Ecology

WHAT IS ECOLOGY?

Ecology- the scientific study of

interactions between organisms
and their environments.
 WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ENVIRONMENT?

The environment is made up of two factors:

• Biotic factors- all living organisms
inhabiting the Earth
• Abiotic factors/physical factors- non-
living parts of the environment . It
determines the number and types of
organisms that exist in a given
environment. These factors can be
divided into edaphic factors, climatic
factors and aquatic factors.
For example:
Temperature, pH of soil, light, availability of
water, salinity of water, oxygen and
carbon dioxide levels.
 POPULATION
✓ A group of organisms of
one species living in the
same habitat

✓ They can interbreed with each other

✓ Produce fertile offspring

✓ Compete with each other

for resources (food, mates, shelter, etc.)
Community - several interacting populations of
different species that inhabit a particular habitat.
Ecosystem – a community of living organisms
interacting with each other and with their abiotic
environment.
 Habitat vs. Niche

Niche: The role an organism plays within the

ecosystem.

Habitat: The place in which an organism lives

 Impact Of Abiotic Factors

Soil: Provides water, mineral nutrients and oxygen. It also provides an

anchor for roots.

Air: Provides raw materials such as oxygen, carbon dioxide and

nitrogen.

Light: Vital to plants as they use it during photosynthesis. Animals

use light to see their prey while some use the absence of light
to escape predators.

Temperature: Poikilothermic animals are affected because their body

temperature is the same as that of the surroundings.
Homeothermic animals, such as mammals and birds,
may be able to live in a greater range of temperatures
but they show adaptations to cope with extremes of
temperature.
 Ecological Studies

➢ The aim of studying an ecosystem is to identify the

different species of plants and animals present, find
out where they live, determine their numbers and
relationships with each other and with the abiotic factors.

➢ To identify organisms, they may need to be collected.

Organisms must never be collected or destroyed
unnecessarily; as few as possible should be collected and
returned to their original positions if possible, and their
habitat should be left as undisturbed as possible. Pooters,
pitfall traps, nets, plankton nets and a Tullgren funnel may be
used.
 Methods To Collect Organisms
Pooter Plankton Net Net

Pitfall Trap
 Sampling Techniques

Quadrats:

A quadrat is a square frame whose area is known, e.g. 0.25 m 2

or 1 m2 . It is placed, at random, several times within the
ecosystem. The number of the individuals of each species of
plants and stationary or slow-moving animals found within the
quadrat is counted. Quadrats are used to study the distribution
and abundance of plants and stationary or slow-moving
animals in uniform ecosystems, e.g. an area of grassland.
 Sampling Techniques

Line transect:

A line transect is usually a measuring tape or string that has

marks at regular intervals, e.g. 10 cm or 25 cm. It is placed in a
straight line across an ecosystem and the species of plants and
stationary or slow-moving animals touching the line is
recorded.
Line transects are useful where there is a transition of
organisms across the ecosystem.
 Sampling Techniques

Belt transect:

A belt transect is a strip of fixed width, e.g. 0.5 m or 1 m, made

by placing two parallel line transects across an ecosystem. The
species found between the lines are recorded.
 Estimating Population Sizes

Population sizes can be estimated by using results from quadrats

or by using the capture-recapture method.

The results from quadrats can be used to obtain:

➢ Species density: (no. of species ÷ no. of quadrats used).

➢ Total population: (species density × total area of ecosystem).

➢ Species cover: (total % of ground species covered ÷ no. of quadrats used).

➢ Species frequency: (% of quadrats in which the given species was found).

Feeding Relationships Between Organisms

There are 3 main types of feeding relationships:

1. Producer – Consumer
2. Predator – Prey
3. Parasite - Host
 Feeding Relationships

• Producer-
All autotrophs (plants),
they trap energy from
the sun to make their
own food by
photosynthesis.

• Located at the bottom of

the food chain.
 Feeding Relationships
Consumer- all heterotrophs: they
ingest food containing the sun’s
energy, example plants and animals.
Consumers:
➢Herbivores
➢Carnivores
➢Omnivores
➢Decomposers
 Feeding Relationships

CONSUMERS
1. Primary consumers
• Eat plants
• They are herbivores
• Secondary, tertiary …
consumers
• They eat other animals
• They are carnivores
 Feeding Relationships
Herbivores-
• Feed only on plants
 Feeding Relationships
Carnivores-
• Predators
– Hunt animals for food
 Feeding Relationships
Carnivores-
• Vultures:
Feed on decaying
flesh of
dead animals.
 Feeding Relationships

Omnivores- -
• Eat both plants and animals.
 Food Chains
• A food chain is a simple diagram that shows how food or
nutrients pass from one organism to another.

• The arrows indicate the movement of energy along the food

chain.

• Each organism in the food chain represents a trophic level.

• The number of trophic levels in a food chain is usually limited

to four or five.

• In short food chains more energy is available for the next

consumer.

• Also, less energy is lost to the environment.

