BIOL 4120 Principles of Ecology Lecture 12 Interspecific ：4120生物学讲座12种间生态学原理.pptVIP

* Relationship of corals and algae: complex, sometimes indirect Some corals can live with algae (mutualism). But some other corals can be indirectly harmed by the presence of algae. The health of coral species such as this Pocillopora verrucosa suffers when algae become established nearby. Nature Picture Library/ Alamy. Shading, allopathy, but a new mechanism proposed is that algae: * Antibiotics can reverse the negative effects of algae on coral growth. Corals were grown in the presence of algae with and without antibiotic treatment. The results suggested that the algae were exerting their negative effects on the health of the corals by supporting microbial overgrowth on their surfaces. After J. E. Smith et al., Ecology Letters 9: 835– 845 ( 2006). Interactions between competing species that are mediated by consumers are often referred to as apparent competition— apparent because the depressing effect of one competitor species on the other resembles exploit-ative or interference competition, but represents the action of a different mechanism. We have seen apparent compe-tition in the interactions between sage and grasses and between mussels and other rocky intertidal organisms: in both cases, consumers determined the competitive bal-ance. The outcome of competition depended less on the ability of competitors to utilize food or other resources efficiently than on their ability to avoid or tolerate their own consumers. In the case of the sage– grass interaction, the shrubs provide protective cover for herbivores that prefer to eat the more nutritious grasses. Russian biologist G.F. Gause Competition between two species P. aurelia has a high growth rate and can tolerate a higher population density Two Paramecium (unicellular ciliated protozoan) One with higher rate of growth: Extinction of slower grower any microscopic unicellular alga of the phylum Bacillariophyta, occurring in marine or fresh water singly or in colonies, each cell having a cell wall made of