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ECOLOGY LAWS OF ECOLOGY BY BARRY COMMONER
According to Ernst Haeckel (1866), it is the the body
of knowledge concerning the economy of nature– the
investigation of the total relations of the animal both to
its inorganic and organic; including above all, its
friendly and inimical relations with those animals and
plants which it comes directly or indirectly into
contact– in a word, ecology is the study of all those
complex interrelationships referred to by Darwin as the
conditions of the struggles for existence.
Dialectical Materialism by Karl Marx - the
antagonistic relationship between forces which drives
the occurrence of historical events. Similar to Darwin’s
concept [of evolution].
Environment - Everything, abiotic or biotic
components, that affects an organism during its
lifetime.
Biotic Components - biological organisms and their
interaction with each other
Abiotic Components - physical environment such as
weather, climate, availability of energy, minerals,
water, air, salinity, sunlight, soil, atoms, molecules
LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION IN ECOLOGY
1. Individual - organism, simpleset basic unit in
ecology
2. Population - composed of several organisms
(individuals from the same species)
3. Community - different populations coexisting in
a particular place
4. Ecosystem - combination of communities and
of abiotic and biotic components within well
defined boundaries
5. Biome - accumulation of different ecosystems
of similar structures, climax communities with
wide geographical distributions
6. Biosphere - combination of all ecosystems in
the planet
1. Everything is connected to everything else
- Reflects the existence of the elaborate network
of connection in the ecosphere; among
different living organisms, and between
populations, species, and individual organisms
and their physicochemical surroundings.
Literally everything is connected to everything
else.
- Every species has its purpose, necessary for
the environment. Purpose in ecology is
referred to as “niche” - kinda like the
profession/role of a species in their
environment.
- In ecosystems, when one thing is missing or
not functioning as it normally would, everything
else would be negatively affected.
- Examples are: 1.) Human beings rely on the
environment for survival, while animals rely on
humans too. 2.) In an ocean ecosystem, if
phytoplanktons (performing photosynthesis,
eaten by the fishes) are gone, fishes would
have nothing to eat. Their population will
decrease and larger marine animals will go
through the same. 3.) Forest is defined by the
type of soil present, temperature, and
precipitation it receives every year as this
dictates what type of plant community will be
able to survive in that environment. 4.)
Distribution of plastic in the environment
(microplastics -> algae -> fishes -> humans)
- Bioaccumulation - when toxic elements, like
plastic and mercury, are taken in by resources
humans eat
2. Everything must go somewhere
- This is simply a somewhat informal
reinstatement of a basic law of physics– that
matter is indestructible. Applied to ecology, the
law emphasizes that in nature there is no such
thing as “waste”
- Nothing “goes away”; it is simply transferred
place to place, converted from one molecule to
another, acting on the life processes of an
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organism in which it becomes, for a time,
lodged.
- Example #1: Energy pyramid - sun -> plants
-> secondary consumers -> 3rd level
consumers (10% Law by Lindemann is
applied)
- 10% Law by Lindemann - only 10% of 100%
energy can be transferred to the next trophic
level, other 90% is loss as heat during cell
respiration
- Example #2: Phosphorus cycle - phosphorus
are mines, used as soil fertilizers but the
run-offs of this mining activity goes to bodies of
water such as lakes. This results in
eutrophication of the lake -> algae blooms ->
fish deaths (due to depletion of oxygen)
- Eutrophication - when the environment
becomes enriched with nutrients.
3. Nature knows best
- Any major man-made change in a natural
system is likely to be detrimental to that
system [even when done after years of
research]
- Example #1: Bilar Man-Made Mahogany
Forest - considered a biodiversity deadzone
because mahogany isn’t naturally present in
the country (exotic), it has no natural
organisms that will regulate its growth. It
became an “invasive specie” dahil wala siyang
competitor, naging exponential ang kanyang
growth. Mahogany is invasive because of its
fruit production, per tree it bears 60 fruits and
each contains 60+ seeds. When seeds are
released, it forms matting in the soil. Our native
organisms can’t germinate because they have
no access to the soil. Mahogany’s leaves also
have high tannin concentration so when they’re
released,it results in the acidification of the soil
na hindi gusto ng native plants pero conducive
para sa growth ng mahogany. Mahogany is
also allelopathic (discouraging the growth of
other plants, according to research).
- Allelopathy - the effects (stimulatory and
inhibitory) of a plant on the development of
neighboring plants through the release of
secondary compounds.
- Example #2 - Caves. Tourists change the
energy flow inside the cave ecosystem.
[Further explanation in the recording 1, 30:37]
4. There is no such thing as a free lunch
- In ecology, as in economics, the law is
intended to warn that every gain is won at
some cost. Because the global system is a
connected whole, in which nothing can be
gained or lost and which is not subject to
overall improvement, anything extracted from it
by human effort must be replaced. Payment of
this price cannot be avoided, it can only be
delayed.
- Example #1: Mining - can cause soil erosion
resulting in the landslide.
- Example #2: Deforestation - affects human
health: organisms lose their habitat which
results in proliferation of invasive species such
as malaria mosquitoes from anopheles
species. Because of deforestation, organisms
that regulate the population of anopheles
moved away because they don’t have a habitat
anymore. As a results, there’ll be a high
malaria transmission in that location. Same
with dengue transmission (more breeding
sites, more mosquitoes).
5. Everything has its limits (addition of
contemporary ecologists)
- Law of Limiting Factors - a specific factor
(absence or presence) that restricts the
success of species
- Categories:
● Availability of raw materials
● Availability of energy
● Production and disposal of waste
products
● Interaction between organisms
- Example #1: Preference of adult monarchs to
lay eggs on milkweed. If you remove milkweed,
caterpillars will have no food therefore
monarch butterfly population will decrease.
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- Principle of Tolerance -
LIMITING FACTORS
- Biotic Potential - the maximum number of
individuals that can be produced by the
particular species.
- Environmental Carrying Capacity - the
maximum amount of individuals that the
environment can sustain/support
- Logistic Growth - happens due to presence of
limiting factors

