GENERAL ECOLOGY

ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]

2ND YEAR: TERM 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
• Scientific Method in Ecology
• 10 Principles of Evaluating Sampling
• Replication, Accuracy and Precision
• Replicates and Pseudo-replicates
• Fish Dilemma
• Randomization Design of Mensurative and Manipulative Experiments
• Blocking and Stratification
• Controls
• Example Experiment at Mount Pulag
• Evolutionary Ecology
• Hardy Weinberg
• Natural Selection
• Fitness
• Character Displacement [Geospiza]
• Ecological Niche
• Co-evolution and Co-action
• Population Ecology
• Life Tables
• Life Histories
• Population Regulation
• System Ecology
• Imbalances in Natural Cycle
• Biogeochemical Cycles
• Limiting Nutrients
• Energy Flow
• Feedback and Global Warming
• Marine Ecology and Conservation
 GENERAL ECOLOGY
BS BIOLOGY MAJOR IN MEDICAL BIOLOGY TERM 2 – 2ND YEAR

SCIENTIFIC METHOD IN ECOLOGY Sustainability

Origin of the World • The ability of the earth’s various natural system and human cultural system and economies to
• Oikos = House survive and adapt to changing environmental condition indefinitely
• Logos = Study • Achieved by:
• Ecology = Study of House o Relying more on renewable energy
• Ernst Haekel o Preserving biodiversity
o Coined the Oekologie in 1866 o Not disrupting natural processes (esp. Recycling)

Definition Conservation Biology

• The study of the abundance and distribution of organisms • Science that uses the principles of ecology to maintain and manage biological diversity
o Andrewartha and Birch (1954)
• The study off the environmental house includes all the organisms in it and all the functional Scientific Method
processes that make the house habitable • Distinguish between the natural history to ecology and building up theories or disproving trivia
o Odum (1983) • Good scientific experiments are designed to distinguish among alternative hypotheses
• The branch of science dealing with the relationships of living things with another and to the • We can never show a hypothesis to be true; we can only demonstrate (or fail to demonstrate) that it
environment is false
o Bush (2000) o Falsify; if not it indirectly proven
o Display actions or co-actions of organisms • Science proceeds by falsification of alternative explanations of an observed effect
• One of these alternatives is the null hypothesis, which states that the observed effect is simply the
Science allied to Ecology result of chance and is not due to some biological or other deterministic factor
Natural History o The use of null hypothesis is to show/the reason of scientific method
• The study of habits, behavior, and interactions of organisms on their natural environment • Basic steps (A general guide)
• Descriptive, doesn’t usually test hypotheses o Sound observations (of a specified level of certainty)
o Very descriptive and not to scientific o Repeated and replicated
o Documentaries o Verified by independent observers
o Do not apply the scientific method o Construction of a hypothesis (usually as an if-then statement) to explain observed
• Crucial because it provides the background information needed for further ecological research events (inductive reasoning)
o Testing of hypothesis by further observations or experiments (somewhat deductive
Environmental Science reasoning)
• The study of the ecological effects of human activities on the environment o If hypothesis holds up, elevated to theory or law; if not, it is revised or discarded and
o Ecology + humans or human activities replaced
o Physics, Chemistry, and Engineering • Proving a theory is not practicable, may not even be possible
• Interdisciplinary area of study that includes both applied and theoretical aspects of the human
impact on the world Ecology
• Interdisciplinary study of how humans interact with the living and non-living parts of the • The study of interactions between organisms and their environment
environment • A science based on holism, approach that emphasizes the totality of interactions
• Sustainability or sustainability Science o Multi-interdisciplinary
R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]
 • Inferences from ecological studies are very context specific, hence the value of comparative the number of degrees of freedom and a false sense of statistical significance. In his 1989 follow-up
studies to ensure better generality, but… paper, "The Design of Ecological Field Experiments," Hurlbert provided practical guidelines for
• Work remains descriptive in many ecological sub-disciplines avoiding pseudoreplication in ecological field experiments.
• The main points of Hurlbert's paper include:
10 PRINCIPLES OF ENVALUATING SAMPLING o Pseudoreplication is a common problem in ecological field experiments and can result in
• With the scientific methods, what cannot be disproven among many alternative explanations is incorrect conclusions.
effectively proven o Pseudoreplication occurs when treatments are not truly independent of one another,
leading to an overestimation of the number of degrees of freedom and a false sense of
statistical significance.
o Pseudoreplication can be avoided by using one of several experimental designs, such
as completely randomized designs, randomized block designs, or Latin square designs.
o The choice of experimental design depends on the research question and the
characteristics of the system being studied.
o Hurlbert also provides guidelines for calculating sample sizes and statistical power for
different experimental designs.
• Overall, Hurlbert's paper provides important guidance for designing ecological field experiments
that avoid the problem of pseudoreplication and produce reliable results.

Other points
• Hurlbert's paper emphasizes the importance of careful experimental design in ecological field
experiments. He notes that many previous studies in ecology have suffered from pseudoreplication,
which has led to erroneous conclusions and wasted resources. Pseudoreplication can occur in a
variety of ways, such as when treatments are applied to multiple units within a single experimental
plot or when data are collected over time but analyzed as if they were independent samples.
• To avoid pseudoreplication, Hurlbert recommends using one of several experimental designs,
depending on the research question and the characteristics of the system being studied. For
example, a completely randomized design can be used when there is no prior knowledge of
variation within the system, while a randomized block design may be more appropriate when there
is known spatial variation in the system. Latin square designs can be used to control for temporal
variation.
• Hurlbert also provides guidelines for calculating sample sizes and statistical power for different
• Laboratory experiment
experimental designs. He notes that larger sample sizes are generally better for reducing the
o High regulation of independent variables
effects of random variation, but also emphasizes that the choice of sample size should be guided
▪ Easily control temperature, moisture etc.
by practical considerations such as cost and feasibility.
• Filed experiment
• Overall, Hurlbert's paper highlights the importance of careful experimental design and statistical
o Medium regulation of independent variables
analysis in ecological field experiments. By avoiding pseudoreplication and using appropriate
• Natural experiment
experimental designs, researchers can produce more reliable and accurate results, and avoid
o Cannot regulate any independent variables but with these disadvantages it is very
wasting resources on experiments that do not provide meaningful insights into ecological systems.
realistic which can applied in any part of the world

