R and K Survivorship strategies
• K- strategists
• r-strategists
• Defined by amount of energy and time they invest
in rearing their offspring
• Not all species fit perfectly into the two categories
Defined by amount of energy and
time they invest in rearing their
offspring
Which is the K or R Strategist and
why?
K-strategists
• Few offspring
• Invest large amount of time in caring for them
• Most offspring survive
• Individuals take a long time to mature
• May reproduce several times during adult life
• Population size of K-strategist species is usually
close to the carrying capacity
• K-strategists are usually predominant species in a
stable ecosystem
• Can be vulnerable to extinction (ex. Polar bear )
K-strategists
• Ex. Great apes (orangutans and gorillas), elephants
• Gorillas give birth at
age 10
• Will care for baby
for up to 6 years.
• Lifespan of gorilla
up to 40yrs
K-strategists
• Ex. Great apes (orangutans and gorillas), elephants
K-strategists
• Ex. Great apes (orangutans and gorillas), elephants
r-strategists
• Short lifespan
• Reproduce once
• Produce large numbers of offspring
• Unlikely to care for offspring
• Offspring mature quickly and are usually small
• Adults cannot invest time and energy in caring for
such large numbers of young, so most offspring die
• b/c quick reproduction, they can colonize new
environments easily and make use of short-lived
resources
r-strategists
• Ex. Insects such as spiders, fish and frogs and plant
species such as dandelions
r-strategists
r-strategists
r-strategists
r-strategists
r-strategists
Survivorship curves
• Based on ability of individuals to reach reproductive
age.
• % of individuals that die before reproductive age
affects pop. size
• Most organisms begin to age once they have past
maturity. Strength declines and they die as they
reach the natural life expectancy.
Line 1: K-strategists
• When members of species are young
– Mortality is low b/c offspring cared for by parents
• Most individuals reach reproductive age
• Most individuals achieve expected lifespan
• Ex. Humans, big cats, eagles
Line 3: r-strategists
• When members of species are young
– Mortality is high
• Most individuals die before reaching reproductive
age
• Individuals that survive are likely to live for
expected lifespan
• Ex. Most invertebrates and plants, frogs, organisms
with free-swimming juvenile stages like barnacles
Line 3: r-strategists
Line 3: r-strategists
Line 2: intermediate organism
• Equal likelihood of dying at any age.
• Death could be due to factors such as hunting,
diseases or chance
• Examples: mice, coral, and many reptiles
Succession
Defined by amount of energy and
time they invest in rearing their
offspring
Which is the K or R Strategist and
why?
The Process of Succession
• Succession is the long term ecological process by
which communities in a particular area change over
a period of time
• Involves interactions between biotic and abiotic
components
– Pioneer (early) communities modify the physical
env. which in turn modify the biotic.
– This allows more species to move in and modify
physical env. still more
– Continues until stable situation is reached
Primary Succession
Primary succession
• An area of bare ground is colonized for the first
time.
• Examples:
– Surtsey a newly formed volcanic island of the
coast of Iceland which formed in 1963
Erupted to life
in 1963
Stooped
erupting in
1967
1982
It was not unexpected that free-
living blue-green algae with the
ability to use sun energy and
the molecular nitrogen of the air
for growth and development, were
among the primary
immigrants of Surtsey.
2004
60 plant
species
growing on
the island
89 species of
birds
335 species of
invertebrates
• Examples continued:
• Glacial melt
• Examples continued:
• Catastrophic Events that remove soil are also
considered primary succession
Mt. St. Helen’s Pre
eruption. 1979
Mt. St. Helen’s after
eruption. 1981
One of the first plants to reappear,
appropriately enough, was the
fireweed (pictured above). The
presence of plant life enticed deer
and elk to return to the area. With
their wanderings, they stirred up even
more ash, freeing seeds and shoots of
plants still buried. Even though there
were over 1500 elk killed as a result
of the eruption, the elk population
had returned threefold by the early
1990’s thanks to mild winters, an
abundance of food on the debris
avalanche, and the lack of human
interference.
Low shrubs are
growing in 5–10
years
2014
• [Link]
Secondary succession
• After an area of previously established land has
been cleared:
• Could be from: Forest fire, flood, landslide, or
tsunami
• Soil already present so succession can occur more
rapidly than primary succession.
