Learning Goals

 By the end of this reading, you should be able to:

• Discuss the predator-prey cycle
• Give examples of defenses against predation and herbivory
• Describe the competitive exclusion principle
• Give examples of symbiotic relationships between species
• Explain how species interactions can play a role in the adaptation and evolution of species

Populations rarely, if ever, live in isolation from populations of other species. In most cases, numerous species share a habitat. The interactions between these populations play a major role in regulating population growth and abundance. All populations occupying the same habitat form a community: populations inhabiting a specific area at the same time. The number of species occupying the same habitat and their relative abundance is known as species diversity. Areas with low diversity, such as the glaciers of Antarctica, still contain a wide variety of living things, whereas the diversity of tropical rainforests is so great that it cannot be counted. Ecology is studied at the community level to understand how species interact with each other and compete for the same resources.

 Perhaps the classical example of species interaction is predation: the consumption of prey by its predator. While we usually think of animals hunting other animals, herbivory, in which plants are eaten by animals is also a form of predation. The predator-prey relationship is considered to be an antagonist one, where one species has a negative impact on the other species. Within a community the sizes of the populations of predators and prey are often not constant over time: in most cases, the respective populations’ sizes will vary in cycles that appear to be related.

The most often cited example of predator-prey dynamics is seen in the cycling of the lynx (predator) and the snowshoe hare (prey), using nearly 200-year-old trapping data from North American forests.  This cycle of predator and prey lasts approximately 10 years, with the predator population lagging 1–2 years behind that of the prey population. As the hare numbers increase, there is more food available for the lynx, allowing the lynx population to increase as well. When the lynx population grows to a threshold level, however, they kill so many hares that the hare population begins to decline, followed by a decline in the lynx population because of the scarcity of food. When the lynx population is low, the hare population size begins to increase due, at least in part, to low predation pressure, starting the cycle anew.

The study of communities must consider evolutionary forces that act on the members of the various populations contained within it. Species are not static, but slowly changing and adapting to their environment by natural selection and other evolutionary forces. Species have evolved numerous mechanisms to escape predation and herbivory. These defenses may be mechanical, chemical,  physical, or behavioral.

The (a) honey locust tree (Gleditsia triacanthos) uses thorns, a mechanical defense, against herbivores, while the (b) Florida red-bellied turtle (Pseudemys nelsoni) uses its shell as a mechanical defense against predators. (c) Foxglove (Digitalis sp.)  uses a chemical defense: toxins produced by the plant can cause nausea,  vomiting, hallucinations, convulsions, or death when consumed. (d) The  North American millipede (Narceus americanus)  uses both mechanical and chemical defenses: when threatened, the millipede curls into a defensive ball and produces a noxious substance that irritates eyes and skin.

Other species use their body shape and coloration to avoid being detected by predators. The tropical walking stick is an insect with the coloration and body shape of a twig  (a) which makes it very hard to see when stationary against a background of real twigs. In another example, the chameleon can change its color to match its surroundings (b). Both of these are examples of camouflage or avoiding detection by blending in with the background.

The strawberry poison dart frog (Oophaga pumilio) uses aposematic coloration to warn predators that it is toxic, while the (b) striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) uses aposematic coloration to warn predators of the unpleasant odor it produces.

While some predators learn to avoid eating certain potential prey because of their coloration, other species have evolved mechanisms to mimic this coloration to avoid being eaten, even though they themselves may not be unpleasant to eat or contain toxic chemicals. In Batesian mimicry,  a harmless species imitates the warning coloration of a harmful one.  Assuming they share the same predators, this coloration then protects the harmless ones, even though they do not have the same level of physical or chemical defenses against predation as the organism they mimic. Many insect species mimic the coloration of wasps or bees, which are stinging, venomous insects, thereby discouraging predation.

In Müllerian mimicry, multiple species share the same warning coloration, but all of them actually have defenses.  This means that they mimic each other in some way creating a larger grouping and thus can be more easily recognized by potential predators.

