Ecology

Introduction
Ecology is the study of the interactions of living organisms with their
environment. Within the discipline of ecology, researchers work at four specific
levels, sometimes discretely and sometimes with overlap. These levels are
organism, population, community, and ecosystem. In ecology, ecosystems are
composed of dynamically-interacting parts, which include organisms, the
communities they comprise, and the non-living (abiotic) components of their
environment. Ecosystem processes, such as primary production, paedogenesis (the
formation of soil), nutrient cycling, and various niche construction activities, regulate
the flux of energy and matter through an environment. These processes are
sustained by organisms with specific life-history traits. The variety of organisms,
called biodiversity, which refer to the differing species, genes, and ecosystems,
enhances certain ecosystem services.

Ecology is a branch of science including human science, population, community,

ecosystem, and biosphere. Ecology is the study of organisms, environment and how
the organisms interact with each other and their environment. It is studied at various
levels such as organism, population, community, biosphere, and ecosystem.

Ecologist’s primary goal is to improve their understanding of life processes,

adaptations and habitats, interactions and biodiversity of organisms.

Let us have a detailed look at the ecology notes provided here and explore the
concept of ecology.

Types of Ecology
Ecology can be classified into different types. The different types of ecology are given below:

Global Ecology
It is the study of interactions among earth’s ecosystems, atmosphere, land, and oceans. It helps
in understanding the large-scale interactions and their influence on the planet.
Landscape Ecology
It is the study of the exchange of energy, organisms, materials and other products of
ecosystems. Landscape ecology throws light on the role of human impacts on the landscape
structures and functions.

Ecosystem Ecology
It is the study of the entire ecosystem which includes the study of living and non-living
components and their relationship with the environment. This science research how ecosystems
work, their interactions, etc.

Community Ecology
It is the study of how community structure is changed by interactions among living organisms.
Ecology community is made up of two or more populations of different species living in a
particular geographic area.

Population Ecology
It is the study of factors that change and impact the size and genetic composition of the
population of organisms. Ecologists are interested in fluctuations in the size of a population, the
growth of a population and any other interactions with the population.
In biology, a population can be defined as a set of individuals of the same species living in a
given place at a given time. Births and immigration are the main factors that increase the
population and death and emigration are the main factors that decrease the population.
Population ecology examines population distribution and density. Population density is the
number of individuals in a given volume or area. This helps in determining whether particular
species is in endanger or its number is to be controlled and resources to be replenished.

Organismal Ecology
Organismal ecology is the study of an individual organism’s behaviour, morphology, physiology,
etc. in response to environmental challenges. It looks at how individual organisms interact with
biotic and abiotic components. Ecologists research how organisms are adapted to these
nonliving and living components of their surroundings.
Individual species are related to various adaptations like physiological adaptation,  morphological
adaptation, and behavioural adaptation.

Molecular Ecology
The study of ecology focuses on the production of proteins and how these proteins affect the
organisms and their environment. This happens at the molecular level.
DNA forms the proteins that interact with each other and the environment. These interactions
give rise to some complex organisms.

Importance of Ecology
The following reasons explain the importance of ecology:
Conservation of Environment
Ecology helps us to understand how our actions affect the environment. It shows the individuals
the extent of damage we cause to the environment.
Lack of understanding of ecology has led to the degradation of land and the environment. It has
also led to the extinction and endangerment of certain species. For eg., dinosaurs, white shark,
mammoths, etc. Thus the study of the environment and organisms helps us to protect them from
any damage and danger.

Resource Allocation
With the knowledge of ecology, we are able to know which resources are necessary for the
survival of different organisms. Lack of ecological knowledge has led to scarcity and deprivation
of these resources, leading to competition.

Energy Conservation
All organisms require energy for their growth and development. Lack of ecological understanding
leads to the over-exploitation of energy resources such as light, nutrition, and radiation, leading
to its depletion.
Proper knowledge of ecological requirements prevents the unnecessary wastage of energy
resources, thereby, conserving energy for future purposes.

Eco-Friendliness
Ecology encourages harmonious living within the species and the adoption of a lifestyle that
protects the ecology of life.

Causes of Ecological Succession:

Following are the causes of ecological succession:

1. Initial Causes:
Causes those are responsible for the destruction existing habitat.
Such occurrences happen due to the following factors:

(a) Climatic Factor:

Such as wind, deposits, erosion, fire etc.

(b) Biotic Factor:

Such as various activity of organisms.

