Community Structure

Community Structure

A community is a group of species inhabiting a given

area (with a defined boundary) and interacting,
directly or indirectly, with biotic and abiotic factors
around them
Species in a community have different types of
interactions:
Competition, predation, parasitism, mutualism
Specific attributes of a community include
species number and relative abundance
physical structure
usually defined by plant growth forms
interactions among species
 Biological Structure of Community

Species composition defines the biological structure

of a community
Number of individuals of each species in a
community can be counted or estimated
Relative abundance - the proportion of each
species relative to the total number of individuals of
all species living in the community
pi = ni/N
pi = proportion of individuals of species i
ni = number of individuals of species i
N = total number of individuals of all species
Table 16.1
 Biological Structure of Community

These two forest stands have a very different

composition
Stand 1 has 256 individuals belonging to 24 different
species
Two species comprise about 44 percent of the total individuals
in the community
Stand 2 has 274 individuals belonging to 10 different
species
Two species comprise 84 percent of the total individuals in the
community
 Rank Abundance Plots

A rank abundance diagram provides information

species richness (S) the number of species in the
community
species evenness (E) how equally individuals are
distributed among the species

Interpreting rank abundance curves:

The longer the curve, the greater the species richness in the
community
The more gradual the slope, the greater the species evenness
in the community
 A rank abundance diagram plots rank abundance (x-axis) against corresponding
relative abundance (y-axis)
1
Relative abundance

0.1
Stand 1

0.04
Stand 2

0.001
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Rank abundance
 Species Diversity

Simpsons diversity index (D) consider both

species number and relative abundance
Simpsons index (D) probability that two randomly selected
individuals from the community will belong to the same
species
D = 1 with no diversity
D approaches zero with higher diversity
 Species Dominance

When a single or few species predominate within a

community, those species are called dominants
Simpson index, D, is used as a way to measure
dominance
When D = 1, there is only one species present,
that one species is completely dominant
there is no species diversity in the community
A community will have both a dominant tree species and a
dominant small mammal species
Relative abundance vs biomass Table 16.2
Abundance alone is not always a sufficient
measure of biomass

Different species in the community may

have very different relative abundance
compared to relative biomass

In a deciduous forest in Virginia

relative abundance 60% of the trees are
red maple and dogwood

relative biomass 60% of the biomass is in

white oaks, which account for 9% of the
relative abundance
 Keystone species

A keystone species has a disproportionate impact on

the community relative to its abundance
Function in a unique and significant way within a community
The role of a keystone species may be to
create or modify habitats
influence interactions among other species
The removal of a keystone species can lead to
changes in community structure
loss of biodiversity
The coral Oculina arbuscula (lives off the coast of eastern North America) is a
keystone species
Only coral in the region with a structurally complex, branching shape
Creates habitat for 300 species of invertebrates that live among its branches
Many species complete much of their life cycle within the coral
Keystone herbivores can modify the community through their feeding activities
African elephants in savannas of southern Africa
feed mainly on woody plants
are destructive feeders, often uprooting, breaking an destroying the
shrubs they eat
This reduction of tree and shrub density favors
growth and reproduction of grasses
creates habitats for smaller vertebrates
 2.7
Grass species Bird species
2.6
2.5
Species Diversity

2.4
2.3
2.2
2.1
2.0

1.9
Treatment Control Treatment Control
(Elephant (Elephant (Elephant (Elephant
present) absent) present) absent)
(a) (b)
Food Webs Describe Species Interactions

Organisms must acquire energy and nutrients to

survive
Food chain - a representation of feeding
relationships within a community
a descriptive diagram representing the flow of energy from the
prey (consumed) to the predator (consumer)
Arrows are used to represent these relationships
The direction of the arrow goes from the prey to the predator

grass grasshopper sparrow hawk

Actual feeding Marsh hawk

relationships in a
community are not Upland plover
Coyote
simple food chains

Involve many food Weasel

chains that mesh into a
food web, a diagram Garter snake
representing the Clay-colored
complex interactions of sparrow

predators and prey Meadow

frog
Badger
Spider
Pocket
gopher
Cutworm Prairie
Crow vole
Ground
squirrel
Grasshopper

Primary producers
(photosynthetic
organisms) form the
base of the food web

Grassland
Food Webs Describe Species Interactions

Links the arrows from consumed to consumer

Basal species are usually autotrophs (A) that do
not feed other species but are fed on by other
species
Intermediate species either herbivores (H) or
carnivores (C) that feed on other species and are the
prey of other species (may also be omnivores)
Top predators (P) feed on intermediate and
sometimes basal species (if omnivores) but are not
preyed upon themselves
 Top predator P

Intermediate species C1 C2

Intermediate species H1 H2 H3

Basal species A1 A2

The number of possible species interactions (links) in a community increases with

species richness (S)
Food Webs Describe Species Interactions

Food webs can become very complex

simplified by grouping species into broader categories -
represent general feeding groups
autotrophs (primary producers) usually derive energy from
sunlight
heterotrophs (consumers) derive energy from consuming
plant and animal tissues
These feeding groups are called trophic levels
define groups of species that acquire their energy in a similar
way
Trophic levels can be subdivided into guilds -groups
of species that exploit a common resources in a
similar way
 Trophic levels and guilds

