Chapter 1 & 2 PDF

Week Two - Concept of Niche - Fundamental niche: everything the species would need to survive– IDEAL conditions - Realized niche: actual conditions the species exists under due to interactions like competition - Competitive exclusion– can’t be in the same niche...

Week Two - Concept of Niche - Fundamental niche: everything the species would need to survive– IDEAL conditions - Realized niche: actual conditions the species exists under due to interactions like competition - Competitive exclusion– can’t be in the same niche, one species will either leave or die - Specialists vs generalists - Generalist has large fundamental niche, can occupy many habitats, eat many different foods (raccoons) - Specialists has smaller fundamental niche due to special needs (pandas, bamboo) - More vulnerable to environmental change - Evolution - Co- evolution: species are evolving adaptations to each other due to natural selection - Diversity of life history traits - Life history: anything that involves - development of young - their growth - how fast they reach sexual maturity - reproductive rate - how many offspring/ how quickly - and lifespan - Interspecific interactions → selection pressures → adaptations - r vs K strategists - r focus on high growth rates (r) - Grow fast, many offspring, die young - Often live in unstable environments, generalists - K focus on reaching carrying capacity (K) - Maximum stable number of individuals that habitat can support - Grow slow, fewer offspring, longer lives - Stable environments needed - Patterns in ecology - Biogeography: the study of WHY organisms are found where they are - Geographic range limits are shifting with climate change - Ecological succession: the change in ecological community structure over time - Pioneer → r strategists - Climax → K strategists - Primary succession: begins on land that was not previously occupied by an ecological community (rocks, volcano, etc) - Secondary succession: follows a disturbance in established community (fire, bulldozer, flood) - Invasive species: THRIVE at pioneer stage - Rapid growth, fast reproduction, wide tolerance for different conditions