TITLE: CHAPTER 2 ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS

TOPIC (1): Components of Ecosystem

TIME FRAME: 1 Hour
INTRODUCTION: Ecological concepts are general understandings (facts) about
ecosystems and ecosystem management. Ecological principles are basic assumptions
(beliefs) about ecosystems and how they function that are informed by the ecological
concepts. There are certain basic fundamental ecological principles which describes
aspects of living organisms just like evolution and distribution of plants and animals,
extinction of species, consumption and transfer of energy in different components of
biological communities. Ecology is the branch of science that deals with the study of
interactions between living organisms and their physical environment. Both are closely
interrelated and they have continuous interaction so that any change in the environment
has an effect on the living organisms and vice-versa.
OBJECTIVES/ILO’s: In this lesson, learners will be able to:

1. understand the components of ecosystem;

2. differentiate biotic factors from abiotic factors;
3. explain how abiotic components affect biotic components.

Ecosystem are ecological units that include all the living or biotic factors and the non-
living factors in an area or portion of a forest or desert. Environment involves both living
organisms and the non-living physical conditions. These two are inseparable but inter-
related. For food, shelter, growth and development, all life systems interact with the
environment. Environment is a life supporting system. In the subject of ecology, the
term ecosystem refers to the environment of life. It is a self-sustaining, structural and
functional unit of biosphere. The term `eco' refers to a part of the world and `system'
refers to the coordinating units. The living organisms of a habitat and their surrounding
environment function together as a single unit. This ecological unit is called as an
`ecosystem'. An Ecosystem is a naturally occurring assemblage of life and the
environment. The life is referred to the biotic community including the plants, animals
and other living organisms. This is denoted as biocoenosis,
The biotic factors include the plants, animals, fungi, bacteria and other living things
that live in an area. These factors include producers, consumers, and decomposers.
❖ Make food through the process of
photosynthesis
❖ Eaten by the consumers
❖ Create food for themselves and also
provide energy for the rest of the
ecosystem.
❖ Producers are called energy
transducers.
❖ They are capable of synthesizing food
from non-living inorganic compounds.
❖ They are largely represented by green
plants on land (trees, grasses, crops) and
phytoplankton on water.
 ❖ Need to eat foods that autotrophs
have produced.
❖ They depend on plants.
❖ Consumers are the organisms,
whose food requirement are met by
feeding on other organisms. They
consume the
food materials prepared by the
producers (autotrophs). Hence,
consumers are called as heterotrophic
organisms.
❖ Animals belong to this category.
❖ Depending upon their food
habits, consumers are classified into
primary, secondary and tertiary
consumers.
❖The PRIMARY CONSUMERS are solely feed on plants. Herbivores are plant
eaters - grasshopper, rabbit, goat,
sheep are primary consumers.
❖The SECONDARY CONSUMERS feed on some primary consumers.
❖Carnivores-are flesh eaters. eg. – hawks, tiger and lion.
❖Omnivores (bio phages) - eat both vegetables and flesh (cockroaches, fox, humans).
❖Secondary consumers are those which predate on primary consumers. Eg. several
species of insects and fishes.
❖TERTIARY CONSUMERS are the predators of predators. They are mostly larger
animals.

