What is Ecology?

• A branch of science concerned with the interrelationship of organisms and their

environments
• Ecology = from the Greek word, oikos (at home/house/household); and ology (the study
of/subject of study)
• “By ecology, we mean the body of knowledge concerning the economy of nature – the
investigation of the total relations of the animal to its inorganic and organic
environment.” – Haeckle (1870)

THE ECOLOGY OF LIFE • Elevated ecology to one of the three natural divisions of biology: physiology, morphology,
and ecology – Burdon-Sanderson (1890’s)
• “The scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms” – Andrewartha
AC 3 – Environmental Science and Engineering (1961)
• “The structure and function of nature” – Odum (1963)
• Our definition: “Ecology is the scientific study of the processes regulating the distribution
Engr. Jameson M. Saniano and abundance of organisms and the interactions among them, and the study of how
these organisms in turn mediate the transport and transformation of energy and matter
in the biosphere (i.e., the study of the design of ecosystem structure and function).”

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Levels of Studying Ecology Species

• BIOSPHERE
• BIOME
• ECOSYSTEM Species is often defined as a group of organisms that can reproduce naturally with one
another and create fertile offspring.
• COMMUNITY
From the color of your hair to the shape of your toes, you are distinctly human. Humans
• POPULATION
look very different from one another, yet we are all members of the same species, homo sapiens.
• SPECIES
Species is often defined as a group of organisms that can reproduce naturally with one
another and create fertile offspring. While that definition seems straight-forward, the classification
of a species can be difficult and at times riddled with controversy.

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 Species Population
Some organisms easily fit into this definition of a species, but many do not. Asexual
organisms have only one parent, so they do not reproduce with each other. Some organisms
commonly reproduce with similar species in the wild, forming genetic hybrids. In 2006, the first wild Population is the same
polar bear – grizzly bear hybrid was found in Canada. Called pizzly or grolar bears, these hybrid species that live in the same area.
bears can produce fertile offspring. However polar bears and grizzly bears are still classified as
different species due to their habitat needs. Population ecology is a sub-
field of ecology that deals with the
These naturally occurring wild rule breakers make it difficult for scientists to clearly define dynamics of species populations and
species. Genetics may provide the answer. Through genetic analysis, scientists can now classify how these populations interact with
species through patterns in Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). This technology has uncovered new the environment, such as birth and
relationships between species – and a few unexpected surprises. A recent genetic analysis revealed death rates, and by immigration and
that giraffes – long thought to be one species – are actually four distinct species. Discoveries such as emigration.
this could lead to conservation concerns, should scientists discover a new endangered species
“hiding” in a larger population of similar organisms.

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Communities Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a geographic area
where plants and animals, and other
Communities are different populations
organisms, as well as weather and
that live together in a defined area.
landscape, work together to form a bubble
In ecology, a community is a group or of life.
association of populations of two or more
Every factor in an ecosystem
different species occupying the same
depends on every factor, either directly or
geographical area at the same time. Also known
indirectly. A change in the temperature of
as a biocoenosis, biotic community, biological
an ecosystem will often affect what plants
community, ecological community, ecological
will go there, for instance. Animals that
community, or life assemblage.
depend on plants for food and shelter will
have to adapt to the changes, move to
another ecosystem or perish.

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 Ecosystem Ecosystem
Ecosystems contain biotic or living parts, as well as abiotic or non-living parts. Ecosystems can be very large or very small. Tide pools, the ponds left by the ocean as the
tide goes out, are complete, tiny ecosystems. Tide pools contain seaweed, a kind of algae, which
uses photosynthesis to create food. Herbivores such as abalone eat the seaweed. Carnivores such as
Biotic factors sea stars eat other animals in the tide pool, such as clams or mussels. Tide pools depend on the
- Include plants, animals, and other changing level of ocean water. Some organisms such as seaweed thrive in aquatic environment,
organisms when the tide is in and the pool is full. Other organisms such as hermit crabs, cannot live
underwater. And depend on the shallow pools left by low tides. In this way, the biotic parts of the
ecosystem depend on abiotic factors.
Abiotic factors The whole surface of the earth is a series of connected ecosystems. Ecosystems are often
- Include rocks, temperature, and humidity connected in a larger biome. Biomes are large sections of land, sea, or atmosphere. Forests, ponds,
reefs, and tundra are all types of biomes, for example. They’re organized very generally based on
the types of plants and animals that live in them. Within each forest, each pond, each reef, or each
section of tundra, you’ll find many different ecosystems.

