Community

Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their

environment

• Hierarchy of interactions: cells – tissues – organs – organisms – population

– community – ecosystem.
• Organismal Ecology – evolutionary adaptations;
• Population Ecology – concerns mainly with population density and growth;
• Community Ecology – populations of different species, deals with
interactions like predation, competition, symbiosis;
• Ecosystem Ecology – interactions between biotic and abiotic components,
concerns with energy flow and chemical cycling
• A population is an interaction between individuals of same species at a
place
Community
• The group of species that occupy a given area, interacting either
directly or indirectly, is called a community.
• Community is an organized ecological unit in which organism interact
through various associations such a predation, competition, mutualism
and parasitism, linked to each other via feeding relationships and are
adapted to prevailing physical environmental surroundings.

• It is a spatial concept
The Number of Species and Their Relative
Abundance Define Diversity
• number and relative abundance of different species
defines the biological structure of a community.
• species richness:
• the number of species occurring within the community
• measure of community structure denoted as S.
• relative abundance:
• all the individuals of each species within a community
and determining what percentage each species
contributes to the total number of individuals of all
species.
 rank-abundance diagram
• method for comparing the patterns of species
richness and abundance between communities
• plotting the relative abundance of each species
against rank
• rank is defined by the order of species from the
most to the least abundant.
• Thus, the most abundant species is plotted first
along the x-axis, with the corresponding value
on the y-axis being the value of relative
abundance.
• This process is continued until all species are
plotted.

species evenness: Distribution of individual in each species …

Species richness 
• Diversity index
consider both the number and relative abundance of species within the
community

Simpson’s diversity index

• Simpson’s Index
• Simpson’s Index of Diversity
• Simpson’s diversity index
Simpson’s Index
Edward H. Simpson (1949)
• Probability that two individuals randomly selected from a sample will
belong to the same species
D has value between 0 to 1
Value 1  when no diversity is present i.e. only one species
As the species richness and evenness increases, value decreases

Higher the value of D, lower is the diversity

Therefore,
Simpson’s Index of diversity can be calculated as compliment = 1-D
Value ranges between 0 and 1
Value is 0 when no diversity i.e. only one species is present
Value increases with diversity

So, it is the the probability that two individuals randomly selected from a sample will belong to different species
D=
Simpson’s diversity index can also be calculated as =
Also known as Gini-Simpson index

Simpson’s diversity Index is most commonly used index

Since at the lowest diversity D has the value = 1
Therefore, This index can have lowest value as 1

With increasing diversity the value of D decrease,

Therefore, value of this index increases

Highest value = species richness S i.e. number of species in the

community
Shannon–Weiner index/Shannon index
• considers both species richness and evenness
• relative abundance of each species ( pi)
pi =
= number of individuals of species I
N = total number of individuals of all species

Shannon index (H)

No diversity/one species, then lowest H = 0

Maximum value Hmax = ln S

Can also be calculated as
Species Community 1 Community 2
No. of Individual No. of Individual
Homo sapiens 37 40
Canis sp. 11 12
Felis sp. 7 8
Bos sp. 10 8
Rattus sp. 20 15
Elephas sp. 0 5
Panthera sp. 0 3

Species richness
Relative abundance
Rank-abundance diagram
Simpson’s index
Simpson’s index of diversity 1-D
Simpson’s diversity index 1/D
Shannon-Weiner Index
Rank Species Community Relative
1 abundance
No. of
Individual
1 Homo 37 43.53
sapiens
2 Rattus sp. 20 23.53
3 Canis sp. 11 12.94
4 Bos sp. 10 11.76
5 Felis sp. 7 8.23
Total 85

Species richness
Relative abundance
Rank-abundance diagram
Simpson’s index
Simpson’s index of diversity 1-D
Simpson’s diversity index 1/D
Shannon-Weiner Index
S. No. Species Community 2
No. of Individual
1 Homo sapiens 40
2 Canis sp. 12
3 Felis sp. 8
4 Bos sp. 8
5 Rattus sp. 15
6 Elephas sp. 5
7 Panthera sp. 3
• Dominant species – having more predominant number of individual in
community
• Thus,
Dominance = inverse of diversity = D

• In each community all the species are not equally important. There are relatively
only a few of these which determine the nature of the community.

• These few species exert a major controlling influence on the community.

• defined separately for different taxonomic or functional groups of organisms

within the community.
• A species that has a disproportionate impact on the community relative to its
abundance is referred to as a keystone species.