❖ They are heterotrophs that break

down dead tissue and waste products.
❖ They recycle nutrients.
❖ They attack on materials
excreted by other living organisms
(even dead plants and animals).
❖ They are also called as
microconsumers.
 The cycle of energy is based on the flow of energy through different trophic
levels in an ecosystem. At the first trophic level, the primary producer (plants) uses
solar energy to produce organic material through photosynthesis. The herbivores at
2nd trophic level, use the plants as food which give them energy.
 In an ecosystem, all living things
have a habitat or the physical area
in which they live. The habitat of an
organism may include different
areas. Habitat means any area in the
range of a species which contains
suitable living conditions for that
species. The habitat of an organism
provides the requirements for that
species to survive. The early
concept of habitat arose because
naturalists started to question why
some species were present in one
location but not in another. Because
a specific habitat has its specific
organisms that inhabit in it.
 What happens to animals when their habitat
changes? Animals may move, adapt, or die. If
organisms cannot adapt to the changes in
their ecosystem, they may move to another
location. If they will not move, the species may
become threatened, endangered or extinct. Some
animals can adapt---change the place they live or
change the way they live. An adaptation is a way
an animal's body helps it survive, or live, in its
environment.
Undesirable human activities are one of the
factors that causes changes in certain habitats. An
example of this is the cutting of trees in the forest
destroys the homes of some animals, reduces the
amount of food for organisms that depend on the
trees, and reduces the amount of carbon dioxide
taken from the air and the oxygen releases into it.
The resulting destruction of the habitat, some organisms may become threatened,
endangered and eventually extinct.
Abiotic factors or abiotic components are non-living chemical and physical parts of
the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of the ecosystems.
An abiotic factor is a non-living part of an ecosystem that shapes its environment. In a
terrestrial ecosystem, examples might include temperature, light, and water.
First abiotic factor is the solar radiation.
The sun’s energy, which is the product of a
massive nuclear fusion reaction is emitted
into space in a form of electromagnetic
radiation. Solar radiation provides heat,
light, and energy necessary for all living
organisms. It provides heat, light, and
energy necessary for all living organisms. It
supplies heat to all habitats such in land,
water, provides heat and light for life on
earth.
 Second abiotic factor is the
atmosphere. It is an invisible layer
of gases that envelops earth and
comprises 21% oxygen and 78%
nitrogen. Other gases including
argon, carbon dioxide, neon, helium
make up the remaining 1%water
vapor and various air pollutants,
such as methane, ozone, dust
particles, microorganisms and cfc’s.
Oxygen is essential to plants and
animals. Nitrogen is for cells and
processes. It is needed to make
chlorophyll in plants which is used
in photosynthesis to make food. The
Earth's atmosphere protects and
sustains the planet's inhabitants by
providing warmth and absorbing
harmful solar rays. In addition to containing the oxygen and carbon dioxide, which
living things need to survive, the atmosphere traps the sun's energy and wards off
many of the dangers of space.
Third factor is the ocean. It produces over half of the world’s oxygen and
absorbs 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere. It covers 70% of earth’s
surface, the ocean transports heat from equator to poles, regulating our climate and
weather patterns. It provides food for marine organisms.
 Climate is the average conditions, and the extremes that occur in a given place over
a period of years. It profoundly affects organisms, animals, and plants. Climate is
traditionally defined as the description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant
atmospheric variables such as temperature, precipitation and wind. Climate can thus be
viewed as a synthesis or aggregate of weather. The two most important factor that
determine an area’s climate is temperature and precipitation.
 Temperature measures of how hot or cold an object is compared to another object.
It is one of the most important ecological factors. Precipitation is any liquid or frozen
water that forms in the atmosphere and falls back to the earth. Other climate factors
include wind, humidity, fog, cloud cover, and fire.

Unlike weather, climate generally changes slowly, over hundred or thousands of

years.
 Daily, nightly, and seasonal variations of climate affect organisms. Latitude,
elevation, topography, vegetation, distance from the ocean and other large bodies of
water, all influence temperature, precipitation, and other aspects of climate.
Precipitation varies from one location to another and has a profound effect on the
distribution and kinds of organism present. One of the driest place on earth is in the
Atacama Desert (A) in Chile, where the average annual rainfall is 0.05 cm and the
wettest portion on earth is in Mount Waialeale(B) in Hawaii with an average annual
precipitation of 1200 cm.

