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2015:groups:g6:start

Group 6

Your Money's Worth on Restaurant Earth

or On the maintenance of biodiversity in tide pools

Wiki site of the practical exercise of the IV Southern-Summer School on Mathematical Biology.

Here you will find the exercise assignment and the group's products.

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Introduction

Currently Planet Earth is shared by an estimated 10 million delicious species. One of the central goals in Ecology is to understand how can so many species coexist, given that they must ultimately compete for energy and matter. A classical explanation is that a species can maintain itself as long as it consumes resources in a manner, or under conditions, that set it sufficiently apart from other species.

Living beings can, however, alter environmental conditions as well as transform potential resources. Environmental diversity can, therefore, be the product of biological diversity. This seems to be the case of the rocky shores of New England where tide pools are present with two kinds of species compositions. Pools that have abundant periwinkle snails are dominated by perennial algal species, which are generally more resistant to herbivory. However, in the absence of snails, ephemeral fast growing algae cover the pools and provide shelter for predatory crabs, which in turn control snail population.

Periwinkle Snails nestled in a crack in the seawall of the Santa Barbara Breakwater

The Appetizer: Humble start, a one pool tart

Are the ecological interactions between algae, crabs and snails enough to explain that a tide pool can assume two distinct physiognomies? How do these ecological interactions favor one or another of the physiognomies?

The Main Course: At larger scales, Crabs & Snails!

In order to understand the coexistence of both kinds of pools and their resident species, we must consider ecological interactions set in a larger scale. Pools on a shore trade species by migration. Under which circumstances does a pool ensemble keep both physiognomies? If different species follow different movement patterns, is that result changed?

The Dessert: Persist in time, meal sublime!

(Dessert is optional, but there are no refunds)

Even if a pool ensemble seems to have a stable composition, disturbances are bound to happen, locally extinguishing populations at a pool and opening it up for recolonization. What are the conditions if both physiognomies are to persist through time?

(beverages not included)

References

  • Lubchenco (1978) Plant Species Diversity in a Marine Intertidal Community: Importance of Herbivore Food Preference and Algal Competitive Abilities The American Naturalist Vol. 112, No. 983 pp. 23-29 link

Group results

2015/groups/g6/start.txt · Last modified: 2024/01/09 18:45 by 127.0.0.1