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Importance of environment
Importance of environment
Role of environment in our life
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Lotka-Volterra is a simply model that represents how the population’s density of predator and prey cycles. When the population size of predators decreases, the prey population increases because there is less risk of predation. However, this increase in prey population means that there is more food available for predators, and therefore the predator population will increase. Consequently, this growth in predator population will obviously causes a decrease in prey population because there is a high predation risk. This important cycle will go down and up through time, where the abundance of one population depends on the other.
2) How do search image formation and prey switching behavior lead to a type III functional response in predators? (Ch. 14) In predators, type III functional response is due to the little consumption of prey at a low density caused by prey switching behavior and search image formation. This happens because when an increase in the
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(Ch. 16) When the same limited resource is required by two species, they cannot coexist for a long period of time. Usually, the weakest species will die with time and the strongest one will persist. This happens because when the resource is scarce, there is always one species that can obtain the resource easiest and hence persist.
4) Explain why ecologists predict that closely related species will often experience more intense competition than distantly related species? (Ch. 16) Closely related species usually have a higher competition because they have similar traits, exist in the same ecological niche, and need to consume similar resources to survive. On the other hand, distantly related species have lower competition because they do not have exactly the same traits and do not need the same resources to persist. To conclude, interspecific competition is less intense than intraspecific
They come in various shapes, sizes, and colors, and are different in so many ways, but in the end, they all need each other to survive. This is the beauty of nature, in its most purest form, it is the perfect symbiotic
P6: ‘The animals behaviour and natural instinct changes in a marine park compared to in its natural habitat’ (para 3).
Just as in any other sport, understanding gives rise to advantage and success. As serious fishermen, we had dedicated much thought to understanding the fish, hypothesizing their behavior. One understanding we had already gained through previous experiences was that fish readily eat the prey that is normally available. This, we concluded, was a sort of defense against fishermen and their foreign lures and was acquired through the fishes’ own previous experience of eating a lure. In applying this understanding to our fishing, we performed a routine food chain analysis to find out what our lures needed to imitate. The results were that the part of the food chain just beneath our quarry consisted mostly of small fish such as anchovies and young yellowtail, smaller than those shad and bluegill normally eaten in freshwater ponds. To compensate for this difference we would have to use lures smaller than those we were used to using. Luckily we had some.
...his builds a relationship between the two causing the predator to consume its meat without looking away (Pollan 307). This causes that person to no want to know what they are eating because people are used to not knowing what they are eating.
Include a brief summary (1-2 sentences) about the ecological role of your chosen organism in its ecosystem.
off of just one host but very few predators can feed on the same prey(1973). In
Introduction back to outline Ecosystem instability is obvious through the depletion of our natural food webs. There are many places to look to find these obvious problems. One example would be the lack of apex predators that has caused explosions in populations of the "prey" animals. Usually this is a result of some kind of human involvement. Along with the lack of apex predators has come the infestation of foreign animals. These "foreign invaders" are usually transported from their native land to a foreign country by human transport vessels. What then is our role in solving these population problems? There are many options, but how do we know what is right?These questions are complicated but they can be answered. You can look at it the same way one looks at a math problem. Before one tries to solve some kind of complicated situation, the background and surrounding information must be known. In other words, to begin trying to solve our ecosystem problems, we must first and foremost understand the ecosystems themselves. With out the knowledge of how the ecosystem functions naturally there is no way to try and resolve some of the current situations. Trying to resolve situations now without knowing the ecosystem...
are in opposition of each other as the first requires the body of a species in order to
D. Krauze-Gryz, J.B. Gryz, J. Goszczynski, P. Chylarecki, & M. Zmihorski (2012). The good, the bad, and the ugly: space use and intraguild interactions among three opportunistic predators-cat ( Felis catus), dog ( Canis lupus familiaris), and red fox ( Vulpes vulpes)-under human pressure. (2012). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 90(12), 1402-1413. doi:10.1139/cjz-2012-0072
Kropotkin uses examples from nature in order to explain the dynamic between living beings, and how humans do not instinctively seek out competition. According to Kropotkin, the way in which nature works proves that at their core, living beings are not competitive; in fact, nature has made ways for beings to avoid competition altogether. Kropotkin proves this by stating, “When animals [can no longer grow their food]... they resort to new kinds of food - and thus avoid competition… This is what nature teaches us; and that is what all those animals which have attained the highest position in their respective classes has done”((Rosen & Wolff, 2012, p. 31). Kropotkin believed that human interactions mimicked that of the animals, and that competition “is not the rule in either the animal world or in mankind”(Rosen & Wolff, 2012, p. 30). According to the theory of mutual aid, people are most likely to move forward and thrive in all aspects of one's existence through combining forces with one another; those that are “unsociable”, however, are not as likely to progress. This theory is further exemplified in nature through natural selection, as this process makes it easier for living beings to avoid any kind of rivalry. Peace and and mutual support are the true rule of living beings, rather than competitiveness, says
of species due to a variety of causes. Included is out competition, depletion of resources
The concept of ecological niche can be considered as one of the most important theoretical background in ecology. This was developed over several decades by various researchers in the world. The development process of the niche concept primarily tried to answer basic observational questions such as why does an organism perform as it does? why does it live where it lives? why does it eat what it eats? how do organisms interact with one another? which organisms can coexist with one another? why are some species abundant and others rare? why are some species widespread and others localized? what determines how many kinds of organisms will coexist through space and time? how do ecological interactions influence a species’ evolutionary routes? what consequences does the presence of a species have on ecosystem-level process and function?(Chase & Leibold, 2003), are several questions out of many others. Although, answers to above questions clarified through various researches have been done all around the world, the niche concept remains one of the most puzzling, and yet important subject in ecology.
My chosen organism for scenario 1 was a centipede. The prey of the centipede is a protozoa. The predator of a centipede is Brewer’s Blackbird. If my organism population decreases, the predator population will decrease as well because of the loss of food. As for the prey population, that will increase because not many things are eating it. My chosen organism for scenario 2 is the Koi fish. The predator of the Koi fish is the Snowy Egret. For prey, Koi fish prey on mosquito larvae. If the prey population (mosquito larvae) decreases, then my chosen organism (Koi), will also decrease due to the fact that the loss of food will affect the population. The predator population will also decrease because the loss of the prey population affected the organism’s population which would make
On the second level, the introduced species starts to reproduce faster than other native species around it. It also out-competes native species for resources
Extinction, although not as pleasant a concept as the idea of adapting to ones surroundings, plays just as large a role in natural selection as anything else. As one adaptation of a species proves beneficial, and as that variation begins to propagate, the original, less advantageous variant will die off. It is the unchanged species that are in immediate conflict with the species undergoing the natural adaptation that stand to suffer...