A B
 The differences in
elevation, in the
steepness and direction
of slopes and their
exposure to sunlight
and prevailing winds
may produce local
variations in climate
known as
Microclimates.
Microclimates are
sometimes quite
different from the
overall surroundings.
The patches of sun and
shade on a forest floor,
produce a variety of
microclimates for plants, animals, and microorganisms living there. It is a local set of
atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas.
 Another abiotic factor is the fire. When we say fire, it is the rapid oxidation of a
material in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and
various reaction products. Ashes remaining after the fire is rich in potassium,
phosphorous, calcium and other essential for plant growth.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES: (On-line Instruction)
1. You have to go outside your house. Look around your
environment. Take note: you don’t have to go on far
places, you can observe within your backyard, garden,
and or fishpond or in any type of ecosystem you have at
in your designated location. Your task is to list as many
abiotic and biotic factors as you can. Submit your
answers on my Gmail account
bdcalmeragen25@gmail.com.
REVIEW OF CONCEPT:
• Ecosystem are ecological units that include all the living or biotic factors and the
non-living factors in an area or portion of a forest or desert.
• The biotic factors include the plants, animals, fungi, bacteria and other living
things that live in an area. These factors include producers, consumers, and
decomposers.
• Producers are called energy transducers. They are capable of synthesizing food
from non-living inorganic compounds.
• Consumers are the organisms, whose food requirement are met by feeding on other
organisms. They consume the
food materials prepared by the producers (autotrophs). Hence, consumers are called
as heterotrophic organisms.
• Decomposers are heterotrophs that break down dead tissue and waste products.
• Abiotic factors or abiotic components are non-living chemical and physical parts
of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of the
ecosystems.
TITLE: ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS

TOPIC (II): Factors that influence the distribution of plants and animals, interactions
among organisms in ecosystem, and community ecology

TIME FRAME: 2 Hours

INTRODUCTION: What factors might influence the distribution of individuals in our

environment? Here, the non-living factors, the chemical and physical attributes, such as
temperature, light, water, and nutrients, will influence the distribution of organisms both
plants and animals in our environment. These influences can involve biotic interactions
like competition, predation, and disease, or abiotic factors like severe weather, flooding,
drought, and fire. As we look around our environment, we can also observe the different
factors that may affect the distribution of species present in our surroundings.

OBJECTIVES/ILO’s: In this lesson, learners will be able to:

1. Evaluate the factors that affect the distribution of plants and animals;
2. Understand how these factors affect the distribution of plants and animals;
 3. Identify the different interactions among organisms in ecosystems;
4. Define what is a community ecology.

There are factors that influence the distribution of plants and animals in our
environment. First factor we have is temperature. How does temperature affect the
distribution of individuals in our environment? When we say temperature, it is the ability
to withstand extremes in temperature widely vary among plants and animals.
 It influences species distribution because
organisms must either maintain a specific
internal temperature or inhabit an environment
that will keep the body within a temperature
range that support their metabolism. Animals
respond to variations in temperature both
physiologically and behaviorally. Birds and
mammals are endotherms (hot-blooded) and
maintain relatively high blood temperatures
using the heat by their ow metabolism. They are dependent or capable of the internal
generation of heat. Meaning to say, they can absorb heat in the surroundings. They
maintain body temperature by changing the position of fur or feathers sweating and
panting, shivering, or it can be by behavioral means seeking shade or water, burrowing,
or varying periods of activity. Endotherms may avoid extended periods of low or high
temperature by hibernating or estivating. What is the difference between hibernation and
estivation? When we say hibernation, it is the state of inactivity and metabolic
depression in endotherms. It happens on winter or cold season. Individuals usually have
low body temperature, slow breathing and low metabolic rate. On the other hand,
estivation happens during summer. Animals conserve energy under extreme hot and dry
conditions. Other organisms also classified as ecto therms (cold-blooded animals).
Ectotherms use sources of heat such as solar radiation and conduction to help adjust
their body temperature. Unlike endothermic animals, it does not maintain a constant
body temperature. They get their heat from outside environment. Therefore, their body
temperature fluctuates based on external temperature.
Temperature also can affect the distribution of plants just like the animals. One of
the characteristics of plants is that plants cannot move or escape from high and low
temperature. Temperature affects the
process of photosynthesis that
occur in plants. The higher the
temperature then typically the
greater rate of photosynthesis,
photosynthesis is a
chemical reaction and the rate of
most chemical reactions
increases with temperature.
 At high temperatures, the leaves can loss some
heat by evapotranspiration that losing water through
small holes in leaves.
On the other hand, the process of losing water in
leaves contributes in the process of
Water cycle because it is responsible for the 15 % of the
atmospheres water vapor.

