CHAPTER 22 Summary

• An ecological community is made up of interacting populations of different species.
• Bees are keystone species because they play a fundamental role in supporting the entire community, much like the keystone in an arch.
• Bees are the primary pollinators for many species of flowering plants, which depend on the pollinators to transfer pollen between plants of the same species.
• Flowers are the reproductive hub of a plant, containing male and female reproductive structures. Pollination, the transfer of pollen from male to female structures, results in fertilization.
• The organisms in a community are connected by a food chain. Each player in the chain is an important ecological link in the chain.
• Organisms at the base of the food chain are producers–they obtain energy directly from the sun and supply it to the rest of the food chain; organisms higher up the food chain are consumers–they obtain energy by eating organisms lower on the chain.
• In predation, one organism eats another. Herbivory (eating plants) and parasitism are both types of predation.
• As energy flows up trophic levels in the food chain, some of it is lost to the environment.
• Organisms can have different types of symbiotic relationships. In mutualistic symbioses, both members benefit; in parasitism, one member benefits while the other suffers; and in commensalism, one member benefits while the other is unharmed.
• The space and resources, including other members of the community, that a species uses to survive and reproduce define its ecological niche. Some species have overlapping niches, leading to competition for resources.
• Colony collapse disorder may have no one single cause, but may result from many interacting factors affecting bees, including poor nutrition, pathogens, and pesticides.
• Bees are not the only pollinators in peril. Human development and agriculture have decreased habitat and foraging areas for many natural pollinators, resulting in increased competition among them.

• MORE TO EXPLORE

  • Bee Informed http://beeinformed.org
  • Henry, M., et al. (2012) A common pesticide decreases foraging success and survival in honey bees. Science 20:348–350.
  • Krupke, C. H., et al. (2012) Multiple routes of pesticide exposure for honey bees living near agricultural fields. PLOS ONE 7(1):e29268.
  • Dennis vanEngelsdorp (2009) Colony Collapse Disorder: A Descriptive Study. PLOS ONE 4(8):e6481.
  • Cox-Foster, D. L. (2007) A metagenomic survey of microbes in honey bee colony collapse disorder. Science 318(12):283–286.