COMMUNITY ECOLOGY
INTERACTIONS IN A COMMUNITY
A.R. Farmer
13 July 2011
Community
A group of populations occuring in a particular area,
e.g. zebras, hyenas, giraffes
IMPORTANT CONCEPTS
•
•
•
•
Community
Producers, Consumers, Decomposers
Predation
Competition
Intraspecific; Interspecific; Competitive exclusion;
• Symbioses - 3 types
parasitism
 mutualism
 commensalism
Trophic levels:
•
Produces(mainly plants)
Consumers
 Primary (herbivores)
 Secondary (carnivores)
 Tersiary (carnivores)
• Decomposers (bacteria and
fungi - saprophytes
Feeding levels in a
community
A community is a
group of
populations
(producers,
consumers and
decomposers)
living together in
a habitat
Interactions within a Community
The five main types are:
 Predation
 Competition
 Parasitism
 Mutualism
 Commensalism