Lecture Three - Concept of Community

Question 1

What are the problems with the Tintwistle Bypass?

Answer 1

It would pass through valuable ecological habitat.

Question 2

What are JNCC?

Answer 2

• Nature Advisors

- Produce classification guides, e.g. National Vegetation Classification

Question 3

What is the National Vegetation Classification?

Answer 3

• Assigns vegetation to a community
• Based on phytosociology (the plants that are living together)
• Gives descriptions of communities

Question 4

What is W11?

Answer 4

• Woodland 11

- Oak-birch-wood sorrel woodland

Question 5

What is W12?

Answer 5

• Woodland 12
• Beech-dog’s mercury woodland
• Contains species characteristic of base-rich soils.

Question 6

What is the role of a Phase 1 Habitat Survey?

Answer 6

Assigns areas to habitat sites.

Question 7

What is W19?

Answer 7

• Woodland 19

- Ash-Rowan-Dog’s mercury woodland

Question 8

Name the unit given to describe association.

Answer 8

Braun-Blanquet’s unit

Question 9

How are associations grouped?

Answer 9

In higher or lower taxa:

• Alliances
• Orders
• Subassociations

Question 10

What did Karl Möbius study?

Answer 10

Studied oyster banks to determine their potential for commercial exploitation.

Question 11

What is a biocönose?

Answer 11

A social community

Question 12

What did Karl Möbius conclude/discover?

Answer 12

That each oyster bed is a biocönose (social community)

Question 13

What did Frederick Clements study?

Answer 13

• The development of vegetation / plant succession / climax community

Question 14

What is Physiognomy?

Answer 14

Outward appearance

Question 15

What did Frederick Clements say that the cause of stabilisation in plant succession is?

Answer 15

Dominance

Question 16

Give a experimental method of measuring the magnitude of interactions.

Answer 16

Through
- Target, e.g. Arabidopsis
- Interactor, e.g. Garden slug
Add interactor to population that didn’t have the interactor to start with, and measure the change in target abundance.

Question 17

Give the equation used for measuring interaction strength.

Answer 17

[ ( E - C ) / C ] x 1 / d

E = abundance of target species in experimental plot
C = abundance of target species in control plot
d = abundance of the 'interactor'

Question 18

Describe Robert Paine’s experiment.

Answer 18

• Grazer enclosures made by rings of Poxy Putty painted with copper-based paint.
• to estimate interaction strengths