A) Web Site Name: FSCJ

Community Ecology

Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with their environment. For example, ecologists study animals and plants to try to work out why particular species may be increasing, or decreasing in numbers. They also look at how individual species are affected by the organisms around them.

A) Web site name: FSCJ

Web site address: http://web.fscj.edu/David.Byres/mutualism.html

Read “Symbiosis in the Forest”

1). What is “symbiosis”? ______

2). What is “mutualism”? ______

3). What are “obligate symbionts”? ______

Click on “Go to example of ant-acacia”

4). What benefit does each organism obtain from this relationship? a) the ant benefits from ______

b) the plant benefits from ______

Click on “Go to example of lichens”

5). How does this relationship benefit the : a) fungus ______b) alga ______

6). Explain the difference between endomycorrhizae and ectomycorrhizae:

______

Click on “Go to intro page”

7). What is “commensalism”? ______

Many ecological studies look at how predators catch their prey, and how the prey tries to avoid ending up as a meal.

B) Web site name: Science Daily

Web URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110310131100.htm

Read “Non-native snakes”

8). What is the scientific name for the Burmese python? ______

9). Why are these snakes particularly hazardous to native birds? ______

10). How many Burmese pythons were collected during this study? ______

11). Which five bird species that were eaten by the snakes are species of special concern, or federally endangered? ______

12). Why is it hard to control the population of these Burmese pythons? ______

Ecologists often look at natural “disasters” such as the volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, to see the effect on local plants and animals.

C) Web site name: Volcanic violence

Web URL: http://whyfiles.org/031volcano/6.html

Read “Lessons from the wasteland”

13). What are “pyroclastic flows”? ______

14). List two ways that organisms survived the eruption: ______

15). What are examples of “disturbances”? ______

16). Which animals helped mix seeds with ash and soil? ______

17). Why was recovery much different from what ecologists had predicted? ______

18). When did Krakatau explode? ______

19). List three methods that organisms use to colonize islands: ______

20). Why does the number of species eventually stabilize? ______

21). How many species of bats have recolonized Krakatau? ______

22). How are pioneer plants dispersed? ______

Recently there has been some concern about a decline in the numbers of amphibians ( such as frogs and toads ) that seems to be worldwide.

D) Web site name: Amphibia Web

Web URL: http://amphibiaweb.org/declines/declines.html#why

Read “Worldwide Amphibian Declines”

23). What percentage of amphibian species are theatened? ______%

24). Which three areas of the world have suffered the most declines?

______

25). What are the three main reasons for the decline of amphibians ? ______

26). Click on one factor in Table 1 and summarize the information: ______

27). Click on a different factor in Table 1 and summarize the information: ______

28). Does it matter if amphibians are declining? Explain your answer.

______

29). One solution to reverse amphibian declines is: ______

______

Ecologists often study particular habitats, such as wetlands. The following article looks at the loss of wetlands in the US.

E) Web site name: National Geographic magazine

Web URL: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/05/160518-brain- disease-swamp-birds-everglades-kites/

Read “Deadly brain disease is driving swamp birds insane”

30). How is the snail kite adapted for feeding specifically on snails?

______

31). Why did Florida’s native apple snails decline? ______

32). How did exotic apple snails get into Florida’s waterways? ______

33). Why is AVM difficult to observe?

______34). Which aquatic plant does the toxic algae prefer to grow on? ______

35). Why is Susan Wilde particularly worried about Lake Toho? ______

36). How did Wilde test to see if Lake Toho hydrilla could be a problem for birds? ______

37). Why is it hard to tell if snail kites have been killed by AVM? ______