English report draft

Introduction:
Over the years, human population has expanded, thus changing the
natural ecosystems to adapt to our needs. A quarter of the Earths land surface is
left remained untouched by human developments, and it has caused an
enormous impact on all the biomes, mainly aquatic life (Reece et. al, 2012). To
summarise everything: community ecology. Community ecology is the study of
symbiosis whereby evolution by natural selection is driven by ecological
interactions between organisms and between organisms and their environment
(Smith, 1990). Therefore, interaction between species consists of many types,
without them the balance of ecosystem life may cease to exist (Reece et. al,
2012). The types of interaction between species are mutualism, parasitism,
commensalism, predation and competition. Each in their own unique way
controls the balance of the ecosystem.

Predation
Predation, a relationship where it involves two main components: prey and
predator. Predators often prey according to certain age-sex-size class of their
prey (Reece et. al, 2012). According to the predators choices of age-sex-size of
the prey determines the survival of both parties (Reece et. al, 2012). Lima and
Dill (1990) states that, most studies conducted have indicated that a preys
behavioural and physique affects the survival of the prey itself. Therefore,
according to the author, each of both components has developed ecological
evolution in order to cope with the food chain (Lima & Dill, 1990). According to
Reece et. al (2012), in a preys perspective, they are able to achieve adaptive
animal evolution whereby they inherit the antipredator evolutionary genes. Types
of antipredator evolutionary aspects are: camouflage, mimicry, developing
armour, and releasing of chemicals for protection. As defined by Stevens et. al
(2009) , the term camouflage includes all strategies of concealment. Camouflage
is when an organism takes the resemblance of its environment to hide itself from
predators. According to Darwin (1859), one strategy to achieve crypsis is
background matching, it is a principle that has long been acknowledged. One
example of organism that takes upon camouflage is the octopus (Endler, 1981).
The octopus possesses the remarkable ability to change its body pattern
matching the change in their visual background which this is termed as crypsis
(Endler, 1981). Mimicry on the other hand, is a phenomenon of high degree of
resemblance due to natural selection, proposed by Sir Walter Henry Bates in
1862 upon returning from the Amazon rainforest after 11 years as a professional
collector. One of the examples of mimicry is the Metalmark Moths. The author
observed the moths morphologies and noted, on these expanded membranes
Nature writes, as on a tablet, the story of the modifications of species. He
proposed that the longwings and other moths gained protection by mimicking
undesirable species and the similarities among such unrelated insects lent
support to Charles Darwins newly proposed theory of natural selection (Bates,
1862). Armoury is also one of the aspects for a prey to protect itself from the
predator as with a hard shell (Reece et. al, 2012). One of the examples of
armoured animals is the armadillo, Dasypus novemcintus. Their armour provides
difficulty to dislodge, though they can still receive bites from predatory species
such as the Mountain lion and American alligator (Grzimeck, 1975). Other than

that, group formation in animals is also one of the key components for survival
where strength in numbers refers to animals living in the groups to prevent
predation risk (Krause, 2002). According to Krause (2002), animals in larger
groups benefit from team vigilance, defence cooperation, and dilution as well as
confusing the predators. For example, large grouping animals such as zebras and
wildebeest are safer as they are in larger groups in the open plains of the
Serengeti as lions prefer smaller groups (Scheel, 1993). Many animals use
chemicals for protection. The usage of chemicals for protection will usually injure
or paralyse the predator. One of the examples for animals that use chemicals for
protection is the Poecilocerus pictus grasshopper species. It secretes greenishyellow fluid. It is used for protection and it is unpleasant. It is ejected
independently of pressure and in different directions under the insects control
(Hingston, 1927). According to Reece et. al (2012), the predators, they have their
own ways to cope with the prey. They are: the waiting game, venom killing spree
and the usage of nets or deadly devices. According to Hugie (2003), the waiting
game is the most common among the predators. Waiting game contests are
expected to be common in nature because prey often respond to predators by
taking refuge in a way that restricts further information from being obtained
about a predators continued presence (Hugie, 2003). Other than that, venom is
also used for predators to paralyse the prey when hunting. Venom is a secretion
of an animal or a plant that can cause the paralysation or a fully fatal cause to
the prey Mebs (1978). This secretion must contain molecules that disrupt normal
physiological processes (Fry et. al, 2006). Last but not least, the usage of nets
and deadly devices for capturing the prey. Mainly, insects are the prey to these
traps as they are very small and easy to be trapped due to their bad coordination
and thus being the victims of the traps (Reece et. al , 2012).
Reference:
1. Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species by means of natural selection
or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. United
Kingdom, London: John Murray.
2. Endler, J. A. (1981). An overview of the relationships between mimicry and
crypsis. Biological Journal of the Linnaen Society, 16, 26-31.
3. Bates, W. H. (1862). Contributions to an insect fauna of the Amazon Valley.
Lepidoptera:Heliconidae.Trans Linn Soc Lond, 23, 495-566.
4. Scheel, D. (1993) Profitability, encounter rates and prey choice of African
lions. Behavioural Ecology, 4(1), 90-97.

5. Hingston, R. W. G. (1927). The liquid-squirting habit of oriental

grasshoppers. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London,
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