Plants that are adapted to withstand low

temperatures may have hairs on leaves or stems, these plants tend to be short and grow
closely to resist the cold temperature and wind.
 Water is also a factor that affects the distribution of plants and animals. The primary
problem of plants in areas like desert is lack of water. Plants adapted to these conditions
include: Xerophytes, such as cacti and Joshua trees that usually have special means of
storing and conserving water. They often have few or no leaves which reduces
transpiration.
Phreatophytes, plants that grow extremely long roots, allowing them to acquire moisture
at or near the water table.
 Light also influences daily and seasonal activity patterns of plants and animals.
Light is necessary for photosynthesis which in turn is the source of energy in almost all
ecosystems. It helps animals to detect their preys and predators. The penetration of light
into the oceans determines the depth at which plants can grow. Plants cannot grow at
depths unreached by light. Only animals that depend on animals (carnivores and
scavengers) can live at the bottom of the ocean. These animals feed on each other and
an organic matter that settles at the bottom.
 In the forest, the leaves of tall trees take most of the
light, shading other vegetation below. Because of the
small amount of light that enters the forest, only plants that
are adapted to carry on the process of photosynthesis at
very low light intensity can grow. Examples: algae, moss,
and ferns.

INTERACTIONS AMONG ORGANISMS IN ECOSYSTEM

“No man is an island”. This saying is also true to every organism in an ecosystem.
Individual organisms live together in an ecosystem and depend on one another. In fact,
they have many different types of interactions with each other, and many of these
interactions are critical for their survival.
First, what is competition? It occurs when two or more individual attempt to use the
same essential source such as food, water, shelter, living space, and sunlight. These basic
resources are components of the environment that are required for survival and
reproduction. Members of the same species may also compete for mates.
Competitions occur either intraspecific or interspecific. What is the difference of
the two types of competition? In what way they differ? When we say intraspecific
competition, it is the interaction in population ecology whereby members of the same
species compete for limited resources. This leads to a reduction in fitness for both
individuals but most fit individuals survive and is able to reproduce. On the other hand,
interspecific competition refers to competition between different species.

Competition also happens in plants. If a tree in a dense forest grows taller than the
surrounding trees, therefore, it absorbs more of the incoming sunlight. Less sunlight is
available for the nearly smaller trees and shaded by the taller trees. Tall plants may
intercept light, but small plants may intercept water, and soil nutrients. Competition also
occurs either interspecific or intraspecific type of competition. Competition in plants
also refer to the negative effects on plant growth and fitness caused by the presence of
neighbors, usually by reducing the availability of resources.

