Competition and predation 1400-125KiD

Competition and predation are two of the antagonistic relationships between species. Both apply to organisms from all major branches of the tree of life. We will look at how they shape the biological reality, from the level of individuals involved in these interactions to the functioning of the ecosystems of which they are a part. We start with predation aiming to answer some critical questions. How do predators increase their chances of meeting prey and successfully attacking? How do they choose their prey? How do prey avoid encounters with predators, and how do they defend themselves when an encounter does occur? Do predators affect their prey populations more strongly through their consumption or through fear effects? When does an arms race happen? Is man a super-predator? We will also look at intraspecific predation, cannibalism, in which intraspecific competition sometimes manifests itself. Finally, we'll answer some competition questions. Among other things: what does the intensity of competitive interactions depend on? What are the mechanisms and effects of these interactions? How does competition affect the formation of multi-species communities? Classes are in the form of lectures with elements of a seminar.

Part I. Predation. 1. Classification of consumers. Sequence of events during a predator-prey encounter. Predator adaptations that increase the chances of meeting prey and catching and consuming it. 2. Food selectivity and optimization of foraging. 3. Prey adaptations to avoid predators I: pre-encounter. Defense plasticity. Anti-encounter mechanisms. 4. Prey adaptations II: post-encounter. Mechanisms that discourage or prevent a predator from attacking, capturing, and consuming prey. 5. Direct effects of predation. Risk effects and the ecology of fear. Population dynamics. 6. Indirect effects of predation. The influence of predation on the structure of the prey community. Trophic cascades. Species diversity. 7. Coevolution in predator-prey systems. Herbivory. Green Earth. Biological control. Competition or predation?

Between predation and competition: cannibalism. Part II. Competition. Types of resources and ways of their distribution in the environment. The concept of ecological niche: the concept of basic and realized niche. Overlapping of niches in different dimensions, maximum convergence of niches. The definition of competition. Exploitation, interference, and other types of competition. Asymmetry of competitive interactions, competitive "strength" and characteristics of species and environment. Competition research methods. Effects of competition: changes in the size of the population of competitors, the principle of consumptive displacement, distribution of organisms in space, trait divergence, competitive release. Niche complementarity, dispersed competition. The role of competition in shaping the structure of communities.