Environmental studies:

Community Structure
• COMMUNITY STRUCTURE (25 – 30marks)
• Terminology– Section A – Definitions
• Interactions – examples, effects, images
– Predation - graphs - examples
– Competitions (intra, inter, exclusion, resource partitioning)
• Symbiosis (3 types – examples, effects, images, descriptions)
• Human influences – case studies – informal assessment
• Ecological Succession - examples, effects, images
• primary and secondary succession – exam guidelines – LO3 –
investigations

Definitions: Identify/define 3 types of symbiosis and interactions –

20 marks (essay type question)
A community is a group of populations
(producers, consumers and decomposers) living
together in a habitat
Community
A group of populations
occurring in a particular area, eg.
zebras, hyenas, giraffes in the
Kruger National Park
 Community structure
The following organisms form part of a community

Be able to define: producers, consumers (herbivores, carnivores,

omnivores) and decomposers
 Interactions in a community and its effect on
population size of other species in the community

• PREDATION: LeaTWO examples of predation from the South

African context.

• COMPETITION:
• Intraspecific competition: competition between organisms of the
same species depending on the same resources like food, space, shelter,
water and access to mates.
• Interspecific competition: competition between organisms of
different species depending on the same resources e.g. light, space, water,
shelter, food.
• An example of competitive exclusion: competition in which one of the
two competing species is much more successful that the other such that
the successful species survives and the other species disappears
Predator-
prey
relationships

In predation, one
individual, the
predator, captures,
kills, and consumes
another individual, the
prey.
Predation.
– A predator eats prey.
– Herbivory, in which animals eat plants.
– In parasitism, predators live on/in a host
and depend on the host for nutrition.
– Predator adaptations: many important
feeding adaptations of predators are both
obvious and familiar.
• Claws, teeth, fangs, poison, heat-sensing
organs, speed, and agility.

Copyright © 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

 Predator prey in fynbos biome
• Predator: Black eagle • Prey: Dassie
Competition: Intraspecific competition
Intraspecific competition: males
compete for territory.
Gemsbuck fighting for mating partners
 Interspecific
competition:

In the African
savanna, hyenas
and vultures
compete with
one another for
the flesh of dead
animals such as
the dead
elephant
pictured here.
 Interspecific competition
Lion and hyenas fighting for the same food
resources
Jackal and a hyena fighting for the
same food source
 Interactions in a community and its effect on
population size of other species in the community

• 1. Competitive exclusion: the competition in which

one of the two competing species is much more
successful that the other such that the successful
species survives and the other species disappears.
2. Resource partitioning: The kind of competition
situation in which competing species coexist in the
same habitat since they use the resources slightly
differently
Competitive
exclusion
Paramecium aurelia and P. caudatum:
In a classic study in the 1930’s, Gauss
cultured P. aurelia and P. caudatum bot
h alone and together in culture
tubes. When grown separately, the
populations grew to a fairly predictable
density. However, when grown
together, P. caudatum always lost and
eventually went extinct.
 Resource partitioning amongst plants
Different species
of plants in the
same habitat will
compete for the
same resources
like light, water,
mineral salts, etc.
Different species
of plants grow to
different heights
or have roots that
are different
lengths so they
divide the
resources,
accessing them in
slightly different
ways
Resource partitioning: co-existing
shore birds
Resource partitioning
amongst animals
Resource
partitioning is a
kind of
competition
situation in which
competing
species coexist in
the same habitat
since they use
the resources
slightly differently
 Interactions in a community and its effect on
population size of other species in the community

• Symbiosis: The close association of two organisms

such that one or both benefit from the association.
• Three types of symbiosis:
– Parasitism: a relationship in which one of the species
benefits and the other is harmed by the relationship
– Mutualism: The symbiotic relationship in which both of
the species benefit form the association
– Commensalism: Two species living together where one
species benefits and the other neither benefits nor suffers
disadvantage
 Parasitism: Malaria
• Malaria
Malaria is a serious disease
caused by a parasite carried by
female Aopheles mosquitoes.
• Humans are infected when bitten
by the mosquitoes. Each year,
there are 300 million to 500
million cases of malaria
throughout the world and about
1 million child deaths.
• Reducing the mosquito
population in households and
communities by eliminating
standing water (caused by poor
drainage and uncovered water
tanks) can be an important factor
in reducing malaria cases.
 Life cycle of
the anopheles
mosquito that
carries the
malaria
causing
parasite
“Safe drinking water and adequate
sanitation are crucial for poverty
reduction, crucial for sustainable
development, and crucial for
achieving any and every one of the
Millennium Development Goals” – UN
Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon
Parasitism: swimming habits may influence
parasitic infections

Bilharzia (schistosomiasis)
200 million infections world-wide cause
untold misery and debility in Africa, the
Middle East, parts of Latin America and
South-East Asia. Victims become weak
and less able to work - causing an
economic loss, excluding treatment costs,
estimated at over $200 million in Africa
alone. Ironically the disease is often made
worse by dams and irrigation schemes.
The quiet, weedy canals and lakes are
ideal breeding sites for snails
Life cycle of the bilharzia parasite
World distribution of
bilharzia
Sanitation
may
influence
parasitic
infections
 Cholera
• Cholera is an acute bacterial infection of the
intestinal tract.
• It causes severe attacks of diarrhoea that, without
treatment, can quickly lead to acute dehydration and
death.
• Cholera is a world-wide problem, especially in
emergency situations. It can be prevented by access
to safe drinking water, sanitation and good hygiene
behaviour (including food hygiene). In 2002, over
120,000 cholera cases were reported worldwide.
Parasitism: cholera
 One species is harmed in a parasitic relationship –some
scientists regard it as predataion since the host may be killed
Platyhelminthes: taenia
solium/tapeworm
Tapeworm with hooks with which it attach to
the wall of the small intestine
With its long, narrow shape the tapeworm is well adapted to
attach to the small intestine of the human
Life cycle of a tapeworm
Parasitism: Ticks feeding on animals or humans

