Ecological isolation, Biology

Assignment Help:

Ecological isolation is based on the fact that population shows preference to one habitat over the other. This extensive forests become barriers to the dispersal of organims living in grasslands. The reverse that priaries being barriers to forest organisms is also true. The red tree mousephenocomys 1ongicaudu.s lives on fir needle trees and feeds on fir needle. It is understandable that for these mice not only priaries but the non-fir forests will also be a barrier for dispersal.

You may recall that in unit of this block we discussed extensively MacArthur's study of five species of warbler birds living in spruce trees. The five species of Dendroica are effectively isolated by ecological factors although they have a similar distribution. As a matter of fact, the ecological and food preference of the different species of warblers are very similar. Under such circumstances one would have expected a severe competition among them. But each species has carved a well defined niche and forages at a particular level in the trees. Differences in breeding dates and occupation of different habitats outside the breeding season are the contributing factors for the minimum competition and niche overlap among the species. There are other instances where potential mates keep away from each other because of their habitat preferences. In these cases there might even be a broad niche overlap and the individuals may exist in the same general area, but the distinctness of sub-species and species is maintained. Dice cited an example from United States where the two sub-species of mice Peromyscus maniculatus have overlapping niches and do not interbreed in nature, although there is interbreeding in the laboratory. Similarly another.study showed that the fresh water and salt water races of the water snake Natrix sipedon may come close together but may not interbreed because of their habitat preferences.


Related Discussions:- Ecological isolation

Respiration, what chemical is normally used to test for the presence of car...

what chemical is normally used to test for the presence of carbon dioxide

Haemodynamics, Haemodynamics :  The type of valves chosen should have exce...

Haemodynamics :  The type of valves chosen should have excellent haemodynamics. In studies at rest and on exercise the valve should produce only acceptable diastolic gradients in

Natural toxins, Some plants and animals originate food contain toxic substa...

Some plants and animals originate food contain toxic substances. Some pulses and legumes contain a number of toxic substances such as protease inhibitors, lathyrogens, and flavism

How execute the two complementary nucleotide chains, Q. How execute the two...

Q. How execute the two complementary nucleotide chains of the DNA facilitate the replication process of the molecule? The fact that DNA molecule is made of two polynucleotide c

Define aerobic exercise or aerobic energy system, Define Aerobic Exercise o...

Define Aerobic Exercise or Aerobic Energy System? To produce necessary energy, the body uses an aerobic pathway and an anaerobic pathway. Exercise that relies heavily on oxygen

What do you mean by hemoglobin f, Q. What is the hemoglobin F? Why does the...

Q. What is the hemoglobin F? Why does the fetus need different hemoglobin? Hemoglobin F is the hemoglobin found in the hemoglobin and mammalian fetus. A is the normal hemogl

What is biogenetic law and define bilateral symmetry, What is Biogenetic La...

What is Biogenetic Law and define Bilateral symmetry? In brief, ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. Or, developmental or embryological sequence of an animal repeats the evolution

What are the degenerative diseases of the nervous system, Q. What are the m...

Q. What are the main degenerative diseases of the nervous system? The major degenerative diseases of the nervous system are Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The

Strategies for genetic characterization and conservation, Strategies for ge...

Strategies for genetic characterization and conservation - During last 20 years concerted efforts have been made to create awareness among all the developmental organizations in th

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd