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Community ecology

Community ecology. Koala Conga Line…. Community- groups of interacting populations. Primate behavior shaped by interactions with other primate species. Can be potentially influenced by interactions with other organisms.

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Community ecology

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  1. Community ecology Koala Conga Line….

  2. Community- groups of interacting populations • Primate behavior shaped by interactions with other primate species • Can be potentially influenced by interactions with other organisms

  3. Niche- a way to define the role an organism plays in its environment- multidimensional Sympatry- when two organisms share a habitat Congeneric- within the same genus (taxonomic category) Some definitions

  4. When similar species share... • One may go extinct • There may be evidence of behavioral character displacement (when one species shifts its niche) • Share if • Resources are not limited • There is an area where they don’t overlap (physical and dietary)

  5. Ways to look at community • Trophic structure chart (11.1- coursepak) • Example: plants eaten by hippo, hippo eaten by hyenas, hyenas eaten by lions, lions eaten by vultures. • Note trend in population size for each category • Primate/plant interactions at the bottom • Primate impact on leaf biomass (1%) compared to insects (15%)

  6. Ways to look at community • Biomass of everything (coursepak- Fig 11.2) • Biomass of mammals (coursepak Fig 11.1) • Body weight representation (Robinson graph handout) • Note- animals make up small part of community • mammals make up an even smaller part • Primates very small!

  7. Ways to look at community • Guilds-animals that occupy similar niches (role played in environment)- use resources in similar ways despite being very different organisms. • Figure 14.4 - Avian guilds (in coursepak) • Note differences between forests • Note how partitioned

  8. Example 1- Howling monkeys and leaf cutter ants

  9. Ants and Howlers • Both eat tremendous amount of leaves • But only overlap on 7 out of 40 plant species • Howlers, majority of diet New leaves • Ants almost entirely eat Mature leaves

  10. Example 2- Howlers and Sloths • Can have up to 80% overlap in diet. • But sloths eat little (lower BMR)

  11. Example 3- Malaysian Fruit eaters

  12. Malayan Fruit feeders • Primates eat unripe fruits, hornbills eat ripe ones • Primates feed in upper canopy along with 3 or so squirrel species • Squirrels eat seeds, primates fruit flesh • Primates supplement with leaves, birdds with insects or other fruits.

  13. Coevolution • Between plants and animals • A relationship developes between two organisms such that, as they interact with each other over time, each exerts a selection pressure on the other. • Evolution of each becomes interdependent on that interaction

  14. “positive relationships” Seed dispersal Pollination “Negative relationships” Seed predation Some primate examples

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