Tick feeding on
human skin
A tick bite can cause tick bite fever in humans
– Parasites and pathogens as predators.
• A parasite derives nourishment from a host,
which is harmed in the process.
• Endoparasites live inside the host and
ectoparasites live on the surface of the
host.
• Parasitoidism is a special type of parasitism
where the parasite eventually kills the host.
• Pathogens are disease-causing organisms
that can be considered predators.
Mutualism: oxpeckers on a giraffe. The oxpecker
gets food form the giraffe and the giraffe benefits
by getting rid of its parasites
Mutualism: Lichens is an organism made up of fungi
and algae.
The fungus provides the external structure of the lichen
and provides the algae with a protected place to live.
Algae photosynthesise and provide the fungus with
food.
Mutualism: Bees collect pollen and
nectar from flowers, flowers are
pollinated in the process
Mutualism: Ants get nectar from the Acacia tree
as well as shelter in specialised swollen thorns.
Ants defend the tree against herbivorous and
wood boring insects.
Commensalism: The egret catch insects which are
disturbed by the activity of a large animal. The
herbivores are neither helped nor harmed by the egret
Commensalism: Remora fish swim next to sharks
or attach to them. It gets protection and scraps
of leftover food from the shark. The shark is
neither helped nor harmed by the remora fish
 Human influence on community
structure
The elephant herd in the Kruger National Park
increased from 8, 000 to 12,500 in 2008 and to
19 000 in 2009. The elephant population is
increasing by 7% per year, and might reach 20 000
by 2012. This large herd cannot be sustained since
adult elephants consume 130 kg food a day and
they live for 55 – 65 years.
On 25 February 2008 the SA Government finally
concluded it would have to lift a 17 year-old
moratorium on the culling of the native elephant to
cope with its booming population. Minister van
Schalkwyk announced that killing of excess animals
would only be allowed once all other options
(translocation and contraception) had been ruled
out.
Minister van Schalkwyk said:”Our simple reality is
that elephant population density has risen so
mulch in some southern African countries that
there is concern about impacts on the landscape,
the viability of other species and the livelihoods
and safety of people living within elephant ranges.”
The aesthetic value placed on South Africa’s biodiversity.
• Discuss the values
placed on “large and
fury’ animals compared
to “small and slimy”
animals.
Which of these animals
will attract most
tourists?
 ‘Small and slimy” can be very
interesting(and vital to health ecosystems
Definition of ecological succession
*Primary succession as the sequence of
organisms that occupy a new habitat.
Pioneer plants are replaced by a
succession of species
* Secondary succession as the sequence
of organisms that occupy a disturbed
habitat or when an established community
has been disturbed in a catastrophic
manner
COMMUNITY CHANGE OVER TIME:
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
• Primary succession: the sequence of organisms that
occupy a new habitat.
• Pioneer plant: a plant that can colonise bare soil and that is
part of the community that forms the first stage in the
process of succession
• Secondary succession: the sequence of organisms that
occupy a disturbed habitat or when an established
community has been disturbed in a catastrophic manner.
• Climax community: the final stage in the process of
succession that refers to a mature community of plants that
will remain stable with few, if any, changes over time
 Ecological Succession
Ecological succession is the process by which
communities in a particular area change over
time.
Succession takes place as a result of complex
interactions of biotic and abiotic factors.

Community composition changes with time

Past Present Future

community community community

Some species in the The present community Changing conditions in the

past community were modifies such abiotic factors as:
out-competed or did not • Light intensity and quality
tolerate altered abiotic
• Wind speed and direction
conditions.
• Air temperature and humidity
• Soil composition and water content
present community will
allow new species to
become established.
These will make up the
future community.
Ecological Succession
New Bare Substrate

Colonizing Stage

Successionist Stage

Climax Stage
 Temperate Old-field Succession

Pioneer Climax

Seral stage Herbs Grasses Shrubs Pine Hardwood

Forest Forest
Years after 1-2 1-10 7-25 25-70 75+
abandonment
 Ecological Succession
Primary succession begins in areas
consisting of bare, lifeless substrate such as
rocks or a car path. Organisms gradually
move into the area and begin to change its
nature,
Secondary succession occurs when a established
community has been disturbed in a catastrophic
manner, e.g. after a veld fire or a flood. In the
disturbance all the vegetation is destroyed, but all
or some of the soil remains. The same process
occurs as in primary succession, but as there is
soil for grasses and small plants to grow in, these
plants form the pioneer communities.
 Pioneer plants

Lichens are pioneer plants as they are the first

organisms to colonise a bare area. Acidic
secretions from the lichens help to break down
the hard surface of the rocks and slowly bits of
soil accumulate, mosses may grow on these
small pockets of soil, enriching the quality and
quantity of the soil with the organic material
that they add to it. As time passes and the soil
becomes richer and deeper, other plants like
grasses and small herbaceous plants become
established in the larger pockets of soil , small
animals may also move into an area when
these plants become established.
An example of primary succession
Pioneer grass on a sand dune
Climax community