In Emsleyan/Mertensian mimicry,  a deadly prey mimics a less dangerous one, such as the venomous coral snake mimicking the nonvenomous milk snake. This type of mimicry is extremely rare and more difficult to understand than the previous two types. For this type of mimicry to work, it is essential that eating the milk snake has unpleasant but not fatal consequences. Then, these predators learn not to eat snakes with this coloration, protecting the coral snake as well. If the snake were fatal to the predator, there would be no opportunity for the predator to learn not to eat it, and the benefit for the less toxic species would disappear.

Resources are often limited within a habitat and multiple species may compete to obtain them. All species have an ecological niche in the ecosystem, which describes how they acquire the resources they need and how they interact with other species in the community. The competitive exclusion principle states that two species cannot occupy the same niche in a habitat. In other words, different species cannot coexist in a community if they are competing for all the same resources. An example of this principle can be seen with two protozoan species, Paramecium aurelia and Paramecium caudatum.

When grown individually in the laboratory, they both thrive. But when they are placed together in the same test tube (habitat), P. aurelia outcompetes P. caudatum for food, leading to the latter’s eventual extinction.  This exclusion may be avoided if a population evolves to make use of a  different resource, a different area of the habitat, or feeds during a different time of day, called resource partitioning. The two organisms are then said to occupy different microniches. These organisms coexist by minimizing direct competition.

Symbiotic relationships, or symbioses  (plural), are close interactions between individuals of different species over an extended period of time that impact the abundance and distribution of the associating populations. Most scientists accept this definition, but some restrict the term to only those species that are mutualistic, where both individuals benefit from the interaction. In this discussion, the broader definition will be used.

A commensal relationship occurs when one species benefits from the close, prolonged interaction, while the other neither benefits nor is harmed. Birds nesting in trees provides an example of a commensal relationship.

Typically the tree is not harmed by the presence of the nest among its branches. The nests are light and produce little strain on the structural integrity of the branch, and most of the leaves, which the tree uses to get energy by photosynthesis, are above the nest so they are unaffected. The bird, on the other hand, benefits greatly. If the bird had to nest in the open, its eggs and young would be vulnerable to predators.  Another example of a commensal relationship is the clownfish and the sea anemone. The sea anemone is not harmed by the fish and the fish benefits from protection from predators who would be stung upon nearing the sea anemone.

The second type of symbiotic relationship is called mutualism,  where two species benefit from their interaction.  For example,  termites have a mutualistic relationship with protozoa that live in the insect’s gut (a).  The termite benefits from the ability of bacterial symbionts within the protozoa to digest cellulose. The termite itself cannot do this, and without the protozoa, it would not be able to obtain energy from its food (cellulose from the wood it chews and eats). The protozoa and the bacterial symbionts benefit by having a protective environment and a  constant supply of food from the wood chewing actions of the termite.  Lichens have a mutualistic relationship between fungus and photosynthetic algae or bacteria (b).  As these symbionts grow together, the glucose produced by the algae provides nourishment for both organisms, whereas the physical structure of the lichen protects the algae from the elements and makes certain nutrients in the atmosphere more available to the algae.

A parasite is an organism that lives in or on another living organism and derives nutrients from it. In this relationship, the parasite benefits, but the host is harmed. The host is usually weakened by the parasite as it siphons resources the host would normally use to maintain itself. The parasite,  however, is unlikely to kill the host, especially not quickly, because this would allow no time for the organism to complete its reproductive cycle by spreading to another host.

Communities include all the different species living in a given area.  The variety of these species is called species richness. Many organisms have developed defenses against predation and herbivory, including mechanical defenses, warning coloration, and mimicry, as a result of evolution and the interaction with other members of the community. Two species cannot exist in the same habitat competing directly for the same resources. Species may form symbiotic relationships such as commensalism or mutualism.