Community Interactions
A type of interaction where both species benefit
Mutualism
Another word for producers meaning "self obtainer of food"
autotroph
Energy transfers between organisms when one organism does this
Eats the other organism
The cutting down of trees which can cause a loss of species and their habitat
Deforestation
The ability of an ecosystem to return from its original state after a disturbance
Ecosystem Stability
The unique role, or job, of a species in a community
Niche
This chemical process only occurs in producers
Photosynthesis
The average percentage of energy that makes it to the next trophic level of an Energy Pyramid
10%
The loss of this group of organisms can cause the greatest impact to the rest of the food web of an ecosystem
Producers
Non-native species that when introduced to a new environment can "out compete" native species and destabilize an ecosystem.
Invasive Species
The cattle egret, a bird, follows cattle and eats insects stirred up by the cattle foraging. The bird gets food, while the cattle are unharmed. This interaction is an example of this form of symbiosis.
Commensalism
The trophic level responsible for breaking down the remains of plants and animals
A tick attaches to and sucks blood from a white-tail deer, and the deer weakens. This is an example of this form of symbiosis.
Parasitism
Irrigation for agriculture pulls large amounts of water from deep underground. Along with the water, dissolved salts are brought to the surface and increase in concentration over time, causing death and relocation of species that are intolerant of the salt due to this environment change.
Salinization
Rapid increases in the growth rates of algae in a water system, known as algal blooms, caused by fertilizer runoff can cause massive population death creating "dead-zones" because of a lack of availability of this critical element.
Oxygen (O2)
A type of interaction that harms both species
Competition
This trophic level has the least amount of available energy in an energy pyramid
Tertiary consumers
Cedar waxwings and American robins are birds that both eat tree fruits. In spring, there is no fresh fruit to eat. Instead, the birds eat dried fruit left on trees from the previous year. Robins chasing waxwings away from trees in their territory would be an example of this type of community interaction.
Competition
All species depend on these for recycling nutrients in ecosystems.
Decomposers
Algal blooms which can drastically destabilize an ecosystem are caused by an increase in this element common in commercial fertilizers
Nitrogen (N)
The following graph showing changes in two species' densities over time indicates this type of species interaction.
Predation or Parasitism
The form of energy that is lost at every step of the energy pyramid
Heat
Environmental scientists are concerned about the loss of the kelp forest. The kelp forest is an important and divers ecosystem off the coast of North America. The dense growth of kelp provides a home and food for many organisms, such as fish. Sea urchins live in the kelp forest, feed in the kelp itself. Sea otters eat the sea urchins. Without sea otters, sea urchins reproduce rapidly and eat all the kelp in an area. Environmental scientists want to protect sea otters populations because they do this.
Control the number of sea urchins and increase the kelp habitat.
Some toxins are stored in this in an organism's body and do not leave the body.
Fat
This helps maintain the stability of ecosystems in the face of ecosystem disturbance due to a large amount of species in similar niches that can make up for the function of a species that is lost.
Biodiversity / Large Species Diversity