Podcast
Questions and Answers
What is the formula for the fitness of a successful mutualist?
What is the formula for the fitness of a successful mutualist?
Which of the following correctly describes ectomycorrhizae?
Which of the following correctly describes ectomycorrhizae?
What does the equation p(Fsm) + q(Fum) represent?
What does the equation p(Fsm) + q(Fum) represent?
During which period did various insects start collecting pollen from gymnosperms?
During which period did various insects start collecting pollen from gymnosperms?
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What is a key feature of the thrip species in relation to pollination?
What is a key feature of the thrip species in relation to pollination?
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What is the primary role of flowers in plant adaptation?
What is the primary role of flowers in plant adaptation?
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Which of the following describes frugivory?
Which of the following describes frugivory?
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What is the main advantage of reciprocal selection in pollinator mutualisms?
What is the main advantage of reciprocal selection in pollinator mutualisms?
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What is the primary concept of the individualistic view proposed by Gleason?
What is the primary concept of the individualistic view proposed by Gleason?
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According to the latitudinal gradient concept, how does species richness change?
According to the latitudinal gradient concept, how does species richness change?
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What describes the species-area relationship?
What describes the species-area relationship?
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What occurs during scarification in seed dispersal?
What occurs during scarification in seed dispersal?
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In which example of frugivory are box turtles involved?
In which example of frugivory are box turtles involved?
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What does the emergent property of a community signify?
What does the emergent property of a community signify?
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Which of the following is a characteristic of diffuse selection?
Which of the following is a characteristic of diffuse selection?
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What can be inferred about the evolutionary speed in tropical ecosystems?
What can be inferred about the evolutionary speed in tropical ecosystems?
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How does the positioning of anthers benefit pollination?
How does the positioning of anthers benefit pollination?
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What role do nectar guides play in attracting pollinators?
What role do nectar guides play in attracting pollinators?
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Study Notes
Mutualism Costs and Benefits
- Fitness for non-mutualist (Fm) = 0
- Fitness for successful mutualist (Fsm) = Benefit - Cost
- Fitness for unsuccessful mutualist (Fum) = -Cost
- p(Fsm): frequency of successful mutualists
- q(Fum): frequency of unsuccessful mutualists
- p(Fsm) + q(Fum): value of benefit relative to cost
- p(Fsm) + q(Fum) > 0
Mycorrhizae
- Mutualistic symbiosis between plants and fungi
- Exchange sugars from the plant for soil resources
- Two types:
- Endomycorrhizae (arbuscular): penetrates plant cells
- Ectomycorrhizae: sheath around root, hyphae penetrate between cells
Pollination
- Life History: Insects collected pollen from gymnosperms, before angiosperms
- Thrip species: specialized structures for pollination for pre-angiosperms
- Relationship between thrips and pre-angiosperms
- Flowers: specialized for attracting pollinators
- Anthers positioned on filaments
- Nectar guides direct insects to nutrients
Frugivory
- Seed dispersal mutualism between vertebrates and angiosperms
- Fruit develops from the ovary of a fertilized flower
- Examples include Black Cherry and birds (dispersal mechanism robins and jays)
Reciprocal Selection
- Mutualism that develops specificity in populations.
- Relationships exclusive to a pair of populations
- Seen in pollinator mutualisms for advantages in getting pollen to correct species
Diffuse Selection
- Network of species that interact mutually
- Mutualists benefit from interaction with more than one species.
- Example: Frugivory between Black Cherry and birds (seed needs place to live)
Complexity of Communities
-
Holistic View (Clements): Communities as organisms
- Clements' Plant Succession (unit of vegetation and climax formation)
-
Individualistic View (Gleason): Individualistic concept of plant association
- Local environment determines where a plant lives
- Variability in environment and vegetation varying in time and space
Species Richness and Assemblage
- Richness varies geographically, increasing towards the equator
- Geographic area allows for larger ranges and allopatric speciation
- Evolutionary time is longer in tropical ecosystems
- Tropical populations have shorter generation times for faster evolution
- Richness increases predictably with area surveyed
- Log-log model: [LogS = LogC + z • LogA]
- Y-axis: LogS = log of species
- X-axis: LogA = log of areas
- Intercept: C; Slope: Z
- Rarefaction: technique to compare patterns of richness and assessing outcomes of species surveys
Comparing Species Assemblies
- Ecological distance: quantified difference between entities based on variables.
- Entities = sites, variables = species, distance = the number of variables sites differ in
- Matrix (within group and between group distances); tested via Mantel test
- Correlation tested between matrices. Similar patterns indicate correlated
- Example: Restored Watershed, Pre-existing Wetlands studied for frog species and habitat
Ecological Succession and Disturbance
- Disturbance: fundamental force of change, communities are defined through disturbance in an expected state
- Structure or function disruption causes change from partial to total loss or biomass change due to herbivores, pathogens, man or environmental factors like wind
- High disturbance: Low biomass accumulation or removal.
- Low disturbance: high biomass accumulation or control by strong competitors
- Succession : predictable changes within a community after disturbance (e.g.,fire adapted communities)
- Establishment of new seedlings/species after disturbance.
- Facilitation, inhibition: early species help out, later ones compete better). These changes cause a change in conditions creating opportunities for later species.
Trophic Relationships
- Herbivores can provide disturbance and limit plant community succession.
- Predators consume herbivores allowing the community below to flourish.
- Bottom up, assemblage : autotrophs (plants) influence the assemblage of heterotrophs (consumers), succession in response to abundance, Examples: White-eyed vireo habitat variability, changes in response. Top down: predators regulate species assemblage
- Examples: sea otters regulate kelp forest by eating sea urchins, blue crabs and salt marshes due to crabs eating snails.
Island Biogeography and Invasion/Resilience
- Species richness on islands is related to island area and distance.
- More species will persist on larger islands closer to the mainland, because there will be greater immigration rates.
- If populations of an island were disturbed, species richness should remain the same through time while assemblages (relative proportions of different species) change in response to immigration and extinction.
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Description
Explore the intricate relationships of mutualism, including the costs and benefits associated with mutualistic interactions in nature. This quiz covers mycorrhizal relationships, pollination by insects, and the role of frugivory in plant reproduction. Test your understanding of these essential ecological concepts.
