Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

Ecology - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Dispersion Patterns
        
        Clumped
        • Most common
        • Resources clustered
        • Social groups
        Example: elephants, humans, gray whales
        
        Uniform
        • Even spacing
        • Territoriality / competition
        Example: nesting birds
        
        Random
        • Unpredictable spacing
        • Rare in nature
        Example: some plants
      - Demography
        
        Study of:
        Birth rates
        Death rates
        Survivorship
        
        Tools:
        Life tables
        Survivorship curves
        
        Big idea:
        Population size is just math with
        babies and funerals
  - - - Formula
        dN/dt = rN
        Where:
        N = population size
        r = intrinsic rate of increase
      - Shape
        J-shaped curve
        Fast. Aggressive.
      - Per Capita Growth Rate
        r = b - d
        Where:
        b = birth rate
        d = death rate
      - Big idea:
        Exponential growth is nature saying
        “what if we never stopped?”
  - - - Formula
        dN/dt = rN (K - N/K)
      - Shape
        S-shaped curve
        Growth slows near K
      - Big idea:
        The environment eventually says:
        “Absolutely not. We’re full.”
  - - - Reproductive Strategies
        
        Semelparity (“Big Bang”)
        Reproduce once
        Then die
        Example: salmon
        
        Iteroparity
        Reproduce multiple times
        Example: humans
        
        Trade-Offs
        Energy is limited → organisms must choose
        Example:
        Many small offspring vs
        Few well-cared-for offspring
        
        r-selected vs K-selected
        
        r-selected
        Many offspring
        Little parental care
        Fast reproduction
        Example: insects
        
        Big idea:
        Life history = evolutionary budgeting
        Nature runs on a savage accountant
        
        K-selected
        Few offspring
        High parental care
        Slow reproduction
        Example: elephants
  - - - Age Structure
        Population predictions depend on:
        Young vs old population balance
      - Ecological Footprint
        = Land + water needed to support resource use and waste
        Measures sustainability
        
        Big idea:
        Humans are the only species that invented spreadsheets and still ignore limits
      - Carrying Capacity of Earth
        Uncertain… and humanity keeps pressing the “find out” button
- - - - Major Interaction Types
        
        Competition (- / -)
        Both species harmed
        Cause: both need same limited resource
        Examples:
        lions vs hyenas
        plants competing for sunlight
        
        Competitive Exclusion
        Two species cannot permanently coexist
        if competing for exact same resource
        
        Exploitation (+ / -)
        One benefits
        One gets exploited
        Includes:
        Predation
        Predator kills prey
        Example: hawk → mouse
        
        Herbivory
        Animal eats plant/algae
        Example: caterpillar → leaf
        
        Parasitism
        Parasite benefits, host harmed
        Example: tick → dog
        
        Mutualism (+ / +)
        Both benefit
        Example: bees + flowers
        
        Commensalism (+ / 0)
        One benefits
        Other unaffected
        Example: barnacles + whales
        
        Resource Partitioning
        Species divide resources differently
        → allows coexistence
        Example: different birds feeding at different tree heights
      - Big idea:
        Nature invented passive aggression long before humans did
  - - - Higher Diversity =
        more biomass
        more stability
        more resistance to invasion
      - Trophic Structure
        = feeding relationships
      - Food Chain
        Producer → consumers → top carnivore
        Simple and suspiciously optimistic
      - Food Web
        Multiple connected food chains
        Actual reality: chaotic spaghetti
    - - Foundation Species
        Create habitat
        Example: kelp forests, corals
      - Keystone Species
        Small abundance
        Huge impact
        Example: sea otters controlling sea urchins
        Remove them → ecological chaos
      - Ecosystem Engineers
        Physically change environment
        Example: beavers
        Tiny furry civil engineers
    - - Bottom-Up
        Controlled by: nutrients/resources
        Starts at producers
      - Top-Down
        Controlled by: predators
        Starts at top consumers
  - - - Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis
        Moderate disturbance → highest diversity
        Too little: dominant species take over
        Too much: nothing survives
        Nature likes “just enough chaos”
    - - Primary Succession
        Starts with: NO soil
        Example: lava flow, glacier retreat
        Starts from ecological zero
      - Secondary Succession
        Soil remains
        Example: fire, farming, flood
        Recovery mode
  - - - Species-Area Curve
        Larger area → more species
        More room = more roommates
      - Island Equilibrium Model
        Species richness depends on:
        Island Size
        bigger = more species
        Distance from Mainland
        closer = more immigration
        
        Equilibrium
        Immigration = extinction
        Dynamic balance