Animal Ecology

Chapter 38
 Ecology
 Ecology investigates the interactions among organisms and
between organisms and their environment.
 Hierarchy of Ecology
 Organism level studies focus on individuals.
 Physiological or behavioral ecology
 Population level studies examine groups of conspecific
organisms living in a particular area.
 Hierarchy of Ecology
 Community level studies investigate interactions between
the populations of various species in an area.
 Species diversity - # of different species
 Interactions – predation, parasitism, competition, symbiotic
associations.

 Ecosystem level studies examine how a community interacts

with the physical environment.
 Environment and Niche
 An animal’s environment includes all of the conditions that
affects survival and reproduction.
 Abiotic factors (nonliving) – soil, air, water, sunlight,
temperature, pH etc.
 Biotic factors (living) – food items, predators, parasites,
competitors, mates, hosts etc.
 Environment and Niche
 Environmental factors that are directly utilized by an animal
are resources.
 Space (nonexpendable)
 Food (expendable)
 Environment and Niche
 An animal’s habitat is the space where it lives.
 Size is variable
Rotten log is a habitat for carpenter ants.
Forest & adjacent meadow is a habitat for deer.
 Environment and Niche
The habitat must meet
the requirements for
life.
Temp, salinity, pH etc.
The unique
multidimensional
relationship of a
species with its
environment is its
niche.
 Environment and Niche
 Generalists can withstand a variety of environmental
conditions.
 Specialists can only tolerate a narrow range.
 Environment and Niche
 The fundamental niche describes the total potential role
that an organism could fill under ideal circumstances.
 The realized niche describes the actual role an organism
fills.
 Subset of the fundamental niche.
 Affected by competition
 Population Ecology
 Population ecology is the study of populations in relation to
environment, including environmental influences on
population density and distribution, age structure, and
variations in population size.
 Populations
 A population is a reproductively interactive group of
animals of a single species.
 A few individuals may migrate between populations.
Adds gene flow
Prevents speciation.
 Numerous small populations may be connected in this way.
Metapopulation
 Life Tables
 A life table is an age-specific summary of the survival
pattern of a population.
 Life tables usually follow the fate of a cohort – a group of
individuals of the same age – from birth until all have died.
 Survivorship Curves
A survivorship curve
is a graphic way of
representing the data in
a life table.
The survivorship curve
for Belding’s ground
squirrels shows that
the death rate is
relatively constant.
 Survivorship Curves
 Survivorship curves can be
classified into three general
types
 Type I – high survival
early in life indicates
parental care of fewer
offspring.
 Type II – constant death
rate over life span
 Type III – drops sharply at
start indicating high death
rate for young; lots of
young, no care.
 Age Structure
Populations that
contain multiple
cohorts exhibit age
structure.
More individuals in
the younger cohorts
indicates a growing
population.
 Life History Diversity
Species that exhibit
semelparity, or “big-bang”
reproduction reproduce a
single time and die.
Salmon
Agave
Favored in unpredictable
climates.
 Life History Diversity
 Species that exhibit iteroparity, or repeated reproduction,
produce offspring repeatedly over time.
 Lizards often start reproducing during their second year and
will produce eggs every year of their lives.
 Favored in more predictable environments.
 Population Growth
 It is useful to study population growth in an idealized
situation in order to understand the capacity of species for
increase and the conditions that may facilitate this type of
growth.
 Population Growth
 If immigration and emigration are ignored, a population’s
growth rate equals birth rate minus death rate.
 Population Growth
 Zero population growth occurs when the birth rate equals
the death rate.
 The population growth equation can be expressed as:

dN
 rN
dt
 Exponential Growth
 Exponential population growth is population increase
under idealized conditions.
 Unlimited resources.
 Under these conditions, the rate of reproduction is at its
maximum, called the intrinsic rate of increase (rmax).
 Exponential Growth
 The equation of exponential population growth is:

dN  r N
dt max
 Exponential Growth
Exponential population
growth results in a J-
shaped curve.
 Exponential Growth
The J-shaped curve of exponential growth is
characteristic of some populations that are
rebounding.
 Exponential Growth
The global human
population has been in
exponential growth for
a long time.
At what point will we
surpass the carrying
capacity for our
planet?
 Logistic Growth
 Exponential growth cannot be sustained for long in any
population.
 Depends on unlimited resources.
 In reality, there are one or more limiting resources that prevent
exponential growth.
 Logistic Growth
 A more realistic population model limits growth by
incorporating carrying capacity.
 Carrying capacity (K) is the maximum population size the
environment can support.
 The Logistic Growth Model
 In the logistic growth model, the per capita rate of increase
declines as carrying capacity is reached.
 The Logistic Growth Model
The logistic growth equation includes K, the
carrying capacity.

