Ecology of South Florida (EVR 3013) LECTURE 13
INTRO ECOL V
COMMUNITIES AND BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY FLORIDA
FROM: PELICAN
The pelican is a homely fowl.
It's not as comely as the owl.
The owl is a pretty bird.
The pelican is quite absurd.
It has unattractive skin,
A baggy pouch in place of chin.
Its manners are grotesque and rude.
It's very sloppy with its food...
A dozen fishes at a gulp.
Its body is a shapeless pulp
with much-too-much or not enough
To make a bird you'd want to stuff.
Don Blanding (1941) [in Jones and O'Sullivan 1995]
I. SCALE IN ECOLOGY
- Genes
- Individuals
- Populations
- Communities
- Ecosystems
- Biosphere
II. COMMUNITY ATTRIBUTES
A. Growth form and structure
e.g., broadleaf tropicals, needleleaf temperate
1. Growth forms
- trees
- lianas
- shrubs
- epiphytes
- herbs
2. Physical Structure
- canopy
- subcanopy
- understory
- shrub
- ground cover or herb
3. Trophic Structure
- Food webs
- Pyramids
- energy
- biomass
- number
B. Diversity
species richness or species diversity
1. Species richness
2. Evenness
3. Latitudinal gradient
- Evolutionary time
- Ecological time
- Climatic stability
- Climatic predictability
- Spatial heterogeneity
- Productivity
- Stability of primary productivity
- Competition
- Disturbance
- Predation
C. Dominance
highly successful and determine which associated species can grow there
D. Relative Abundance
relative proportion of species
E. Trophic Structure
Who eats whom?
III. PRODUCTION
A. Energy Acquisition
1. Autotrophs
2. Heterotrophs
B. Primary Production
Photosynthesis: 12 H20 + 6 CO2 + solar energy --> C6H12O6 + 602 + 6 H20
Respiration: C6H12O6 + 6 02 --> 6 H20 + 6 CO2 + energy
IV. FLORIDA BIOTA X: ANIMALS (fish and inverts)
Back to start, Back to lecture 10, 11, 12, On to lectures 14 &15, 16, 17, 18, 19
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