Worksheet: Community Interactions (KEY)

Impacts, Issues: Fire Ants in the Pants

A. Fire ants have invaded the United States.
1. Two species entered from Argentina in the 1930s.
2. Both inflict very painful bites on humans and other animals.
B. Ecologists are using biological controls.
1. Inside the fire ant, a parasitoid lays her eggs, which hatch to a larva that consumes the
ant’s vital tissues.
2. Another idea is to use microbes that will infect fire ants but not native species.

1.Which Factors Shape Community Structure?

A. A habitat is a place where an organism lives; it is characterized by distinctive physical
features, vegetation, and the array of species living in it.
1. A community is an association of interacting populations of different species living in a
particular habitat.
2. Five factors shape the structure of the community.
a. Interactions between climate and topography dictate rainfall, temperature, soil
composition, and so on.
b. Availability of food and resources affects inhabitants.
c. Adaptive traits enable individuals to exploit specific resources.
d. Interactions of various kinds occur among the inhabitants; these include
competition, predation, and mutualism.
e. The overall pattern of population sizes affects community structure.
3. Several community properties are the result of the factors above.
a. Varying numbers of species are found in feeding levels from producers to
consumers.
b. Diversity tends to increase in tropical climates, creating species richness.
B. The Niche
1. The niche of each species is defined by the sum of activities and relationships in which it
engages to secure and use the resources necessary for its survival and reproduction.
2. The fundamental niche is the one that could prevail in the absence of competition; the
realized niche results from shifts in large and small ways over time as individuals of the
species respond to a mosaic of changes.
C. Categories of Species Interactions
1. Interactions can occur between any two species in a community and between entire
communities.
2. There are several types of species interactions.
a. Indirect interactions: neither species directly affects the other (for example, eagles
and grass).
b. Commensalism: one species benefits while the other is not affected (for example,
bird’s nest in tree).
c. Mutualism: there is a symbiotic relationship where both species benefit.
d. Interspecific competition: both species are harmed by the interaction.
e. Predation and parasitism: one species (predator or parasite) benefits while the
other (prey or host) is harmed.
2.Mutualism
A. The yucca moth feeds only on the yucca plant, which is completely dependent on the moth
for pollination—a classic example of mutualism that is obligatory.
B. This example is a form of symbiosis, which implies an intimate and rather permanent inter -
dependence of the two species on one another for survival and reproduction.

3.Competitive Interactions
A. There are two major categories of competition.
1. Competition within a population of the same species (intraspecific) is usually fierce and
may result in depletion of a resource.
2. Interspecific competition is less intense because requirements are less similar between the
competitors.
3. There are two types of competitive interactions regardless of whether they are inter- or
intraspecific.
a. In interference competition, some individuals limit others’ access to the resource.
b. In exploitation competition, all individuals have equal access to a resource but
differ in their ability (speed or efficiency) to exploit that resource.
B. Competitive Exclusion
1. Competitive exclusion suggests that complete competitors cannot coexist indefinitely.
2. When competitors’ niches do not overlap quite as much, the coexistence is more
probable.
3. Differences in adaptive traits will give certain species the competitive edge.
C. Resource Partitioning
1. Similar species share the same resource in different ways.
2. Resource partitioning arises in two ways.
a. Ecological differences between established and competing populations may
increase through natural selection.
b. Only species that are dissimilar from established ones can succeed in joining an
existing community.

4. Predator–Prey Interactions
A. Coevolution of Predators and Prey
1. Predators get their food from prey, but they do not take up residence on or in the prey.
2. Many of the adaptations of predators and their victims arose through coevolution.
B. Models for Predator–Prey Interactions
1. By the Type I model, each individual predator will consume a constant number of prey
individuals over time, regardless of prey abundance.
2. In the Type II model, the consumption of prey by each predator incereases, but not as fast
as increases in prey density.
3. By the Type III model, a predator response is lowest when prey density is at its lowest
level and predation pressure lessens.
C. The Canadian Lynx and Snowshoe Hare
1. Stable coexistence results when predators prevent prey from overshooting the carrying
capacity.
2. Fluctuations in population density tend to occur when predators do not reproduce as fast
as their prey, when they can eat only so many prey, and when carrying capacity for prey is
high.
5.An Evolutionary Arms Race
A. Adaptations of Prey
1. Camouflaging is any adaptation in form, color, patterning, or behavior that allows a prey
or predator to blend with its surroundings.
2. Warning coloration in toxic prey offer bright colors or bold patterns that serve as a
warning to predators.
3. In mimicry, prey not equipped with defenses may escape predators by resembling toxic
prey.
4. Moment-of-truth defenses allow prey animals to defend themselves by startling or
intimidating the predator with display behavior.
B. Adaptive Responses of Predators
1. Stealth and camouflage are used by predators.
2. Some predators can just plain outrun their prey.