Another type of interaction is known as predation. It is the consumption of one

species, the prey, by another, the predator. It is also defined as the interaction between
two species in which one specie, the predator, feeds on the other species, the prey.
Predation has resulted in an evolutionary “arm race”, with the evolution of predator
strategies (more efficient ways to catch prey) and prey strategies (better ways to escape
 predators). A predator that is more efficient at catching
prey exerts a strong selective force on its prey, which
overtime may evolve countermeasures that reduces the
probability of being captured. The counter measure
acquires by the prey in turn acts as a strong selective force
on the predator. This type of interdependent evolution of
two interacting species is known as coevolution. This
reduces the probability of being captured.
There are several adaptations related to predator prey-interactions. These include
predator strategies (pursuit and ambush) and prey strategies (defenses). Pursuit is a form
of predation in which predators give chase to fleeing prey.
 Ambush is another effective way to catch prey. The
sit and wait predators. They capture or trap prey. The
yellow crab spider, is with the same color as the white
or yellow flowers on which they hide. This camouflage
keeps unwary insects that visit the flower for nectar from
noticing the spider until it is too late. It also fools birds
that prey on the crab spider. Predators that attract prey
are particularly effective at ambushing.
The interaction between predators and prey involve continuous evolutionary
changes; as predators evolve more efficient ways of capturing prey, the prey evolves
ways of avoiding predation.
First way of prey strategies is the warning coloration, mimicry and cryptic
coloration. Let’s discuss first what is warning coloration. Warning coloration is
conspicuous markings of an animal that make it easily recognizable and warn would-be
predators that is poisonous, foul-testing or dangerous species. Bright coloration in
insects and other animals such as yellow, orange, or red can act as signal warning other
animals that they are poisonous or distasteful. Such color patterns are called
“aposematic”. When an animal attacks, eats, or encounters such brightly colored animals
and get stung, bitten, or poisoned, it learns to associate these warning colors with bad
experience.

Monarch butterflies have a chemical defense toxic to natural enemies. As a result,

when an animal eats a monarch butterfly and get sick, it learns to avoid potential prey
with similar coloration.
Next to warning coloration, we have mimicry. It is an
advantageous resemblance of one species to another, often
unrelated species or to a feature of its own environment. It is an
evolved resemblance between an organism and another object,
often an organism of another species. It can include non-living
models. It can resemble flowers, leaves or twigs.
 Cryptic coloration is another strategy of prey for them to escape from their
predators. It is when an organism matches its background, hiding camouflaging it from
predators. It is a defense or tactic that organisms use to disguise their appearance, usually
to blend in with their environment.

Its second way to escape from predators is by using chemical defenses. It is

when organism produces toxins to avoid from consumption. These chemical defenses
serve to repel or inhibit potential predators. This is commonly employed by arthropods,
amphibians, and snakes.

Third way is predator satiation. It is the timing reproduction so that a maximum

number of offspring are produced in a short period of time, thus satiating predators and
allowing a greater percentage of young to survive. It is an anti-predator adaptation in
which prey briefly occur at high population densities, reducing, the probability of an
individual organism being eaten.
 Symbiosis is another interaction happens between organisms. It refers to an
association in which two species live together in a close relationship. It describes
relationships that are mutually advantageous to the species involved. It means living
together.
Mutualism is a form of symbiosis in which two partners from a close relationship
that produces equal benefits for both parties.
 Bright and colorful clown fish live in and amongst the tentacles of the sea anemone,
which look like beautiful aquatic flowers, but bear poisonous stinging cells called
nematocyst. A slime layer covering the clownfish make them immune to the stinging
cells, and the stinging cells of the sea anemone determine potential predators. The
clownfish in turn protect the sea anemone from other fish that would feed on the
anemone. Clown fish lay eggs within the sea anemone, which offers protection during
incubation and development.
Lichens are organisms that are made of two distinct species from two different
kingdoms. Lichens are given their own species name even though separate fungi and
blue green bacteria make up their body structure. The photosynthetic bacteria provide
carbohydrate food products to the fungi and the fungi provide a nice protective nutrient
rich housing structure.
Legume plants contain bacteria in
and amongst the root cells. These
nitrogen fixing bacteria get
photosynthetic food products from the
plants, and in exchange make nitrogen
available to the plant for building
molecules such as amino acids.
 Commensalism is a form of symbiosis in which only one of the partner species
derives a benefit from participating in the symbiotic relationship. The other partner is
unaffected gaining neither benefit nor harm by the relationship.