Five components of an experiment

Psudoreplication and The Design of Ecological Field Experiment (Hurlbert 1989)
• Hypothesis
• "The Design of Field Experiments," Hurlbert introduced the concept of pseudoreplication, which
• Experimental Design
occurs when treatments are not truly independent of one another, resulting in an overestimation of
R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]
 • Experiment Execution the data, (b) use a distribution-free (non-parametric) procedure, (c) use a sequential sampling
• Analysis design, or (d) test against simulated H0 data
• Interpretation o Use appropriated statistical analysis based on the design
• Having chosen the best statistical method to test your hypothesis, stick with the result. An
10 Principles of Environmental Sampling (Robert Green) unexpected or undesired result is not a valid reason for rejecting the methos and hunting for a
• Be able to state concisely to someone else what question you are asking. Your result will be as “better” one
coherent and as compressible as your initial conception o Considered as a whole experiment not only the statistical result; there is a unity in
o Start with a very vague and really define hypotheses; poorly design outcome, very hard design, robust design = outcome is also robust
to interpret, and most likely the design is problematic
• Take replicate sample within each combination of time, location, and any other controlled carriable. REPLICATION, ACCURACY AND PRECISION
Differences among can only be demonstrated by comparison with differences within Elements of a Good Sampling or Experimental Design
o Carry-out statistical tests • Replication
• Take an equal number of randomly allocated replicate sample for each combination of controlled • Randomization
variables. Putting sample in “representative” or “typical” places is not random sampling o To make sure the replicates are independent, unbiased especially in relation to the
o The basic message; the importance of random sampling; the typical is only achieve in objectives
large samples • Stratification
• To test whether a condition has an effect, collect samples both where the condition is present and o In sampling or blocking
there the condition is absent but all else is the same. An effect can only be demonstrated by • Adequate controls
comparison with a control
o Need a control, more than one control
• Carry out preliminary sampling to provide a basis for evaluation of sampling design and statistical
analysis option, those who skip this step because they do not have enough time usually end up
losing time
o Most people are in the rush to get started, best experiments is came from failures – from
preliminary experiments and samplings, it has fewer problems; you can determine that
you have enough replicates (Power analysis)
• Verify that your sampling design device or method is sampling the population that you think you are
sampling, and with equal and adequate efficiency over the entire range of sampling condition to be
encountered. Variation in efficiency of sampling from area-to-area biases among-area comparison
o Sampling should not be in-favor with null nor alternative hypotheses; should be
approach design will one or both hypotheses be falsified
• If the area to be sampled has a large scale environmental pattern, break the area up into relatively
homogenous subareas and allocate samples to each in proportion to the size of the subarea. If it is
an estimate of the total abundance over the entire area that is desired, make the allocation
proportional to then number of organisms in the subarea
o In normal conditions (averages)
• Verify that your sample unit size is appropriate to the size, densities, and spatial distributions of the
organisms you are sampling. Then estimate the number of replicate samples required to obtain the
precision you want The Truth is the Intersection of Independent Lies
o Specifically for sample size; the other one is methodology • Like in the experiment of blind men and an elephant
• Test your data to determine whether the error variation is homogenous, normally distributed, and • Sample domain = where you sample your data
independent of the mean. If it is not, as will be the case for the most field data, then (a) transform

R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]

Replication and Error Bars
• Picture below
o A graphical display of how a predator-removal experiment might be reported
o In the upper panel, the two bars represent the average number of locusts where the
predator are removed and the average number where the predator are not removed
▪ Only one replicated
o In the lower panel, the vertical bars give an indication of how tightly the individual
replicate results ate cluster around the mean
o The smaller the bars, the tighter is the cluster and the more confidence we have in the
result
▪ If the error bars do not overlap; there is likely significantly different from the
two data
▪ If the error bars are closely or overlapping; test more

• On the left, there is two interpretations because there is no way to tell

o No big change in cover over or there is a big change in cover over the years
• On the right, there is an overlap hence we can say that there is no big change in over the years or it
is not statistically significant
• On the center, the interpretation is there is a big change in cover over the years because the error
bars in the year 2011 and 2012 was not overlapping to each other
• Nature is variable = the average is not enough
o Rarely homogenous

Correlation and Regression

• In (a) there is higher species number are found in nature where predator levels are lowest; (b) is a
line that represent the relationship
• For (c), the relationship might be so weak that we would not have much confidence that it was
linear

R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]

 REPLICATES AND PESUDO-REPLICATES • Schematic representation of various acceptable modes (A) of interspersing the replicates (boxes)
• Must be consoled together (Replications and Hypothesis) of two treatments (shaded, unshaded, and various ways (B) in which the principle of interspersion
can be violated
Types of Confusions
Manipulative Experiment
• Null hypothesis
o Plant growth in microwave-heated and cooled, stove-heated water is the same
• Alternative hypothesis
o Plant growth in microwave-heated and cooled, stove-heated water is NOT the same

• Sample size (n) = one per treatment

• Replication = 1

Types of Design

• Sample size = 3 per treatment

• Replication = 1 per treatment
• Subsample = 3 per treatment
• The plants in the pot are NOT independent to each other (3 plants in one pot)
• The design is Isolative Segregation (B-3)

• Sample size = 3 per treatment

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 • Replication = 3 per treatment • Even better design
• Subsample = 0 per treatment
• The plants in the pot ARE independent to each other Pseudoreplication
• The design is Completely Randomized (A-1) • Results from a mismatch between experiment design or sampling and statistical analysis
inappropriate to the hypothesis of interest
o In manipulative experiment: the use of inferential statistics to test for treatment effects
with a data from experiment where treatments are not replicated (although samples may
be) or replicates are not statistically independent
o In mensurative experiments: results from space over which samples are taken or
measurements made being smaller or more restricted than the inference space implicit
in the hypothesis being tested

FISH DILEMMA
• Sample size = 3 per treatment Experiment T
• Replication = 1 per treatment
• Subsample = 3 per treatment
• The plants in the pot are NOT independent to each other
o When the side of the experiment where in the shade of a tree; there are 2/3 chance that
the plant~
• The design Simple Segregation (B-1)
• The best design among the 3 is the one with the most replicates = CRD
o Subsamples are not bad; they improve precision but not necessarily accuracy • 120 fishes (2 species)
• 8 groups of 15 per tank
• 2 treatments
o Tap
o Distilled
• 4 replicates
o 4 tanks in tap
• Sample size = 9 per treatment o 4 tanks in distilled
• Replication = 3 per treatment • 15 subsamples
• Subsample = 9 per treatment
• Improvement of design CRD Experiment U

• 120 fishes
• 4 groups of 30
• Sample size = 9 per treatment • 2 tap and 2 distilled
• Replication = 9 per treatment • 2 treatments
• Subsample = 0 per treatment • 2 replicates
R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]
 • 30 subsamples • 60 = tap
Experiment V • 120 replicates per treatment
• 0 subsample

