Species Interactions &
Community Structure
Chapter 17
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Outline
• Community Webs
Complexity and Structure
• Keystone Species
Effects on Diversity
• Exotic Predators
• Mutualistic Keystones
2
How do you envisage the
community structure?
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• One of the earliest approach to
community structure was to
describe who eats whom?
• Food web, a summary of feeding
interactions within a community. It
reflects the community potraits
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Community Webs
• Summerhayes and Elton studied feeding
relations on Bear Island in High Arctic.
Primary producers were terrestrial plants
and aquatic algae.
Fed by several kinds of terrestrial and
aquatic invertebrates.
Consumed by birds.
– Attacked by arctic foxes.
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Arctic Food Web: Simple food
web
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Detailed Food Web Reveal Great
Complexity
• Winemiller described feeding relations
among tropical freshwater fish.
Represented food webs in various ways:
Only included common species.
Top-predator sink.
Excluded weakest trophic links.
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Only 10 fish feeding
Complex Interactions
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Strong Interactions and Food Web Structure
• R. Paine suggested feeding activities of a
few species may have a dominant influence
on community structure.
Dominant or foundation species- b/c of its
huge biomass it has a strong impact on
community structure
Reeds in wetlands- will not cover
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Concept 2: Indirect Interactions
Indirect interactions between species are
fundamental to communities
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• Direct interactions include: competition,
predation, commensalisms, herbivory and
mutualisms
• Indirect interactions between species are
also fundamental to communities
One species affect another through a
third, intermediary species such as trophic
cascade
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Indirect commesalism
• Commesalisms: one+, other is indifferent
• Indirect commensalisms: occurs when the
activity of one species indirectly- that is
through an intermediatary species- benefit
another species without it self being helped
or harmed
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Concept 3 Keystone Species
If keystone species reduce likelihood of
competitive exclusion, their activities
would increase the number of species that
could coexist in communities.
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What Is a Keystone Species?
• A keystone species is a species whose very
presence contributes to a diversity of life
• Whose extinction would consequently lead
to the extinction of other forms of life.
• Keystone species help to support the
ecosystem (entire community of life) of
which they are a part.
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Keystone...
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Keystone Species Concept
• Since 1969, non-predator
keystone species have been
identified and studied, such as
beavers (Castor canadensis),
bison (Bison bison), kangaroo
rats (Dipodymys spp.), and plant
species such as the quaking
aspen (Populus tremuloides).
• The two keystone species we
will be identifying later are
salmon and wolves.
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Salmon as a Keystone Species
-Salmon play a vital role inecosystems
-They help support approximately 137 different
species
-41 mammals
-89 birds
-5 reptiles
-2 different amphibians
Without salmon as a keystone species, we could see
a tremendous decrease in dependent creatures.
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Northwest species now struggling because of depleted
salmon runs include the following:
Black Grizzly Bear
Bear
Bald Eagle
Osprey
Caspian tern
Harlequin duck 23
BEES
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•
Bees
Bees are central to the systems that support
food production for human beings.
•
• An international study of 115 food crops
grown in over 200 countries showed that
75% of the crops were pollinated by animals,
especially by BEES.
• Bees pollinate 80% of the food grown
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Initial Keystone Species
•
Concept
The idea was developed in 1969
by Dr. Robert Paine
• The idea also originated from
his work with the Makah Indian
Tribe and lands along
Washington’s Pacific coastline.
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FOOD WEB STRUCTURE & SPECIES
DIVERSITY
• Pain began studying the relationship between
overall species diversity within food webs and
proportion of the community represented by
predator
Atlantic Ocean: 81 species and 16% predator
Sargasso Sea: 268 species, 39% predator
• Pain described intertidal zone at Mukkaw Bay,
Washington figure 17.6
• Paine also described subtropical food web from
California fig.17.6
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Food web
• Pisaster feeds
on acorn
barnacles and
mussels in rocky @
intertidal
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Food Web Structure and Species
Diversity
• Paine found as number of species in
intertidal food webs increased, proportion
of the web represented by predators also
increased.