Typically, the host plant or animal is not harmed nor does it benefit from this
relationship. In epiphytic plants, it benefits from having a substrate which it can anchor
itself, and it is exposed to sunlight, gas exchange, water and nutrients. The spider, or
birds nesting in trees or in some animals can be thought of us example of commensalism.
The benefits are obvious shelter from the elements and protection from predators.
 In parasitism, one member of the relationship benefits while the other is harmed. In
other definition, it is the relationship between two organisms wherein one organism, the
parasite, thrives at the cost of the other, the host.

Example: the mosquitoes, lice and ticks.

Parasites generally absorbs food from their hosts but may also receive water,
minerals, and shelter.
 COMMUNITY ECOLOGY

In the natural world, species do not exist as isolated populations. Rather, most
populations are the interacting parts of a complex community, which consists of an
association of populations of different species that live and interact in the same place at
the same time. When we say community ecology, it is being defined as the study of
interactions that occur among groups of species coexisting within a region.
Communities exhibit characteristics properties that population lack. These
properties are collectively known as community structure and community functioning.
Community structure are complex entities that can be characterized by their structure
(the number and types of species present) and dynamics (how communities changed
over time). On the other hand, community functioning focuses on the roles, or functions,
that species play in an ecosystem in which they occur. By understanding the community
structure, dynamics and community functioning it enables community ecologists to
manage ecosystems more effectively.
Communities are difficult to study, considering the large numbers of organisms of
different species interact with one another and are interdependent in a variety of ways.
Species compete with one another for food, water, space for living, and other resources.
Some species interact in positive ways, in a process known as facilitation, which
modifies and enhances the local environment for other species. Ecological facilitation
(probiosis) describes species interactions that benefit at least one of the participants and
cause harm to neither (mutualism, commensalism). However, each organism plays one
of the three main roles in community like producers, consumers, and decomposers.
Communities vary considerably
in size; it lacks definite boundaries
and are seldom completely isolated.
They interact with and influence one
another in so many ways.
Furthermore, there are small
communities situated within bigger
communities. Example, there is a
small community within this rotting
log. Insects, plants, and fungi invade
a fallen tree as it undergoes a series
of decaying actions. Firstly, termites
and other wood-boring insects bore
tunnels through the bark and wood.
Later, other insects, plants rots and
fungi will attack and enlarge these borings or tunnels. Mosses and lichens that establish
on the log’s surface trap rainwater and extract nutrient minerals, then fungi and bacteria
speed up decay, thus providing nutrients to other inhabitants. As decay progresses, small
mammals burrow into the wood and eat the fungi, insects, and other plants.

ECOLOGICAL NICHE

Every species is thought to have its ow

ecological role within the structure and
functioning of a community; this role is called
its ecological niche. Ecological niche is the
role and position a species has in its
environment, how it meets its needs for
shelter and food, how it survives, and how it
reproduces. It involves also its interaction to
both biotic and abiotic components. The niche
then, represents the totality of the adaptations
by a species to its environment, its use of resources, and the lifestyle to which it is
suited. It includes the local environment in which a species lives (habitat). It also
encompasses what a species eats, what eats it, what organisms it competes with,
and how it interacts with and its influenced by the abiotic components of its
environment.
COMMUNITY BIODIVERSITY
Species diversity and species richness
vary greatly from one community to
another and are influenced by many
biotic and abiotic factors. How
important is the biodiversity to your
community? It boosts ecosystem
productivity where each species, no
matter how small, all have an important
role to play. Species diversity refers to
the number of different species that are
represented in a given community.
On the other hand, species richness refers to the number of species live in a specific
location.

VARIATION OF SPECIES IN COMMUNITIES

There is no single conclusive answer to the question of what determines the number
of species in a community, but some explanations appear plausible. These include the
structural complexity of habitats, geographic isolation, habitat stress, and dominance of
one species over the others.
In many habitats, species richness is related to
the structural complexity of the habitats. In
terrestrial environments, the types of plants
growing in an area typically determine the
structural complexity. A structural complex
community such as forest offer a greater variety
of potential ecological niches than does a simple
community, such as an arid desert or grassland.
 Species richness is also related to the geographic isolation of a community.
Isolated island communities are generally much less diverse in similar
environments found in continents. It is usually small and have fewer potential
ecological niches.