2. Continuing Causes:
Causes those are responsible for changes in population shifting
features of an area. Such factors are:
(a) Migration for safety against outside aggregation.

(b) Migration due to industrialization and urbanization.

(c) As a reactionary step against local problems.

(d) Feeling of competition

3. Stabilising Cause:
Causes which bring stability to the communities. Such factors are:

(a) Fertility of land

(b) Climatic condition of the area

(c) Abundance of availability of minerals etc.

Principles of Ecology, Two Frameworks

Following are two different frameworks for analysing the fundamental principles of
ecological systems.

Six Principles of Ecology

By Peter Donaldson

These six principles are at play in every ecosystem in the world. What’s an ecosystem? A
system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms and their environment.
Ecosystems are nested at many scales from a small pond to the entire planet. The human
species, just like any other species, is entirely interdependent with the ecosystems in which
we live. The difference is, we know it.

Speciation

Living organisms develop in populations of unique individuals that are capable of

reproducing viable offspring.

Diversity
Individual species have evolved unique differences from one another. This is nature’s way of
developing and testing new and more successful forms of life. Without diversity in an
ecosystem there is less opportunity for invention, less flexibility to adapt to changes in the
environment. Diversity strengthens the entire system.

Habitat

Individual species have adapted to the conditions of unique niches, territories, watersheds,
and climates. A habitat is shaped by soil, water and air, and by the living organisms
themselves. An ecosystem is host to a great diversity of species uniquely adapted to
overlapping and interdependent habitats.

Adaptation

Individual species change or adapt physical features and behaviors to better survive changing
conditions in their habitat. Features and behaviors that are successful allow a particular
organism to survive and reproduce. Features and behaviors that are not successful means that
the organism will not live to reproduce and so will not pass on its genetic information, a
failed experiment. Just as changes in habitat force adaptations in individual species, these
same adaptations in species will create new changes in habitat, so little by little the whole
system is evolving interdependently.

Interdependence

All of life is a web of interactions and evolving adaptations between species and their
habitats. It is a beautiful and complex choreography of self-organizing relationships. No
species, including humans, can survive separate from this web.

Evolution

The interdependent adaptations between species and habitat create biological change over
time. New forms of life are always emerging, converging and diverging, pursuing the greatest
health and flexibility for the entire system. What is so magnificent about the human species is
that our special adaptations allow us to consciously observe the very process we are
embedded in. It’s as if the entire universe has conspired to create such a being just to look
back up on itself . And perhaps forward as well.

Principles of Ecology

From the Center for Ecoliteracy, Fritjof Capra

Core concepts in ecology that describe the patterns and processes by which nature sustains
life.

NETWORKS: All members of an ecological community are interconnected in a vast and

intricate network of relationships, the web of life. They derive their essential properties and,
in fact, their very existence from these relationships.
 NESTED SYSTEMS: Throughout nature we find multi-leveled structures of systems nesting
within systems. Each of these forms an integrated whole within a boundary while at the same
time being a part of a larger whole.

CYCLES: The interactions among the members of an ecological community involve the
exchange of energy and resources in continual cycles. The cycles in an ecosystem intersect
with larger cycles in the bioregion and in the planetary biosphere.

FLOWS: All organisms are open systems, which means that they need to feed on a continual
flow of energy and resources to stay alive. The constant flow of solar energy sustains life and
drives all ecological cycles.

DEVELOPMENT: The unfolding of life, manifesting as development and learning at the

individual level and as evolution at the species level, involves an interplay of creativity and
mutual adaptation in which organisms and environment coevolve.

DYNAMIC BALANCE: All ecological cycles act as feedback loops, so that the ecological
community regulates and organizes itself, maintaining a state of dynamic balance
characterized by continual fluctuations.

 Case Studies on Ecology

Objectives:
 
  Provides basic idea about ecological functions, interactions and its impacts on ecosystem.
 

