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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Introduction
• Ecologists usually define a population as…
– Characterized by the number of individuals and
their density.
• Additional characteristics of a population include…
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Distribution Limits
• _____________________ limits geographic
distribution of a species.
– Organisms can only compensate so much for
environmental variation.
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Niches
• _______: Summarizes environmental factors
that influence growth, survival, and
reproduction of a species.
– Grinnell’s definition focused on the effects of the
physical environment
– Elton’s definition included biotic and abiotic
factors
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Niches
• Hutchinson defined niche as:
–
• n equates the number of environmental factors
important to survival and reproduction of a species.
– ___________________- hypervolume
– ___________________ includes interactions
such as competition that may restrict
environments where a species may live.
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Kangaroo Distributions and Climate
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Tiger Beetle of Cold Climates
• Tiger Beetle (Cicindela longilabris) lives at
higher latitudes and elevations than most
other species in NA.
– Schultz et. al. found metabolic rates of C.
longilabris are higher and preferred temperatures
____________ than most other species.
• Supports generalization that the physical environment
limits species distributions.
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Tiger Beetle of Cold Climates
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Distributions of Plants Along a MoistureTemperature Gradient
• Encelia species distributions correspond to variations
in temperature and precipitation.
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Distributions of Barnacles Along an
Intertidal Gradient
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Distributions of Barnacles Along an
Intertidal Exposure Gradient
• Organisms living in an intertidal zone have
evolved to different degrees of resistance to…
– Barnacles show …
• Connell found Chthamalus stellatus restricted to upper
levels while Balanus balanoides is limited to middle and
lower levels.
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Distributions of Barnacles Along an
Intertidal Gradient
• Balanus appears to be more vulnerable to
_____________, excluding it from the upper
intertidal zone.
• Chthamalus adults appear to be excluded from
lower areas by _____________ with Balanus.
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Distribution of Individuals on Small
Scales
• _____________: Equal chance of being anywhere.
–
• _____________: Uniformly spaced.
–
–
• _____________: Unequal chance of being
anywhere.
–
–
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Distribution of Individuals on Small
Scales
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
What pattern? Why?
http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2004/11/NestingColonyLG.jpg
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
What pattern? Why?
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01216/gnu_1216499c.jpg
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Species of aggressive stingless bees that forage over
clumped resources… how would you predict they be
distributed? How about passive species foraging on
regularly spread resources?
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2359/2459405670_f8082401c0.jpg
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Distribution of Tropical Bee Colonies
– As predicted, four species with regular distributions
were highly aggressive.
• Fifth was non-aggressive and ___________ distributed.
• Prospective nest sites marked with ____________.
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Distributions of Desert Shrubs
• Traditional theory suggests desert shrubs are
regularly spaced due to competition but….
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Organism Size and Population Density
Density
decreases as
body size…
How does aquatic
invertebrate
density cmopare
to that of other
animals of
comparable size?
How does
mammal density
compare to bird
density?
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Plant Size and Population Density
• Plant population density ___________ with
____________ plant size.
– Underlying details are very different.
•
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Commonness and Rarity
• Rabinowitz devised commonness classification
based on (3) factors:
•
•
•
• Populations that are least threatened by
extinction, have extensive geographic ranges,
broad habitat tolerances, and some large local
populations.
– All seven other combinations create some kind of
rarity.
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Rarity
• Rarity I
–
• Peregrine Falcon
http://falconrytoday.net/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Peregrine-Falcon0014.jpg
• Rarity II
–
• Passenger Pigeon
http://www.saroffillustration.com/portfolio/page/ns4_pigeon.jpg
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BIOL 3240 Plant and Animal Ecology –
Distribution & Abundance
Rarity
• Rarity III
–
• California Condor
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/condor/images/condor119.jpg
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