the Royal Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,
responded by warning that anyone
caught causing pain and suffering to
a cane toad could be fined or jailed.
 Animal welfare groups say the best
way to kill them is to freeze them.”
 Cane Toads Native to South and
Central America
Cane Toads,
the video

A handful of
trouble….
 Coqui & greenhouse frogs:
alien Caribbean frogs in Hawaii
“Non-native Caribbean frogs* have become established in
some areas in Hawaii (*coqui and greenhouse frogs:
Eleutherodactylus spp. [not true 'tree frogs', as some have
called them]). They cause both environmental problems
and problems for people. These creatures have a special
appeal to some people; however, these frogs
are not native to Hawaii, and their existence in Hawaii
poses a great threat to native species in Hawaii .
Although the call of the coqui is often beloved by residents
of the coqui's native habitat, the extremely loud noise
they make in Hawaii (presumably louder than in native
habitats because of higher concentrations of populations)
has been reported to be extremely annoying to numerous
Hawaii residents and visitors. (For example, a recent article
in a health-related magazine cites coqui as causing
sleepless nights on the island of Oahu.)”
http://www.hear.org/AlienSpeciesInHawaii/species/frogs/#f
rogcalls
Coqui chorus …..
 Bills Seek to Muffle
Isle Frog

“The frog -- which subsists on the same diet of insects

as native birds -- could be the greatest threat to state's
ecosystem that anyone has ever seen before, Kim said.”

http://starbulletin.com/2005/02/13/news/story12.html
 Cuban Tree Frog Found In
Georgia
“Butler's capture of a 4½-inch Cuban tree
frog in coastal Savannah has caused a
nervous stir among wildlife biologists in
Georgia and Florida….
…Since its discovery in Key West, Fla., in
the 1920s, the Caribbean frog has been
considered an unwanted predator that
disrupts ecosystems by dining on native
species - including smaller tree frogs.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/21/tech/main650682.shtml
 Cuban Tree Frog
 "They're (a) huge relative to our
native frogs," said John Jensen,
Georgia's state herpetologist with the
Department of Natural Resources.
"Like pretty much all frogs, they eat
anything they can catch and fit in
their mouths."
 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/20
04/10/21/tech/main650682.shtml
Picture link
USGS SCIENTISTS FIND NEW
INVASIVE FISH SPECIES IN
FLORIDA (Georgia too!)
“In North America, the species is
sometimes kept as an aquarium fish,
although scientists can only
speculate that the species may have
escaped or been released into the
state's waters. In 1995, swamp
eels were found in several ponds
at the Chattahoochee Nature
Center north of Atlanta, Ga.”
 Asian Swamp Eel
http://cars.er.usgs.gov/Nonindigenous_Species/Swamp_eel_FAQs

Grow up to 3.5 ft long…

Monopterus albus

“It breathes air and can move across land. This gives it
the potential to spread rapidly and makes
control difficult.”
 Kudzu in Georgia
 Imported for erosion control
 Nonatural herbivores, pathogens, or
competitors
 Growsover landscapes and cannot
be dug up or burned out
 May
turn out to have some
commercial use
Kudzu
 Poem About Kudzu by James
Dickey
 ALL: Kudzu
 Japan invades. Far Eastern vines
Run from the clay banks they are
 Supposed to keep from eroding.
Up telephone poles,
Which rear, half out of leafage
As though they would shriek,
Like things smothered by their own
Green, mindless, unkillable ghosts.
In Georgia, the legend says
That you must close your windows
 At night to keep it out of the house.
The glass is tinged with green, even so,
 As the tendrils crawl over the fields.
… and so on …

http://www.breakoutofthebox.com/kudzu.htm
 Diversity by Latitude
 Diversityof most groups is greatest in
tropics; declines toward poles

Ant
diversity
 Why Are Tropical
Species Rich?
 Resources are plentiful and reliable

 Species diversity is self-reinforcing

 Rates of speciation are highest in the

tropics
 Distance Effect
 The farther an island is from a
mainland, the fewer species
 Closer islands receive more
immigrants
 Species that reach islands far from
mainland are adapted for long-
distance dispersal and can move on
Distance Effect