• Factor other than the abundance (no. of individuals) affecting the community

• Effect of keystone species is irrespective of their number or abundance

• Their role in the community may be to create or modify habitats or to

influence the interactions among other species.
• Oculina arbuscula  keystone species
• Type of coral
• Only coral found in eastern coast of the United
States as far north as the coastal waters of
North Carolina
• Structurally complex, branching morphology
• Habitat for a species rich epifauna (organisms
that live on and among the coral)
• More than 300 species of invertebrates are
known from this
• many more are reported to complete much of
their life cycle within the coral
African elephant in the savanna communities of
southern Africa  destructive feeders

primary diet  woody plants (browse)

Reduced trees and shrubs  favours grasses 

other herbivores promoted

it is disadvantageous to elephants but favouring

other grass feeding herbivores
 Predators as keystone species
• sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in the kelp bed communities
found in the coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest.
• Sea otters eat urchins, which feed on kelp.
• kelp beds provide habitat to a wide diversity of other
species
• If sea otter populations decline in an area (as has
happened in large areas of western Alaska since the early
1990s), the sea urchin population increases dramatically.
• The result is overgrazing of the kelp beds and a loss of
habitat for the many species inhabiting these communities.
 Food chain and food web
• Fullfill energy and nutrient requirement
• Can be predation, parasitism, competition, and
mutualism
• Community structure  affected by feeding
relationship

• Food chain: Representation of feeding relationship

among species in a community

Represented in the form of diagram with a series of

arrows representing the flow of food energy from prey
(the consumed) to predator (the consumer).
Food web
• Interconnected networks of food chains due to inter related feeding
relationship

• circle  species, and the arrows from the consumed to the consumer
are termed links. The spe- cies in the webs are distinguished by
whether they are basal spe- cies, intermediate species, or top
predators. Basal species feed on no other species but are fed upon by
others. Intermediate species feed on other species and they are prey
of other species. Top predators are not subjected to predators; they
prey on intermediate and basal species.
Guilds
Subdivision of each trophic level into groups of species that exploit a common
resource in a similar fashion
 hummingbirds and other nectar-feeding birds form a guild of
• like associations of craftsmen who employ similar techniques in plying their
trade
• exploit resources in similar ways, may be due to common ancestory
• May constitute species of same genus or unrelated species
• competitors for the resources 
• also interact cooperatively to search for food or avoid predators
Structure of community
• Physical and biological

Physical Structure:
Growth forms and Life forms
structure and form of vegetation

Growth forms
Plant community show different growth forms
• short or tall plants, woody or herbaceous plants or deciduous or evergreen plants.
• herbs, shrubs and trees are further subdivided into evergreen needle-leafed evergreens, thorn trees, broad-leafed
evergreen or broad-leafed deciduous trees, dwarf shrubs, shrubs, grasses, ferns, mosses, lichens and forbs.

Life forms
Different type of populations in a region
Stratification
A vertical view of communities
from aquatic to terrestrial.

• Warmer
• higher pH
• higher dissolved oxygen
temperature changes more
drastically with depth
• Temperature lower/higher
than above layers
• Low light
• Low oxygen
• Bottom sediments

the primary zone of decomposition and regeneration  the bottom stratum

the zone of energy fixation  upper stratum.
From aquatic to terrestrial (left to right), community stratification and complexity increase.

Stratification in aquatic communities may be based on growth forms but is largely physical, influenced by
gradients of oxygen, temperature, and light.
Stratification in terrestrial communities is largely biological. Dominant vegetation affects the physical structure of
the community and the microclimatic conditions of temperature, moisture, and light. Because the forest has four or
five strata, it supports a greater diversity of life in comparison to grass lands.
Floating and emergent aquatic plant communities typically support greater diversity of life than can open water.
Photosynthesis, its structure affects the lower strata

Depends on the canopy structure

Depends on soil moisture and

Nutrient conditions, slope position,
density of the canopy and under- story,
and exposure of the slope

Forest floor  decomposition

 Factors affecting community structure
Null model
• It assumes that the presence and abundance of the
individual species found in a given community are solely a
result of the independent responses of each individual
species to the prevailing physical environment. Interactions
among species have no significant influence on community
structure.
• But species interactions do influence both the presence
and abundance of species within a wide variety of
communities
• Species interactions are underestimated
• Because species interactions are diffuse
Diffuse species interactions
• Effect of interaction on one species with other may be little when
observed for whole community structure
• Community structure involves a large number of species interaction
• In diffuse interaction, the direct interactions between any two species
may be weak, making it difficult to determine the effect of any given
species on another. Collectively, however, interactions may be an
important factor limiting the abundance of all species involved.
Diffuse Prey-predator
interaction
Diffuse mutualism in pollination
• Some plants simply release their pollen in the wind  in case of large homogeneous
stands, such as grasses and pine trees
• Not beneficial when individuals of the same species are scattered individually or in
patches across a field or forest.
• pollen transfer depends on insects, birds, and bats
• Pollinators attracted by color, fragrances, and odors
• Mutualism  Plants in turn give food source
• Plants as well as nectivores are typically generalists
• So the effect of this generalistic mutualism interaction will be little if a or few species
are considered for study
• Effect will be more significant if the plant or pollinators are selective
Food webs as mean to study diffuse interaction
We can study the indirect effect of one species interaction on other
Can suggest control of community structure

