Species Interaction in Ecosystems

Through the Geog 171 class I have learned a great deal about species interactions. My travels in the Berkeley Hills and Northern California coast ranges demonstrate three species interactions.

The first is an observation of ants decomposing a dead bird carcass nearby my co-op in Berkeley. This is an example of a scavenging from an insect species to a bird species. It is also an example of the lower levels of the food web.

Next is a lichen within the family Lobariaceae growing on the side of an Oak Tree. This is probably a parasitic relationship between the fungus and tree.

Finally we see a wasp gall in the branch of a Coastal Live Oak. This is an example of a parasitic relationship where a wasp injects hormones into a tree branch that makes it swell and produce a "gall" which encases the wasp's larve until they hatch. The tree gains no benefit from the interaction and so it is parasitic.

Posted on February 28, 2013 06:28 AM by elliot_goldstein310