Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
ECOLOGY
Communities and Ecosystems
H.J.B. Birks
BIO-201
ECOLOGY
1. Species Abundance,
Diversity, and Community
Ecology
H.J.B. Birks
Pensum
The lecture, of course,
and
the PowerPoint handouts of this lecture
on the BIO-201 Student Portal
Background Information
There is now a wealth of good or very good ecology
textbooks but perhaps no excellent, complete, or
perfect textbook of ecology.
Not surprising, given just how diverse a subject
ecology is in space and time and all their scales.
This lecture draws on primary research sources, my
own knowledge, experience, observations, and
studies, and several textbooks.
A Reminder
If you try to read Begon, Townsend, and Harper
(2006) Ecology From Individuals to Ecosystems,
there is a 17-page glossary of the very large (too
large!) number of technical words used in the book
on the Bio-201 Student Portal. It can be downloaded
from the File Storage folder.
Good luck!
Sub-Divisions of Ecology
1. Functional ecology and evolutionary ecology
2. Modern ecology and long-term ecology (=palaeoecology) (the
Fourth dimension of ecology)
3. Autecology study of ecological relationships of a single
species
4. Synecology study of all the species living together as a
community (group of plants and animals in a given place
forming ecological units of various sizes and degrees of
interrelation and integration)
5. Pure and applied ecology
"Pure" understand, for understanding's sake, the processes
responsible for determining the structure and composition of
particular assemblages or communities
"Applied" ecology relevant to food gathering and production,
conservation, control of pests and pathogens, pollution,
preservation of biodiversity, etc. Includes conservation ecology
and restoration ecology.
Scales in Ecology
Biological or hierarchical scales
Biosphere
Biosphere
Biomes e.g. rainforest
landscapes
Communities
Species
Populations
Individual
Atmosphere
Biosphere
Crust
Rock
Hydrosphere
core
Lithosphere
Mantle
Crust
(Lithosphere)
Crust
(soil and rock)
Biosphere
(Living and dead
organisms)
Hydrosphere
(water)
Lithosphere
(crust, top of upper mantle)
Atmosphere
(air)
World
Vegetation
Types or
Biomes
Coastal chaparral
and scrub
Coastal
mountain
ranges
Role of
climate
15,000 ft
10,000 ft
5,000 ft
Coniferous
forest
Sierra
Nevada
Mountain
Desert
Great
American
Desert
Coniferous
forest
Rocky
Mountains
Prairie
grassland
Deciduous
forest
Mississippi
Great
River Valley
Plains
Appalachian
Mountains
Landscape
Scale
(Lecture 7)
Coastmountain
transition in
western
Norway
Alpine
tundra
Montane
coniferous
forest
Deciduous
forest
Temperate
forest
SEA
Land zone
Transition zone
Number
of species
Aquatic zone
Biological scale
Temporal scale
(years)
Local
Populations,
communities & habitat
patches
1 100
Landscape
Between communities
100 1000
Regional
Regions, countries
10,000
Continental
Continents
1 10 million
Global
10 100 million
Biosphere
Biosphere
Ecosystems
Biomes
Ecosystems & Landscapes
Communities
COMMUNITIES
Species
Populations
Populations
Organisms
Organisms
10 11 21 28 33 120
32
Frank Preston
10 11 21 28 33 120
32
Octave
Octave 1 (0-1)
32/2 = 16
Octave 2 (1-2)
Octave 3 (2-4)
Octave 4 (4-8)
1 (from oct 3) + 3 + 3 + 3
Octave 5 (8-16)
2+1+2=5
+ 0 = 10
Log-normal distribution is
S(R) S0 e
( a2R2 )
S(o) S(R
max
2
Rmax
S0 e logn S (R ) a2 R 2
Insect data
Octave
No of individuals
per species
Observed
S(R)
Expected
S(R)
0-1
16
14.5
1-2
20
15.9
2-4
14
15.5
4-8
10
11.0
8-16
6.9
16-32
3.6
32-64
1.6
64-128
1.1
S* = 1.77(S0/a)
where S0 = number of species in modal octave
and a is a measure of the curve's width.
In this case S* = 23
In a sample of 389 individuals and 69 species,
likely that there are 23 species missed.
Problems of sampling natural assemblages.
