Warm Up #8 The Giant Panda, which lives in China and eats only bamboo, is on the verge of extinction due to a variety of factors. • How are humans contributing to the Panda’s extinction? • How are other animals contributing to the Panda’s extinction? • How is the Panda contributing to its own extinction? Animal Populations Laying the Land • Niche – conditions a species needs in order to survive and reproduce in an ecosystem ▫ Conditions = physical (temperature) and chemical (salinity, acidity) • IMPORTANT to study: ▫ Human impact effects ▫ Species interaction ▫ Extinction rates The Lockett Niche In our class, 34 desks • Fundamental Niche – full range of resources and conditions a species can use ▫ You can sit at ANY desk • Realized Niche – the part of the fundamental niche a species TENDS to occupy ▫ The desk you normally sit at ▫ Why? Competition for resources Why the Panda is killing itself • Generalist species – can survive in a large variety of niches (flies, cockroaches, mice, etc) • Specialist species – can only survive in a very particular niche/environment (Panda) • Less tolerant = less likely you are to survive The Grossness of the Cockroach • Literally eats anything (including electrical cords and glue) • Can breed anywhere (except polar regions) • 1 cockroach 10 million babies in one year. • One species can survive frozen for 48 hours • Can survive nuclear bomb Other threats to the Cuteness • Non-Native Species – species introduced to a niche by humans • Competition for resources (food, light, shelter, etc) • Non-Native species usually more Generalist (can tolerate more) • WHAT’S A PANDA TO DO?? Quick Quiz #4 In a hypothetical world where all things are possible, you are now a cute Panda and want to survive: • You are an extreme specialist species, how would you change that? • If a non-native species came into your niche, how would you adapt? Adaptation to a Competitor Adaptation Strategy Plan A Scenario: Non-native species thrive in cold and moderate temperatures 1. Directional Selection – reproductive rates better on one side of curve than other Solution: You learn to love the heat Adaptation Strategy Plan B Scenario: Non-native species loves either really hot or really cold climates 2. Stabilizing Selection – highest reproduction = center of curve Solution: You, as a cute panda, adapt to living in moderate climates Adaptation Plan C Scenario: Non-native species thrives in moderate temperatures 3. Disruptive Selection – high reproduction at BOTH extremes Solution: You either get a jacket or embrace sweating Warm Up #5 Scenario: You are officially a honey-badger…and you just don’t care. Use your prior knowledge of how bad-ass the honey-badger is to answer the following questions: • Would you classify the honey-badger as a specialist species or a generalist species? Why would you say this? • If the honey-badger was a non-native species, would any other species stand a chance? Why? • Say you try to stand against the honey-badger’s awesomeness. You discover the honey-badger only eats small and medium sized larva. Show, on a bell curve, how you would adapt, showing the type of selection as well. Avoiding Competition Review…with some new • Directional – shifting toward ONE extreme • Stabilizing – shifting toward the MIDDLE • Disruptive – shifting toward BOTH extremes This is character displacement – physical/behavioral changes for more stuff Competition is Drama To avoid drama… • Resource Partitioning – dividing resources amongst competing species • Use at different times, different ways, different places Example: Diurnal vs. Nocturnal animals (hawks vs. owls) “I WANT TO WATCH FOOTBALL” “I WANT TO WATCH DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES!!” More Cowardly Avoidance (but also kind of BA) • Camouflage – resembling the abiotic factors around it • Chemical warfare – using poisonous/odorous chemicals • Coloration – certain colors = danger • Mimicking – Looking like something more dangerous Predator-Prey Relationship Negative Feedback Loop 1. Predators kill prey (obviously) 2. More prey die = less food for predators 3. Predators die (less food) 4. Prey start to repopulate, cycle repeats A Predator-Prey Fad Diet • Parasitism – one species (parasite) gets nourishment by living on another species (host) • Smaller than host, weakens host, rarely kills it • Ex. Virus • Tapeworm Diet – ingest tapeworm, eats contents of stomach (along with actual stomach) Symbiotic Relationships [less gross] Symbiotic Relationship – interaction between two species Mutualism – both species benefit (+, +) • Normally 1 species is protected, the other gets food Commensalism – one species benefits, the other is unaffected (+, 0) • Shark (0) and Pilot Fish (+) Quick Quiz # 3 • Describe what resource partitioning is, and give a real life example. • How is mimicking an effective way to avoid being eaten? • Why do you think a parasite rarely kills its host?