dN ( K  N)
 rmax N
dt K
 The Logistic Growth Model
The logistic model
of population
growth produces an
S-shaped curve.
 The Logistic Model and Real
Populations
The growth of
laboratory
populations of
Paramecia fits an S-
shaped curve.
 The Logistic Model and Real
Populations
Some populations
overshoot K before
settling down to a
relatively stable
density.
 The Logistic Model and Real
Populations
Some populations
fluctuate greatly
around K.
 The Logistic Model and Real
Populations
 The logistic model fits few real populations, but is useful for
estimating possible growth.
 The Logistic Model and Life
Histories
 Life history traits favored by natural selection may vary with
population density and environmental conditions.
 K and r Selection
 K-selection, or density-dependent selection, selects for life
history traits that are sensitive to population density.
 Few, but larger offspring, parental care.
 r-selection, or density-independent selection, selects for life
history traits that maximize reproduction.
 Many small offspring, no parental care.
 Extrinsic Limits to Growth
 What environmental factors stop a population from growing?
 Why do some populations show radical fluctuations in size
over time, while others remain stable?
 Extrinsic Limits to Growth
 Abiotic limiting factors such as a storm or a fire are density-
independent – their effect does not change with population
density.
 Biotic factors such as competition or predation or parasitism
act in a density-dependent way – the effect does change
with population density.
 Community Ecology
 Community ecology examines the interactions among the
various populations in a community.
 Interactions
Populations of animals
that form a community
can interact in various
ways.
Beneficial for one,
negative for the other
Predation, Parasitism,
Herbivory
 Interactions
Beneficial for one, neutral for the other
Commensalism
Barnacles growing on whales
 Interactions
 Beneficial for both
 Mutualism
 Interactions
 Competition is a type of interaction that has a negative
effect on both.
 Community structure is often shaped by competition.
 Amensalism occurs when only one of the competitors incurs a
cost.
Balanus & Chthamalus barnacles
 Competition and Character
Displacement
 Competition occurs when two or more species share a
limiting resource.
 Competition and Character
Displacement
 Competition is reduced by reducing the overlap in their
niches (the portion of resources shared).
 The principle of competitive exclusion suggests that organisms
with exactly the same niche can’t co-occur.
One will drive the other out.
 Competition and Character
Displacement
Character
displacement occurs
when the species
partition the resource,
using different parts of
it.
Appears as
differences in
morphology.
 Competition and Character
Displacement
Species that exploit a
resource in a similar
way form a guild.
Seed eaters vs. insect
eaters.
A resource (insects)
can be partitioned in
terms of what part of
the tree is searched.
 Predator-Prey Cycles
Many populations
undergo regular
boom-and-bust
cycles.
These cycles are
influenced by
complex interactions
between biotic and
abiotic factors.
 Predation
 Predation refers to an interaction where one species, the
predator, kills and eats the other, the prey.
 Feeding adaptations of predators include: claws, teeth, fangs,
stingers, and poison.
 Animals also display a great variety of defensive adaptations.
 Cryptic Coloration
Cryptic coloration, or camouflage makes prey
difficult to spot.
 Aposematic Coloration
Aposematic
coloration warns
predators to stay
away from prey.
 Mimicry
 In some cases, one prey species may gain significant
protection by mimicking the appearance of another.
 Batesian Mimicry
In Batesian mimicry, a palatable or harmless
species mimics an unpalatable or harmful model.
 Müllerian Mimicry
In Müllerian
mimicry, two or
more unpalatable
species resemble
each other.
 Species with a Large Impact
 Certain species have an especially large impact on the
structure of entire communities either because they are
highly abundant or because they play a pivotal role in
community dynamics.
 Keystone Species
 Keystone species are not necessarily abundant in a
community.
 They exert strong control on a community by their ecological
roles, or niches.
 Keystone Species
Field studies of sea stars exhibit their role as a