Distributions
of desert
plants and
forest birds
- "log-normal"
Sample size
and lognormal
distribution
S(R) Number of
species per octave
Log-normal curve
+7
Rmax
Associated individuals
curve
Octaves
Rank-Abundance Diagrams
Show distribution of all species abundances in a
community for all m species present. Plot abundance
pi for all i = 1,,m species where pi is proportional
abundance
Plot pi for the most abundant species first, then the
next most common, and so on against species rank
Can be drawn for different
communities or same
community at different times
Grassland fertilised
1856-1949
Richness indices
Evenness indices
Richness index + evenness index = Diversity
index
Confound several properties of community
structure, namely number of species; relative
species abundance (evenness); and
homogeneity and size of the area sampled.
Species identity not considered.
Richness indices
S total number of species found in a community
But S depends on sample size and the time spent
searching
Need to estimate S independent of sample size
But samples usually of different size
Rarefaction analysis estimates how many species
would be found in a sample of n individuals [denoted
as E(Sn)] drawn from a population of N total
individuals among S species.
N ni
E(Sn ) 1
i 1
n
s
N
n
20
36
20
26.9 species
14.1 species
36
7.8 species
pi
l 1
(see below)
Diversity indices
5 species; 84% A, 4% B,
4% C, 4% D, 4% E
5 species; A, B, C, D, &
E each 20%
pi
i 1
H ' pi log e pi
i 1
Evenness
s
H'
J
Hmax
pi loge pi
i 1
loge S
5 species: 84% A, 4% B,
5 species: A, B, C, D, & E
4% C, 4% D, 4% E
each 20%
H' = 1.610
H' = 0.662
Forest (b) more diverse
N A (pi )1/(1 A)
i 1
N0 = S
N1 = eH'
N2 = 1/
is Simpson's index
N1
N2
D
Dmax
or
D Dmin
Dmax Dmin
H
logn (N1)
E1
e H
N1
E2
S
N0
3.
4.
5.
e H 1 N1 1
E3
S 1
N0 1
E4
1 N2
H
e
N1
1 1 N2 1
E 5 H
e 1
N1 1
Hill ratio
Abundances
E1
E2
E3
E4
E5
0.94
0.93
0.90
0.94
0.91
0.75
0.71
0.61
0.94
0.90
Uses in ecology
Changes in
diversity (H) and
equitability (J) in
a control plot and
fertilized plot
1850-1950
Forest community b
has all five species
equally abundant
Rank-abundance curves for two forests
Environmental Complexity
1. Forest complexity and bird species diversity
Competition influences species realised
niches.
Competitive exclusion principle predicts that
co-existing species will have different realised
niches.
Warblers (sangere) in eastern USA forests
20
50
10
ft
m
Tropical
rain forest
Coniferous
forest
Deciduous
forest
Thorn
forest
Thorn
scrub
Tall-grass
prairie
Short-grass
prairie
Desert
scrub
Emergent
Birds,
invertebrates,
bats
Forest community
structure
Canopy
Birds,
reptiles,
amphibians,
lichens, mosses
Understorey
Snag
Shade-tolerant
plants, birds,
squirrels,
lizards,
chipmunks
Floor
Rotting debris,
worms,
insects,
bacteria
Bole
Subsoil
Nematodes,
micro-organisms
Warbler diversity
increased as
stature of
vegetation
increased
i.e. species
diversity
increased with
habitat size.
What about
habitat diversity?
Estimated forest
habitat diversity
by ShannonWiener index.
Stature of vegetation and no. of
warbler species
lizards
birds
reptiles
marine gastropods
Aquatic environment
Spatial variations in
NO3 and SiO2 (also
phosphate and
chlorophyll a) create a
wide range of environmental complexity
Terrestrial environment
0.5 ha plot (69 m x 69 m)
301 sampling points
Measured soil moisture and soil NO3 in an abandoned
agricultural field in Michigan.
10-fold
difference
across study
plot
No correlation
between the
two variables
Shows considerable spatial variability within a small
area.
How does this spatial heterogeneity in essential
resources influence plant distribution and diversity?
'Mixed'
- Thicker sand
'Yvaro'
'Igap'
'Caatinga'
Fertilization and
plant diversity
Clear decline in
mycorrhizal diversity
with increase in soil
nitrogen.
Joseph Connell
'intermediate
disturbance hypothesis'
2. Temperate grasslands
Main disturbance in natural prairie grasslands is
trampling by large animals and burrowing by small
animals.
Prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.)
plant-eating rodents
1 kg as adult
live in colonies
10-55 individuals per hectare
build extensive burrows: 1-3 m
deep, 15 m long, diameter 13-15 cm
excavate 200-225 kg of soil
create mounds 1-2 m diameter
Major disturbance factor on prairie
grasslands. Creates vegetation patterns.
Patchiness of
vegetation
3. Human disturbance
Tend to think of Panamanian rain forests as
undisturbed ecosystems and yet they have high
diversity. How is this possible? Are they
disturbed?
