Burkelis
interaction
This is a beetle and ant possibly feeding on a oxeye daisy.
1. I think the most influential species at my location is the grass like vegetation and flowers. The flowers are important resources for butterflies and although I am not sue if the grass is a keystone species I definitely think it is a dominant species because it is the most abundant organism at my location.
2. If we were to remove the grass and plants then eventually the butterflies would become extinct from my location. The birds, dragonflies, and other organisms that might feed on the butterflies will suffer and have to find alternative food sources. There would not be as much shelter for organisms that live in the ground and erosion would increase because of more bare ground. The erosion of this soil and nutrients to another location would possibly increase the fertility and diversity in the location.
3. If the grass and flowers were replaced by an invasive species that the butterflies could not utilize as a resource then similar consequences will happen to them as if the grass were just removed. The ground would remain covered and protected so soil erosion may not be a serious threat.
4. Butterfly- I classified adult butterflies as herbivores even though some caterpillars eat small insects as well. Adult butterflies mostly consume nectar from plants. As herbivores, butterflies are controlled by predation from other organisms (Slobodkin, Smith, and Hairston (1960)).
Dragonfly- I classified dragonflies as carnivores or predators because they feed on mosquitoes, small insects and occasionally butterflies. As predators dragonflies are limited by food resources and are food-limited as a group (Slobodkin, Smith, and Hairston (1960).
Oxeye Daisy- Plants are limited by their own exhaustion of resources. They are resource limited (Slobodkin, Smith, and Hairston (1960)).
interaction
This is a beetle and ant possibly feeding on a oxeye daisy.
1. I think the most influential species at my location is the grass like vegetation and flowers. The flowers are important resources for butterflies and although I am not sue if the grass is a keystone species I definitely think it is a dominant species because it is the most abundant organism at my location.
2. If we were to remove the grass and plants then eventually the butterflies would become extinct from my location. The birds, dragonflies, and other organisms that might feed on the butterflies will suffer and have to find alternative food sources. There would not be as much shelter for organisms that live in the ground and erosion would increase because of more bare ground. The erosion of this soil and nutrients to another location would possibly increase the fertility and diversity in the location.
3. If the grass and flowers were replaced by an invasive species that the butterflies could not utilize as a resource then similar consequences will happen to them as if the grass were just removed. The ground would remain covered and protected so soil erosion may not be a serious threat.
4. Butterfly- I classified adult butterflies as herbivores even though some caterpillars eat small insects as well. Adult butterflies mostly consume nectar from plants. As herbivores, butterflies are controlled by predation from other organisms (Slobodkin, Smith, and Hairston (1960)).
Dragonfly- I classified dragonflies as carnivores or predators because they feed on mosquitoes, small insects and occasionally butterflies. As predators dragonflies are limited by food resources and are food-limited as a group (Slobodkin, Smith, and Hairston (1960).
Oxeye Daisy- Plants are limited by their own exhaustion of resources. They are resource limited (Slobodkin, Smith, and Hairston (1960)).