SURVIVORSHIP CURVE
- Reflective of reproductive strategies (Table 6.1)
Type 1 (K-selected species) - High population rate
until old age. Aging causes the population to dwindle
(humans)
Type 2 - constant mortality rate to population (lizards,
salamanders)
Type 3 (R-selected species) - initially, madaming
offspring. But as time goes by, tumataas ang mortality.
Konti lang sa offsprings ang nagsussurvive (insects)
- Density-dependent limiting factors - factors
that influence a population in proportion to its
size; slows the rate of population growth by
increasing the rate of mortality, decreasing the
rate of fenducity (rate of reproduction), or both
- Logistic growth is density-dependent
- Usually happens when environmental carrying
capacity is reached
- Density-dependent Limiting Factors -
factors that affects the population regardless of
the population density
- Examples are natural calamities (earthquake,
tsunami) and climate change
- Law of the Minimum - states that the growth
of the organism is dependent on the least
available resources; the yield will be affected
by the resource that’s scarce or absent.

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ENERGY IN ECOSYSTEMS
- imagine that energy is closely tied with matter. Matter
is the source of energy. Organisms break down matter
to produce heat/obtain energy.
- the ability to do work (done when an object is moved
over a distance [displacement])(moving a chair)
● Potential Energy - stored energy, not yet
released (frozen iceberg)
● Kinetic Energy - contained by moving objects
(melting iceberg)
LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS
(applicable in biology too)
1. Energy is conserved - Energy is neither
created nor destroyed. It may change form,
pass from one place to another, or act on
matter in various ways. Regardless of what
transfers and transformations take place,
however, no gain or loss in total energy occurs.
Energy is simply transferred from one form or
place to another.
- Example #1: Burning of wood - Because of
the chemical changes introduced during
burning of wood, we obtain exothermic release
of potential energy from the wood. It may be
reduced to ashes but the energy remains the
same. A part of energy dissipates as heat,
released due to combustion.
- Example #2: Photosynthesis - endothermic
process. Plants obtain energy from the sun
and water to convert carbon dioxide to glucose
- energy)
and oxygen. Energy is transformed in chemical
structure but quantity remains the same.
2. The ability of energy to do work diminishes
- as energy is transformed or transferred, some
useful energy is lost (part of energy assumes a
form that cannot pass on any further). Entropy
(disorder and randomness) increases within
natural systems. The quantity of energy
remains the same, but its ability to do work
diminishes (energy quality)
- Example #1: Burning Wood - potential
energy is released. Heat that dissipates is not
useful anymore, it's been released in the
environment.
- Example #2: Photosynthesis - not all
products of the process are usable. Only
glucose is usable by plants, oxygen is
considered as waste.
ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS
OF ENERGY FLOW
● Entropy increases - disorder in the system.
- Example #1: Ozone depletion. Depletion of
the layer of ozone in the stratosphere that can
absorb UV rays from the sun, therefore
protecting the earth. When CFC
(chlorofluorocarbons) in the environment
becomes exposed in the UV rays -> UV Rays
will induce the excitation of the electrons ->
breaking of bonds and chlorine (“free radical”
bc highly reactive) atom will be free -> chlorine
exposed to ozone (O3) -> ozone will break
bonds to bond with chlorine -> domino effect
- Example #2: Bedroom - after maglinis,
maayos. Pero as time goes by, gumugulo.
● Energy quality -
- Example #1: power plants - electrical energy
is a very useful energy because it serves many
functions. Usually electrical energy is from
coal. The coal will heat water to produce steam
para may turbine and then that kinetic energy
will transform to electrical energy (high quality
-
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- Example #2: Ocean - stores high energy

compared to power plants but the energy isn’t
as high quality as coal plants, water dams,
solar winds.
● Biological Systems and Thermodynamics -
flow of energy and ecosystems. Pyramids of
numbers - movement of energy to one trophic
to another, merong energy na nadidissipate as
heat– this is the contribution of biological
systems to entropy.
● Pollution and Thermodynamics

