Species Interaction &

Ecology
This lecture will help you understand:

 Species interactions
 Feeding relationships, energy flow, trophic levels,
and food webs
 Keystone species
 The process of succession
 Potential impacts of invasive species
 Restoration ecology
 Terrestrial biomes
Central Case Study: Black and White and Spread
All Over: Zebra Mussels Invade the Great Lakes
 In 1988, zebra mussels were accidentally introduced
to Lake St. Clair in discharged ballast water
 By 2010, they had invaded 30 states
 No natural predators, competitors, or parasites
 They cause millions of dollars of damage to property
each year
Species Interactions

 Species interactions shape and define communities

 Natural species interactions:
 Competition = relationship in which both species are
harmed
 Exploitative = one species benefits and the other is
harmed
 Predation, parasitism, and herbivory
 Mutualism = relationship in which both species
benefit
Competition can occur when resources are
limited
 In competition, multiple organisms seek the same
limited resources and all competitors suffer
(/ interaction)
 Food, space, water, shelter, mates, sunlight
 Intraspecific competition = occurs between
members of the same species
 High population density leads to increased
competition
Competition can occur when resources are
limited
 Interspecific competition = occurs between
members of two or more species
 Strongly affects community composition
 Leads to competitive exclusion or species
coexistence
Competition can occur when resources are
limited
 Competitive exclusion = one species completely
excludes another species from using a resource
 Zebra mussels displaced native mussels in the Great
Lakes
 Species coexistence = neither species fully
excludes the other from resources, so both live side
by side
 This produces a stable point of equilibrium, with
stable population sizes
 Species minimize competition by using only a part of
the available resource (niche)
Competition can occur when resources are
limited
 Fundamental niche = the full niche of a species
 Realized niche = the portion of the fundamental
niche that is actually filled
 Due to competition or other species’ interactions
Competition can occur when resources are
limited
 Resource partitioning = process by which species
use different resources or use shared resources in
different ways
 For example, birds all eating insects, but catching
them on different parts of the tree
 For example, one species eats small seeds and
another eats large seeds
Competition can occur when resources are
limited
 Character displacement = competing species
diverge in their physical characteristics due to the
evolution of traits best suited to the resources they
use
 Results from resource partitioning
 Birds that eat larger seeds evolve larger bills
 Birds that eat smaller seeds evolve smaller bills

Competition is reduced when two species

become more different
Several types of interactions are exploitative

 Exploitation = process by which one member

exploits another for its own gain (/ interactions)
 Predation, parasitism, herbivory
 Predation = process by which individuals of one
species (predators) capture, kill, and consume
individuals of another species (prey)
 Structures food webs
 The number of predators and prey influences
community composition
Predators kill and consume prey

 Zebra mussels eat phytoplankton and zooplankton

 Both populations decrease in lakes with zebra
mussels
 Zebra mussels don’t eat cyanobacteria
 Cyanobacteria increase in lakes with zebra mussels
 Predators may also be prey
 Zebra mussels are being eaten by diving ducks,
muskrats, crayfish, flounder, sturgeon, eels, carp, and
freshwater drum
Predators kill and consume prey

 Predator–prey interactions can sometimes drive

cyclical population dynamics
 Increased prey population increases predators
 Predators survive and reproduce
 Increased predator population decreases prey
 Predators starve
 Decreased predator population increases prey
populations
Predators kill and consume prey

 Natural selection leads to evolution of adaptations

that make predators better hunters
 Individuals who are better at catching prey:
 Live longer, healthier lives
 Take better care of offspring
 Prey face strong selection pressures: they are at risk
of immediate death
 Prey have evolved elaborate defenses against being
eaten
Parasites exploit living hosts

 Parasitism = a relationship in which one organism

(parasite) depends on another (host) for nourishment or
some other benefit
 The parasite harms, but doesn’t kill, the host
 Some parasites are free-living
 Infrequent contact with their hosts
 Ticks, sea lampreys
 Some live within the host
 Tapeworms
 Others cause disease
 These are pathogens
Parasites exploit living hosts

 Parasitoids = insects that parasitize other insects

 Lay eggs in larva or adults of other species
 Kill the host
 Coevolution = process in which hosts and parasites
become locked in a duel of escalating adaptations
 Has been called an evolutionary arms race
 Each evolves new responses to the other
 It may not be evolutionarily beneficial to the parasite
to kill its host
Herbivores exploit plants