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Division of Ecosystem (Biotic Factor) Biomes

A biome is an area in the planet that can be classified
according to the plants and animals that live in it. Temperature,
soil, and the amount of light and water help determine what life
exists in a biome.
A biome is different from an ecosystem. An ecosystem is
the interaction of living and non-living things in an environment. A
biome is a specific geographic area, notable for the species living
there. A biome can be made up of many ecosystems. For example,
an aquatic biome can contain ecosystems such as coral reefs and
kelp forests.

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 Biomes Biomes
Other scientist use more precised
classifications and list dozens of different biomes.
Not all scientists classify biomes in
For example, they consider different kinds of forests
the same way. Some use broad classifications
to be different biomes. Tropical rainforests that are
and count as few as six biomes. These are
warm and wet year-round are one biome.
forest, grassland, freshwater, marine, desert,
Temperate deciduous forests – those that have cold
and tundra.
winters, warm summers, and are dominated by trees
that lose their leaves – are a different type of biome.
Taiga forests, which are in cold regions and are
dominated by cone-bearing firs and spruces, are yet
another biome.

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Biomes Biosphere
The biosphere is made up of the parts of earth from
Boundaries between biomes are not always sharply defined. For instance, there are where life exists. The biosphere extends from the deepest root
sometimes transition zones between grassland and forest biomes. Coasts and wetlands are systems of trees to the dark environment of ocean trenches, to
transition zones between terrestrial and aquatic biomes. lush rainforest and high mountain tops.

Biomes move as the climate changes. Ten thousand years ago, parts of North Africa were
lush landscapes cut by flowing rivers. Hippopotamuses, giraffes and crocodiles lived amid abundant
trees. Gradually, the climate dried out. Today, this region is part of the Sahara Desert, the world's
largest desert.
Scientists describe the earth in terms of spheres The
solid surface layer of earth is the lithosphere. The atmosphere is
the layer of air that stretches above the lithosphere. The earth’s
water - on the surface, in the ground, and in the air – makes up
the hydrosphere. Since life exists on the ground, in the air, and in
the water, the biosphere overlaps all these spheres.
People play an important part in maintaining the flow of
energy in the biosphere. Sometimes, however, people disrupt the
flow. For example, in the atmosphere, oxygen levels decrease and
carbon dioxide levels increase when people clear forests or burn
fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Oil spills and industrial wastes
threaten life in the hydrosphere. The future of the biosphere will
depend on how people interact with other living things within the
zone of life.

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 Levels of Studying Ecology Food Chains and Webs
the earth’s ecosystem interacting with the physical environment as a whole to maintain
BIOSPHERE a steady-state system intermediate in the flow of energy between the high energy input
of the sun and the thermal sink of space.

BIOME large scale areas of similar vegetation and climatic characteristics

set of organisms and abiotic components connected by the exchange of matter and
ECOSYSTEM energy… or “the smallest units that can sustain life in isolation from all but atmospheric
surroundings”
A food chain outlines who eats whom. A food web is all of the food
interacting populations which significantly affect each other’s distributions and chains in ecosystem. Each organism in an ecosystem occupies a specific trophic
COMMUNITY level or position in the food chain or web. Producers who make their own food
abundance
using photosynthesis or chemosynthesis, make up the bottom of the trophic
POPULATION group of interacting and interbreeding organisms pyramid. The primary consumers, mostly herbivores, exist at the next level,
and secondary and tertiary consumers, omnivores and carnivores, follow. At
the top of the system are the apex predators: animals who have no predators
is a group of organisms so similar to another that they can breed and produce fertile other than humans.
SPECIES
offspring

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Habitat Habitat

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 References
• Vesilind, P. A., Morgan, S. M., Heine, L. G. (2010). Environmental Engineering. 3rd Ed.
• https://www.merriam-webster.com/
• https://education.nationalgeographic.org/

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