Experiment Z

• 120 fishes
• 4 groups of 30
• Day 1: all tap
• Day 2: all distilled • 120 fishes in each tank (1:1)
• 1 replicate per treatment • 60 = distilled
o Because there is no 50:50 chance to be distilled or tap • 60 = tap
• 4 or 120 subsample depends on the perspective • 60 replicate per treatment
• 0 subsample
Experiment W
Note
• More subsample = more precises
• More replicates = more accurate
• Unique experience = Replicates = Independent = 50:50 chance
• 4 replicates per treatment • Shared experience = Subsample = Dependent = 100% chance
• 120 fishes
• Randomized complete block RANDOMIZATION DESIGN OF MENSURATIVE & MANIPULATIVE EXPT.
• 30 subsample Randomization
• Mensurative experiment
Experiment X o Involves only the making of measurements at one or more points in space or time
o Space o time is the only “experimental” variable or “treatment”

• 120 fishes
• 8 groups of 15
• 8 replicates per treatment
o There is a 50:50 chance to be distilled or tap
• 15 subsamples

Experiment Y

• 120 fishes in each tank (1:1)

• 60 = distilled

R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]

 o Example: ▪ If the objective is to determine which food type result in the most growth in
the study fish, the design in unreplicated (one replicate/treatment) and has
▪ If the objective is to determine the true amount of oxygen in the RIVER, then 100 subsamples (1 per treatment)
this design is unreplicated; 1 sample but 8 subsamples • No interspersion
▪ If the objective is to determine the true amount of oxygen in the PAIL, then o Bias to temperature
this design is replicated 8 samples with no subsamples

o Example

▪ It not solves the problem in light levels nor the temperature

▪ If the objective is to determine which food type in the most growth in the
▪ If the objective is to determine the true amount of oxygen in the RIVER, then study fish, the design is FLAWED (1 replicated/treatment), because of poor
this design is replicated; 2 sample and 8 subsamples (4 per sample) INTERSPERSION. Its debatable if it has 4 or 100 subsamples/treatment
▪ If the objective is to determine the true amount of oxygen in the one PAIL, ▪ Not much different from the previous design
then this design is replicated 4 samples with no subsamples ▪ Better replications; poor interspersion

▪ Much better design

▪ Better replication; good interspersion

▪ If the objective is to determine the true amount of oxygen in the RIVER, then
this design is replicated; 8 sample but no subsamples
o Your objectives determine what your replicates are and what your subsamples
are
▪ Replicates is the average of the subsamples
• Manipulative experiment ▪ Best design in the experiment
o Example of Pseudoreplication ▪ 33 replicates (the fish tanks) per treatment
▪ Students want to test a fish food for a Tilapia to grow faster and cheaper to ▪ Each tank with 3 fishes (the subsamples)
produce
▪ Design: Fish food (a) and (b) made by the students and (c) is commercially BLOCKING AND STRATIFICATION
available; each tank has 100 fishes Blocking
▪ Noted: the students did not regulate the temperature and one of the tanks is
• Manipulative experiment
colder; one the tank is near the window so it could possible that the
• Situation
microalgae production on the tank which helps the Tilapia to grow
o Fertilizer experiments in farm plots
o Corn Farm
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 • Regulation of the conditions under which the experiment is conducted
o The neighbor has a row of trees; there is a shaded (casting a shadow) part or the wind • Experiment
pattern of the study area
o The rows of plots have the same sunlight; row 1 have the same and row 2 and so on
o The 3 treatment groups affecting the same way by those tree; equal number of
replicated (plots); the plots are receiving the same sunlight in the group (a), (b), and (c)
o The effect of the trees is irrelevant due to the design of the experiment; they factored
them out
o Design: Completely randomized block design
o Blocks: A set of plots or replicates that is homogenous in some way; each row is a block
▪ Each block there is a randomization o The experiment was fishes from the distilled water and transfer to the experimental and
o ANOVA with Blocks for statistical applications controlled set-ups and observed the fishes in the set-ups
o This design is used commonly in medical research o The design in flawed; interpretations from the result
▪ Cigarettes kill more fish and/or brown water kills more fish

o Better design; only one interpretation: Cigarettes kill more fish

Stratification
• Menstrative experiment
• Situation
o Sampling temperature at STRC
o The building is casting a shadow hence the shaded part is cooler that the direct sunlight
o Objective: average temperature in the air over the parking lot
o Stratification is the allocation the number of samples in the proportion to the area of the
sub units in the study area
▪ If the shaded area is 70%; the 70% of the samples should be place in
random spots in the shaded area

CONTROLS
• Any treatment against which one or more other treatment is to be compared
o “untreated” treatment or “procedural” treatment (no imposition of the experimental
variable)
• All obligatory design features listed in the “Sources of Confusion; 1-6”

R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]

 o On the top left, the brown control in insufficient enough to tell if the interpretation is the ▪ No serious flaw in the design
water used is toxic and/or brown water is toxic ▪ Replicates: 8 per treatment
▪ Poorly design ▪ Subsample: 0
o To improve the experiment, the researchers add more controls as follows: o Middle top left: Systematic design
▪ Top right interpretation: cigarettes kill more fish o Middle top right: Randomized complete blocks (RCB) design
▪ Bottom left interpretation: brown color kills more fish ▪ Replicates: 8 per treatment
▪ Bottom right interpretation: water is toxic ▪ Subsample: 0
▪ Flaws: Inference space does not match the sampled space
EXAMPLE EXPERIMENT AT MOUNT PULAG o Middle bottom left: Systematic design
Experiment To Determine the Role of Soil Moisture on Tree Growth ▪ Replicates: 1 per treatment
• Experimental units: randomly distributed 10m x 10m plots of soil at the peaks of Mt. Pulag ▪ Subsample: 12
randomly assigned to the following levels of treatment o Middle bottom right: Randomized complete blocks (RCB) design
o 8 treatment plots irrigated through pipes o Extreme bottom left: Complete randomized design (CRD)
o 8 non-irrigated treatment plots with pipes ▪ Flaws: Inference space does not match the sampled space
o 8 non-irrigated treatment plots without pipes o Extreme bottom right: Clumped segregation design
• Layout: Randomized complete blocks (RCB) design
• Replicates: 8 plots per treatment
• Subsamples: No subsamples
• Limitations: Irrigated water level based on that of soil at lower altitudes in the same mountain –
area with thicker soil, existing trees, and adequate sources of seed. Seeds (but not soil) must thus
add
• Working (Alternative) Hypothesis: The soil at the peak of Mt. Pulag is too dry to support tree growth
• Null Hypothesis: The soil at the peak of Mt. Pulag is not too dry to support tree growth
• Experimental objective is to be determine if increased irrigation of soil plots at the peak of Mt. Pulag
will result in the germination of local tree seeds and their growth to reproduce age
• Factor of interest: Soil moisture
• Factors levels:
o Ambient or normal moisture
o Moisture levels at areas of Mt. Pulag with tree growth
• Design: Randomized complete blocks (RCB) design