6.Parasite–Host Interactions
A. Parasites and Parasitoids
1. Natural selection tends to favor parasite and host adaptations that promote some level of
mutual tolerance and less-than-lethal effects.
2. Usually death results only when a parasite attacks a novel host or when the number of
parasites overwhelm the host’s defenses.
3. There are several kinds of parasites.
a. All viruses, some bacteria, protists, and fungi are parasites, even a few plants.
b. Many tapeworms, flukes, roundworms, insects, and of course, those nasty ticks
are also parasites.
4. Parasitoids are insects that develop inside other insects, which they devour and kill.
5. Social parasites depend on the social behavior of another to complete the lifecycle; for
example, cowbirds lay their eggs in the nest of other birds, which unknowingly incubate and
hatch the cowbirds’ eggs
B. Uses as Biological Control Agents
1. Parasites and parasitoids have five attributes that make them good control agents.
a. They are well adapted to the host species and their habitat.
b. They are exceptionally good at searching for hosts.
c. Their growth rate is high relative to that of the host species.
d. They are mobile enough for adequate dispersal.
e. The lag time between responses to changes in the numbers of the host population
is minimal.
2. Care must be taken in releasing more than one kind of control agent in a given area due
to the possibility of triggering competition among them and lessening their overall level of
effectiveness.

7. Cowbird Chutzpuh
A. Brown-headed cowbirds evolved in the North American Great Plains.
1. The birds followed the buffalo herds, which stirred up insects for the bird’s meals, as
they roamed the land.
2. The vagabond lifestyle did not lend itself to nesting in one place, so the cowbirds laid
their eggs in the nests of other species.
a. The “host” species incubated the cowbird eggs as if they were their own.
 b. But the ungrateful cowbird hatchlings shoved the owner’s eggs out of the nest
and demanded to be fed as rightful occupants.
B. As cattle replaced buffalo, the cowbirds adapted to the new herds.
1. Today, brown-headed cowbirds parasitize at least 15 species of native North American
birds.
2. One female bird can lay as many as thirty eggs in thirty nests in one breeding season.

8. Forces Contributing to Community Stability

A. A Successional Model
1. Ecological succession is the predictable developmental sequence of species in a
community.
a. Pioneer species are the first to colonize an area, followed by more competitive
species.
b. A climax community is the most persistent array of species that results after
some lapse of time.
2. Primary succession happens in an area that was devoid of life.
a. Pioneer species help to improve soil fertility; they are usually small, low-growing
plants with a short life cycle and an abundance of seeds.
b. Gradually other, usually larger, species join or replace the pioneer species.
3. In secondary succession, a community reestablishes itself to a climax state after a dis-
turbance that allows sunlight to penetrate.
B. The Climax Pattern Model
1. It was once thought that the same general type of community would always develop in a
given region because of constraints imposed by climate.
2. According to the climax pattern model, a community is adapted to a total pattern of
environmental factors—climate, soil, topography, wind, fires, etc.—to create a continuum of
climax stages of succession.
C. Cyclic, Nondirectional Changes
1. Community stability may require episodes of instability that permit cyclic replacement of
equilibrium species, thus maintaining the climax community.
2. A good example is the necessary fires in the forests of California that rid the areas of
underbrush.

9. . Factors Contributing to Community Instability

A. The Role of Keystone Species
1. A keystone species is a dominant species that can dictate community structure.
2. For example, when sea stars (keystone predator on mussels) were removed from a
habitat, mussels increased in number and in turn preyed on enough other species to reduce
the community from 15 to 8.
B. Species Introductions Tip the Balance
1. Geographic dispersal of species can occur in three ways.
a. A population might expand its home range by slowly moving into outlying
regions that prove hospitable.
b. During the course of a lifetime, individuals may be rapidly transported across
great distances (jump dispersal), as in bilge water of large ships.
c. A population may move out from its home range over geologic time, as by
continental drift.
 2. An exotic species is a resident of an established community that dispersed from its home
range and became established elsewhere.
a. Some introduced species have proved beneficial: soybeans, rice, wheat, corn, and
potatoes.
b. Others have greatly altered the community structure—for the worse.

