ESS Lab help

[Zeppy]

Hey all,

I have a lab coming up, and the planning portion is due Tuesday. The lab is 2.1.7, the question being "describe and explain population interactions using examples of a named species". My teacher recommended having our "question" start with, What is the effect of inter/intracompetetion of ____ on _____... Besides being confused by the question, I'm finding it hard to find a topic to discuss. She limited it to vegetation, since we're actually doing this in class afterwards.

Any ideas?

[TykeDragon]

If the concept in the question is confusing you, I can try to shed some light.

Inter/Intraspecific competition refers to internal/external competition. This is usually for resources, and usually most competition occurs when two species are very similar. I guess that this would be tested with the plants by making two species compete for the resources (planting them together maybe?) and seeing which dominates...

For an overall explanation of population interactions:

There are four types of population interactions:

Predation: Simple - predator and prey. Remember plants can be the predators sometimes.

Parasitism: A parasite organism benefits at the expense of another (host). For example, some plants draw food from the host via their roots. Ectoparasites live on the surface of the host (eg ticks and mites) and endoparasites live inside (like tapeworms).

Mutualism: A 'symbiotic' (symbiosis means two organisms live together) relationship in which both organisms benefit.

Competition (seems most relevant to your lab): Obviously if resources are insufficient, there will be competition for them in order to survive. Interspecific competition is between different species (usually when they are similar - or their niches overlap to some degree. Remember a niche is basically everything about a species - how it acts, where it lives, behaviour... unique to every species). Intraspecific competition is within a species (obviously all individuals are competing for the exact same resources as they need the same)

Often, if two plants occupying similar niches are grown together, the poorer competitor is eliminated - this is probably what your plant experiment will be like.

Sorry I don't have any specific species names or anything, but you did say you were struggling to understand the question, and I hope this makes the topic make more sense.

Edited April 17, 2013 by TykeDragon