CHAPTER 12 :

Community
Ecology

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 Learning Outcome

1. Describe the community features

2. Explain the types of succession
3. Elaborate the concept of succession

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2. Distributional Relations of
Species in Communities
- Similarity between communities

1. Community
boundaries
Features of Communities

3. Indicator species in Communities

-Types of indicator species
- criteria of indicator species
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 1. Community Boundaries
Geographic Area
Boundaries exist and should be sharp and
discontinuous.

If transition between 2 communities is quick

then differences are clear

If sp composition and patterns of dominance

shift gradually then boundaries are not clear

To classify communities : community similarity

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2. Distributional Relations of
Species in Communities
One method to compare communities that look similar in
sp composition: Index of Similarity

x = numbers of species in one community

y = number of species in another community
z = species occurring in both communities

Index of Similarity = 2z/(x + y).

The index range from 0 (no similarity) to 1 (complete

similarity)
Eg in a forest
Comm A = 26 sp, B = 27 and Z = 17
Index = 2*17/27 + 26 = 0.64
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 Distributional Relations of
Species in Communities
High indices of similarity = the sp are found
in both communities

The index of similarity may differ for

different organisms that are being compared
between the communities

The coefficient does not consider the relative

abundance of species it is more useful in
the presence and absence of species

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 3. Indicator Species in
Communities

The presence and changes in

numbers of the indicator sp
reflects changes in other
members of the community

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 3. Indicator Species in
Communities
Several definition of Indicator species:

1. Umbrella sp sp with large area requirement

these can be used in conservation to bring many
other sp under protection
e.g.: elephants, tigers, seladang, grizzly bears

2. Flagship sp are popular, charismatic sp that

serve as conservation symbols
e.g.: panda, orang utan, tapir

3. Keystone sp fundamental sp that maintain the

structure of the community if they are lost then
the existing community is lost with them
e.g.: sea otter, carnivorous starfish Pisaster
ochracceus 9
 Criteria for indicator sp

signpost of community or to
determine community health.

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 Criteria for indicator sp
1. sp should be taxonomically well known and
stable

2. they should be permanent residents of the

community

3. sp should be able to be surveyed easily

4. sp should be specialized to one community or

habitat

5. the indicator sp should be closely associated

with a group of other taxa
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 Community Change
The development of the community by the
action of vegetation on the environment
leading to establishment of new sp is termed as
succession
a process of directional change in
vegetation in ecological time

The modification allows additional sp to

establish.
Can be recognized by a progressive change in
sp composition of the community.

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 Community Change
2 types of change can occur in communities:

1) Linear/Directional- Communities
change from simple to complex
associations
2) Cyclical non-directional, repeated,
similar sequences of changes
predictable changes

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What factors cause community
change?
How predictable are community
changes?

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 Primary succession

2 TYPES OF SUCCESSION

Secondary succession

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 Primary Succession
Primary occurs where region completely
bare ground and there are no living
organisms (e.g. bottom of drained lakes,
exposed land after glaciers retreat, area cleared
by fire and volcanic islands)

As the vegetation develops it provides shades,

enriches the soil with humus, together with
the associated animals communities, modified
the present habitat.

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Primary succession
begins with naked ground exposed by geologic
activity. E.g.: Krakatau explosion
example: lichen -> moss -> grass -> shrub ->
trees -> complex forest

Secondary succession
begins on soil from which previous community
has been removed (by fire, agriculture, etc.)
example: grass -> shrub -> trees -> complex
forest
can proceed much faster because the soil has
been prepared by the previous community
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 Concepts of succession
(models)
The key assumption of the classical
theory of succession is that species
replace one another
- e.g.: lichen-mosses-shrub-trees
because at each stage they modify the
environment and
make it less suitable for them and
more suitable for others
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 1. Facilitation model

4. Random
3. Tolerance Concept of succession Colonization
model
model

2. Inhibition model

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 1. Facilitation model
sp replacement is orderly and
predictable and provides
directionality for succession

early sp facilitate the arrival of
later sp

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Example: Alder
trees (shrubs)
facilitate
succession by
fixing nitrogen
in soils, making
them more
suitable for
invasion by
birch, aspen
spruce trees
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 2. Inhibition model
Sp present in early succession inhibit establishment of
later sp

which arrives first will establishes until it dies

not an orderly replacement but because who gets there

first is by chance

no sp is competitive superior to each other

succession proceeds from short lived sp to long lived sp

Succession becomes more individualistic and less

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predictable communities are not moving to climax
 Crabgrass (summer) and
Horseweed (winter) disperse well
(r-selected), and tolerate sunny,
bare soil conditions, but are easily
outshaded by perennials such as
broomsedge (example of inhibition
by broomsedge)

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 3. Tolerance model
The presence of early successional species is not
essential
any sp can start succession as long as they
have tolerant to the limited resources

Some sp are competitively superior and

they predominate in the climax community

Sp are replaced by other sp that are more

tolerant of limiting resources

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 4. Random colonization
model
illogical model with no ecological
interactions

No facilitation and no competition

succession can move in any direction

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 Summary
The first 3 (facilitation, inhibition, tolerance) agree in
predicting that pioneer sp appear first because they
have adaptive features like:
Rapid growth
Abundant seed production
High dispersal power

In facilitation model replacement is facilitated by

previous stages (sp)
In inhibition model, sp replacement is inhibited by
present residents until damaged or killed
In tolerance and random colonization models, sp
replacement is not affected by the present residents
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