Waitakere Range Research Paper

Ecological succession is the process where an ecosystem changes through time after some disturbance. Ecological succession is the major cause of ecological change. During this time, the community begins with few pioneering plants and animals and develops until it becomes stable. Also, it continues so that more and different kinds of organisms can be found in the location which leads to a diverse community (MacMillan 38)

Since organisms living in communities form interdependent relationships, a change in the abundance of one species will not only affect the physical and more direct interactions, but could indirectly affect the number of other species within the community as a consequence (Wootton 1993). These indirect affects rise because the interactions between pairs of species are not independent of other species, such as increasing the density of vegetation may increase the survival rate of the prey, reducing the intensity of the interaction between the predator and prey (Wootton 1993, 1994). An

This report discusses an experiment to study the relationship between the ecological niche and competition. The hypothesis formulated states that if competition traits are identical and resources are abundant than multiple species will be able to coexist, and if one species has an advantage over the others than this species will be more likely to out compete another species for resources. The objective of this experiment is to use a simulation model of a rabbit pen containing four different “species” of rabbits. The model establishes rules for each species that are based on a number of important characteristics reflecting their ecological niches and their competitive abilities. These

There are different sorts of environments scattered over the earth, but what and where are they? In World Biodiversity Expedition, the reader is to collect data about these organisms and the environment they are settled at. A biome is often mistaken as an ecosystem, however, it is defined by non-living factors such as climate, soils, and vegetation. This unit helped me understand more clearly that there are so many organisms that I did not know anything about. I learned a lot from this specific unit when it comes to discoverying animals and organisms that I did not know exist.

In general, top predators and green plants are common because of the different community organisms such as the Chippewa Natural Forest that is in total disorder. These species come and go as free spirits and their colonization’s possible extinction are not determined by the presence or absence of other species (Wilson, 1992, p. 163). In fact, the amount of biodiversity is considered a random process in which the species fail to coexist except by accident. Secondly, some species are closely independent, that the food web is design so rigid the symbioses is so tightly bound and the community is virtually a super organism (Wilson, 1992, p. 16). Therefore, one species such as the Acadian flycatcher or goblin fern is a super organism, that thousands

In today’s world, hardly any species of wildlife become extinct from natural causes. Europeans hunt animals to such an extent that we classify it as overhunting. We destroy their habitat, and introduce other animals that are a threat to endangered animals or are competition for resources and food. Habitat destruction is the greatest threat to both animals and plants.

Although some species have very specific microhabitat needs (such as streamside gravel beds or montane herb-fields) most

Parasitic wasps and flies lay their eggs either in the egg masses or in the larvae of tussock moths (Wickman et al. 1981). Spiders, predaceous insects, and birds also prey upon all life stages of the Douglas-fir tussock moth (Brooks et al. 1978). These parasites and predators are only effective when populations of Douglas-fir tussock moths are low, due to the concept of predator satiation. This concept basically says that predators receive enough food when populations of the prey are high, but hunt their prey more intensively when prey populations are low (Harrison and Wilcox 1995). Harrison and Wilcox (1995) showed this with tussock moths in that outbreaks could be prevented by introducing predators of tussock moths when moth population numbers were

Given these circumstances in the country there is a rich variety of fauna and flora, since the quantities of species find their habitat in different regions of the country. "The

Habitat can be considered as the optimal location where any one species can live, reproduce, and grow in an ecological time scale (Kellner et al. 1992). As the climatic conditions of the world are changing at a rapid pace, it is important to understand how species will adapt with the weather and learn to adjust their way of living. Understanding how a species survives in different climatic regions is very important for the future management of the species population and habitat. With this knowledge an individual could more efficiently manage their habitat to make it more suitable for the species to live under the given climatic conditions.

Two examples of interspecific competition, which is the competition for limited resources between individuals of different species are lions and leopards because both feed on the same prey, and two different species of trees in a dense forest because they compete for the incoming sunlight (Diamond, 1978).

These are predators that consume the second trophic level, such as the mice and insects which absorbed the energy through the consumption of its energy through consumption of the first-trophic level. The fourth trophic-level is the tertiary consumers. This level consists of carnivores that eat carnivores. An example of this would be snakes and fish. The snakes would consume the rats, frogs, mice and birds and the fish would eat insects. Lastly, the fifth trophic level is the quaternary consumers. These are again carnivores that each other carnivores an example of this would be sharks and hawks. The shark would eat the fish and the hawk would eat the snake. However, the living organism consumes the energy nutrients can be absorbed as

The introductions of non-native species can cause significant changes to the biodiversity of ecosystems (Hobbs 2000, Van Auken 2000). These changes, often mediated by competition, can affect the physiognomy of a landscape. These changes then affect other species in

Before pests were introduced into New Zealand, it was home to thousands of birds – and these all evolved without the threat of predatory land mammals. Except for two species of bat, there were no land mammals in New Zealand before humans arrived. Because of this, plants and animals did not evolve defence mechanisms or any way to protect themselves from the predators. For instance, the leaves of plants do not contain poisons to deter browsing mammals, while many birds and insects have lost their ability to fly. Possums, rats, stoats, ferrets and feral cats all kill adult birds, their chicks and raid their nests for eggs. They are also major competitors for – sometimes wiping out entirely – critical food sources such as supplies of fruits,

The number of producers compared to the number of consumers is less than the consumers. The amount of primary consumers is three while the secondary are three and the tertiary are four. The trophic levels these feeders animals occupy are second, third and fourth trophic levels. Also known as primary, secondary and tertiary consumers. The animals that form these trophic levels are rabbits, birds, deer, mountain lions, fox's, coyotes, owls, eagles hawks and falcons.