e.g.
Keystone predation
Prey-predator interaction
Keystone predation another e.g.
• Robert Paine of the University of Washington  first ecologists to demonstrate this point.
• The intertidal zone along the rocky coastline of the Pacific Northwest  habitat for
invertebrate herbivores; variety of mussels, barnacles, limpets, and chitons.
• these species are preyed upon by the starfish (Pisaster)
• Experiment
• Paine removed the starfish from some areas while leaving other areas undisturbed for
purposes of comparison.
• Result 
• the number of prey species in the experimental plots dropped from 15 to 8.
• several of the mussel and barnacle species that were superior competitors dominated
other species and reduced overall diversity in the community.
• keystone predation, where the predator enhances one or more inferior competitors by
reducing the abundance of the superior competitor.
 apparent competition
• Ecologist Robert Holt of the University
of Florida first described the conditions
that might promote this type of indirect
• In its simplest form, apparent
competition occurs when a single
species of predator feeds on two prey
species. When the predator species is
absent, each population of the two prey
species is regulated by purely
intraspecific, density- dependent
mechanisms. Neither species competes,
directly or indirectly, with the other.
Environmental heterogeneity
• biological structure (species composition) of a community is result of
• direct response (survival, growth, and reproduction) of the component species to the
prevailing abiotic environmental conditions,
• their interactions (directly and indirectly)
• environmental conditions are typically not homogeneous even within a given
community e.g. sunlight availability below canopy
• E.g. vegetation structure and bird species diversity.
• Depends on variety of species-specific needs relating to food, cover, and nesting sites.
• Increased vertical structure gives more resources and living space and a greater diversity of potential
habitats
• A deciduous forest in eastern North America may support 30 or more species occupying different strata.
• canopy  The scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea) and wood pewee (Contopus virens)
• forest shrub  the hooded warbler (Wilsonia citrina)
• forest floor  the ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus)
• Resource availability
Symmetric competition  on ground/below ground e.g. when
individuals compete in proportion to their size, so that larger plants
cause a large decrease in the growth of smaller plants, and small plants
cause a small (but proportionate to their size) decrease in the growth of
larger plants.
Asymmetric competition  above ground e.g. competition for light,
larger plants have a disproportionate advantage in competition for light
by shading smaller ones, resulting in initial size differences being
compounded over time.
Ecotone
• areas where ecological communities, ecosystems, or biotic regions coincide
• the two integrating community meets at a transitional area.
• E.g. The transition area between ecosystems like grassland and forest forms regional
ecotone
• Most of the wetlands are ecotones (e.g. woodlands of Western Europe).
• Greek origin  “oikos” (home) and “tonus” (tension). 

• physical environment changes

• Clear and sharp ecotone  e.g. from forest to clean land.
• gradual blended  unique local species and species common to both interacting
community found together e.g. Mountain ranges.
Features
• A sharp vegetation transition e.g. change in grass colours
• Physiognomy: a key indicator of ecotone where the plant species differ in physical appearance.
• Change in species  some specific organisms at one side of the ecotone boundary while some
other specific organism on the other side.
• Spatial mass effect:
• New plant establishment or migration obscures
• they cannot form self sustaining population in different ecotone.
• If able to survives ecotone survive high species richness
• reveals the space sharing efficiency of two communities by observing the exotic species
abundance in ecotone
• Represents the Best model to study diverse ecosystem.
• Represents Shift in dominance.
• Edge effect  ecological niche for the species/new species residing at the junction i.e.
community structure is different from adjacent communities
• Show Ecoclines:
• A physical transition zone between biological systems termed as ecocline
• It depicts the physiochemical environmental changes micro-climatically or chemically changing gradient
such hydro-thermal, salinity or pH respectively
• wetlands in cold and humid Jammu and Kashmir
• Hot and Humid conditions in Peninsular India
• Under the conservation of Wetlands in India  71 wetlands have been recognized that
are a part of national Parks and sanctuaries.
• The Mangrove area in India covers a total of 7% of World’s Mangroves  located in
the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Sundarbans delta, the Gulf of Kutch and the
deltas of the Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna rivers. Parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka
and Kerala also have large mangrove covers.
• The Sunderbans Delta in India is home to World’s largest Mangrove Forest and is also
identified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
• The Rann of Kutch, a marshy region in Western Gujarat, is a large saltwater lagoon
which was originally a part of Arabian Sea.
 Edge effect
• ecotone exhibit changes in population constituting community structure allowing for greater
biodiversity at the boundaries of the merged habitats and this is called as edge effects.
• develop their own type of vegetation and environmental conditions.
Community dynamics
• Community structure changes with time and space

• Succession  the temporal change in community structure.