keystone species in intertidal communities.
 Keystone Species
Observation of sea
otter populations
and their predation
shows the effect
the otters have on
ocean
communities.
 Ecosystems
 An ecosystem consists of all the organisms living in a
community as well as all the abiotic factors with which they
interact.
 Ecosystems
Ecosystems can range
from a microcosm,
such as an aquarium to
a large area such as a
lake or forest.
 Ecosystems
 Regardless of an ecosystem’s size, its dynamics involve two
main processes:
 Energy flow
 Chemical cycling
 Energy flows through ecosystems, while matter cycles
within them.
 Trophic Relationships
Energy and nutrients
pass from primary
producers
(autotrophs) to
primary consumers
(herbivores) and then
to secondary
consumers
(carnivores).
 Trophic Levels
 Primary production in an ecosystem is the amount of light
energy converted to chemical energy by autotrophs during a
given time period.
 Photosynthesis
 Trophic Levels
 Consumers include:
 Herbivores – animals that eat plants.
 Carnivores – animals that eat other animals.
 Decomposers – feed on dead organic matter.
 Trophic Levels
Decomposition connects
all trophic levels.
Detritivores, mainly
bacteria and fungi,
recycle essential chemical
elements by decomposing
organic material and
returning elements to
inorganic reservoirs.
 Energy Flow
Energy flows through an ecosystem entering as
light and exiting as heat.
 Gross and Net Primary Production
 Total primary production in an ecosystem is known as that
ecosystem’s gross primary production (GPP).
 Net primary production (NPP) is equal to GPP minus the
energy used by the primary producers for respiration.
 Only NPP is available to consumers.
 Energy Transfer
 The secondary production of an ecosystem is the amount of
chemical energy in consumers’ food that is converted to their
own new biomass during a given period of time.
 Trophic Efficiency and
Ecological Pyramids
 Trophic efficiency is the percentage of production
transferred from one trophic level to the next.
 Usually ranges from 5% to 20%.
 Pyramids of Production
This loss of energy with each transfer in a food
chain can be represented by a pyramid of net
production.
A pyramid of numbers represents the number of
individual organisms in each trophic level.
 Pyramids of Biomass
Most biomass pyramids show a sharp decrease at
successively higher trophic levels.
Occasionally inverted
 Nutrient Cycling
 Life on Earth depends on the recycling of essential chemical
elements.
 Nutrient circuits that cycle matter through an ecosystem
involve both biotic and abiotic components and are often
called biogeochemical cycles.
 Toxins in the Environment
 Humans release an immense variety of toxic chemicals
including thousands of synthetics previously unknown to
nature.
 One of the reasons such toxins are so harmful, is that they
become more concentrated in successive trophic levels of a
food web.
 Toxins in the Environment
In biological
magnification,
toxins concentrate at
higher trophic levels
because at these
levels biomass tends
to be lower.
The Three Levels of Biodiversity
 Genetic diversity comprises:
 The genetic variation within a
population.
 The genetic variation between
populations.

 Species diversity is the variety of

species in an ecosystem or
throughout the biosphere.
 Ecosystem diversity identifies the
variety of ecosystems in the
biosphere.
 Endangered Species
 An endangered species is one that is in danger of becoming
extinct throughout its range.
 Threatened species are those that are considered likely to
become endangered in the foreseeable future.
 Ecosystem Services
 Ecosystem services encompass all the processes through
which natural ecosystems and the species they contain help
sustain human life on Earth.
 Purification of air and water.
 Detoxification and decomposition of wastes.
 Cycling of nutrients.
 Moderation of weather extremes.
 And many others.
 Four Major Threats to
Biodiversity
 Most species loss can be traced to four major threats:
 Habitat destruction
 Introduced species
 Overexploitation
 Disruption of “interaction networks”
 Extinction
 Habitat fragmentation increases local extinction and
speciation.
 Species that have larger ranges or better dispersal abilities
are better protected from extinction.
 Extinction
There have been five mass extinctions.
Each time a large percentage of the species on earth
went extinct.