37.1-37.7

Question 1

What do community ecologists study?

Answer 1

abiotic factors and interactions between populations.

Question 2

What is community ecology necessary for?

Answer 2

conservation of endangered species, management of wildlife, game, and fisheries.

Question 3

What is the scientific title for the interactions between different species in a community?

Answer 3

Interspecific interactions.

Question 4

What is the interspecific interaction: interspecific competition?

Answer 4

One of the many ways populations interact is for food sources. Here, they compete for the same food source. In general, this competition is negative for both populations, and limits their carrying capacity

Question 5

Populations of eastern bluebirds declined after the introduction of non-native house sparrows and European starlings. All three species nested in tree cavities. Suggest how an interspecific interaction could explain the blue birds decline.

Answer 5

Interspecific competition for nest space.

Question 6

What is an ecological niche?

Answer 6

“the sum of its use of the biotic and abiotic factors in its environment” , it being a species.

Question 7

What happens when the ecological niches, biotic or abiotic, of species overlap with each other?

Answer 7

There is interspecific competition.

Question 8

Which do you think has more severe effects, intraspecific competition or interspecific competition and why?

Answer 8

Intraspecific competition is more severe because members of the same species have exactly the same niche. Thus, they compete for the exact same resources.

Question 9

What is mutualism?

Answer 9

A relationship the is beneficial for both species involved.

Question 10

What is an example of mutualism?

Answer 10

Dinoflagellates (unicellular algae) live within corals reefs and photosynthesize to provide for them.

Question 11

When corals are stressed by environmental conditions, they expel their dinoflagellates in a process called bleaching. How is widespread bleaching likely to affect coral reefs?

Answer 11

Without dinoflagellate mutualists, corals do not have enough energy to maintain the reef structure. Bleached reefs will die.

Question 12

What are the interspecific interactions?

Answer 12

Competition, mutualism, predation, herbivory, p&p

Question 13

What is predation, and its “charge”

Answer 13

Its in the name, good for predators, bad for prey. Predation has a huge negative impact on the reproductive success of prey

Question 14

What does predation cause?

Answer 14

Predators kill prey, and thus the prey that possess favorable traits survive to pass on their genes. Natural selection causes prey species to develop diverse adaptations to avoid predators. Ex. camouflage, poison, spikes.

Question 15

What is herbivory?

Answer 15

Consumers eating plants, good for consumers, bad for plants.

Question 16

What separates plants from prey in herbivory?

Answer 16

Herbivory is not usually fatal to the plant, Plants are able to grow back, but they must expend energy to do so.

Question 17

What makes plants and prey similar in herbivory?

Answer 17

plants have developed toxins and poisons to deter animals. In fact, many drugs are from these plant adaptations.

Question 18

What is coevolution?

Answer 18

reciprocal evolutionary adaptations in two species. It occurs when a change in one species acts as a new selective force on another species, and the resulting adaptations of the second species in turn affect the selection of individuals in the first species. Very commonly found in herbivorial interspecific relationships.

Question 19

People find most bitter-tasting foods objectionable. Why do you suppose we have taste receptors for bitter-tasting chemicals.

Answer 19

Individuals having bitter taste receptors presumably survived better because they could identify potentially toxic food when foraged.

Question 20

What are parasites and pathogens as a interspecific interaction.

Answer 20

Parasites affect both plants and animals. Both internal and external parasites, you know what they are. Good for parasites and pathogens, bad for consumers and producers.

Question 21

What are some examples of external parasites?

Answer 21

ticks, lice, mites and mosquitoes, for humans, aphids and nematodes for plants.

Question 22

What are pathogens?

Answer 22

disease causing bacteria: viruses, fungi, protists, microscopic parasites.

Question 23

What is an example of a pathogen/parasite affecting a community?

Answer 23

Chestnut trees died out due to a parasite, many birds lost their homes, but decomposers found new ones.

Question 24

Why did tree diversity increase after the chestnut trees died?

Answer 24

Chestnuts had many of the same niche characteristics as other trees, but apparently chestnuts were superior competitors. After they died, the remaining species have had fewer niche similarities, or they may have been more equal as competitors, allowing more species to coexist.