10.Exotic Invaders
A. The Plants That Ate Georgia
1. Kudzu was introduced into the United States from Japan in 1876.
a. Freed from its native biocontrol agents, it grew, and still grows, uncontrollably.
b. Herbicides can help, but they taint the water supplies; goats will eat it, but even
they have their limits.
2. Asians use a starch made from kudzu, so we harvest, process, and ship it to them.
B. The Alga Triumphant
1. A hybrid, sterile strain of the alga Caulerpa escaped from some marine aquarium into the
wild.
a. It reproduces by runners and does well in a variety of habitats, including
polluted waters.
b. Its toxin repels herbivores that might keep it in check.
2. It has invaded the coastal waters of the United States, but has been eradicated off the
coast of California.
C. The Rabbits That Ate Australia
1. In 1859, a landowner in Northern Australia released two dozen European rabbits.
a. There were no natural predators.
b. Hundreds of millions of rabbits now destroy grasses, undermine the soil, and
cause erosion.
2. In 1951, the government introduced a myxoma virus, which killed off rabbits initially,
but slowed as resistance developed.

11. Biogeographic Patterns

A. Mainland and Marine Patterns
1. The number of species increases from the Arctic regions to the temperate zone to the
tropics.
2. Biodiversity is favored in the tropics for three reasons.
a. More rainfall and sunlight provides more food reserves.
b. Species diversity is self-reinforcing from herbivores to predators and parasites.
c. Traditionally, the rate of speciation has exceeded the rate of extinction.
B. Island Patterns
1. Islands distant from source areas receive fewer colonizing species (distance effect).
2. Larger islands tend to support more species (area effect).
3. Species numbers increase on new islands and reach a stable number that is a balance
between immigration rate for species new to the island and the extinction rate for established
species.

12. Threats to Biodiversity

A. Even though extinctions have occurred, biodiversity is still very great.
1. Prokaryotes dominated until the Cambrian period when abundant oxygen favored
emergence of eukaryotes.
 2. Extinctions have occurred rapidly, but recovery is measured in millions of years.
B. The Newly Endangered Species
1. Another major extinction event is underway.
a. About 300 mammals are on the endangered species list.
b. These species are endemic to only one geographic region and thus are very
vulnerable to human encroachment activities.
2. As humans, we are threatening other species with habitat losses, species introductions,
and illegal wildlife trading.
C. Habitat Losses and Fragmentation
1. Habitat loss may be a physical reduction of suitable places to live as well as a loss of
habitat due to chemical pollution.
2. Habitats may also be chopped into isolated patches (habitat fragmentation), which has
three effects.
a. It increases the habitats boundaries, making species more vulnerable to
predators, environmental factors, and disease.
b. The patches may not be large enough to support the population numbers needed
for breeding.
c. There may not be enough food to sustain the population.
3. The equilibrium model of island biogeography says that a 50 percent loss of habitat will
drive about 10 percent of its endemic species to extinction.
a. This could happen to land-based habitat islands (parks, reserves) that are
surrounded by destructive human activities (logging, urbanization).
b. Indicator species, such as birds, provide warning of changes in habitat and
impending loss of diversity.
4. Exotic species that move into a new habitat are responsible for almost 70 percent of the
cases where endemic species are driven to extinction.
5. Overharvesting also reduces biodiversity.
D. Conservation Biology
1. It is a systematic survey of the full range of biological diversity.
2. It attempts to decipher the evolutionary and ecological origins of diversity.
3. It attempts to identify methods that might maintain and use biodiversity for the good of
the human population.

13. Sustaining Biodiversity

A. Identifying Areas at Risk
1. Because it is impossible to make a global survey of all species, scientists have identified
hot spots where habitats with the greatest number of species found nowhere else are in
danger of extinction.
2. Various hot spot inventories can be combined to define an ecoregion.
B. Economic Factors and Sustainable Development
1. The goal is to convince individuals, and governments, that sustaining biodiversity has
more value than destroying it.
2. Biodiversity will be best protected when its species can be used over the long term for the
good of local economies.
a. Strip logging is a proposal that would provide for a profitable, yet sustainable,
way to harvest trees for wood; it would be used in sloped terrain with a number of
streams, providing for regrowth of new saplings.
b. Ranching can be done in riparian zones.
1) Riparian zones are valuable strips of vegetation along a stream or river.
2) Cattle destroy riparian zones, but restricting cattle from these areas is costly.
3) Rotation of cattle into and out of the zones combined with different breeds is a
way of managing the riparian zones.