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● IPCC is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change.
● It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988.
● It was established to provide a clear scientific view on the current state of
knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and
socio-economic impacts.
● The IPCC reviews and assesses the most recent scientific, technical and
socio-economic information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding
of climate change.
● It does not conduct any research or monitor climate related data or
parameters.
● IPCC activities prepare comprehensive Assessment Reports about the
state of scientific, technical and socio-economic knowledge on climate
change, its causes, potential impacts and response strategies.
● It also produces Special Reports, which are an assessment on a specific
issue and Methodology Reports meant to provide practical guidelines for
the preparation of greenhouse gas inventories.
The Ecology
What is Ecology?
● Ecology may be defined as the scientific study of the relationship of
living organisms with each other and with their environment.
● It has been derived from the Greek oikos meaning "house" or "dwelling",
and logos meaning "discourse“.
● The term ecology was first coined in 1869 by the German biologist Ernst
Haeckel.
Hierarchy Under Ecology
1. Organism-
● The basic unit of study.
2. Population-
● A group of organisms consisting of a number of same species that
live in an area and interact with each other.
3. Community-
● A group of organisms consisting of a number of different
populations that live in a defined area and interact with each other.
4. Ecosystem-
● Communities of organisms and their physical environment, interacting
as an ecological unit.
5. Biome-
● The world's major communities classified according to the predominant
vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular
environment.
● A biome is different from an ecosystem as 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.
6. Biosphere-
● The biosphere is made up of the parts of Earth where life exists.
● The biosphere extends from the deepest root systems of trees to the dark
environment of ocean trenches, to lush rainforests and high
mountaintops.
● The solid surface layer of the 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.
Biosphere Reserve
● Biosphere reserves are areas comprising terrestrial, marine and coastal
ecosystems.
● Each reserve promotes conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use.
● Biosphere reserves have three interrelated zones that aim to fulfil three
complementary and mutually reinforcing functions:
a. the core area,
b. the buffer zone and
c. the transition area.
● The core area comprises a strictly protected ecosystem that contributes
to the conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic
variation.
● The buffer zone surrounding the core areas which can be used for
scientific research, monitoring, training and education.
● The transition area where human activity is allowed and
socio-culturally and ecologically sustainable economic and human
development is carried out.
Habitat and Niche
Habitat:
● It is an area or a zone where an organism lives.
● A habitat may support many species where the individuals have similar
environmental requirements.
● The structural components of habitat are- food, shelter, space/shelter and
water.
Niche:
● It refers to the functional characteristics of a species in its habitat and is
unique for that species.
Organism’s Adaptation
● Organismal ecology studies interaction of an organism with the biotic
and abiotic components of the environment.
● It also involves the adaptations that an organism develops in response
to the environment.
● An adaptation is the appearance or behaviour or structure or mode of
life of an organism that allows it to survive in a particular environment.
● The adaptations studied pertain to the organism’s behaviour, physiology
and morphology, in response to environmental challenges.
Physiological Adaptation-
● Cold-blooded animals like reptiles are not found in low temperature regions
like the Arctic region.
● This is because they cannot regulate the body temperature like warm-blooded
animals like mammals.
● Animals in higher elevations produce more red-blood cells to carry more
oxygen as there is lower oxygen concentration in the air.
Morphological Adaptations-
● Presence of thick fur in animals found in colder regions.
● In cacti, the leaves are reduced to spines to reduce transpiration and the stem
is green and thick to perform photosynthesis and store water respectively.
Behavioral Adaptations-
● Certain animals like brown and black bears undergo hibernation in
response to extremely cold climates.
● Some birds migrate from their original habitat to another place to
escape harsher climates.
● E.g. Siberian Cranes, Greater Flamingo and Demoiselle Crane are
originally from Siberia but migrate to India during the winter months.
● Olive Ridley sea turtles migrate in huge numbers from the beginning of
November, every year, for mating and nesting along the coast of Odisha.
The Population
Population-
● Population refers to a group of individuals belonging to the same species
and living in the same geographic area at a given time.
Population density -
● The number of individuals of a species per unit area or volume.
● Natality rate, Mortality rate and Dispersal affect population density.
Natality rate -
● The rate at which new individuals are born and added to a population
under given environmental conditions is called natality rate.
Mortality -
● Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in
general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to
the size of that population, per unit of time.
Dispersal -
● This includes emigration and immigration.
● Emigration is the movement of individuals of a population out of a region on
a permanent basis whereas immigration refers to the movement of
individuals into a new area.
Patterns of Dispersion-
● The way in which individuals are spaced in a population.
Population Growth Models-
● The rates at which populations grow is calculated that reflects the
reproduction biology of the respective species.
