Community Ecology,

Population Ecology and

Sustainability

Chapter 5
General Types of Species
• Native – naturally live and coexist – evolved
through natural selection
• Non-native (exotic or alien) – accidentally or
purposefully introduced
• Indicator – species that can alert to harmful
changes
Species native to
Washington State
Species not native to
Washington State
Frogs are good indicator species because the life histories
are vulnerable to environmental disruption

No protective shells to block U/V

Plant, insect
prey expose
tadpoles to
insecticides
Decline in Frog Populations
•Tells us:
• Loss of habitat and fragmentation
• Climate change (droughts)
• Pollution
• Increase in ultraviolet radiation
Should we care about extinction?
(especially to an indicator species?)

• Telling us that environment is degrading

• Important ecological roles
• Benefits to humans
• What are some local
Indicator species?
Organism Interactions
General Types of Species
• Keystone species
• Species that play roles affecting many other organisms
in an ecosystem.
• Removal of that species greatly changes the entire
ecosystem
Predation allows other organisms to grow without mussels
dominating space.
Keystone predator (Pisaster) on Washington’s
rocky coast
Mussels will grow out of reach of Pisaster
Competition

• As resources get scarce, COMPETITION

becomes a factor.
• COMPETITION is the interaction that results when
one organism uses the resource at the expense of
another.
Interspecific competition
• Two organisms of different species compete to
obtain the same limited resource.
• In general, the more similar the competing
species, the more intense the competition.
Resource Partitioning and Niche
Specialization
Competitive Exclusion
• Interspecific competition – competition
between species for the same resource
• When one species eliminates another by out
competing, it is called competitive exclusion.
Intraspecific Competition – between
members of the same species
Organism Interactions
• Predation - One animal kills/eats another.
• Predator benefits from food.

• Prey species may benefit by eliminating non-adaptive

genes from the gene pool.

Predator-Prey Relationships
Living together – Symbiotic
relationships
• Symbiotic relationship - Special, close,
physical relationship between two different
species. At least one species benefits from
the interaction.
• Commensal relationships – one species
benefits from another without harm
• Parasitism – one species benefits from
another with harm
• Mutualism – both species benefit
 Commensalism – one
Benefits from the other
without harm

Parasitism – one benefits

from the other with harm

Mutualism – both benefit

Parasitism - One organism (parasite) living in or
on another organism (host), from which it derives
nourishment.
• Mistletoe is a parasitic plant
Commensalism - One organism
benefits - other is not affected.
• epiphytic plants like ferns, mosses and orchids
find a home on trees
• the epiphyte benefits
• the tree neither benefits
nor is harmed
Mutualism - Both species benefit - in many
cases neither can exist without the other.

Coral and the

dinoflagellate
zooxanthellae
Commensalism
Mutualism
Mutualism
Ecological Succession:
Communities in Transition
• Disturbance – an event that alters an ecosystem,
either significantly changing it, or wiping it out
entirely.
• Examples include fire, flood, volcano, serious insect or
disease outbreak, drought, glacier…
• Primary Succession
• Begins with bare mineral surfaces or water.
• Nothing remains of the previous ecosystem.
• Follows severe disturbance.
• Hundreds or thousands of years
Succession
• Succession is often dictated by what time of
year the space opened up, and what organism
settled there first.
• Predators can ultimately determine the
ultimate species composition
• Outside disturbance increases diversity by
interfering with competitive exclusion
• Succession will eventually end up “climaxed”,
which is a community with a stable number
species and populations.
Succession
• Highest diversity occurs when there is enough
disturbance to prevent the dominant
competitors from taking over, but not so much
that the community is unable to develop.
Predation is disturbance that allows other
organisms and increases biodiversity.
Primary Succession
Secondary Succession
• Occurs when an existing community is
disturbed or destroyed, but some parts are left
behind:
• soil and organic matter
• seed bank
• rootstock or bulbs for re-sprouting
• maybe some living plants
• snags, logs
• mycorrhizae (fungus and plant roots)
• Tends to be more rapid than primary
succession.
Secondary Succession
Mount St. Helens