Alternative designs
• Physical Layouts:
o Extreme Top left: Randomized complete blocks (RCB) design
▪ Flaw: The sequence of the samples is not randomized
o Extreme Top right: Complete randomized design (CRD)
▪ Advantage: able to spread more plot over the inference space

R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]

 EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY • Assume diploid organism polymorphic for allele A (A, a) with following genotype
• Seeks to understand connection between traits of populations and species and their biotic and o AA: 30 (30/100 = 0.3)
abiotic environment ▪ Homogeneous Dominant
• Ecological phenomena o Aa: 20 (20/100 = 0.2)
o Proximate explanations ▪ Heterogeneous
▪ The immediate cause of the phenomenon o aa: 20 (50/100 = 0.5)
• Birds lay fewer eggs, have smaller clutches during timed of food ▪ Homogeneous Recessive
scarcity • Allele frequency for A
o Ultimate explanations o p= (30+30+20)/200 = 0.40
▪ More general reason • Allele frequency for a
▪ Rooted in evolutionary theory o q= (50+50+20)/200 = 0.60

Example: Paired Combinations of Mating

• Spawning of Corals Female Gametes Male Gametes Zygotic Frequencies
o Proximate explanations 0.40 A x 0.40 A 0.16 AA
▪ The levels of temperature 0.40 A x 0.60 a 0.24 Aa
▪ Day length 0.60 a x 0.40 A 0.24 Aa
▪ Moonlight Intensity =0.48 Aa
▪ The time after sunset 0.60 a x 0.60 a 0.36 aa
o Ultimate explanations
▪ Seasonal temperature cycles that may optimize physiological performance Second Generation
for sexual reproduction in corals, wind speeds and tidal phases that may • Allele frequency for A
maximize fertilization success and dispersal, and diurnal cycles that may o p= (0.16+0.16+0.48)/2 = 0.40
allow for predator avoidance • Allele frequency for a
Adaptation and Evolution o q= (0.36+0.36+0.48)/2 = 0.60
• Evolution • As observed the frequencies of the first and second generations is the same; but if the third
o Genetic change in a population of organisms over time generation is the same, there is a problem that the third generation is the same with the first
o Ecological situations can cause evolution generation or the second generation
o Organism’s response to its ecological situation may be evolutionary
o Basic evolutionary unit = Population Evolutionary Change
▪ Group of conspecifics members of the same species inhabiting a specifies Genotype AA Aa Aa
geographic area Frequencies predicted
Adaptation 0.16 0.48 0.36
by HW equations
• Determined characteristics whether behavioral, morphological, or physiological that improves an Frequencies observed
organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment 0.3 0.2 0.5
in a population
• Evolutionary proves hereby organisms become better suited to their environments • Maybe in the 4th or 5th generation the frequencies are not changing, hence it reaches equilibrium
• Acclimatization is not involving directly in evolution • At the second row shows the equilibrium; the numbers between the second and third row is
difference, hence the population is not in equilibrium; It is evolving
HARDY WEINBERG • The homogeneous recessive equilibrium is lower than the actual sample; It could be the allele of aa
• Hardy-Weinberg Theorem in the sample population is advantageous in the specific geographic area
o Mathematical algorithm allows us to detect and measure genetic change; that might
result of evolution
R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]
Conditions and Violations of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium FITNESS
Condition for HW Equilibrium Corresponding mechanism of evolution if violated • Natural selection result from differences in fitness
Infinitely large population Genetic drift • Contribution by an individual’s descendants to future generations
No net immigration or emigration of alleles Gene flow • Absolute fitness
No differential mortality or survival by genotype Natural selection o Expected number of offspring produced by a particular genotype
No new mutations Mutation pressure • Relative fitness
o Relative ability of a genotype to obtain representation in the next generation
• Genetic drift
o Random shifts in allele frequencies
o Occurs in small and large population but the effect in most apparent in the former
o Determined by effective population size
• Gene flow
o Loss or gain of alleles resulting in change in allele frequencies
o Occurs via emigration and immigration

NATURAL SELECTION
• Differential representation of genotypes in future generations
• Resulting from heritable differences in survival and reproduction among these genotypes
• Elements:
CHARACTER DISPLACMENT [GEOSPIZA]
o Inherited variation exists among individual in a population
o Not all individual has the same phenotype
o Resources are limiting, hence there is competition among organisms for scarce
resources
o Phenotype and corresponding genotype which can garner more of the scare resources
leave more offspring that other

• Hypothetically, the ancestor of the Geospiza fortis and Geospiza fulginosa colonize the islands of
Charles and Chatham from the mainland South America; and some population form those islands
colonize the islands of Daphne and Crossman
• Comparing the beak size of Geospiza fortis from Daphne, Charles and Chatham; It seems that the
beak size of the bird in Daphne smaller from the average of Charles and Chatham; Hence, it shows
directional selection; it also shows that the range is smaller, there is also stabilizing selection
• While the Geospiza fuliginosa, shows disruptive selection with the same idea from the previous
bullet; it also shows that the birds exploited bigger seeds than the counterpart in Charles and
Chatham
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 • Describe the most obvious one and based on the starting and endpoints Temperature Tolerance
• Possible assumption or speculate that the G. fuliginosa in the Crossman is transitioning to the
directional selection compare to the staring point of Charles and not disruptive selection

Abiotic Factors and Limit

• Physical resources that the organisms must assimilate if it so lives and prosper
• Physical factor denotes other kinds of abiotic parameters whose physical or chemical effects may
delimit a zone in which life is possible
• When these determine the presences or absence of a species
o They are referred to as limiting factors
• von Liebig’s Law of the Minimum
o the success of an organism is determined by one crucial ingredient in the environment
that is in short supply
• Shelford’s ‘Law’ of Tolerance
o There are upper and lower bounds to the physical factors that an organism can tolerate
o This result of adaptation by natural selection and/or acclimatization
▪ The ability to change physiology or morphology in response to a particular
environment

Optimum or Tolerance Curve

• Stenotherm = Very narrow range

• Eurytherm = Very wide tolerance range and the optimum growth range is 3x longer than
stenotherm
• The polar stenotherm are specialize or a specialist while the warm temperature eurytherm are more
• Physical gradient = Physical factors general or generalist
o Not limited to chemical or physiological
o Can be biological (e.g. food size) ECOLOGICAL NICHE
• The bell curve = the survivability of an organism • Characterization of a species
• C. Elton (1927): the ecological role of species
o As opposed to the “habitat” – the description of where the organisms are found

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 • G.E. Hutchinson (1957): a hypervolume in multidimensional space defined by the intersection of Biotic Communities
resource utilization and tolerance curve
o Defined by niche optima, niche breadth, and niche separation