Guilds are functionally similar species in a

community
Hummingbirds and other nectar-feeding birds form a guild that
exploits flowering plants in a similar way
Seed-eating birds and small mammals could represent
another guild within a community
Species within a guild draw on a shared resource
Creates the potential for strong interactions,
especially interspecific competition, and weaker
interactions with the rest of the community
 Community Physical Structure

The physical structure of a community is influenced by

Abiotic factors
sunlight and temperature in terrestrial environments
water depth and flow in aquatic environments
Biotic factors
spatial arrangement of the organisms, their size, and density
Vegetation primarily defines the form and structure of terrestrial
communities
Plants can vary in their growth form
tall or short
evergreen or deciduous
needle-leaf versus broad-leaf evergreens
herbaceous or woody
trees versus shrubs versus herbs
 Community Physical Structure

Terrestrial communities are often named and

classified based on the dominant plant growth form
and physical structure
forests, shrublands, or grassland communities

Every terrestrial community has vertical structure

Stratification of vertical layers that are often distinct
This vertical structure influences and is influenced by the
vertical gradient of light
 Canopy
(upper layer) primary sites of energy acquisition through photosynthesis
If canopy is more open, more sunlight will reach the lower layers

The Understory
develop when ample
water and nutrients are
available

Ground cover
(herbs and ferns) below the
understory depends on soil
moisture, nutrients, slope
(exposure and position), canopy,
and understory density Forest floor
(dead organic matter decomposition occurs
and microbes feed on decaying organic material,
releasing nutrients for reuse by plants)
Savanna communities have two distinct layers of vegetation; the composition
depends on rainfall
woody plants trees and shrubs
herbaceous layer grasses

Tree layer

Grass layer
Soil surface
(dead organic matter)
 Aquatic communities also have vertical structure

Stratification can also be classified by light penetration

Photic layer light available to support photosynthesis
Aphotic layer insufficient light for photosynthesis

Photic layer

Benthic layer is the

bottom layer of
Aphotic layer
sediments with higher
levels of
decomposition
 Community Physical Structure

Each vertical layer has its own characteristic

organisms
Consumers and decomposers occupy all levels
Decomposers are more abundant on the forest floor or the
benthic layer
Species may move among vertical layers daily or
seasonally
Reflects variation in the physical environment (light,
temperature), shifts in resource abundance (food), change in
habitat required at different life cycle stages
Some crustaceans migrate daily to different depths
 Zonation

Zonation - the change in physical and biological

structures of communities as seen when moving
across the landscape
From the base to the summit of the Siskiyou
Mountains at the California/Oregon border
Dominant tree species changes
There is a decline in species richness
From 17 to 9 species from lower to mid-elevation
Only 3 species at 19202140 m
The insects, birds, and small mammals also change
Changes in plants, plant height, density, spatial distribution
Dominant plants in the marsh are grasses/sedges
Species change from tidal areas to meadow
Dominant plants in the upland are shrubs/trees

Spartina patens
Juncus gerardi Salt meadow
Black grass cordgrass Ruppia maritima
Distichlis
Spike grass Widgeon grass

Myrica
cerifera
Iva frutescens Wax myrtle Spartina
Marsh elder Salicornia alterniflora
Glasswort Salt marsh
cordgrass
pennsylvanica
Bayberry or

Marsh elder
wax myrtle

Spartina

Spartina patens Tall

Myrica

Salt meadow Short Spartina Spartina

Tall

Blackgrass cordgrass alterniflora alterniflora

Tidal Normal
Shrub zone Salt meadow Pools and salt pans High tide
creek low tide
True marine life begins in the intertidal zone
Animals adapted to regular periods of submergence and exposure
Many are burrowers, protected from fluctuations
Species in the subtidal zone may migrate into and out of the intertidal as the tides change
Beach
Coquina Ghost crab amphipods
clam Mole crab
Blue
crab Ghost shrimp

High tide

Sea
cucumber
Killifish
Low tide
I
supratidal
Haustorius

II
intertidal
Hard-shelled Bristle
clam worm
Silversides
Tiger
III Lugworm beetle
subtidal

Flounder
Olive snail Sand dollar Heart clam
 Restoration Ecology

Land-use changes by humans - resulted in declining

plant and animal populations and loss of biodiversity
Restoration ecology
goal of returning a community or ecosystem to a state approaching
its condition before disturbance through the application of ecological
principles
Involves many different approaches
reintroducing species
restoring habitats
eliminating invasive species
replanting native species
reintroducing natural disturbances
short-term periodic fires in grasslands
low-intensity ground fires in pine forests
 Restoration Ecology

Lake restoration involves

reducing inputs of nutrients from adjacent land that leads to
algal blooms
restoring aquatic plants
reintroducing native fish
Wetlands restoration involves
reestablishing hydrological conditions to ensure flooding at the
right time of year
replanting aquatic plants
First efforts to restore tall-grass prairies
began in the 1930s in the Midwest

Reestablishment of native species on

degraded pastureland and abandoned
croplands

Restoration process involved

1. destroying the weeds and brush
present
2. reseeding and replanting native
prairie species
3. burning the site once every two or
three years to approximate the
natural fire regim

After 80 years, the plant community

now resembles the original native
prairie