Reptiles Function in Ecosystem (lecture 6) Flashcards
species and function
-the more species you have the more ecological function
functional aspects of biodiversity
-depicts how species and diversity influence ecosystem and resources
- species interaction
- predation, parasitism, competition
- alter function of the way species are in the environment
- increase in abundance of species and traits increases biodiversity
- increase traits increase biodiversity
ecosystem processes
-key outputs in ecosystem functions
ex. pollination
-birds
predation
-dingo
seed dispersal
-casuary
dispersal (key-genes moving among different population)
function diversity + specie traits
traits of how animals live (dictate how they persist in the environment
functional diversity
- trait diversity among species
- more species means more variation in traits
- life history
biodiversity from a functional perspective*
- traits allow species to consume or transform resources
- modify the biophysical and biochemical habitat; creating different resources
- alter or partly destroy part of the environment
sea turtle functional perspective*
green turtle grazing on sea grass
functional perspective: -sea grass pull substrate down grazing-destabilize the environment -plants respond by building defense chemical making it less nutritious of nitrogen -nitrogen allows things to grown faster
box turtle and crocodile
-transfer of energy up the food chain
sea turtle eggshells
- made of calcium
- provide subsidy of mineral through biointeraction
- effects how plants grown on the beach
function case studies of reptiles
-disturbance
disturbance
- change abundance and potentially the diversity of reptile
- effects traits and function
abundance knock down lead to consequence
changes in traits and role of reptiles in the environment
reptiles respond differently to disturbance
strong recent disturbance or lots of ongoing disturbance
- more species able to persist in environment as the father the disturbance has occurred
- decrease in diversity as the environment becomes more stable due to specie dominance
mosaic forest from disturbance from history
-shows the ages of the forest
multidisturbance-multilayer disturbance
-animals deal with it, with change in diversity and abundance
years since disturbance and various levels of biodiversity in skinks -fire and logging
- animals behave differently to the disturbances
- yrs, since logging decrease in diversity, then increase, then decrease due to specie dominance
change in specie diversity and abundance
don’t know what it means from an ecological perspective
- cannot measure function
- lizards vary in physical characteristics, life history, and behavior
- lizards all have changes in functional traits
- all lizards are small predators
disturb lizards and change in functional trait
- most abundant species due to very productive systems
- know what they do and assign them to traits
- look at body size
- different effects on the food that they eat
functional diversity on disturbed
- metric of biodiversity that scientist use
- rely on diversity of traits and not the diversity of species
- little change in functional richness with logging
- as specie diversity is low post logging, drop off of species mean that only a few species are persisting
- using human fires to maximize biodiversity
cascade effect system
- knock down predation to see effect
- effects minerals and plants
season for lizard interaction in Southern Australia
- is very short
- look at change in abundance and diversity
- functional consequences
- effects the rate of insect diversity and abundance
- seed dispersal rate
- measure biochemical from leaf litter
- strong effects of lizards influencing insect species functional attributes
- lizards alter function due to trait abundance and diversity
top down predation
- knock out apex predators really effect the environment
- take dingo from the environment and system is completely effected
- herbivores are getting complete control
- which in turns destroys the plants and habitat for other speices
reptiles
- many systems around the world are the apex predator
- capacity to regulate other species
- invasive reptiles can lead to specie extinction
- Burmese python need to consume a lot of prey for maximum size
Komodo Dragon
- big apex predator killing large mammalian prey (even water buffalo)
- high enough density of Komodo dragon can change prey density but not as much as a carnivore
UNcoupling between lifehistory
- a predator can only knock down prey that have an equivalent abundance
- no effect on production
- slow development of prey can effect predation to a downward decline
- equivalent development of prey effect predation at a neutral climb
