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Online Interactive Population Ecology

This document provides instructions for an online interactive simulation about population ecology. It outlines 4 steps: 1) Run a simulation with 3 plant species to observe their interaction. 2) Add an herbivore that eats one plant species to see how it impacts the ecosystem. 3) Run a food chain with one organism from each trophic level (producer, herbivore, omnivore, top predator) and make predictions. 4) Design your own experiment involving multiple trophic levels and record data. The goal is to learn how organisms within an ecosystem depend on and influence each other.

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Janine Bertolotti
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210 views2 pages

Online Interactive Population Ecology

This document provides instructions for an online interactive simulation about population ecology. It outlines 4 steps: 1) Run a simulation with 3 plant species to observe their interaction. 2) Add an herbivore that eats one plant species to see how it impacts the ecosystem. 3) Run a food chain with one organism from each trophic level (producer, herbivore, omnivore, top predator) and make predictions. 4) Design your own experiment involving multiple trophic levels and record data. The goal is to learn how organisms within an ecosystem depend on and influence each other.

Uploaded by

Janine Bertolotti
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Online Interactive Population Ecology

Topic: 4.1 Ecology


Purpose: To learn about how organisms are interdependent upon one another.
Directions: Follow the instructions below. Record data in a table for each of the trials. Label each
table with the correlating bolded title. Example data tables are shown below. Answer all questions
and record all data in your notebook. After each step, click “reset” to avoid adding extra
simulation days.

https://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/interactives/ecology/ecology.html
You will also find this linked directly in my website.

Step 1: The Producers Trial Run:


Your goal: try to get two plants to happily coexist. In any given ecosystem,
most organisms will carve out a niche for themselves where they can obtain all
of the necessities to survive. Often, different species within the ecosystem will
compete for the resources that a niche provides. However, certain species live
well together—symbiotically, parasitically, or by staying out of each other's
way. For example, lichen and moss, often the primary colonizers of a new
ecosystem, tend to live fairly harmoniously in each other's vicinity. Let's see
what happens in this model.
1. To introduce plants, click on all 3 of them (Plant A, B, C). When
highlighted, you will see the plants show up in the simulation. No data is
needed to be recorded, you are merely observing what occurs during this
simulation.
2. Click on the “Run” button to begin the simulation. This will run for 100
days. On the bottom of the screen, notice the graph being created for
you. Notice that when you hover over the graph line, you will see data
about that specific organisms population size.
3. What did you notice about the plant species?
4. What can you conclude about that plant species from this simulation?

Step 2: Introduce an Herbivore (consumer)


Click the “Presets” button to clear. Now you'll introduce an herbivore into the
environment because you saw what happened to the plants in the first step. In
theory, an herbivore native to the ecosystem should feed primarily on the
dominant species. In this system, the herbivore may consume enough of the
dominant species to give the non-dominant species a chance for proliferation
and survival. Click on herbivore A (the rabbit) and choose "eats plant A." Then,
run the simulator. Answer the following:
1. Calculate the percent change of Herbivore A (rabbit).
2. Does adding the herbivore establish more equality of space/resources for
Plant A and Plant B? Is one producer still dominant over the other? Why
may one producer be dominant over another with the addition of the
herbivore?
3. If the simulation included decomposers, would your current results
change? Why?
4. How do producer population numbers with the presence of an herbivore
compare to the primary colonizer model (step one and two).
Step 3: Producers, Herbivores, Omnivores and Top Predator
First you'll run a less than "real-life" scenario. Choose only one organism from
each trophic level and make sure that the food chain goes in a straight line
from one trophic level to the next, i.e., Herbivore A eats Plant A, Omnivore A
eats Herbivore A, and the Top Predator eats Omnivore A. (You’re creating a
food chain, not a food web)
1. Predict whether each species will survive. Predict if each organism will
increase, decrease or stay stable throughout the simulation. Record your
prediction below and then run the simulation twice (for 200 days) and
record your data. Explain what had happened during the duration of 200
days. Answer the following in your notebook:
2. Calculate the percent change of an organism of your choice.

3. Was your prediction correct? What made you arrive at that prediction?

What differences were there between your prediction and the simulation?
4. What would happen to this imaginary ecosystem if the producers were to

die out?
5. Did any of the species increase in number? What could account for this

increase? Which species decreased in number and what might account for
this decrease?
6. Which populations (group of species) would benefit the most from the

presence of decomposers?
Step 4: Your own experiment
Choose to create your own experiment with the different levels of producers
and consumers. Do not duplicate one of the previous experiments. Record
what your experiment is, along with a hypothesis. Create a data table to keep
track of your records. Summarize what your data tells you about each level.
Calculate the percent change of each organism in your simulation.

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