Carrying Capacity-
● The carrying capacity of a biological species in an environment is the
maximum population size of the species that the environment can
sustain indefinitely, given the food, habitat, water, and other necessities are
available in the environment.
The Ecological Community
Community-
● An ecological community is a group of actually or potentially
interacting species living in the same location.
● They share the environment and form a network of influence that each
species has on the other.
Species Diversity
● Species diversity contributes to a healthy ecosystem where each species
performs a function.
● Disappearance of a species has disturbing consequences on the
ecosystem.
● Species richness and species evenness are studied under species diversity.
● Species richness refers to the number of species per unit of area.
● Species richness measures are typically separated into measures of α
(alpha), β (beta), and γ (gamma) diversity.
● α diversity is measured at the local scale and consists of a count of species
within a relatively homogeneous area.
● β diversity provides information about how diversity changes along
environmental gradients.
● γ diversity is a measure of diversity across habitats or community types
within a landscape or region.
● Species evenness refers to how close in numbers each species in an
environment is.
● Therefore, the number of species in an area indicate its richness
whereas the relative abundance of species indicate its evenness.
Keystone Species
● Keystone species maintain the structure and integrity of the ecological
community. They have a disproportionate effect on its environment relative to
its biomass.
● A keystone species exert a top-down influence on lower trophic levels and
prevent species at lower trophic levels from dominating over critical resources,
such as competition for space or key producer food sources.
● Sea otters are keystone predators that keep the population of sea urchins
controlled. Sea urchins feed on kelp and macroalgae.
● When the population of sea urchins is controlled, there is adequate kelp available
for species other than sea urchins as well, and the ecosystem remains balanced.
Stratification
● In Ecology, stratification refers to the stratification of a community that refers
to the vertical layers of the vegetation.
● E.g. in moist tropical rain forests these distinct strata or layers of vegetation
can be found:
○ Ground layer of mosses and liverworts associated with dead leaves and
other substances rich in organic matter
○ Herb or grass layer
○ Short shrub layer
○ Tall shrub layer
○ Layer of understorey of short trees
○ Layer of canopy of lower tress
○ Emergent tree layer formed by tall trees
Ecological Succession
● It is a progressive change in which plant and animal species in an area
that make up a community are replaced by other species over a period of
time.
● The change is triggered by the activities of the species and the physical
environment.
● Therefore, ecological succession involves activities of the biotic as well as
the abiotic components.
● Usually, two types of Ecological succession are discussed-
a. Primary Succession
b. Secondary Succession
1. Primary Succession-
● It takes place on bare or unoccupied areas where no community lived earlier.
● These areas can be like bare rocks outcrop, newly formed deltas and sand
dunes, emerging volcano islands and lava flows glacial moraines etc.
● In primary succession, the area is first weathered by physical forces so that
soil formation is initiated.
● The area is first inhabited by pioneer species- algae, mosses, and lichens.
● They further the soil forming process and provide the organic matter in the soil
once they die.
● Bacteria and fungi help in decomposition of dead pioneer species.
● The pioneer community, after some time, gets replaced by another community
with different species combination.
● Each transitional (temporary) community that is formed and replaced during
succession is called a stage in succession or a seral community or sere.
● The terminal (final) stage of succession forms the community which is called as
a climax community.
● A climax community is stable, mature, more complex and long lasting.
● Primary succession takes a long time as the area has to be altered to support
the growth of living communities.
2. Secondary Succession-
● It takes place in an area that was previously occupied by living
communities but the community was wiped out after a destructive event
like a fire.
● The area is re-colonized by living communities.
● Secondary succession is faster than primary succession as the area was
already colonized before. Therefore the soil there has nutrients in it.
● Therefore, the area might not need pioneer species, although in some cases,
pioneer species can be the first to inhabit the area.
Biotic Interaction
● The interaction that occurs among different individuals of the same species is
called 'intra-specific' interaction while the interaction among individuals of
different species in a community is termed as 'inter-specific' interaction.
● The types of interspecific interactions are divided into –
a. Negative interactions
b. Neutral interactions
c. Positive interactions
1.Negative Interaction
● In this association, at least one of the species is harmed by the other.
● Types of negative interaction are:
Amensalism:
● This is a negative association between two species in which one species is
harmed or restricted by the other species that itself is not adversely affected
or harmed by the presence of the other species.
● Examples- antibiosis in which one organism secretes a chemical that kills the
other organism, while the one that secreted the chemical is unharmed.
● For example, penicillin is an antibiotic secreted by the fungus Penicillium
which destroys many forms of bacteria.
Predation:
● In this type of interaction, predator actively hunts for a prey.
