Biology 2483A Lecture 16: "Change In Communities"

• School: Western University
• Department: Biology
• Course: Biology 2483A
• Professor: Hugh Henry

Document Summary

Saint helens erupted in 1980, a surprising number of species survived. Gophers survived in their tunnels as their preferred habitat (grassy meadows) expanded after the eruption. Their burrowing activities facilitated plant succession by bringing organic soil, seeds, and fungal spores to the surface. Newly-formed and isolated ponds were colonized by amphibians very quickly as they were exploiting tunnels created by northern pocket gophers to make their way from one pond to another. Communities are always changing, some more than others. Human actions are becoming one of the strongest forces behind community change, and we have an imperfect understanding of the consequences of those actions. Agents of change act on communities across all temporal and spatial scales. Various examples of agents of change include both abiotic (waves and currents, wind, water supply, chemical composition, temperature, and volcanic activity) and biotic (negative interactions) phenomena. Agents of change vary in frequency and intensity.