Types of Ecological Niche

• Fundamental niche or physiological niche
o Hypervolume that defines the environmental condition under within the species can
survive and reproduce
o Provides a description of the set of environment conditions under which is a species can
persist
• Realized niche
o The interactions such as competition may restrict the environment in which can persist
and referred to the portion of the fundamental niche that a species actually exploits

Competition

CO-EVOLUTION AND CO-ACTION

• Co-evolution leading to divergence of phenotypes in two species
• Unlike adaptation to the physical environment, its response to the interaction with another species
can produce reciprocal evolutionary responses that either thwart (counter) these adaptive changes
• The initial or new interaction have negative (-) implications but if the old interaction it may become
mutualism if the environment is right

Responses
Type of Interaction Species A Species B
Neutralism 0 0
Mutualism + +
• Always move away from competition Commensalism + 0
• Graph b, ants and mouse will have directional selection Competition - -
• The beetle in the graph a will have a stabilizing selection Amensalism - 0
Predation or Herbivory + -
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 Parasitism + - ▪ A forest may have a high crude density of deer, but a low ecological density
Parasatoidism + - due to limited food resources and competition for space. Similarly, a desert
• Neutralism = neither of the two population affects the other may have a low crude density of plants, but a high ecological density due to
• Mutualism = the two population mutually benefits the adaptation of the species to the arid conditions of the habitat
• Commensalism = when one species maintains or provides a condition that is necessary for the o May not appropriate for clonal organisms, or those who’s individual or modules are
welfare of another but does not affect its own well-being difficult to distinguish
o Example: Orchids and Trees o Organisms may be unitary or modular
• Competition = detrimental to the two population ▪ Gene = genetic individual arising from a zygote
o Cost more energy; most expensive ▪ Modules produced asexually by the genet
• Amensalism = one species reduces or adversely affects the population of another, but affected • Ramets
species has no influence in return o May be physically linked to the parent or separate
o Clones or exact copies of the parent genet
• Predation = one organism feeding on another
• Parasitism = one organisms feeds on the other but rarely kill it outright
• Parasitoidism = The host typically survives, although its fitness is reduced
o Example: certain wasps and flies, lay eggs in or on the body of the host. When the eggs
hatch, the larvae feed on it. By the time the larvae reach the pupal stage, the host has
succumbed

POPULATION ECOLOGY
• A group of conspecifics inhabiting a specific place in a specific time
• Human construct
o There are no criteria where a population start not end
• Boundaries are defined by many means and mostly arbitrary
o Relative to species range
o Relative to the life span of individuals
o To maximize important process like reproduction or dispersal within boundaries
compared to those between the study area and other regions
o Genetically • Dispersion
▪ Demes = locally defined population characterized by random mating within o Spatial distribution of individual
the group ▪ Random; clumped/aggregated; hyperdispersed/uniform
o Clumped dispersion
Parameters that Describe Population ▪ Commonest patter that can observed in populations
• Population density ▪ Individuals are bunched into groups within the population
o Number of individuals of individual per unit area of volume or percentage cover • Mainly results from the response to the unevenly distributed
o May not appropriate for clonal organisms (leaves, polyps, or branches) resources in their environment
▪ Not suitable for count but suitable for cover coverages • Also happens if there are positive interactions between the
o Can be expressed as crude density or ecological density individual
▪ Crude density provides a general measure of population density or the • Advantages
counts or cover per unit of the total area sampled o Provides protection from predators
▪ Ecological density provides a more accurate understanding of the o Facilitates finding mates and reproduction
relationship between a species and its environment or the counts or cover o Decrease the energetic cost of food search
per unit of the habitable area sampled
R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]
 o Uniform dispersion o The distribution of individual in the carious age classes
▪ Individuals are uniformly spaced within the population
• Mainly result from competition for resources
• Therefore, there are aggressive interaction between the neighbors
o Random dispersion
▪ Individual are randomly spaced within the community
▪ Not much common in nature
▪ This occurs as there are no strong interaction between the individual
▪ They show neutral interaction

• Sex ratio
o Proportion or percentage of the population that is male or female

NE = (4NmNf)/(Nm+Nf)
For population of 500 with 50:50 sex ratio and all individual breeding:
NE = (4[250][250])/([250]+[250]) = 500
If 450 females bred with 50 males:
NE = (4[50][450])/([50]+[250])
NE = 180 or 36% of actual population size (There is only 180 unique genotypes)

LIFE TABLES
• Used to calculate and summarize important parameters relating to the growth of population, such
as survivorship, mortality, and life expectancy
• Age structure
• Involves the information of a cohort
o Cohort
▪ A group of individuals born at the same time
• Cohort of 1000 (example)
• Age-specific/Cohort life tables
o Cohort is followed over time
o Requires frequent censuses
o Commonly used only for females
• Time-specific life tables
o Useful for long-lived organisms
o Assumes stationarity and number born each is the same
• Life Table Example:
o Proportion of Original Cohort Size (nx/n0)
R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]
 o Probability of Survivorship of the Given Age (lx) • Age-Specific Fertility (mx)
o Measure of Age-Specific Mortality (dx) o Refers to the number of off-spring on the given age
▪ Number of individuals that have died during that time interval • Net reproductive rate (R0)
o Age-Specific Mortality Rate (qx) o Number of off-spring over the lifespan of an organisms (Female)
o Average Number of Individuals Alive During the Age Interval (Lx)
o Total Years Lived into the Future by Individual of Age Class in the Population (Tx)
o Life Expectancy (ex)
Population Growth
• The life table will ultimately allow us to compute net reproductive rate, which can be converted to r,
the intrinsic growth rate, which can then be used in modeling the pattern of population growth.
There are generally two patterns of growth, exponential growth and logistic growth.

Fecundity Schedule of Lions

LIFE HISTORIES
• Life history followed by species or population are outcomes of evolution, not conscious choice
• Classical scheme assigns organisms to either r-selected or k-selected strategies
• Newer schemes divide organisms to ruderals, stress-tolerators, and competitive strategies
• Few species can be unambiguously assigned to a strategy in both scheme
• Most species exhibit combinations of traits of alternative schemes

Survivorship Curves
• Type I
o Most Individual lost when older
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 ▪ Found in vertebrates especially those with parental care o r-selected (J-Shaped)
• Type II ▪ Opportunistic small organisms with good dispersal capabilities
o Constant mortality rate ▪ Short life spans, rapid development
▪ Hydra and many birds ▪ Early reproductive age
• Type III ▪ Semelparous
o Most individual lost when young • Reproduce once (die after reproduce)
▪ Found in many invertebrates and plants ▪ Fast population growth; variable population size below K
• K = Carrying capacity
▪ Type III survivorship, no parental care
o K-Selected (S-Shaped)
▪ Large organisms with poor dispersal capability but good competitive ability
▪ Long lived, slow development
▪ Late reproductive age
▪ Iteroparous
• More than one reproduces
▪ Slow population growth; population size around K
▪ Type I or II survivorship

