Ecosystem Dynamics:

POPULATION DYNAMICS
Ecological Relationships:

COMPETITION: organisms compete for resources

 Interspecific competition: competition between organisms of a different species

 Intraspecific competition: competition between organisms of the same species
 Competitive exclusions: one species successfully utilizes resource at the exclusion of another

NICHES: species within an ecosystem that play their own role – where it lives, what it eats, etc.

 Specialist: narrow niche – only be able to survive in specific environment

 Generalist: broad niche – wide-range of environmental conditions and eat many different types of
food

SYMBIOSIS: occurs when two organisms of differ species live together in a very close relationship

o Mutualism – both species in the relationship benefit from the association

o Commensalism – one species benefits and the other is unaffected (neither harmed nor helped)
o Parasitism – one species benefits and the other suffers (usually) non-lethal damage

Extinction:

 Extinction: scientists declare a species "extinct" when it has not been documented, despite extensive
surveying, and beyond reasonable doubt, for a length of time; the length of time is relevant to each species'
life span (but often 50 years is used)
 Endangered: species in danger of extinction, whose survival is unlikely if threats continue
 Vulnerable: species believed likely to become endangered soon if threats such as loss of habitat continue

Radiometric Dating and Gas Analysis:

 Fossils are the preserved remains of ancient

life
 There are four main kinds:
o Trace fossil
o Fossils with traces of organic material
o Mineralised fossils
o Impression fossils
 Fossils are mostly found in sedimentary rock

Threats to Biodiversity:

The biggest threats to biodiversity are all because of a rapidly increasing human population. They include:
 Habitat destruction - e.g. deforestation for urban development and agricultural land, global warming, mining
and pollution
 Overexploitation - e.g. whaling, fishing and wildlife trade
 Competition from introduced species - e.g. rabbits, cane toads, foxes
PAST ECOSYSTEMS
ROCK ART:

o Recorded evidence of climate and organisms in their art

o Changes in types and abundance of organisms observed

GEOLOGICAL:

o Principles of Stratigraphy
 Law of superposition
 Law of lateral continuity
 Law of original horizontality
 Law of cross-cutting relationships
o Volcanic ash
o Banded iron formations
o Palaeosoils (fossilized soils)

ICE CORES:

o When the snow falls, gases and particles from the atmosphere are trapped within it
o Particles such as wind-blown dust and pollen, volcanic ash, radioactive particles and bubbles of
atmospheric gas provided excellent proxy data for the past climates of Earth

RADIOMETRIC DATING:

o Process whereby scientists determine the age in years of a fossil, rock or mineral
o Fossils contain radioisotopes such as carbon-14 that can be used for dating

GAS ANALYSIS:

o Scientists can use the data in ice core to reconstruct atmospheric concentrations of certain gases,
particularly carbon dioxide and oxygen

PALAEONTOLOGICAL:

o Mineralized (moulds and casts, petrification, opalization)

o Organic remains (ice, amber, bogs, dry caves, carbonization)
o Impressions (including footprints)
o Trace fossils (geochemical remains)
o Microfossils
o Stromatolites
o Molecular biomarkers (fossil molecules)

FUTURE MANAGEMENT OF ECOSYSTEMS

PROBLEM ISSUES CONTROL MEASURES
SOIL EROSION  Clearing of vegetation  Use minimum till/direct drilling
 Cultivating the soil techniques
 Saline soil  Don’t leave soil fallow for long
 Flood irrigation periods
 Introduced species  Reduce stocking rates for livestock
 Soil compaction by machinery and employ rotational grazing
and hard hooves  Retain stubble after harvest
 Grow crops on slopes
 Channels and terraces to store and
redirect water
 Repair buffer strips to reduce
 riverbank erosion
 Use drip irrigation instead of flood
irrigation
SALINISATION  Removal of deep-rooted  Replant deep-rooted perennial
vegetation plants
 Irrigation  Use drip irrigation instead of flood
 Water table rises irrigation
 Destroys soil biota  Mulch garden beds
 Plant salt-tolerant plant species
 Time sprinkler systems
EUTROPHICATION  Run-off of fertilizers, detergents  Reduce run-off into streams of
and organic waste (manure) nitrogen and phosphorus-
into waterways containing detergents
INTRODUCED SPIECES  Accidental and deliberate  Quarantine and border control
introductions methods
 Use methods of control such as
biological
LAND CLEARING  Urban development  Replant deep-rooted native
 Agriculture vegetation
 Re-establish ground cover
PESTICIDE RESIDUES  Management of weeds, insects  Integrated pest management
and other plants and animals systems that incorporate several
pests strategies beside chemicals