STARTER QUESTIONS- define the terms below and give an

example
predators and prey Biodiversity species mimicry
autotrophs heterotrophs fauna food chain
Producer primary consumer secondary consumer competition
Mortality intraspecific competition Carrying capacity Interspecific competition lichen /
moss peppered moth natural selection camouflage genetic
mutation survival of the fittest
 2.1 Species and Populations
Topic 2 Ecosystems & Ecology

EAS 2022-23 durso

Resources: Inthinking, Mr. Green, IB (oxford book), google images

Exploring the Niche

https://www.thinkib.net/ess/page/27346/21-fundamental-vs-realised-niche-concep

BIG IDEAS-
A species interacts with its abiotic and biotic environment, and its niche is described by these
interactions
Populations change and respond to interactions with the environment
All systems have a carrying capacity for a given species
 Knowledge &
Understandings
-A species is a group of organisms sharing common characteristics
that interbreed and produce fertile offspring
-A habitat is the environment in which a species normally lives.
-A niche describes the particular set of abiotic and biotic
conditions and resources to which an organism or population
responds
-The fundamental niche describes the full range of conditions and
resources in which a species could survive and reproduce. The
realized niche describes the actual conditions and resources in
which a species exists due to biotic interactions
-The non-living physical factors that influence the organisms and
ecosystem, eg temperature, sunlight, pH, salinity, precipitation
are termed abiotic factors.
 Knowledge &
Understandings

-The interactions between the organisms, eg, predation, herbivory,

parasitism, mutualism, disease, competition are termed biotic
factors
-Interactions should be understood in terms of the influences each
species has on the population dynamics of others, and upon the
carrying capacity of the other’s environment
-A population is a group of organisms and the same species living
in the same area at the same time, and which are capable of
interbreeding
-S and J population curves describe a generalized response of
populations to a particular set of conditions (abiotic and biotic
factors
Ecology Definitions

Ecology

The study of interactions

among and between organisms
in their abiotic
environment.
Ecology Definitions

Abiotic Factors:
The non-living, physical
factors that influence the
organisms and ecosystem —
such as temperature,
sunlight, pH, salinity, and
precipitation.
Ecology Definitions

Biotic Factors:
The interactions between
the organisms—such as
predation, herbivory,
parasitism, mutualism,
disease, and competition.
Ecology Definitions

Species:
A species is a group of
organisms that share common
characteristics and that
interbreed to produce
fertile offspring.
IB TESTING TIPS:
●IB often asks for named examples, be sure
to use specific examples and use specific
names (scientific names are not required).
○For example if you just say tiger this refers
to 1 of 10 species versus Bengal tiger is
specific to one region and one species!
○For a named example of a habitat or ecosystem
■be specific; The Giant Kelp Forest off the coast
of Monterrey Bay California is much better than
the beach
■give as much detail as possible; The Sundarbans
is the largest mangrove forest in Southern
Bangladesh and South-eastern India.
Ecology Definitions

Habitat:
A habitat is the
environment in which a
species normally lives.
Ecology Definitions

Niche:
A niche describes the
particular set of abiotic
and biotic conditions and
resources to which an
organism or population
responds.
Realised vs Fundamental Niche

The fundamental niche

describes the full range of
conditions and resources in
which a species could
survive and reproduce.
The realized niche
describes the actual
conditions and resources in
which a species exists due
to biotic interactions.
Competition Leads to Resource Partitioning

The green anole is native to

Florida and the brown anole is an
introduced, non-native species to
the area.

The fundamental niches of these two

species overlapped and through
competition the green anole
developed a narrower realized
niche. The Resources have been
partitioned.
Resource Partitioning through Competition
A case study- Joseph Connell’s barnacles

▪ Both of these barnacle

species could live anywhere
between the high tide and
low tide lines- their
fundamental niche
▪ – but abiotic environmental
conditions and competition
for resources (a biotic factor)
limit the size of each species
– realized niche
Video 1:Niche Partitioning and Species Coexistence
HHMI with Prof. Rob Pringle of Princeton University
(9min)
Video 2: The Phylogentic Tree of Anole Lizards
HHMI with Prof. Sean Carroll and Prof. Jonathan
Losos (18 min)
 What types of relationships exist between species?

Mutualism- Symbiotic relationship in which both partners benefit, e.g. mycorrihizal fungi and plant roots. The fungus
grows around and into roots providing roots with otherwise unavailable nitrogen from soil. The roots provide fungi with
food produced by photosynthesis in the plant. E.g. the N-fixing bacteria Rhizobium and legumes (plants such as peas
and beans).
Commensalism- A symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other one is neither harmed nor
helped, e.g. epiphytic orchids growing on the bark of a tropical tree.