 Herbivory = when animals feed on the tissues of

plants
 May not kill the plant, but affects its growth and
survival
 Defenses against herbivory include:
 Chemicals: toxic or distasteful
 Thorns, spines, or irritating hairs
 Other animals: protect the plant
 Like in parasitism, herbivore–plant interaction can
result in coevolution.
Mutualists help one another

 Mutualism = relationship in which two or more

species benefit from their interactions
 Symbiosis = mutualism in which the organisms live
in close physical contact
 Each partner provides a service the other needs
(food, protection, housing, etc.)
 Microbes within digestive tracts
 Mycorrhizae: plant roots and fungi
 Coral and algae (zooxanthellae)
 Pollination = interaction in which bees, bats, birds,
and others transfer pollen from one flower to
another, fertilizing its eggs
Ecological Communities

 Community = an assemblage of populations of

organisms living in the same place at the same time
 Members interact with each other
 Interactions determine the structure, function, and
species composition of the community
 Community ecologists are people interested in:
 Which species coexist, and how species relate to one
another
 How communities change, and why patterns exist
Energy passes among trophic levels

 One of the most important species interactions

involves who eats whom.
 Matter and energy move through the community
 Trophic level = rank in the feeding hierarchy
 Producers (autotrophs)
 Consumers
 Detritivores and decomposers
Producers

 Producers, or autotrophs (“self-feeders”) =

organisms that capture solar energy for
photosynthesis to produce sugars
 Green plants
 Cyanobacteria
 Algae
 Chemosynthetic bacteria use the geothermal energy
in hot springs or deep-sea vents to produce their
food
Consumers

 Primary consumers = second trophic level

 Organisms that consume producers
 Herbivores consume plants
 Deer, grasshoppers
 Secondary consumers = third trophic level
 Organisms that prey on primary consumers
 Carnivores consume meat
 Wolves, rodents (that eat insects)
Consumers

 Tertiary consumers = fourth trophic level

 Predators at the highest trophic level
 Consume secondary consumers
 Are also carnivores
 Hawks, owls
 Omnivores = consumers that eat both producers
(plants) and consumers (animals)
Detritivores and decomposers

 Organisms that consume nonliving organic matter

enrich soils and/or recycle nutrients found in dead
organisms
 Detritivores = scavenge waste products or dead
bodies
 Millipedes, soil insects
 Decomposers = break down leaf litter and other
nonliving material into simpler chemicals that can be
used by plants
 Fungi, bacteria
 Enhance topsoil and recycle nutrients
Energy, biomass, and numbers decrease at
higher trophic levels
 Most energy organisms use is lost as waste heat
through cellular respiration
 Less and less energy is available in each successive
trophic level
 Each level contains only about 10% of the energy of
the trophic level below it
 There are also far fewer organisms and less
biomass (mass of living matter) at each higher
trophic level
A human vegetarian’s ecological footprint is smaller
than a meat-eater’s footprint
Food webs show feeding relationships and
energy flow
 Food chain = a linear series of feeding relationships
 Food web = a visual map of feeding relationships
and energy flow
 Includes many different organisms at all various
levels
 Greatly simplified; leaves out most species
 Contains many food chains
Some organisms play outsized roles in
communities
 Community dynamics are complex
 Species interactions differ in strength
 Keystone species = a species that has a strong or
wide-reaching impact far out of proportion to its
abundance
 Removal of a keystone species has substantial
ripple effects
 Significantly alters the food web
Some organisms play outsized roles in
communities
 Trophic cascade = a phenomenon in which
predators at high trophic levels indirectly affect
populations at low trophic levels
 Predators keep species at intermediate trophic levels
in check, allowing growth of species at a lower level
 Extermination of wolves led to increased deer
populations, which overgrazed vegetation and
changed forest structure
 “Ecosystem engineers” physically modify the
environment
 Beaver dams, prairie dogs, ants, zebra mussels
Communities respond to disturbance in various
ways
 Disturbance = event that causes rapid changes in
the environment that alters the community or
ecosystem
 Tree falling, opening space in a forest
 Removal of keystone species, spread of invasive
species
 Natural disturbances like tornadoes, hurricanes
 Human impacts cause major community changes
 Some species become adapted to disturbance
 Plants growing in fire-prone regions may have seeds
that require fire to germinate
Communities respond to disturbance in various
ways
 Communities have different ways of maintaining
themselves when disturbed
 Resistance = when a community of organisms
resists change and remains stable despite the
disturbance
 Resilience = when a community changes in
response to a disturbance, but later returns to its
original state
 A disturbed community may never return to its
original state
Succession follows severe disturbance

