Community Ecology

1)What is the difference between a community and an ecosystem? Go to the following weblink:

http://virtualbiologylab.org/NetWebHTML_FilesJan2016/StreamDiversityModel.html

2. What is the species richness of this stream after sampling time 500? What was the total catch?

3. Which species has/have the highest relative abundance? Calculate the relative abundance value for this/these species.

“Reset” the model and slide the “Sampling time” bar on the bottom left to 250. Now open the seine and hit go again. Try other values of sampling time and rerun the seine. How does the sampling time affect species richness?

4. Now look at how pollution affects stream diversity. Reset the model, then adjust the pollution level to “Moderate” and open the seine for a sampling time of 500. What is the species richness? What was the total catch?

5. Finally run the model under “Severe” pollution for a sampling time of 500. How does pollution affect biodiversity in the stream?

6. Based on your investigation of pollution, which species are able to tolerate severe pollution and which are highly sensitive to pollution? Remember some species may be between these two extremes.

Watch the following set of videos and determine the type of species interaction that occurs: http://www-tc.pbs.org/wnet/nature/files/2008/08/fishmen.mov