CAOT 31 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Competitive Exclusion Principle, Allopatric Speciation, Niche Differentiation
4 Oct 2020
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Document Summary
Niches: primary producers consume nutrients and are recycled by abiotic factors, consumers don"t do this, without reproduction, they would go extinct. In reality this doesn"t happen to prey or plants. Cycles lokta-volterra model: prey numbers grow more food for predators, more food more predators, more predators less prey, less prey less predators, less prey numbers increase, cycle restarts. Effects: system is stable over the long term, regular decrease of both means other species can coexist, even if they are competitors, doesn"t show disease or prey. Niches: position an organism takes in an ecosystem, and how it interacts with the environment, summary of tolerances and resources needed to maintain a viable population. Abundance: varies within a niche, conditions close to optimum population increases, tails off for given restriction. Niche breadth: specialised species = narrow niche, generalists can occupy wider range of conditions and overlap, e. g. prey size in lizards. Individuals under competition means reduced survivorship: exploitation.