This is due partly to the distance effect, the difficulty encountered by many species
in reaching and colonizing the island. Isolated habitats such as islands or mountaintops,
locally extinct species are not readily replaced.
 Generally, species richness is related to the environmental stress of a habitat. Only
those species capable of tolerating extreme conditions live in an environmentally
stressed community.

Species richness may promote community stability. Ecologists hypothesized

that a community with considerable species richness is more stable than a
community with less species richness.
 The process of community development over a period of time, and involves species
in one stage being replaced by different species is called succession. Succession is
usually described in terms of the changes in the species composition of an area’s
vegetation, although each successional stage also has its own characteristic kind of
animals and other species. The time involved in ecological succession is on the order of
tens, hundreds, or thousands of years. There are two types of successions, the primary
and secondary succession.
Primary succession is the change
in species composition over time in
a habitat that was not previously
inhabited by organisms. No soil
exists when primary succession
begins. Bare rock surfaces such as
recently form volcanic lava and rock
scraped clean by glaciers, are
examples of sites where primary
succession might take place.
 Secondary succession is the change in species composition that takes place after
some disturbance removes the existing vegetation; and soil is already present at these
sites. Abandoned agricultural fields or open areas produced by forest fires are examples
of sites where secondary succession occurs.

Succession inevitably progressed to a stable and persistent community known as

climax community. The disturbed community would return to a self-sustaining, stable
equilibrium in time. Thank you for reading ☺
REVIEW OF CONCEPTS:
• Ecosystem are ecological units that include all the living or biotic factors and the
non-living factors in an area or portion of a forest or desert.
• Factors that influence the distribution of plants and animals: temperature, fire,
water, and light
• Competition occurs when two or more individual attempt to use the same essential
source such as food, water, shelter, living space, and sunlight.
• Predation is the consumption of one species, the prey, by another, the predator.
• Mutualism is a form of symbiosis in which two partners from a close relationship
that produces equal benefits for both parties.
• Pursuit is a form of predation in which predators give chase to fleeing prey.
• Ambush is the sit and wait predators.
• Warning coloration is conspicuous markings of an animal that make it easily
recognizable and warn would-be predators that is poisonous, foul-testing or
dangerous species.
• Cryptic coloration is a defense or tactic that organisms use to disguise their
appearance, usually to blend in with their environment.
• Commensalism is a form of symbiosis in which only one of the partner species
derives a benefit from participating in the symbiotic relationship.
• In parasitism, one member of the relationship benefits while the other is harmed.
• Ecological niche is the role and position a species has in its environment, how it
meets its needs for shelter and food, how it survives, and how it reproduces.
• Species diversity refers to the number of different species that are represented in a
given community.
• Species richness refers to the number of species live in a specific location.
• Succession is usually described in terms of the changes in the species composition
of an area’s vegetation, although each successional stage also has its own
characteristic kind of animals and other species.
• Primary succession is the change in species composition over time in a habitat that
was not previously inhabited by organisms.
• Secondary succession is the change in species composition that takes place after
some disturbance removes the existing vegetation; and soil is already present at
these sites.
• Succession inevitably progressed to a stable and persistent community known as
climax community.
• REFERENCES:
• Mosteiro, A.P. (2012). Introduction. Environmental Science. United Nations
Avenue, Ermita Mla. Phils: Educational Publishing House.
• Botkin, D.B. and Keller, EA. 2000. Environment Science: Earth as a living planet.
Third Edition. John Wiley and Sons Inc.
• https://www.khanacademy.org/science/high-school-biology/hs-ecology/hs-
ecological-relationships/a/ecological-interactions

END OF CHAPTER 2