Lesson 2 — Activity 1: What Is a Community?
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Lesson 2 — Activity 1:
What Is a Community?
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When you think of the word community, you probably think of where you live and those that live around you. Communities are everywhere; and when we talk about communities, they can be very different and include various species. In this lesson, you will learn more about different types of communities.
Scientists tend to look at the living factors of an ecosystem. A group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area and that use the same resources to survive is called a population. For example, a population might consist of all the seagulls that live by one lake. It might also be all the wolves that live in a particular mountain valley.
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Why would you call wolves a population? It's quite simple. Within the valley, there is a limited amount of food that wolves can eat. Also, there might be only one place to drink. To survive, the wolves have to share these resources with other individuals in the wolf pack. That makes them a population.
When
populations of various species live in the same area, they form a
community. A community at one lake might consist of seagulls, fish,
geese, bulrushes, willows, and so on.
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Think
again of a mountain valley. The community might consist of deer, elk,
wolves, bears, squirrels, ants, fish, pine trees, spruce trees, willows,
and so on until you have listed every living thing in the valley. In
some places, that list will be quite long, and in others, it will be
fairly short.
When populations of various species live in the same area, they form a community. A community at one lake might consist of seagulls, fish, geese, bulrushes, willows, and so on.
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Think again of a mountain valley. The community might consist of deer, elk, wolves, bears, squirrels, ants, fish, pine trees, spruce trees, willows, and so on until you have listed every living thing in the valley. In some places, that list will be quite long, and in others, it will be fairly short.
If you were to list the things you would find in a community for an area of the Sahara Desert, the list would be much shorter and different than your mountain valley list. Can you think of two things that you would find in a community in the Sahara Desert?
Click below to see some of the animals of the Sahara Desert.
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Within a community, often competition occurs between species. This is called interspecies competition, and it occurs when at least two species need the same resource. For example, bears and wolves both eat meat. If a moose or elk dies or is killed, there might be a fight to see who gets to eat the meat. This is a fight for survival. If one doesn't eat, it will not survive.
Click on the Play button to watch a video to see a young grizzly bear and a pack of wolves fighting over a dead animal.
Did you see how the wolves and the bear both really wanted the animal? Think of it this way: The wolves will have a full stomach tonight while the bear may not. If this trend were to continue, the wolves would have a better chance of survival than the bear. That would lead to more wolves in the area and fewer bears.
Click on the Play button to watch a video to see a young grizzly bear and a pack of wolves fighting over a dead animal.
Did you see how the wolves and the bear both really wanted the animal? Think of it this way: The wolves will have a full stomach tonight while the bear may not. If this trend were to continue, the wolves would have a better chance of survival than the bear. That would lead to more wolves in the area and fewer bears.
Digging Deeper
Click on the Play button below to watch a video that explains the difference between a population, community, and ecosystem.
Digging Deeper
Click on the Play button below to watch a video that explains the difference between a population, community, and ecosystem.