● Epiphytes anchors itself to the tree, but does not take nutrients from the tree
● Epiphyte benefits from getting closer to sunlight, tropical tree is not affected

Parasitism- Symbiotic relationship in which one species is benefited and the other is adversely affected, e.g. a
tapeworm living in the gut of a pig. Parasites rarely kill their hosts as this is evolutionarily counter-productive. E.g.
varroa mites and honeybees. Mites live in the breathing tubes of the bees, sucking their blood and weakening them
Predation-the consumption of one species (the prey) by another (the predator).​There are many predator-prey interactions
Pursuit and Ambush- Pursuing prey simply means chasing it down and catching it e.g. day gecko and spider.
Ambush is when predators catch prey unaware. This may be by using camouflage or by attracting the prey with colors or light

Hervivory & plant defense-The consumption of a plant species by an animal (herbivore). In New Zealand there were
very few plant predators due to the long evolutionary isolation of the islands. Thus the plants do not contain many toxins which,
for example, Australian plants contain. These adaptations would normally include thorns, leathery leaves, toxins to make the
leaves unpalatable, and thick waxy leaves.

Competition- This is the interaction between organisms that are trying to attain the same resources. This might be food
but it could also be for mates, territory, nesting sites, etc.Interspecific competition is between different species, e.g. the green
and brown anole in Florida. Intraspecific competition is between individuals of the same species, e.g. wolves in a wolf pack
trying to feed on a moose. Another example might be black grouse displaying in a lek to attract a female

Decomposer- Feeds on dead and decaying material, thus recycling the nutrients
 An example of competition- what does the data show?

The biologists Lotka and Volterra theorized

that no two species with similar
requirements for resources (food, shelter,
etc.) could coexist in the same niche
without competition driving one to local
extinction.
In 1930s G.F. Gause tested the Lotka-
Volterra theory by growing two
Paramecium species in identical
conditions. What can you interpret from the
graphs- where they correct?
 What is a community? A group of interacting species living in a
given area

Watch 16 min Biological Communities

https://youtu.be/ZaOe_pBEgSE

Diagrammatic representation of the Kaloko reef ecosystem. Numbers and horizontal grey lines denote trophic levels. Other grey lines
represent trophic links between ecosystem components. (Illustration © M. Bailey). Image from NOAA PIFSC Quarterly Review.
 How can we study populations?
A population is a group of organisms of the same
species living in the same area at the same time, and
which are capable of interbreeding- (pic of New Zealand
sea lions)
Population dynamics refers to how a population
changes over time.
If you grow a population of yeast culture, you will get a J
shaped curve initially showing exponential growth The
population in a sealed flask is likely to eventually crash
due to a number of possible limiting factors. In the
yeast population this may be because the population has
run out of food or there has been accumulation of a toxin
(due to excretion).
 What are other examples of Limiting Factors?

●Without limiting factors, exponential growth occurs. (j shaped surve)

●Factors in an ecosystem that limit the population size if there are is too much or too little of
it.
○Sunlight
○Precipitation
○Salinity
○Nutrients in the soil
○Food
●Limiting factors cause a reduction in population growth as they become in short supply.
What are density dependent vs independent factors?
Density dependent will increase of decrease the carrying capacity of a population based on the size of the
population whereas density independent will increase or decrease carrying capacity regardless of
population size
Bee population & Carrying capacity
In the example of the bee population, the population grows exponentially
but then the population growth slows down and starts to fluctuate up and
down a little. This is the point at which the population has reached its
carrying capacity (K in the equation describing the curve). Limiting
factors are responsible for the population having reached its carrying
capacity
Carrying capacity is the maximum number of organisms of a single
species that an ecosystem can support
▪ Exponential Growth Phase
▪ Abundant food, space, light

▪ Transitional Phase
▪ Competition

▪ Plateau Phase
▪ When population reaches carrying capacity (K) there is no longer
growth
▪ Where exponential growth slows until we reach carrying capacity is
Do populations & carrying capacity change?

▪ In reality populations tend to fluctuate around the carrying capacity.

▪ A boom is a significant increase in population size and a bust is a
sudden decrease.
▪ What is this an example of?
 Do different species have different population
growths?
R - selected species that favor
reproduction leading to highly
variable population dynamics
K- selected species have much
fewer offspring favoring parental
care and tend to show population
dynamics that are more stable and
operate around the carrying
capacity (k)
How would you interpret the following population
graph?
Plenary tasks-
1) Complete 2.1 population review worksheet
2) Complete 2.1 Predator-prey worksheet (see link below)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdwnfPurXcs
3) Realized Niche Graphic-Look at the resources for case studies
of species below and produce a graphical summary of an
example using annotations to help understanding.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4104887/
http://www.montana.edu/screel/teaching/bioe-370/documents/Biol%20303%20niches.pdf
http://darwinsbearddotnet.wordpress.com/2014/10/26/avoiding-a-sticky-situation/
http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/resource-partitioning-and-why-it-matters-17362658
http://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2015/08/19/what-influences-the-realized-niche/
http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/niche-partitioning

4) Complete Virtual Lab on Barnacle competition

http://virtualbiologylab.org/ModelsHTML5/BarnacleCompetition/BarnacleCompetitionM
odel.html
Sample responses to plenary
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

ESS book pages 56-63

Mr Green website
https://www.mrgscience.com/ess-topic-21-species-and-population.
html

Mr Kremer website
https://mrkremerscience.com/ess/ecosystems/2-1-species-and-populations/

Video (19 minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfD1wY1NGZM