Palaeoecology examine pollen and spores
preserved in lake sediments covering the last
3000-5000 years (Lecture 5).
Species-rich
grassland,
Pewsey
Brachypodium
pinnatum turf,
Barnock Hills
Richness
Summer
77 34%
15.6 21.2
Autumn
75 80%
7.2 7.8
Investigated
(1) autumn mowing
(2) late summer mowing
(3) early summer mowing
(4) early summer + autumn mowing
Only mowings (2) and (4) diminish the Brachypodium
pinnatum by reducing carbohydrates in the rhizomes
that are important for shoot formation. By reducing
the carbohydrates and shoot formation, reduce the
competitive ability of Brachypodium.
But why is the traditional autumn mowing no longer
sufficient to maintain the original high diversity of this
grassland?
Insect
Bird
Bird of prey
Food chains
never this
simple.
Numerous
chains fused or
meshed into a
complex foodweb with
complex links
leading from
primary
producers to
consumers.
Hypothetical food-web
P top predator, not eaten
by other species in foodweb
C1, C2, - intermediate
species, C1 is an omnivore,
C2 is a carnivore
H1, H2, H3 intermediate
species, herbivores
A1 and A2 basal species,
primary producers
Community
concept
Individualistic
concept
Kent &
Coker
(1992)
Austin &
Smith (1989)
GC ground coffee
IC instant coffee
TB tea or tea bags
SS sugarless sugar
BP packaged biscuits
SP soup (packages)
ST soup (tinned)
IP instant potatoes
FF frozen fish
VF frozen vegetables
AF fresh apples
OF fresh oranges
FT tinned fruit
JS jam (shop)
CG garlic clove
BR butter
ME margarine
OO olive, corn oil
YT yoghurt
CD crispbread
90
49
88
19
57
51
19
21
27
21
81
75
44
71
22
91
85
74
30
26
D
82
10
60
2
55
41
3
2
4
2
67
71
9
46
80
66
24
94
5
18
I
88
42
63
4
76
53
11
23
11
5
87
84
40
45
88
94
47
36
57
3
F
96
62
98
32
62
67
43
7
14
14
83
89
61
81
16
31
97
13
53
15
NL
94
38
48
11
74
37
25
9
13
12
76
76
42
57
29
84
80
83
20
5
B
97
61
86
28
79
73
12
7
26
23
85
94
83
20
91
94
94
84
31
24
L
27
86
99
22
91
55
76
17
20
24
76
68
89
91
11
95
94
57
11
28
GB
72
26
77
2
22
34
1
5
20
3
22
51
8
16
89
65
78
92
6
9
P
55
31
61
15
29
33
1
5
15
11
49
42
14
41
51
51
72
28
13
11
A
73
72
85
25
31
69
10
17
19
15
79
70
46
61
64
82
48
61
48
30
CH
97
13
93
31
43
43
39
54
45
56
78
53
75
9
68
32
48
2
93
S
96
17
92
35
66
32
32
11
51
42
81
72
50
64
11
92
91
30
11
34
DK
96
17
83
13
62
51
4
17
30
15
61
72
34
51
11
63
94
28
2
62
N
98
12
84
20
64
27
10
8
18
12
50
57
22
37
15
96
94
17
64
SF
70
40
40
62
43
2
14
23
7
59
77
30
38
86
44
51
91
16
13
E
13
52
99
11
80
75
18
2
5
3
57
52
46
89
5
97
25
31
3
9
IRL
Classification
Key
SF Finland
N Norway
DK Denmark
S Sweden
GB Great Britain
IRL Ireland
D West Germany
B Belgium
L Luxembourg
F France
CH Switzerland
NL Holland
P Portugal
A Austria
E Spain
I Italy
Ordination
Key:
A Austria
B Belgium
CH Switzerland
D West Germany
DK Denmark
E Spain
F France
GB Great Britain
I Italy
IRL Ireland
L Luxembourg
N Norway
NL Holland
P Portugal
S Sweden
SF Finland
Odgaard 2007
15. Human activity is an ancient feature of the biosphere and has provided intermediate disturbances
for long periods of time.
16. Recent intensive human activity (widespread forest
destruction, atmospheric N pollution) is decreasing
community diversity.
17. Food acquisition, food chains, and food-webs are
potential factors in determining community
structure.
18. There are two major contrasting concepts of
community organisation. Organismal and
Individualistic concepts. Real world is a complex
mixture of both.
19. Classification and ordination are both useful and
valid approaches in analysing community data.