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Ecology

Ecology. Week 9 Outline. Questions from midterm? Ch 52: Introduction to Ecology Ch 53: Behavioral Ecology Ch 54: Population Ecology. Ch 52: Introduction to Ecology Interactions among organisms and their environment. Levels of ecology.

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Ecology

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  1. Ecology

  2. Week 9 Outline • Questions from midterm? • Ch 52: Introduction to Ecology • Ch 53: Behavioral Ecology • Ch 54: Population Ecology

  3. Ch 52: Introduction to Ecology Interactions among organisms and their environment

  4. Levels of ecology • Organismal: individual responses – behavior, physiology, morphology • Population: demography, population temporal and spatial dynamics • Community: species interactions, competition, predation • Ecosystem: energy and nutrient movement • Global: biosphere

  5. Organismal Why does this monkey spend most of its time with the cloth mother rather than the wire, food-bearing mother?

  6. Population

  7. Community

  8. Ecosystem

  9. Global Ecology

  10. What determines the distribution and abundance of organisms? • Biotic factors: interactions with other living organisms • Competition • Predation • Food availability (often another organism) • Abiotic factors: non-living environment • Temperature • Moisture • Light • Cover • Overall climate patterns

  11. Climate Patterns

  12. Why does living by the ocean cause our climate to be more moderate than areas inland from here? A) Water can absorb a large amount of heat from the atmosphere. B) Water can release a large amount of heat to the atmosphere. C) Water has a high specific heat. D) All of the above.

  13. Why does living by the ocean cause our climate to be more moderate than areas inland from here? A) Water can absorb a large amount of heat from the atmosphere. B) Water can release a large amount of heat to the atmosphere. C) Water has a high specific heat. D) All of the above.

  14. Terrestrial Biomes Abiotic factors (temp, precip, sun, wind, rock) Vegetation Net Primary Productivity Altered by anthropogenic climate change

  15. Abiotic factors: depth/light, temperature, salinity, flow/dispersal, nutrients Marine Biomes 200 m

  16. Human Climate Change and Biomes Human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases are causing climate change. How to predict effects on life? • Simulation of species distributions given predicted temperature, precipitation, ocean acidity changes • Observation of climate variables and phenology (timing) • Historical studies of past climate effects on fossils • Experiment with artificial warming

  17. Ch 53: Behavioral Ecology Behavior: an individual’s coordinated responseto internal/external stimuli Can be innate or learned.

  18. Levels of ecology • Organismal: individual responses – behavior, physiology, morphology • Population: demography, population temporal and spatial dynamics • Community: species interactions, competition, predation • Ecosystem: energy and nutrient movement • Global: biosphere

  19. Mayr’s types of causation Proximate: HOW? how specific gene products, neuron activity, physiology, and hormone signals cause behavior Ultimate: WHY? • adaptive significance of behavior in a specific environment- effects on individual’s fitness • how the behavior evolved- phylogenetic past

  20. Example: Argentine ants • How and why are they able to attack ants from other nests?

  21. Types of behavior: Learning and Flexibility Imprinting Fixed action patterns

  22. Five key questions • What should I eat? Optimal foraging: how can I maximize feeding efficiency? • Whom should I mate with? Sexual selection: the sex that bears a greater cost is choosier • Where should I live? When is it beneficial to migrate? • How should I communicate? Different types of signals, honest and dishonest • When should I cooperate? Kin selection, inclusive fitness (Hamilton’s rule) Cooperation with non-relatives: reciprocal altruism

  23. Kin selection Hamilton’s rule: genes increase in frequency when Benefit * relatedness > Cost

  24. Kin selection or reciprocal altruism? • Some birds do not reproduce but instead help take care of siblings. • Lending a sick classmate notes in case you ever need the favor to be returned. • Honeybees have sterile workers that help raise brothers and sisters. • If the queen mates with multiple males, are the workers more or less likely to care for siblings? • Vampire bats live in groups and have constant interaction with a group. They cannot go for more than 2 days without feeding. Some regurgitate blood and feed a neighbor, so that if they ever need it, the other will do the same.

  25. Kin selection or reciprocal altruism? • Some birds do not reproduce but instead help take care of siblings. Kin selection • Lending a sick classmate notes in case you ever need the favor to be returned. Reciprocal altruism • Honeybees have sterile workers that help raise brothers and sisters. Kin selection • If the queen mates with multiple males, are the workers more or less likely to care for siblings? Less likely, more conflict • Vampire bats live in groups and have constant interaction with a group. They cannot go for more than 2 days without feeding. Some regurgitate blood and feed a neighbor, so that if they ever need it, the other will do the same. Reciprocal altruism

  26. Help out a friend

  27. Conditional behavior in plants One boquila vine individual produces different leaves to mimic two different trees. Proximate cause? Reprograms development, likely based on host volatiles Ultimate cause? Decreases herbivory. Perhaps by matching insect-proof hosts.

  28. Ch 54: Population EcologyPopulation = group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area at the same time.Population ecology = how and why the number of individuals in a population changes over time and space.

  29. Demography = the study of factors that determine the size and structure of populations through time • Depends on birth, death, immigration, and emigration

  30. Demography: Life tables

  31. Demography: Survivorship curves young = safe, old = precarious young = old every day as good as previous young = RISK, old = stability (Age of cohort)

  32. Role of Life history: fitness tradeoffs Fitness = differential reproductive success affected by both survival and reproduction But energy and resources are limited, leading to tradeoffs Ex: cheap and numerous offspring vs. costly and few Different strategies to maximize fitness: r- vs. K- selected species

  33. Demography: population growth

  34. Population biology and conservation • How is a population expected to do in the future? • What can we do to preserve populations?

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