According to his hypothesis, higher
proportion of predators produces higher
predation pressure on prey populations,
in turn promoting higher diversity
through reducing the chance of
“competitive exclusion”.
Removal of starfish (top predator) caused
decline in diversity from 15 to 8 species.
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Can Herbivore be a Keystone?
See intertidal algal species
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Consumers’ Effects on Local Diversity:
Herbivore can be a Keystone species
• Effect of herbivores on plant diversity:
Herbivore food preference.
Competitive relationships between plant
species.
Variance in feeding preferences and
competitive relationships across
environments.
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Fish as River Keystone Species
Power investigated whether
California roach Hsperoleucas
symmetricus and steelhead trout
Oncorhhyncus mykiss
significantly influence food web
structure.
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Fish as River Keystone Species
Predatory fish
decrease algal
densities.
Low predator
density increased
midge production.
Increased feeding
pressure on algal
populations.
Thus, fish act as
Keystone Species.
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Effects of Predation by Birds on
Herbivory
• Atlegrim studied influence of birds on
herbivorous insects and insect-induced plant
damage.
Insectivorous birds may act as keystone
species via effects on herbivorous insects.
Larval insect densities peak when many
insectivorous birds are feeding their
young.
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Keystone Species: Summation
• Power : Keystone species exert strong
effects on their community structure, despite
low biomass.
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CONSERVATION POINT of VIEW
Concept review.
Keystone species have a
disproportionately large influence on
ecosystem structure and function.
Remove the species, the whole
ecosystem can change
Management/Restoration of keystone
species (particularly predators) is often
an important goal of restoration.
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Exotic Predators
• Exotic predators can collapse and simplify
the structure of food webs
• Exotic species have dramatic impacts on
communities because they were outside the
evolutionary experience of local prey
populations.
Nile Perch (Lates nilotica) exotic fish
predator in Lake Victoria.
Fish fauna dramatically reduced.
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Exotic Predators
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Exotic Predators
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Exotic Predators
• Kaufman pointed out changes in Lake
Victoria fish community coincide with other
ecosystem changes.
Dissolved oxygen concentrations
significantly decreased.
Cultural eutrophication.
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İstılacı Tür Aşılanması
Eğridir Gölü'nde Balık Üretimi
700
600 Levrek
500
Sazan
400
300
Diğer
200 Balıklar
100
0
1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991
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Concept 4: MUTUALISTIC
KEYSTONE
Mutualistic species can act as keystone
species
•Predators can act as a keystone
•Herbivore Can act as a Keystone
•Mutualistic species as a keystone
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A Cleaner Fısh as a Keystone
Species
• Many fish in tropics clean the
ectoparasities of other fish
Cleaner wasser remove
about 1200 parasites/day
• What effect might cleaning
activity by the cleaner wasser
have on diversity
Experiment carried out to
test this showed that
cleaner fish had strong
effect on diversity
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Seed Dispersal Mutualists as Keystone
Species
• Christian observed native ants
disperse 30% of shrubland seeds in
fynbos of South Africa.
Seed-dispersing ants bury seeds
in sites safe from predators and
fire.
Large seeds
Introduced Argentine ants have
displaced many native ant
species that disperse large
seeds.
Substantial reductions in
seedling recruitment by plants
producing large seeds. 63
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Ants and Agriculture Keystone predators
for pest control
• 17 centuries ago, Chinese farmers used citrus ant to control
herbivorous insect
• US department of Agriculture sent workers to Chine to inquiry
about pest control
•They came across with some villages where main occupation is
growing ants for orange garden for 17 century
Read the rest..
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Review
• Community Webs
Complexity and Structure
• Keystone Species
Effects on Diversity
• Exotic Predators
• Mutualistic Keystones
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