May 18, 1980

Mount St. Helens

Millions of trees were pulled

up by their roots and blown
over from the initial blast.
Mt. St. Helens

A new river carves a new channel

down the mountain side.
Mt. St. Helens

The first new plants to grow within the

zone were those started from seeds blown
in on the wind
 Mt. St. Helens

New grasses and wildflowers were the first

plants to grow, and now 25 years later are
now thriving.
Mt. St. Helens

Some trees are starting to grow

back naturally.
Ecological Stability and
Sustainability
• How predictable is succession?
• Depends on biotic, abiotic factors
• Pioneer Community – early colonizers
• Climax Community (like old growth forests)
• Balance of nature – ongoing struggle by
different species for their essential life
requirements
 Populations
• Population - Group of individuals of the same
species (humans or any other species) inhabiting
the same area simultaneously.
• 4 variables govern size:
• Birth
• Death
• Immigration - to come into another country to live
permanently
• Emigration - means to leave one's country to live in
another
Populations
• Natality and Mortality
• Natality - Number of individuals added through
reproduction
• Birth Rate
• Mortality - Number of individuals removed via death
• Death Rate
Population Density and
Spatial Distribution
• Population Density - Number of individuals per unit area.
• Spatial Distribution - Describes where the population is
found, such as even or clumped.
• Dispersal - Movement of individuals into new areas.
• Emigration - Out movement
• Immigration - In Movement
Population Density and
Spatial Distribution
• Population Change =

(Births + Immigration) – (Deaths + Emigration)

or

(Income) – (Expenditures)
Population Dynamics
• Biotic Potential - “r”
• intrinsic rate of increase
• Rate at which a population would grow if it had
unlimited resources
• Reproductive capacity, or ability of a population to
produce offspring.
• Usually higher than replacement level.
• Leads to exponential growth curve.
Carrying Capacity
• Carrying Capacity - Number of individuals of a
species than can be indefinitely sustained in a
given area.
• “K” stands for carrying capacity
Exponential and Logistic Growth

Food
limit

Population exceeds carrying capacity of environment; moves or

switches to new resources
 Population Density Effects
• Environmental Resistance - Any factor in the
environment limiting carrying capacity. Four main
types:
• Raw material availability – food, air, water
• Energy availability
• Waste accumulation and disposal
• Organism interaction

• Density-dependent factors - gets more limiting as

population density increases (food, air, water,
space)
• Density-independent factors – does not vary by
density (climate)
Reproductive Patterns and Survival

• Not all species reach a stable carrying capacity

• Species can be broadly lumped into two
categories:
• K- selected species (competitors) logistic growth
• Small number of offspring, high parental care
• Late successional species
• r- selected species (opportunists) exponential (boom
or bust)
• Large number of offspring, low parental care
• Early successional species
Reproductive Patterns and Survival
The Role of Predation in Controlling
Population Size
Predator-Prey Cycles
Human Impacts on Ecosystems
➢ Habitat degradation and fragmentation
➢ Ecosystem simplification
➢ Genetic resistance
➢ Predator elimination
➢ Introduction of non-native species
➢ Over-harvesting renewable resources
➢ Interference with ecological systems
Human carrying capacity may be interpreted as the
maximum rate of resource consumption and waste
discharge that can be sustained indefinitely without
progressively impairing the functional integrity and
productivity of relevant ecosystems.
 In other words…..

Functional integrity and

Resource consumption productivity of relevant
Waste discharge ecosystems.
Habitat Loss and Fragmentation
Ecosystem Simplification
Genetic Resistance
 100,000 calories

1 million calories

10 mill calories

On average, 10% of energy in one trophic level is passed on

to the next higher level.
 10,000 calories ?

1 million calories

10 mill calories

On average, 10% of energy in one trophic level is passed on

to the next higher level.
Introduction of non-
native species
 Interference
with ecological
processes
Zooplankton
Nutrients
(nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon)
Hood Canal communities have seen tremendous
growth in recent years.
 Nutrients

Zooplankton
Nutrients
(nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon)
The primary sources of nitrogen associated with human activities collectively
put between 100 to 300 tons of nitrogen into the canal every year, broken
down as follows:

60% human
sewage 14% agriculture manure

13% chum salmon carcasses 11% storm water runoff

Learning from Nature
•Principles of sustainability
• Solar energy
• Population control
• Biodiversity
• Nutrient recycling