CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY
Prepared by Nadia Nisha Haji Musa
Lesson Outcomes
At the end of this lesson, students should
be able to:

• To define terminology in ecology

• To discuss components in ecology
• To explain subfields in ecology
 Definition of ecology
The word ‘ecology’ was coined by Ernst Haeckel (1834-
1919) in 1866.
There are many definition of ecology:
❖ The study of interaction among all organisms
with their physical environment (depicted from;
Mader & Windelspecht (2016).
❖ The study of interaction between living organisms
and their non-living, physical environments
(depicted from; Solomon et. al., 2015; Russell et.
al., 2017).
❖ The study of relationships among organisms and
environment (Hoefnagels, 2015).
❖ The branch of biology that deals with how
populations interact with one another and the
environment (Starr et. al., 2016).
 Definition of ecology
• Living organisms represent the
biotic factors while non-living,
physical environment represents
the abiotic factors.
• Ecology is the broadest field of
Biology – may link with other fields
such as genetics, physiology,
geology, palaeontology and
evolution.
Summary - Definition
The study of how organisms interact with
each other and with their physical environment
Biotic & Abiotic
Factors
 1.1 Biotic Factors

“ • Refers to the ‘biological’ part of the

environment which are living
organisms.
• Include bacteria, protists, fungi, plants
and animals in the particular
environment.
• Recall what you have learnt in
Biodiversity (BIO320)….they are the
biotic factors in ecology
 1.1 Biotic Factors
 competition for food or territory

“(intraspecific – xx / interspecific - xy)

 interaction between predator and
prey, interaction between host and
parasite, mutualistic relationship
competitive exclusion and resource
partitioning (interspecific)
1.2 Abiotic Factors
⊷ Include the non-biological part
of the environment (non-living).
⊷ Composed of wind, soil, water,
temperature, pH, humidity, sky,
rain, rocks, sunlight and
chemicals.
 1.2 Abiotic Factors
Temperature
affect biological process and the ability
of most organisms to regulate their
body temperature.
⊷ - temperature affect metabolism,
enzymes activity, denaturation,
ectotherms, endotherms etc.
⊷ - some organisms can only tolerate
specific ranges of temperature.
1.2 Abiotic Factors

▪Water is essential and adaptations for

water balance and conservation help
determine a species habitat range
-some organisms can only tolerate
either fresh or salt water ( face the
problems of regulating intracellular
osmolarity)
 1.2 Abiotic Factors

▪Sunlight provides energy that drives

nearly all ecosystems.
-The intensity and quality of light, and
photoperiod can be important to the
development and behavior of many
organisms
 1.2 Abiotic Factors
▪Wind amplifies the effects of
temperature by increasing heat and
water loss (wind-chill factor).
▪Rocks and soil: the physical
structure and mineral composition
of soils and rocks limit distribution
of plants and the animals that feed
upon them (edaphic)
BIG
CONCEPT
Bring the attention of your audience
over a key concept using icons or
illustrations
1.2 Abiotic Factors
⊷ Include the non-biological part
of the environment (non-living).
⊷ Composed of wind, soil, water,
temperature, pH, humidity, sky,
rain, rocks, sunlight and
chemicals.
TERMINOLOGIES
⊷ Habitat - place where an organism
lives.
⊷ Population - groups of similar
individuals or of the same species
that tend to mate with each other
and living in a particular geographic
area.
⊷ Community - the relationships or
interactions between groups of
different species.
TERMINOLOGIES
⊷ Ecosystem - the relationships of
smaller groups of organisms with
each other and with their
environment.
⊷ Biosphere - zone of air, land and
water at the surface of the earth in
which living organisms are found.
⊷ The earth can be divided into
atmosphere, lithosphere and
hydrosphere.
 TERMINOLOGIES
⊷ Biomes - “the world's major
communities, classified according to
the predominant vegetation and
characterized by adaptations of
organisms to that particular
environment“
⊷ Biomes have changed and moved
Figure Mission : Biomes adopted from many times during the history of life
https://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ on Earth. More recently, human
experiments/biome
activities have drastically altered
these communities.
Subfields of Ecology
1.3: Subfields of Ecology Population
• A group of same species that live
together in a particular area at the same
time. Ex: population of bear, population
of human, population of ferns
Community
• A group of different population that live
and interact within the same area
Ecosystem
• A group of community that interact
together and link with abiotic factors
within the same area.
Landscape
• An interaction among ecosystems that
formed a heterogenous environment.
Biosphere
• A global ecological system comprising all
the Earth’s landscapes
 • Each individual belong to a population.
• Population consists of only a single species – share a common
gene pool.
• Impacted by the natural selection directly – changes in allele
frequencies
• A group of interbreeding organisms of one species occupying a
similar location at the same time (Hoefnagels, 2015).

Population of walrus
Population of polar bear
Population of barracuda fish
 Community ecology

• Contains many species in an area

• Indirectly impacted by the natural selection
• An association of populations of different
species that live and interact at the same
place at the same time (Solomon et al.,
2015).
• Groups of population that occur together in
one area (Russel et al., 2017; Hoefnagels,
2015).
Community of coral reef include:
• population of brain corals
• population of sponges
• population of sea anemones
Community of savannah include:
• population of giraffes
• population of antelopes
• population of acacia trees
• population of buffaloes
 Ecosystem ecology

A multiple community plus its non-living

environment including air, water, mineral
and fire (Hoefnagels, 2015).
A composition of community with different
populations along with the abiotic factors.
Ecosystem ecology
 Landscape Ecology
• Landscape is a large land area
composed of interacting
ecosystems.
• When interaction occurs between
two different ecosystems existed.
• Example: Kingfisher birds catch their
food (small fishes) from ponds or
rivers (aquatic ecosystem) but build
their nest and raise their offspring
on treetops of the nearby forest
ecosystem.
 BIOSPHERE
The planet of Earth is the
only planet consists of life.

Encompasses the zone of

Earth’s soil, water, and air
where living organisms
are found.
Prepared

Tutorial questions

⊷ Give the definition of ecology.

⊷ List five (5) abiotic factors in ecology.
⊷ Provide three (3) examples of ecosystems.
⊷ Differentiate between landscape ecology and
community ecology.
⊷ Explain two (2) examples of how the biotic and
abiotic factors interact in an ecosystem of tropical
forest.
Thanks!
ANY QUESTIONS?
You can find me at
⊷ nadianishamusa@uitm.edu.my
Credits
Special thanks to all the people
who made and released these
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⊷ Presentation template by
SlidesCarnival
⊷ Photographs by Unsplash
⊷ Content by Dr Hasnun Nita
Ismail
⊷ Content by Mr. Zulfadli
Mahfodz