Trade-offs in Reproductive Strategies

• Number of offspring per reproductive event
o Larger litter or clutches do not increase fitness since these are offset by higher mortality
from predators, lower body weight of offspring, higher feeding cost, etc.
• Present versus future reproduction
o Selection favors age of reproduction that occurs before survivorship declines markedly
o Semelparity versus iteroparity
• Age at sexual maturity
o Younger age of sexual maturity may be offset by lower reproductive success

Life History Strategies

• Life history:
o Any aspect of the developmental pattern and mode of reproduction of an organism that
result from evolution and not “conscious decision”
o Aspects include:
▪ Body size
▪ Developmental stages
• Instars and Metamorphosis
▪ Senescence
• The process of timing, aging, degeneration, and death
▪ Reproductive patterns
• Proposed in 1970 by Eric Pianka • R = Ruderal

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 o Small • Irruptions
o Short-lived o When populations that typically have low densities and stable numbers suddenly
o Allocate more energy to reproduction explode in numbers
o Dispersal o Examples
o Version of r-selected species ▪ Outbreaks of coral-eating starfish (Crown of Thorns starfish)
• S = Stress-tolerant
o Version of k-related species Density Dependent and Density Independent Factors
o Allocate more energy to maintenance • Density dependent factors
• C = Competitors o Population that are regulated more when their number or density are higher
o Allocate more energy to growth o Somewhat stable number
o Resource acquisition and competition o Birth rate declines and death rate with increasing population size
• Density independent factors
POPULATION REGULATION o Completely independent
• Population sizes usually remain within certain upper and lower limits o Somewhat fixed
• Exceeding these limits risk collapses and even extinction o Rates are remained constant for all population densities
• These limits are usually determined by a combination of density dependent and density- • Example
independent factors o When a floating long lumber hitting a rock with full of barnacles; It will kill more
barnacles if the density in the rock if more and while it would kill less if there is less
barnacles in the rock = Density dependent factor (the log is a factor)

Patterns of Population Fluctuations

• Small-magnitude irregular fluctuation
o Year to year random changes of one order of magnitude (base 10) or less
• Large-scale irregular fluctuations
o Peaks may be several orders of magnitude higher than the lows
o Typical of r-selected species like most insects
• Cycles
o Regular changer with fixed periods, magnitude can be large of small
o Best known examples Ecosystem Exploitation Hypothesis (EEH)
▪ 4-year cycles of microtine rodents • The factors that regulate one population in once species are usually eats own kind or a predator
• Lemmings and volves whether its completion or predations its regulations densities, it depends on the productivity of the
▪ 10-year cycle of hare, grouse, and lynx ecosystem that they are exploiting

R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]

 • Plant biomass reflects the primary productivity of an ecosystem modified by the regulating effect of SYSTEMS ECOLOGY
herbivory System Ecology
• Herbivore abundance reflects the productivity of plants modified by the regulating effect of • Systems
predation o A group of entities that can be isolated for the purposes of observations and study
• Ecosystem
o Any unit that includes all organisms that function together (biotic community) in a given
area interacting with the physical environment so that the flow of energy leads to clearly
defined biotic structures and cycling of materials between living and non-living parts
(Odum, 1983)
o Basic functional unit of ecology
o Living system difficult to isolate without affecting its properties
o Living system boundaries best defined in terms of flows and processes
▪ There should be less of these crossing the boundaries than staying within
them
o Open and closed systems
▪ Open system is there are flow from the outside of the system or the
ecosystem boundary
o Steady state
▪ When total input equals total output
▪ Dynamic equilibrium
▪ Homeostasis
• When environment is kept constant
o Components and process of an ecosystem
▪ Biotic community
▪ Flow of energy
▪ Cycling of materials
▪ Feedback control loops

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 • (A) Autotrophs and (H) Heterotrophs are the biotic community • The P will flow to the seagrass then it storge in the detritus, the detritus will dissolve in the water or
• (S) Storage units are materials, substances, or chemicals that stored in the body of the organisms absorbed by the filter feeders; if the filter feeders died the P will be released in the water, the P in
or in the environment the water will go to the sediments and absorbed by the seagrass
• Sun and the line towards to Heat sink are the flow of energy o Phosphate or cell membranes or ATP, RNA, or DNA etc.

• If the flow rate in>flow rate out THEN the water level rise… UNTIL water spills
o Fast water going to the pail
• If the flow rate in<flow rate out THEN the water level drops… UNTIL the pail is nearly empty
o Slow water going to the pail
o Never will be dry out because it will find the hole in the pail

Phosphorus Cycle in a Seagrass Ecosystem

• On the Left, if D remove a large amount of water, the water level of D will down and still down and
the other pails will no change
o Because the rate will not change if you remove the water from D
• (Numbers are rates, i.e. amount per unit time) • On the right, the new flow rate of the pipe form D and C from 16 units to 17 units. The pail C will
increase in water level and the pail D decreases in water level and this is will be the new
R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]
 equilibrium (Note: the rate of pipe will be revered to the initial pipe rate ~from 16 to 17 it will be
revered to 17 to 16)
• On the bottom, the new flow rate of the pipe from C to B from 1 unit to 2 units. The pail B will be
increases water level and the pail C and A will be decreases in water level (Note: all the pail will
decrease in water level from A, E, D, and C because of the flow rate out of B is 1 unit it will not
suffices the flow rate out of other pails)
• [Flow rate in] – [Flow rate out]
o 0 = no change
o > 0 = increases
o < 0 = decreases

IMBALANCES IN NATURAL CYCLE

Changes in the Water Cycle and Climate Change
Hydrological Cycle

• Urbanization of farmlands, the farmlands are covered by houses and concrete

o Large tracts of farmlands being converted to subdivisions
▪ Can cause the flow of the water will lessen because of the impermeable
structures or materials
▪ More houses or building the heat generated are more enclose and hard to
get out
• Convection currents of the wind in urban areas
o Turbulence that the airplane feels approaching urban
areas
o Extreme weather
▪ Bagyong Ondoy
• Drops an amount of rainfall of a month in a day in 2009
• Flooding

BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
• Biogeochemical cycles refer to the global flux and storage of elements and compounds essential to
life processes
o Carbon (C) cycle
• Represent the movement of water around the planet; which is consistent as ecosystem in this o Nitrogen (N) cycle
perspective o Phosphorus (P) cycle.
• Most of the water are found in the ocean then goes to the atmosphere and precipitate into various
forms, it will go back to the ocean via surface runoff or thru groundwater Carbon Cycle
• Like in the previous pail experiment, if there is a change in the water level in one compartment the • Essential part of all organic molecules and in determining global climate
other compartment will have changes too similar to the hydrologic or water cycle • Stored in biomass, atmosphere, in the oceans (the carbonate-bicarbonate system), soil, petroleum
deposits, and carbonate rocks
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 • Some are small number of carbons and some are large
o For example, the ocean with 38 000
▪ Large amount of carbon in the ocean are due to the carbonic acid system

