Population ecology is the study of these and other questions about what factors affect population and

how and why a population changes over time.

The study of population ecology includes understanding, explaining, and predicting species
distributions.

Physiological ecology is concerned with the function and performance of organisms in their
environment.

An abiotic factor is a non-living component in the environment. This can be either a chemical or physical
presence. Abiotic factors fall into three basic categories: climatic, edaphic and social.

FIVE Different Types of Abiotic Factors

Temperature and Light

Water

Atmosphere

Chemical Elements

Wind

(1) ‘Natural population growth’: this is the change in population as determined by births and deaths
only. Migration flows are not counted.

(2) Population growth rate: this is the change in population as determined by births, deaths plus
migration flows.

Mutualism describes a type of mutually beneficial relationship between organisms of different species.

Commensalism (where one species benefits without harming or helping the other).

parasitism (where one species benefits and the other is harmed)

Commensalism is a type of relationship between two living organisms in which one organism benefits
from the other without harming it.

Mutualistic relationships can be categorized as either obligate or facultative. In obligate mutualism, the
survival of one or both organisms involved is dependent upon the relationship.

Types of Commensalism
Metabiosis is a commensalistic relationship in which one organism forms a habitat for another. An
example is a hermit crab, which uses a shell from a dead gastropod for protection. Another example
would be maggots living on a dead organism.

Phoresy In phoresy, one animal attaches to another for transport. This type of commensalism is most
often seen in arthropods, such as mites living on insects. Other examples include anemone attachment
to hermit crab shells, pseudoscorpions living on mammals, and millipedes traveling on birds. Phoresy
may be either obligate or facultative.
Microbiota are commensal organisms that form communities within a host organism. An example is the
bacterial flora found on human skin. Scientists disagree on whether microbiota is truly a type of
commensalism. In the case of skin flora, for example, there is evidence the bacteria confer some
protection on the host (which would be mutualism)

Competition is a relationship between organisms that strive for the same resources in the same
place. The resources might be food, water, or space.

Intraspecific competition (right) occurs between members of the same species. For example, two male
birds of the same species might compete for mates in the same area.

Interspecific competition (left) occurs between members of different species. For example, predators of
different species might compete for the same prey.

Interspecific Competition and Specialization Instead of extinction, interspecific competition may lead to
greater specialization. Specialization occurs when competing species evolve different adaptations. For
example, they may evolve adaptations that allow them to use different food sources. Figure on the right
describes an example. Specialization lets ground anoles and tree anoles live together without competing
Specialization lets different species of anole lizards live in the same area without competing.

Predation refers to a flow of energy between two organisms, predator and prey. In this
interaction, the prey loses energy, and the predator gains energy.

Types of Predations

Types of Predation

 Carnivory Carnivorous predators kill and eat their prey. The common perception of carnivory involves
a large animal, such as a shark, tiger, or wolf hunting smaller animals like rabbits or deer. However,
carnivorous predation is widespread in the animal world and carnivores can come in a variety of sizes –
from sea otters hunting sea stars to blue whales consuming zooplankton, each carnivore is adapted to
its mode of feeding.

 Herbivory Herbivorous predation involves the consumption of autotrophs, such as plants or

photosynthetic algae. Unlike carnivory, not every herbivorous interaction leads to the death of the
plant. Occasionally, herbivory can benefit the plant as well. Fruit seeds are dispersed over wide areas as
the herbivore moves. Tough seed coatings are removed in the digestive tract of the herbivore, and its
dung fertilizes the soil, providing an ideal environment for seed germination.

 Parasitism Is a form of predation where the host supplies essential nutrients for the sustained survival
and reproduction of the parasite. In many successful parasitic interactions, the host suffers a loss of
energy, falls sick, or loses access to nutrients. However, unlike carnivory, the host is not always killed. In
most cases, the parasite is much smaller than the host.
 Mutualism

Mutualism involves the interaction between two organisms where the host provides the nutrition and
space for the growth and reproduction of another species. However, the host is not harmed and the
interaction is mutually beneficial.

Examples of Predation

Carnivorous Predation Wolves are large canines that primarily hunt large herbivores such as deer, elk,
and sheep. They are particularly well-adapted hunters, with strong jaws, heightened senses, and
powerful bodies, they can identify and chase prey at high speeds.

Herbivorous Predation Grazing is a form of herbivory where the plant regenerates the parts that were
eaten by the herbivore. Herbivores are adapted to their mode of feeding. For example, elephants have
large flat teeth to grind tough plant material. They also contain microorganisms in their gut to digest
plant-based carbohydrates.

Parasitic Predation The parasite that causes malaria, Plasmodium, infects a wide variety of animal hosts,
including reptiles, birds, and mammals. The infection and causes cyclical rounds of high fever and chills,
and can even kill the host.

Mutualism The interaction between humans and their gut flora is a classic case of mutualism. The
bacteria aid in digestion and provide protection against the invasion of pathogenic bacteria. Recent
research suggests that the collection of all gut bacteria in an individual can have a widespread impact on
the host’s metabolism, immunity, and well-being.

Herbivory and Parasitism

Herbivory is the consumption of plant material by animals, and herbivores are animals
adapted to eat plants. As in predator-prey interactions, this interaction drives adaptations in both
the herbivore and the plant species it eats. For example, to reduce the damage done by
herbivores, plants have evolved defenses, including thorns and chemicals. Scientists have
identified thousands of plant chemical defense compounds, including familiar compounds such
as nicotine and cocaine.
Parasitism In parasitism, an individual organism, the parasite, consumes nutrients from another
organism, its host, resulting in a decrease in fitness to the host. In extreme cases, parasites can
cause disease in the host organism; in these situations, we refer to them as pathogens. We divide
parasites into two categories: endoparasites, which live inside the body of their hosts, and
ectoparasites, which live and feed on the outside of the body of their host. Examples of
endoparasites include flukes, tapeworms, fungi, bacteria, and protozoa. Ectoparasites include
ticks and lice, plants, protozoa, bacteria, and fungi. Plants and animals typically act as hosts.
Parasite Transmission
For all parasites, the host exists as an island of habitat. But the island lives for a finite
period of time, and the parasites must find a new host before the existing one dies. Transmission
to a new host can happen either directly, or through a vector. In direct transmission, the parasite
moves from one host to another of the same species without an intermediate organism. In vector
transmission, an intermediate organism, the vector, transfers the parasite from one host to the
next.