Food Chain
4th Trophic level

3rd Trophic level

2nd Trophic level

1st Trophic level

 Energy Flow In A Food Chain

1000 KJ 100 KJ 10 KJ 1 KJ
 Trapping The Sun’s Energy
• Plants use the Sun’s energy to make food during photosynthesis

• During photosynthesis carbon dioxide and water are combined

to make glucose and oxygen

• Therefore, the energy in the light from the Sun is converted to

1000 KJ
chemical energy in the form100
ofKJ 10 KJ
glucose and 1 KJ
other molecules

• The chemical energy then passes on to consumers as they feed

on the plants

• As previously mentioned, energy is lost at every step in a food

chain in the form of heat during respiration, in urine and faeces
and during metabolism

• The energy from dead plants and animals are passed on to the
detritivores and decomposers as they feed. They also feed on
urine and faeces made by animals
 Food Webs
• The interlinking of a number of food chains is
called a food web.
• One organism may feed on a number of
organisms and in turn may be eaten by a
number of organisms.
• Herbivores feed on producers and are called
primary consumers.
• Carnivores feed on herbivores and are
secondary consumers.
• Tertiary consumers feed on the secondary
consumers and so on.
Food Web
 Bioaccumulation
Bioaccumulation is the gradual build up of chemicals
such as pesticides, insecticides, methylmercury among
others up the food chain. These chemicals concentrate in
organisms higher up the food web.
 Pyramids Of Energy
A pyramid of energy is a good way of showing the
energy relationships between organisms in different
trophic levels. Each block in the pyramid shows the
amount of energy available to the next trophic level
 Pyramids Of Numbers
A pyramid of number is like a pyramid of energy but shows the
numbers of all the organisms at each trophic level of a food
chain within a given area
 Pyramids Of Numbers
Sometimes different shapes of pyramid of numbers are
encountered
 Pyramids Of Biomass
Instead of estimating the numbers of organisms at each
trophic level, one can estimate their biomass or
dry weight.
 Feeding Relationships
Consumer- Decomposers
• These are bacteria and
fungi. They secrete
enzymes which break
down dead plant and
animal material into
humus which improves
the soil structure and
provides nutrients
• They are involved in the
recycling of nutrients
since they return the
nutrients trapped in the
dead organisms back to
the environment
 Feeding Relationships
Consumer- Detritivores
• These also help in the
removal and recycling of
dead organisms by feeding
on small fragments of the
dead material, which are
called detritus.

• Examples of detritivores
include woodlice and
earthworms

• Decomposers and
detritivores are all
saprophytes because they
feed on dead organic
material
 Symbiotic Relationships
Symbiosis- any relationship that exists when different
species of organisms live together.

There are three

types of
symbiosis:
1. Commensalism
2. Parasitism
3. Mutualism
 Symbiotic Relationships
Commensalism-
one species benefits
and the other is
neither harmed nor
does it benefit. How?
Ex. Orchids (ferns) on trees
The orchids or ferns are small plants that grow
high on the tree to obtain sunlight for
photosynthesis. They use the tree for support
but not as a food source. The tree is not
harmed, nor does it benefit.
 Symbiotic Relationships
Commensalism-
one species benefits
and the other is
neither harmed nor
does it benefit. How?

Ex. Egret and cow

When the egret walks behind the cow, it
feeds on insects that fly up as the cow
shakes the grass while it walks. The
egret benefits but the cow does not.
 Symbiotic Relationships
Commensalism-
one species benefits
and the other is
neither harmed nor
does it benefit. How?
Ex. Shark and remora
The remora attaches itself to the shark
and moves around with it. As the shark
feeds, the remora also feeds on scraps
of food that are floating around. The
remora obtains food while the shark is
not harmed, but nor does it benefit.
 Symbiotic Relationships
Parasitism-
One species benefits (parasite) and the other is harmed (host)

Ectoparasite Endoparasite
 Symbiotic Relationships

Parasitism- parasite-host
Ex. of parasites:
Lampreys (jawless fish), leeches, fleas,
ticks and tapeworms

Ex. of Hosts: fishes, dogs and humans

 Symbiotic Relationships

Mutualism-
Two organisms of different
species live closely together
and both benefit.

Ex. Egret and cow

The egret perches on the cow’s
back as it feeds on insects,
especially ticks that can harm the
cow. The egret is obtaining food
and the cow benefits by having
blood-sucking insects removed
from its body.
 Symbiotic Relationships
Mutualism-
Two organisms of different
species live closely together
and both benefit.

Ex. Sea anemones and

hermit crabs
The anemone attaches itself to the
shell used by the hermit crab and
obtains scraps of food as the crab
feeds. The crab gains protection
from predators as it is
camouflaged by the anemone and
protected from predators by the
stinging tentacles.
 Symbiotic Relationships
Mutualism-
Ex. Leguminous plants and
the bacterium Rhizobium
The bacteria lives inside swellings
on the roots of the leguminous
plants, like peas and beans. These
bacteria convert nitrogen gas into
Ammonia, which is then converted
into amino acids and used by
plants for growth. The plants
benefit because they can thrive in
all types of soil, even with that has
a low nitrate content. The bacteria
also benefit by having a place to
live and an energy supply which
they get from the plant.
 Nutrient Cycles
Cycling maintains homeostasis
(balance) in the environment.
There are three cycles:
1. Water cycle
2. Carbon cycle
3. Nitrogen cycle
 Water Cycle Processes
Evaporation, Transpiration,
Condensation, Precipitation And
Percolation/Infiltration
Water Cycle
 Carbon Cycle Processes

Photosynthesis, Respiration,
Combustion (burning of fossil fuels)
Feeding, Decomposition and
Fossilisation.
 Carbon Cycle Processes
Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere through:

➢ Respiration

➢ Decomposition

➢ Combustion

➢ Volcanic eruptions

➢ Action of acid rain on limestone

 Carbon Cycle Processes
Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by:

➢ Photosynthesis

➢ Chemosynthesis

➢ Formation of carbonates
Roles Of Bacteria In The Nitrogen Cycle
THE END