Carbonic Acid System

• Involves the interconversion of carbon either in the form of CO2 or HCO3- or CO3-

R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]

Phosphorus Cycle • The rate of the cycle is determined by the slowest flow or action in the cycle
• Slowest cycle o For example, the rate of rocks or the uplifting of rocks in the phosphorus cycle
• Essential in the energetics, genetics, and structure of living system
• Form part of ATP, RNA, DNA, and phospholipids
• Predominantly a sedimentary cycle
o Often not available unless weathered, dissolved, and the right pH
• Tied to the speed of the rock cycle
o Residence time of thousands of years
▪ The average of amount of time that particular substance remains in the
compartment

• Phosphorus are trap in the sediments under the oceans

• Get subducted and melted in the core of the earth
o It will take a thousand of years to get back to the sea floor to get in the land that to be
come available in the land plants • Very little in the atmosphere because it is a sedimentary cycle
o The largest amount is on the sea floor with 800 000 000
o It is not available to life
• The bottom of the sea or the deep sea are poorly lit, therefore, the plants that can absorb the
phosphorous will not have enough photosynthesis done
o Liebig’s Law of the Minimum
▪ “If one of the essential plant nutrients is deficient, plant growth will be poor
even when all other essential nutrients are abundant”
▪ It limiting reactant or nutrients will be the determining by the flow or the rate
of the reaction

Human Intrusion into the Phosphorus Cycle

• Depletion of P in the soil due to cropping
o P fertilizer added but depleted by abundant calcium, iron, and ammonium in the soil (Ca,
Fe, NH4)
o Due to replanting the same crop in the same plot of soil depleting the same nutrients
▪ No rotational crop planting
• Exceeds fertilizer application

R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]

 o In 1968, 50% more P added as fertilizer than was lost to the ocean from global runoff
from all sources
• Imbalance in P distribution
o Accumulation in urban centers and nearby waters
▪ Sewage treatment removes only 30% of P
• Eutrophication
o From of pollution that is too much of nutrients that can
cause of “dead” in many bodies of water
• Increased cycling often leads to loss to the deep sea

Nitrogen Cycle
• From part of amino acids, nucleic acids, chlorophyll and hemoglobin
• Predominantly a gaseous cycle
o Stored in the atmosphere
• Not available unless converted by nitrogen fixers (not rapid)
o Lighting, cosmic radiations, and most importantly bacteria
▪ Cyanobacteria, soil-, root nodule-, and actinomycetes bacteria
• Limits primary production in terrestrial and marine systems
o But not necessarily in freshwater or aquatic systems
• Residence time of 625 years in the biosphere
o Faster than phosphorous
• The nitrogen that needs in life are mostly carried-out by bacteria
o Residence time is the opposite of the turn-over rate
Human Intrusion into the Nitrogen Cycle
• Timber harvesting -N “lost” from the system
o NO3 losses in the soil
• Excess fertilizer application
o NO3 leaks into ground water
• Industrial nitrification and cultivation of legumes exceeds denitrification capacity of natural systems
• 12x increase in N fertilizer application
o 2x increase in yield → NO3 build up in soil and groundwater → eutrophication of rivers,
lakes, and estuaries
• Auto mobile exhausts and industrial combustion add NO2 to the atmosphere → fertilization of
remote areas
o NO2 → NO + O + O2 → O3
▪ Hydrocarbons → radicals
▪ Radicals produce more NO3, O3
▪ Contributes to smog
o NO3 + moisture → HNO3
▪ Acid rain

R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]

Impact of Ecosystem Alteration

• No doughnuts run out

• The green doughnuts are the limiting food or the green doughnuts are runs out first

• Modification of big parts of the ecosystem Life Substances in Fixed Ratio

o Example
▪ Experimental forest (Fig. 36.18B) sheered cutting; if the cutting of the trees in
the a few months the remaining nitrogen leaks-out in the remaining system
into the bodies of the water, hence, the elevated N in rivers (Fig. 36.18C)
relative to the controlled forest

LIMITING NUTRIENTS
Introduction
• The green and blue doughnuts are not eaten one at the but it is eaten simultaneously
• Imagine two platters of two flavors of doughnuts
• Blue ones and green ones give you indigestion if not eaten in combination of 2 blue:1 green Redfield Ratio of Phytoplankton

• The blue doughnuts are the limiting food or the blue doughnuts are runs out first

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 • Redfield ratio Biological Oceanography
o Ratio that uses by phytoplankton to photosynthesizes • Different from marine biology
o 106 moles C fixed: 16 moles N used: 1 mole P used • Uses Redfield ratio
o It ties the 3 biogeochemical to each other o The most important primary producer or the most photosynthetic` in the sea
▪ The destruction of one cycle leads to the destruction of the other cycles ▪ It is not by seaweed but phytoplankton
o When phytoplankton photosynthesizes carbohydrates, it requires N and P
Sulfur Cycle ▪ In the Redfield ratio, for every 106 moles of C in carbohydrate; it will need 16
• It has the properties of a phosphorous, nitrogen and carbon cycles moles of N (in various form of Nitrogen) and 1 mole of P

N:x = N:X
(Redfield ratio of limiting nutrient: Redfield ratio of missing nutrient = Given ratio of limiting nutrient: Missing
nutrient)
Q: If N is 8 and P is 1, How many fixed carbons it will produce
16:106 = 8:X
X=53

ENERGY FLOW
Role of Organisms
• Producers or Autotrophs
o Trap energy and make organic materials from atoms in the environment
o Produce own food or nutrients
o Photosynthesis
▪ CO2 + H2O → C6H12O6 + O2
• Consumers or Heterotrophs
o Consume organic matter to provide themselves with energy and organic matter
necessary for growth and survival
o Herbivores
▪ Feeds on plants
▪ Primary consumers
o Carnivores
▪ Feeds on meat
▪ Secondary consumers
o Omnivores
▪ Feeds on plants and meat
o Detritivores
▪ Feeds on detritus
▪ In a separate food web that deals the organisms after dead or shed parts of
the body
▪ Decomposers
• Digest organic molecules in detritus into simple organic
compounds, and absorb soluble nutrients
o Bacteria and Fungi
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 • Without decomposers, many compounds would remain
permanently in dead organisms and hence would be unavailable
for use by other organisms

