Biology 10 - Introduction to General Biology
Community Ecology
     A community is defined as an assemblage of populations of different species found in the same location. These life forms range from the microscopic to the macroscopic depending on the community. All these living organisms interact in many different ways (E.g. predation, competition or symbiosis). These interactions are often the focus for field biologists. Over time the interactions give rise to numerous ecological as well as evolutionary consequences which will shape the community. In this section we will take a closer look at these interactions as well as the role of these forces within a community of organisms.
Predators such as this Great White Shark play a very important role in communities of organisms
    1. Describe the differences between ecosystem ecology, community ecology and population ecology.
    2. Define the concept of a community as used in ecology. Give five different examples of communities.
    3. What is biodiversity? What is the difference between species richness and relative abundance? What can they tell us about a specific community?
    4. What are the four major properties of a community? Briefly explain how each one is an important aspect of our understanding of a community?
    5. What is the role of competition within community?
    6. Explain the competitive exclusion principle (Gause's experiment). Why is this principle important in ecology?
    7. What exactly is a niche as used in biology? Use an animal (e.g. a Blue Jay) to explain what a niche is.
    8. What happens when two different species have the exact same niche?
    9. What is resource partitioning? What is the connection between resource partitioning and the niche concept?
    10. Give two examples of resource partitioning.
    11. In what sense is predation important within a community? What is the difference between predation and parasitism?
    12. Do predators have an "easy" task in the community of organisms?
    13. What is the role of coevolution in a community? Use the Heliconius and passionflower vine as well as the bat/noctuid moth examples from your lecture to explain the concept of coevolution.
    14. Explain the concept of an evolutionary armsrace. Toxic Newts [video 6 minutes]
    15. Give examples of the evolutionary consequences of predation for both plants and animals (mechanical, chemical and behavioral; camouflage examples from lecture as well as the text). Camouflage? [video 1 minute]
    16. What is the difference between Batesian vs Mullerian mimicry (give examples).
    17. What is the connection between biodiversity and predation?
    18. Define the concept of keystone predator and be able to explain their role in the community (Focus on the Sea otter example from lecture). Can you give some other examples of keystone predators?
    19. Symbiotic relationships. Be able to define parasitism, commensalism and mutualism. Can you give (as well as recognize) examples of each?
    20. Explain the phenomenon of mutualism with the help of the interactions between the Bull's Horn Acacia tree and the Pseudomyrmex ants. [film link to your right].Acacia and Ant Mutualism [video 5 minutes]
    21. Is symbiosis as important as predation and competition? Why or why not?
    22. Are biological communities stable or do they change? Explain.
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Page created by: Peter Svensson
Updated: May 16,  2011