Theory:
 
Ecology is the study of relationships exhibited by living organisms with its surroundings in which
they live. These surroundings in another way called as environment. The word ecology is coined by
a German zoologist Ernst Haeckel in 1869. It is derived from a Greek word oikos which means
‘household’. Learning the theory of ecology is very crucial, because a simple change in the
environment can cause a great effect on all living things. The objective of studying ecology is to
provide knowledge about how the organisms are distributed and their abundance in the
environment, the interaction between organisms and their environment, and the structure and
function of ecosystems. A better understanding of ecological systems can help society to know the
consequences of human activity on the environment. For example, we are continuously destroying
our wildlife habitats. 
Ecology is a broad discipline. It helps to model the population growth of organisms in the
ecosystem, helps to understand the physiology of the organism, and also helps to understand the
chemical defenses of the plants and animals in the ecosystem. Behavioral ecology focuses on the
study of the individual organism, its behavior, interaction with other organism which affects its
reproduction and population density. In population ecology, group of individuals called populations
are studied in a broader way. In this case, more emphasis is given to the factors which affect the
growth of population and population size determination. The common mechanisms of individual
organisms such as competition, predation, and mutualism are important in the population ecology
studies. Population ecology is the branch of ecology that studies the structure and dynamics of
populations and how these populations interact with the environment. This study deals how the
population sizes of species living in different groups together change over time and space.
Population density can be measure from the number of individuals of a species in a particular area.
When birth rates exceed death rates, population growth will occurs. Both physical and biological
factors such as weather, water and nutrient availability, food availability, predators, parasitoids,
competitors, diseases etc. can regulate the population size. A habitat is defined as an ecological
area which is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or any other type of organism. The
organism lives in the natural or physical environment that surrounds a species population. On the
other hand, ecological niche describes the way of life of a species in the ecosystem. Niche defines
how a particular organism fits into its ecosystem. The individual make use of the available
nutrients with all the interactions with the other members including competition, predation,
parasitism and mutualism.

 
 Biodiversity is prime focus in community ecology, which determines the number of species in an
area. Population interactions usually provide beneficial or harmful effects to the organism engaged
in the interaction. The interactions with other species affect the survival and reproduction of
individuals, and hence it is important in the evolutionary modifications. In ecosystem ecology, the
community is considered as a user of nutrients, the energy, the nutrient availability and energy
flow in the ecosystem is examined. Such studies are important for understanding phenomena such
as biogeochemical cycles and its effects of pesticides in the food chain.
 
Nutrients play an important role in the function and growth of organisms in the ecosystem.
Decomposers break down the biomass matter leading to the cycling of nutrients within the
ecosystem. Animal excreta and the dead organic materials are broken down into simpler elements
by the soil bacteria and fungi. The nutrients are released into the soil, roots uptake this nutrients
for their growth and survival. Essentially producer organisms are responsible for the primary
intake of minerals and nutrients into the ecosystem. They build up their materials for growth.
Consumers break down organic tissue and return the material in a form that can be easily taken
up by plants. Studies on ecological sciences showed that flow of nutrients is of utmost important in
maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. Among the key nutrients in the ecosystem, Nitrogen is
thought to be more essential for the structure and functioning of organism. It forms key part of
biomolecules such as amino acids, nucleic acids, chlorophyll and hemoglobin. Because of the
primary importance and relative scarcity of nitrogenous compounds, it has drawn a great attention
from the ecosystem ecologists. Economic and environmental issues increased the need to
understand the role and ultimate fate of nitrogen in the crop production systems. Moreover,
studies on soil microbiology concluded that the behavior of N in the soil is complex, and hence a
basic understanding of processes in the soil is essential for a more efficient Nitrogen management
program in the ecosystem.
 
The success of an ecosystem depends primarily on the nutrient cycling. But the impacts of human
activities in the ecosystem impacted nutrient cycling in numerous ways. Over usage of fertilizers,
pesticides and agricultural and toxic chemicals such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane resulted in
pollution of the environment. The increased run off of these chemicals resulted in the loss of
nutrients from soil. Also the use of sewage and effluents from aquacultures causes great instability
in the ecosystem. The impact of humans on energy flow such as excess land usage for irrigation
purposes, electricity, household use and combustion of fossil fuels affect the nutrient flow in the
ecosystem. The equilibrium of the ecosystem should be maintained as it is important for the
welfare of all the living beings including human. We must have to take actions to conserve and and
repopulate these threatened species to maintain the biodiversity of our planet.
 Conclusion

 Ecology is a scientific approach to the study of the biosphere.

 Ecosystems are created by the interrelationships between living organisms
and the physical environments they inhabit (land, water, air). Ecosystems require a
source of energy to make them work and for most, although not all, this is light
from the sun.
 To study ecosystems we have to start to identify the components involved and
the interrelationships between them. We can list the living organisms by identifying
the species involved.
 Food chains and food webs are a way of mapping one type of
interrelationship between the organisms in an ecosystem.
 Human beings are part of ecosystems, as well as manipulators of
ecosystems. As such we are dependent on, as well as responsible for, the
ecological health of the ecosystems we inhabit.