Biology 242: Lecture 13Spring 2001

Community Ecology

  1. What is a community?
    1. Definition
    2. Community concepts
      1. Individual concept
      2. Interactive concept
    3. Community characteristics
      1. Vegetation structure and associated animals
      2. Trophic structure
      3. Diversity
      4. Stability

  2. Population interactions
    1. Coevolution
      1. Series of reciprocal evolutionary adaptations in two species
      2. Examples
    2. Predation
      1. Offensive strategies
      2. Defensive strategies
        1. Plants
          1. Morphological/mechanical defenses
          2. Chemical defenses
        2. Animals
          1. Cryptic coloration
          2. Deceptive markings
          3. Mechanical defenses
          4. Chemical defenses
          5. Mimicry
            1. Batesian mimicry
            2. Müllerian mimicry
    3. Competition
      1. Habitat vs. niche
      2. Competitive exclusion principle
      3. Character displacement
    4. Symbiosis
      1. Parasitism
      2. Commensalism
      3. Mutualism


"We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope."
Martin Luther King, Jr.