Energy Flow Through Ecosystem

• Each step in the flow of energy through an ecosystem is known as tropic level or feeding level
o Producers are first tropic level
o Primary consumers are second tropic level
o Secondary consumers are third tropic level
o This is in the application of the Laws of Thermodynamics
▪ The second law of thermodynamics states that “Entropy of an isolated
system always increases in every spontaneous process” and also states
“Heat can not flow itself from colder body to a hotter body”
• The flow to the heat or energy will be from hot to cold or high to
low
▪ As energy moved from one trophic level to the next, most of the useful
• It is very unlikely to have fifth trophic because of the amount of the energy will not sustain of those
energy (90%) is given off as heat
organisms’ populations
▪ The loss in ecosystems
o For examples
• For example: in producers is converted into biomass of
▪ There are no organisms that exclusively eating lions
herbivores, the energy in the second trophic level involves loss of
▪ The Philippine Forest are decreasing in size, the number of populations that
energy
the Philippine Eagles can feed on also decreasing, hence, the amount of
▪ Because energy is difficult to track, biomass is often used as a proxy
energy that could not sustain the energy requirement of the Philippine Eagles
• Sometimes uses as an individual like an organisms
o Can be quantified Tropic Structure and Food Chains/Webs
• Food chain • Food chain
o Finite lens o Movement of energy and nutrients from one feeding group to another in a series usually
o Passage of energy from one trophic level to the next due to one organism consuming beginning with plants
another o Food web
o Who eats who ▪ Interlocking pattern forms by a series of interconnected food chains
• Food web o Trophic pyramids of number and biomass
o Finite lens
o Series of multiple food chains
o Single predator can have multiple prey species

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Energy Transfer • Energy flowing a longer food chain involving creatures with relatively high energy efficiencies
o The two endothermic predators (shrew and hawk) are about 1& efficient. Four to seven
trophic levels are the maximum in most terrestrial ecosystem
▪ The plants of the aquatic ecosystem are can pass more energy due to the
plants requires less respiration, hence, more transfer of energy to the second
tropic level
• Terrestrial plants like trees required to invest roots, leaves,
branches, and many more to used in the photosynthesis compare
to the photosynthetic microorganisms in the sea, it will not use
more energy to invest in roots, leaves, and branches, they have
little biomass and they are very effective because of the fast turn-
over rate
• Units compose of physical laws is one reason most food chain
N(Rate of Energy Transfer)Tropic Level-(1)
Q: 1000 Biomass of a producer; 10% energy transfer; up to secondary carnivore
• Transfer of energy through a food chain will depend on the metabolic efficiency of the organism 1000(10%)(4-1)
involved =5
o A food chain with two large endotherms retains about 0.0014% of the initial energy
within a system Consequences of Losing of Procedures
▪ Crow is to be about 7% efficient and the lion about 1%. The energy available
for a third trophic level is insufficient for the immense ferocious predator that
would be required to evolve as a predator of lions
▪ There is no carnivore of a carnivore (secondary carnivore) because it is
insufficient energy for a genetic probability, effective population size and
others from the topics of evolution and population ecology
• To get energy from the first trophic level to the second trophic level, it will be needed to invest some
energy like reflected light and heat, respiration, and undigested food

• The continuation of the exploiting the forest or the mangrove forest it will affect the bottom of the
energy pyramid of an ecosystem which can cause the extinction or decreasing of population of a
second to n trophic level like the Philippine eagles
o The base of the pyramid become narrow it will not support a board upper level; it can
lose the upper pyramid organism

FEEDBACK AND GLOBAL WARMING

• When part of the system output becomes an input and affects system behavior
• The fourth element of a system in ecology
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Feedback • All of the absorbed energy is radiated back into space by Earth as longwave infrared radiation
Positive Feedback • The energy of the sun hits the Earth = Heat
• Example:
• City population and the number of people, if there are enough large people in a city will generate
economic activity like jobs, healthcare, and higher standard of life. It will attract more people (in-
migration), hence, increase of population in the cities

Negative Feedback
• Example:
o City population and the number of people, if there are enough large people in a city will
generate air and water pollution and the resource limited, it will lead to disease, crime,
and discomfort. It will force the people to leave the city (out-migration)
▪ The sewage in the rivers and estuaries will delates oxygen in the said body
of waters
• Hypoxia
o Example of eutrophication

Global Warming
Heat Budget of Earth Global Radiation Budget

• Shortwave solar radiation from the sun is reflected, scattered, and absorbed by various
components of the Earth-atmosphere system

R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]

 • Incoming solar radiation is short-wave, ultraviolet, and visible radiation Positive and Negative Feedback in Climate Change
• Outgoing Earth radiation is long wave infrared radiation • Positive feedback
o ^ CO2 > ^ warming > ^ fossil fuel use for air conditioning ^ CO2
Greenhouse Effect o ^ warming > ^ melting of sea ice > ^ absorption of sunlight in the ocean > ^ warming
• Negative feedback
o ^ warming > ^ evaporation of water > ^ cloud formation > ^ reflection of sunlight back
into space > v warming
o ^ CO2 & ^ warming > ^ photosynthesis > v CO2 & v warming

MARINE ECOLOGY & CONSERVATION

Dolomite Inquiry
• Marine ecology
o Currents and tides
o Submarine groundwater discharge
o Nutrients of Manila Bay
o Hypoxia
• It can be done by a study
o As rocks or fossil reefs erodes, they produce sand
• The relationship between the intensity of radiation and the wavelength of radiation of income solar o Sand can be produced by a healthy coral reef
radiation at the top of the Earth’s atmosphere and outgoing Earth radiation ▪ Produce 1 to 5 kilograms of white sand per square meter of reef per year
• Much of the incoming short-wavelength ultraviolet solar radiation is absorbed by the gases of ▪ White sand is a grounded coral skeleton
oxygen and ozone in the upper at the upper atmosphere • If you developed a budget for a costal area like a beach. Need to considered the processes
• The outgoing long-wavelength Earth radiation is partially or totally absorbed by the greenhouse producing the sand and the processes that take away the sand
gasses of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and troposphere ozone, however, o Example:
the production of synthetic chlorofluorocarbon are also present in the atmosphere and absorb ▪ Waves, tides, and currents and typhoons
outgoing Earth radiation o The costal are have more rate of losing the sediments than gaining sediment, it will
• The solar curve is scaled to equal Earth curve at the peak eventually lose its beach; if the rate of gaining sediment is more than losing it, the beach
will grow
o The dolomite beach is losing its sediments hence, it will eventually decay or disappear;
that’s why they add more sand on the beach
▪ It can be monitored by sticking a steel rod in the sediment’s loss and
deposition and time to time measure the level of sand
• There are no coral reefs in Manila Bay due to sedimentation and pollution

R. Sotelo ECOLGEN – LBYBI14 [LBYECOL]