Community Ecology Unit Objectives

1. Understand that a species presence in a community is due to its tolerance to abiotic factors and biological interactions.
2. Understand and use models of predator and prey interactions.
3. Understand that interaction among species drives coevolution.
4. Describe and give examples of chemical and physical plant defenses against herbivores.
5. Describe and give examples of animal defense methods including, Batesian and Mullerian mimicry.
6. Understand the factors creating structure in a community:
   1. vegetation and trophic structures.
   2. affects of keystone predators
   3. competitive exclusion
   4. what is a niche?
   5. resource partitioning as evidence of past competition.
7. Describe and give examples of other interactions:
   1. symbiosis
   2. parasitism
   3. mutualism
   4. commensalism
8. Understand succession in communities and give examples including some from the history of Whidbey island.