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BioSci 109 Ecology > Community Interactions > Flashcards

Community Interactions Flashcards

(60 cards)

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1
Q

Herbivory definition

A

consumption of plants or plant parts by herbivores

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2
Q

Co-evolution definition

A

the influence of closely associated species on each other in their evolution

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3
Q

Co-evolution in herbivory

A

plants adapt defences to deter herbivores, while herbivores evolve to overcome the defences, constant adaptation to each others defences

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4
Q

Specialised herbivore definition

A

exclusively feeds on one or limited number of plants

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5
Q

plants: fight or flight?

A

Fight: rely on defences against herbivores to survive as they cant run away

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6
Q

Plant terrestrial defences

A

physical structures on plants that deter herbivores
Thorns, spikes, trichomes, waxy surface

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7
Q

Leaf structure defence

A
  • hard to digest with little nutrition
  • thick cell wall
  • silica that is like chewing glass
  • lignin and large veins that aren’t nutrtitious
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8
Q

Plant aquatic defences

A

Aquatic plants put less energy into defences due to support from water, so rely on chemical defences

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9
Q

Chemical defences in plants

A

release chemicals that deter herbivores
All plants have chemical defences

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10
Q

Herbivore offence: incorporating plant chemical

A

Some herbivores can use the toxins in plants for its own defence against predators

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11
Q

Herbivore offence

A

counter-acting the defences of the plant, overcoming these defences so they can get nutrition

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12
Q

Different ways herbivores overcome plant defences

A
  • avoid specific plants
  • avoid tissues with high toxin levels
  • eat high nutrition tissue, not wasting energy on tissue that is harder to eat or less nutritious
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13
Q

Specialised herbivore offences

A
  • detoxifying chemical defences using enzymes that bind before the chemical is harmful
  • morphological adaptations that help to eat tough plant matter, like high crowned teeth
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14
Q

Herbivore impact on plants

A
  • less surface area
  • less photosynthetic capability
  • shorter life span
  • reproductive output
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15
Q

Seed eaters affect:

A

mortality rate and reproduction of plant

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16
Q

Leaf eaters affect:

A

photosynthesis

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17
Q

Herbivory in savannahs

A

Insect are the most common herbivore
- easy for insect population to grow with large access to plant matter, meaning the plant community will decrease with more herbivores

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18
Q

Heteroblasty

A

changing morphologies and function of plants at different stages of life

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19
Q

Why are introduced mammals bad for NZ plants?

A

plants haven’t evolved to defend against predators like wallaby, possum, rats, stoats, pigs
- eat seeds and fruit so kill potential plant

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20
Q

Why are introduced weeds bad?

A
  • outcompete native species for resources
  • decrease diversity
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21
Q

Biocontrol

A

introduction of natural species that attack weeds and insects

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22
Q

Biological control agent to help kill weeds

A

Insects, attack weeds meaning native species can thrive

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23
Q

What will the biological control agent eat once the weeds are gone?

A
  • eat native species
  • die out
  • other introduced plants in the area
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24
Q

Host specificity and co-evolution

A

herbivores may become behaviourally or biochemically specialised to handle defences of host plants, becoming host specific

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25
Why is becoming host specific bad?
species puts all energy into adaptations for the one plant, so loses the ability to feed on other plants
26
Predation definition
exploitative interaction, one benefits while the other is harmed and killed positive for predator for food consumption negative for prey, killed
27
Predator adaptations
- generalised hunting based on availability - some specialised to avoid competition
28
Lotka Volterra model
simple model showing predator-prey relationship as predator pop. increases, prey decreases, but with less food availability, predator pop. decreases, so prey can increase with less predator constant cycle
29
Lotka Volterra actual test
when predator was introduced, it ate all the prey, so prey became extinct meaning to food source for predator, so they also went extinct Shows: ecological relationships cant happen in a vacuum, other factors are important
30
Huffaker Experiment
showed that lots of habitats spaced out can result in barriers for predators but refuges for prey
31
Refuges
protects prey from predator eg. rocks, burrows, trees
32
How do refuges prevent predation?
due to its: - physical size - morphological structure - chemical defence - colouration or behaviour
33
Predation avoidance in NZ
most birds have dull colours and stay close to the ground to avoid avian predators that can only see from above with the introduction of pests, the ground is no longer a refuge
34
Tuatara predation example
Rats only eat juvenile tuatara, so increase in rats could result in the loss of a whole generation of tuatara and affect the population and species
35
Predators in NZ
possum, stoat, rat, weasel, cats, dogs
36
Predator management strategy: Elimitation
removing all individuals, none left - one off - expensive - difficult - only works in small areas - predators cant reinvade
37
Predator management strategy: Control
reducing population to a level where they have less impact on prey - continuous cost - need data on populations to know how much reduction of population is required
38
Competition
interaction between organisms using the same resource, a lose lose situation - whoever wins still using energy while fighting for the resource
39
what resources do organisms compete for?
food, water, sunlight, shelter, mates, hierarchy, habitat
40
intraspecific
same species
41
interspecific
different species
42
exploitative competition
removal or more efficient use of a shared resource
43
interference competition
physically preventing another individual from using the resource
44
Ecological niche
way of life, total environment of all members of a particular species or organism in a community
45
fundamental niche
total range of environmental conditions (abiotic) that are suitable, that an organism can tolerate and live in
46
Realised niche
part of the fundamental niche that is actually occupied by the organism when the biotic factors are considered
47
Gause's Exclusion Principle
"If 2 species are in competition for the same limited resource, one or the other will be more efficient at using or controlling it, so will eliminate the other species in situations where they occur together"
48
Competitive exclusion
niche overlap is so great that one species outcompetes the other
49
Competitive co-existance
Niche partitioning and niche evolution
50
Niche partitioning
dividing resources so each species specialises in a different resourcee
51
Niche evolution
character displacement, an evolutionary outcome that can lead to competitive co-existance
52
Competitive exclusion example
Invasive Rosella species and endemic Kakariki - competition for space in the tree, occupy different areas on the tree to avoid competition, but Rosella is more dominant as it is better at competing
53
Niche partitioning example
Different species of warbler occupying different parts of the tree removing overlap of niches to avoid competition
54
Plant intraspecific competition
Self-thinning, as plants cant grow too close so decrease density - seedlings die off due to competition over the same resource
55
Plant above ground competition
comp. for light and space
56
Plant below ground compeition
comp. for space, water, nutrients and space
57
Native vs. introduced competition
hard for native plants to compete with invasive species, invasive species are better at using resources than natives
58
Competitive release
when a competing species is removed from the ecosystem so the competitor that survives can increase due to the increase of resources
59
Example of competitive release in NZ
removing one pest species can mean other pests increase in population, which can be negative for native species
60

BioSci 109 Ecology (3 decks)

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