LIFESCI 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Interspecific Competition, Exponential Growth, Density Dependence
21 Jan 2015
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Intra-specific competition: intra-specific competition: the major cause of density dependence and is the key driver of natural selection. Caterpillar munches on leaves for a little and it won"t kill it: low lethality, long duration: parasites. Can last a long time, but doesn"t typically kill the host: high lethality, short duration: predators. Occurs quickly but is lethal (prey does not survive to be eaten a second time: high lethality, high duration: parasitoids. Example: wasps use other organisms as food for their babies mother wasp deposits eggs into caterpillars, eggs incubate inside the caterpillar, and then when they hatch, they eat the caterpillar from inside out. Caterpillar does not survive, but long term interaction: pathogens: bacteria, viruses, protozoa (unicellular) that infect other hosts and may cause illness. Commensalism (+/0: one species benefits and the other is unaffected, example: dung beetles use dung from other species as food, animals that produce the dung are unaffected by this.