 Succession = the predictable series of changes in a

community following a disturbance
 Primary succession = disturbance removes all
vegetation and soil life
 Community is built from scratch
 Glaciers, drying lakes, volcanic lava
 Pioneer species = the first species to arrive in a
primary succession area (e.g., lichens, mosses)
Succession follows severe disturbance

 Secondary succession = a disturbance

dramatically alters, but does not destroy, all local
organisms
 The remaining organisms and soil form “building
blocks” that help shape the process of succession
 Fires, hurricanes, farming, logging
 Climax community = community that remains in
place with few changes until another disturbance
restarts succession
Communities may undergo shifts

 The dynamics of community change are more variable

and less predictable than thought
 Competition may inhibit progression to another stage
 Chance factors also affect movement between stages
 Climax community may not be based on climate alone
 Phase (regime) shift = occurs when the overall
character of the community fundamentally changes
 Some crucial threshold is passed, a keystone species is
lost, or an exotic species invades
 Human activity may be creating novel or no-analog
communities that are new mixtures of species that
have not been seen before in nature
Invasive species pose new threats to
community stability
 Invasive species = non-native (exotic) organisms
that spread widely and become dominant in a
community
 Introduced species = species that were deliberately
or accidentally brought from elsewhere
 Growth-limiting factors (predators, disease,
competitors, etc.) are removed or absent
 Have major ecological effects
 Chestnut blight from Asia wiped out American
chestnut trees
 Some species help people (e.g., European
honeybees)
We can respond to invasive species through
control, eradication, or prevention
 Techniques to control invasive species
 Removing them manually
 Applying toxic chemicals
 Introducing native predators or diseases
 Stressing them with heat, sound, electricity, carbon
dioxide, or ultraviolet light
 Control and eradication are hard and expensive
 Understanding the biology of invasive species can
help predict where they will be a problem

Prevention, rather than control, is the best policy

Altered communities can be restored

 Humans have dramatically changed ecological

systems
 Severely degraded systems cease to function
 Ecological restoration = efforts to restore
communities
 Restoration is informed by restoration ecology =
the science of restoring an area to an earlier
condition to restore the system’s functionality (e.g.,
filtering of water by a wetland)
 It is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive
 It is best to protect natural systems from degradation
in the first place
Altered communities can be restored

 Prairie restoration involves replanting native species,

controlling invasive species
 Nearly all tallgrass prairie was converted to
agriculture by the 19th century
 The world’s largest project is the Florida Everglades
 Flood control and irrigation removed water
 Populations of wading birds dropped 90–95%
 It will take 30 years and billions of dollars to restore
natural water flow
Earth’s Biomes

 Widely separated regions share similarities

 Biome = major regional complex of similar
communities recognized by plant type and
vegetation structure
Climate influences the location of biomes

 The type of biome depends on abiotic factors

 Temperature, precipitation, soil type, atmospheric
circulation
 Climatograph = a climate diagram showing an
area’s mean monthly temperature and precipitation
 Similar latitudes have similar climates
 Similar biomes occupy similar latitudes
Aquatic and coastal systems resemble biomes

 Various aquatic systems comprise distinct

communities
 Coastlines, continental shelves
 Open ocean, deep sea
 Coral reefs, kelp forests
 Freshwater lakes and rivers
 Some coastal systems (estuaries, marshes, etc.)
have both aquatic and terrestrial components
Aquatic and coastal systems resemble biomes

 Aquatic systems are shaped by

 Water temperature, salinity, and dissolved nutrients
 Wave action, currents, depth, light levels
 Substrate type and animal and plant life
Altitudes create patterns analogous to
latitudinal
 Vegetative communities change along mountain
slopes
 The climate varies with altitude in the same way it
varies with latitude
 A mountain climber in the Andes begins in the
tropics and ends on a glacier
 Rainshadow effect = phenomenon that occurs
when air going over a mountain releases moisture
on one side, creating an arid region on the other
side
Hiking up a mountain in the southwest U.S. is like
walking from Mexico to Canada
Conclusion

 Biomes and communities help us understand how

the world functions
 Species interactions affect communities
 Predation, parasitism, competition, mutualism
 Cause weak and strong, direct and indirect effects
 Feeding relationships are represented by trophic
levels and food webs
 Humans have altered many communities
 Ecological restoration attempts to undo the negative
changes that we have caused