ENERGY FLOW IN ECOSYSTEM

Secondary Productivity - generation of biomass by
heterotrophs (such as caterpillars eating leaves,
humans); not all energy is assimilated

Primary Productivity - productivity in ecosystems

means the generation of biomass by organisms (such
as plants- autotrophs)
Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) - total amount of
solar energy that the producers in an ecosystem
capture via photosynthesis over a given amount of
time
Net Primary Productivity (NPP) - establishes the
rate at which biomass is produced over a given
amount of time

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TROPHIC STRUCTURE

Food chains - show feeding relationships across

groups (trophic levels)and the flow or direction of
energy
ECOLOGICAL NICHE CONCEPT
- Dynamics of biotic and abiotic components
- The range of conditions under which a species can
persist + Array of essential resources an organism
consumes or uses = species’ role in the ecosystem

REEF (?) ECOSYSTEMS - composed of corals

(animals, composed of a colony of polyps of the same
species) and fishes. They have a
symbiotic/mutualistic relationship. Corals provide the
protection fishes need to develop until maturity. Polyps
have unicellular organisms living in them and they
have function in photosynthesis (para magkafood ang
coral) and are responsible for the skeleton of the
corals (calcium carbonate skeleton). Those set of
interactions between coral and other marine species
and their environment is the corals’ niche (role,
profession)

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Habitat - place or set of environmental conditions in
which a particular organism lives. (Principle of
Tolerance)
- The prominent physical or biological features of its
environment such as soil type, availability of water,
climatic conditions, or predominant plant species that
exist in that area.
- Example #1: Mosses - nonvascular plants. Thrives
in forest shades, where there’s high humidity.
Temperature, sensitive to [inaudible].
FUNDAMENTAL NICHE
- the combination of abiotic conditions in a particular
environment fundamentally determines whether a
specie can persist there
- potential responses in the absence of species
interactions
REALIZED NICHE
- the range of abiotic and biotic conditions under which
a species actually lives
- the species potential responses as modified by their
interaction with other species present
- not only habitat where organisms will automatically
flourish, also need interactions with other organisms
which decrease to optimal range. Survival rate is
modified by interactions with other organisms.
- Example #1: Barnacles in intertidal zone.
Chthamalus are more tolerant of harsh conditions in
intertidal zones that’s why they can stay there.
Balanus can’t. Chthamalus can’t live in the lower
intertidal zone because the Balanus, as a competition,
limits it.
Intertidal zone -area being affected by high and low
tide.
INTRASPECIFIC COMPETITION
- occurs within the population
- Example #1: Pine Forest - initially, they all grow at
the same rate. But when you factor in the genetic
difference in the seeds, there will be trees who’d grow
slower. As other trees outgrow slow-growers, the
access of slow-growers to the sunlight becomes
limited. So hindi na sila maggrow and ultimately, they
will die.
INTERSPECIFIC COMPETITION
- occurs in between different species (ex. of realized
niche)
- Example #2: Racing of Lion and Vultures to
carcass of Zebra - different species competing for the
same resource
- because of competition, there’s zonation and
exclusion principle (no two species who inhabit the
same area or take the same resources can coexist in
that particular area)
SPECIES INTERACTION (Positive)
- one or both benefit from the relationship/interaction
1. Commensalism - one individual benefits from the
relation while the other one isn’t affected at all (+,0
relationship)
- Example #1 - Phoresy - mites attack beetles
but don't eat them. Mites just need the beetles
to transport them to another location, the
beetles just proceeds with their life normally.
2. Mutualism - both individuals benefits from the
relationship (+, + relationship)
- Example #1 - mites and humans. Mites exist
in our skin (eyelashes). Mites play a role in
segregation of dead skin cells that results in
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follicles that develop pimples. Kung wala sila

may pimples tayo!

SPECIES INTERACTION (Negative)

3. Parasitism (Negative) - one or both is affected

negatively
- Example #1: Rafflesia Flower - exists as a
flower only, non-vascular, no roots, no leaves.
Dependent on host plants, typically grapevines, for
nutrition. As a result, may competition ang host plants
sa nutrients. Rafflesia blooms in Makiling during April.
4. Predation - one organism eats the other
(predator-prey)(+, - relationship)

ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
- sequence of community development in a particular
area.
Example #1: Scientific Experiment
- Blue - Ulva species: first inhabitant of the
concrete blocks (pioneering species). As time
goes by other organisms may begin to develop
Climax communities- not easily disturbed, most
stable communities

Primary Succession - occurs in areas where no

organisms exist (Vid 3, 25:00)

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Secondary Succession - occurs when a community

is previously exposed to disturbance (forest fire)