Lecture 9 - Communities

Question 1

What is reductionism?

Answer 1

This is assuming that only things we can see have a reality, therefore we assume that only:
species
metapopulation
population
individual 
are the levels that exist

Question 2

Who proposed reductionism?

Answer 2

Simberloff 1980s

Question 3

What is related to larval performance in hoverflies?

Answer 3

The type of food eaten depends on the choice of the ovipositing female and is related to the performance of the larvae.
‘The mother knows best’
The mothers prefer to eat certain types of aphids and this is where they lay their eggs.

Question 4

What experiment looked at individual-level specialisation?

Answer 4

Two aphids were observed, elder and bean
They are both middle rank
15% of the hoverflies preferred the elder aphid as their prey for oviposition.
15% of the hoverflies preferred the bean aphid as their prey for oviposition.
The remainder had no preference

This is evidence for individual level specialisation.

Question 5

What experiment looks at Oviposition preference and larval performance in the field: the role of aphid defence

Answer 5

The presence of solider aphids determines where female hover flies lay their eggs. If there are few soldiers, they lay one egg on the bamboo and hope it isn’t eaten by the soldiers. If there are lots of soldiers the female makes a web and lays multiple eggs. One larvae will eat the others.

It then works its way to the bamboo and by this point is the second instar.