Changes Occurring During Succession
• Size of organisms increases with trees creating more
hospitable environment
• Energy flow becomes more complex as simple food chains
become more complex
• Soil, humus, water holding capacity, mineral content and
cycling all increase
• Biodiversity
increases because of more niches appear
Energy Flow and Productivity at different stages of
succession
• As succession develops productivity of the system also
changes.
• During 1st stages of succession
– Few producers present
– Gross productivity is low but energy lost in respiration by
these organisms is also low
– This means that net productivity is high because the
ecosystem is growing and accumulating biomass.
Energy Flow and Productivity at different
stages of succession
• As succession progresses
• more consumers are present and gross productivity may
be high.
• With more consumers there are more complex feeding
interactions and food webs so net productivity also
increases.
• GPP and NPP stabilizes as a climax community is reached
Energy Flow and Productivity at
different stages of succession
• As succession develops, productivity of the system
also changes.
• We will consider the Productivity : Respiration ratio
(P:R ratio)
If P : R = 1 production = respiration (steady-state)
If P : R > 1 biomass accumulates
If P : R < 1 biomass is lost
During succession, the following changes occur:
• Size of organisms increases, trees create more
hospitable env.
• Energy flow becomes more complex (food chains
become food webs)
• Increase of soil depth, humus, water-holding
capacity, mineral content and cycling
• Biodiversity increases (more niches), then falls
(climax community reached)
• NPP and GPP rise, then fall
• P:R ratio falls
1st stages of
succession
• Few producers present
• Gross productivity is low
• but energy lost from community respiration is low
(few, if any, consumers and decomposers)
• This means that net productivity is high
• because the ecosystem is growing and accumulating
biomass.
• P:R > 1
• Many r-strategists present
Later stages of succession
• Increased producer, consumer and decomposer
community
• More complex feeding interactions and food webs,
• Gross productivity is high
• But, it is balanced by equally high rates of
respiration (especially by decomposers)
• So, net productivity falls
• P:R approaching 1
• Many K-strategists
present
Climax community (mature community)
• Succession leads to a maximum accumulation of
biomass.
• Upper limit of biomass is reached when respiration
losses (R) from a system almost equal GPP.
• When this happens, NPP will equal 0
NPP = GPP – R
• P:R = 1
• Community is in a steady-state
Factors affecting climax communities
• Stable ecosystems are regulated by feedback
mechanisms which enable the system to rebalance
itself if changes occur.
• As climax communities are reached:
– food webs become more complex
– Interactions between diverse species ensures
consumers can use alternative food sources
– Plants have good reservoir of nutrients and
organic matter are not dependent on inputs from
outside the system
Factors affecting climax communities
• The exact nature of a climax community is
determined by climatic and edaphic factors (the
physical, chemical and biological properties of soil
ex: water content, organic content, texture, and pH)
• Climax communities have been reached when:
– Has higher biomass
– Larger species diversities
– Richer soil structure and organic content
– Larger longer lived species with a greater
proportion of K-strategists
– Greater habitat diversity
Human interference in climax
communities
• Humans can interfere/ interrupt natural succession
– Clear land for agriculture
– Mow away grass
– Use land for grazing animals
Natural events like fires and landslides can also
interrupt succession
Human interference in climax
communities
– After an interruption the climax community
which results will be different from the naturally
occurring one
– This is said to be a deflected succession and has
given rise to a plagioclimax (a climax community
that has replaced the naturally occurring
community as a result of human activity)
Examples
Rainforest clearing:
– Cleared land may be planted with crops that
leach out the nutrients of the soil preventing that
area from reaching a new climax community.
– Each year it is estimated that the size of a small
country is cleared.
Examples
Prairies:
– America prairies are a plagioclimax
– Over many years fire and human use have left
grasses in place of trees
– This limits tree growth so succession does not
continue
Examples
Moorland:
– United Kingdom has large areas of moorland they
are a plagioclimax
– People cut down trees for fuel usage
– Grazing animals eat plants preventing plant
development
Disturbances
• Communities are effected by disturbances to a
greater or lesser extent
• Natural disasters or human influence can cause a
disturbance
• These have an effect of making gaps available that
can be colonized by pioneer species
• This adds to the productivity and diversity of the
community
Zonation
• For each species there is an ecological niche
• That niche has boundary limits and outside of these
the species can not live
• Examples:
• Rocky ocean shore:
– where bands of organisms with different
tolerances to environmental conditions exist