• refers to changes in community structure at a given location on the landscape through
time.

• No longer tended, the land quickly grows up in grasses, goldenrod (Solidago spp.), and
weedy herbaceous plants.
• In a few years, these same weedy fields are invaded by shrubby growth—blackberries
(Rubus spp.), sumac (Rhus spp.), and hawthorn (Crataegus spp.).
• These shrubs are followed by fire cherry (Prunus pennsylvanica), pine (Pinus spp.), and
aspen (Populus spp.).
• Many years later, this land supports a forest of maple (Acer spp.), oak (Quercus spp.),
cherry, or pine. The process you would have observed, the gradual and seemingly
directional change in community structure through time from field to forest, is called
succession.
Features
• Sere  The sequence of communities from grass to shrub to forest historically
• each of the changes is a seral stage.
• Actually seral stage is a point in a continuum of vegetation through time, it is
often recognizable as a distinct community.
• Each stage has its characteristic structure and species composition.
• A seral stage may last only one or two years, or it may last several decades.
• Some stages may be missed completely or may appear only in abbreviated or
altered form.
• For example, when an abandoned field is colonized immediately by forest trees,
the shrub stage appears to have been bypassed
• common to all environments, both terrestrial and aquatic
Process of succession
• The initial, or early successional species or pioneer species  high growth rates,
smaller size, high degree of dispersal, and high rates of per capita population
growth
• late successional species  lower rates of dispersal and colonization, slower per
capita growth rates, and they are larger and longer lived
• Climax

• Primary succession  occurs on a site previously unoccupied by a community—a

newly exposed surface such as the cement blocks in a rocky intertidal environment.
E.g. sand dunes formation, compiled sand and rock particles in coastal region
• Secondary succession  Unlike primary succession, secondary succession occurs
on previously occupied (vegetated) sites after disturbance (a forest fire,
deforestation, or clearing).
Autogenic changes in environmental conditions
• Varied changes in environmental conditions  shifts in physical and biological
structures of communities across the landscape
• two general classes: allogenic and autogenic
• Autogenic environmental change  direct result of the presence and activities of
organisms within the community.
• e.g., the vertical profile of light in a forest is a direct result of the interception and reflection of
solar radiation by the trees
• Allogenic environmental change  changes in physical environment, governed by
physical rather than biological processes.
• E.g.
• decline in average temperature with elevation in mountainous regions,
• the decrease in temperature with depth in a lake or ocean
• the changes in salinity and water depth in coastal environments
• Ecological succession is associated with autogenic changes in environmental conditions
Example of Autogenic changes
• Plant/vegetation growth in response to light
• initial succession
• few plants are present
• the availability of light at the ground level is high
• seedlings are able to establish
• Later/intermediate succession
• plants grow,
• reduced availability of light to shorter plants.
• slow growth of these plants
• Fastest growing to taller hight will have greater access to the light resource.
• subsequently reducing the availability of light to the slower growing species,
• fast-growing species outcompete the other species and dominate the site.
• However, in changing the availability of light below the canopy, the dominant
species create an environment that is more suitable for the species that will later
displace them as dominants.
• Species diversity changes with succession

• Patterns of diversity through succession can be studied by comparing

sites within an area that are at different stages of succession (seral
stages); such groups of sites are known as chronoseres or
chronosequences.

• Species diversity first increases, then decreases and stabilize

• Species colonization and replacement  causes this pattern
Mono-climax Theory
• Clements, 1936
• only one climax whose characteristics are determined solely by
climate (climatic climax)
• the effects of differences in topography, parent material of the soil,
and other factors is overcome by climatic conditions
• The whole area would be covered with uniform plant community.
• Communities other than the climax are related to it, and are
recognized as subclimax, postclimax and disclimax.
Poly-climax Theory
• Tansley (1939) and later supported by Daubenmire (1966)
• different types of vegetation as climax communities
• controlled by soil moisture, soil nutrients, activity of animals and
other factors.
• climate is only one of the several factors, any of which may have a
controlling influence on the structure and stability of the climax. 
Climax-pattern Theory
• Whittaker (1953)
• adapted to the whole pattern of environmental factors e.g. genetic
structure of each species, climate, site, soil, biotic factors (activity of
animals), fire, and wind, availability of plant and animal species, and
chances of dispersal
• climax communities are patterns of populations varying according to
the total environment
• no discrete number of climax communities and no one factor
determines the structure and stability of a climax community
 Climax as Vegetation
• Egler (1954)
• totality of vegetation
• study of vegetation is required to
explain and interpret past, present,
and future conditions of particular
communities