● The predator captures, kills and eats an animal of another species called the
prey.
● Example- In the wild, lions and tigers hunt for preys like deer.
Parasitism:
● In this, one species that is called a parasite is benefitted at the expense of the
other species called the host.
● The parasite can live within the host or outside it.
● Parasite derives all the nutrients from the host and in this process harms the
host.
● A parasite living inside the host is called endoparasite whereas the
parasite living outside the host (on the surface of the host) is called
ectoparasite.
● Example of endoparasite- Tapeworm lives inside human intestines and
sucks the nutrients from the intestine.
● Malarial parasite Plasmodium completes its life cycle in human cells.
● Example of exoparasite- Flea, lice, leech.
2. Neutral Interaction
● In this, the two species that interact but do not affect each other.
● It describes interactions where the health of one species has absolutely no
effect whatsoever on that of the other.
● Example- Rabbit and deer interact with each other without harming each
other.
3. Positive Interaction
Commensalism:
● In this relationship, one of the species benefits while the other is neither
harmed nor benefited.
● Example – Epiphytes like orchids grow on the trees and derive moisture and
nutrients from the air, rain, water or from debris accumulating around it.
● Suckerfish (Remora) attaches itself to a big fish like shark and feeds on the
leftovers of the food of the shark.
● Apart from food, it also achieves free locomotion.
Mutualism:
● In mutualism, both the individual’s benefit.
● Symbiotic association is mutualism.
● Examples- Lichens are a symbiotic association between fungi and alga.
The Ecosystem
● The term ‘ecosystem’ was coined by A.G. Tansley in 1935.
● An ecosystem is a functional unit of nature that encompasses a complex
interaction between the living components called biotic components and
non-living components called abiotic components.
● They perform the following crucial functions:
○ Energy flow through food chain
○ Nutrient cycling through biogeochemical cycles
○ Ecological succession or ecosystem development
○ Homeostasis (or cybernetic) or feedback control mechanisms
Natural Ecosystem
Terrestrial ecosystem:
● Ecosystems found on land e.g. forest, grasslands, deserts, tundra, etc.
Aquatic ecosystem:
● Plant and animal communities found in water bodies.
● These can be further classified into two sub-groups:
1. Freshwater ecosystems, such as rivers, lakes and ponds, etc.
2. Marine ecosystems, such as oceans, estuary, etc.
Man-made Ecosystem
● Humans have modified the natural ecosystems to their benefit and
consumption. Such ecosystems are man-made ecosystems.
● For example, forest land is converted to agricultural land for economic
prosperity and increasing food availability for human population.
● This conversion brings down the species diversity and needs human
intervention, for example, irrigation and use of fertilizers, insecticides,
pesticides etc. for the crops to grow.
● This is an agro-ecosystem which is a human-made ecosystem.
Characteristics of a man-made ecosystem:
1. Highly simplified
2. Low species diversity
3. Huge dependence on humans
4. Since species diversity is low, food chains are smaller
5. Soil erosion is common.
6. Unstable without constant human intervention and support
Components of Ecosystem
Biotic components:
● Producers, i.e. autotrophs which perform photosynthesis or chemosynthesis
to gain energy.
● Most of the green plants are producers as they perform photosynthesis for
conversion of solar energy to chemical energy in the presence of carbon dioxide
and water.
● Consumers, i.e. heterotrophs that depend upon producers or other
consumers for food.
● Example, herbivores that eat plants, carnivores that eat other animals, omnivores
that eat both plants and animals.
● Decomposers or detritivores: e.g. fungi and bacteria, break down
chemicals from producers and consumers (usually dead) into a simpler
form which can be reused.
Abiotic components:
● These include physical conditions and non-living resources that affect the
biotic components.
● Examples of abiotic factors are temperature, light intensity, moisture and
water levels, air currents, carbon dioxide levels and the pH of water
and soil, minerals present in the soil.
Food Chain
● Food chain represents the flow of energy in a linear sequence from one
organism at one trophic level to another organism at another trophic level.
● Each step in the food chain is called a trophic level.
● An example is:
Grasses → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake → Hawk
● Here, the grass is an autotroph that converts solar energy to chemical energy
and stores it in form of carbohydrates.
● Grass represents the first trophic level. Grasshopper is a herbivore, a
consumer that feeds on grass.
● The frog is a carnivore that feeds on a grasshopper. The Frog is the food of a
snake.
● The hawk is the fifth trophic level and the last organism in this food chain.
● Another example is:
Diatoms (Phytoplankton)→ crustaceans → small fish → larger fish like
salmon → Shark or a Seal
● During each trophic level, between 80% and 90% of an organism's energy,
or biomass is lost as heat energy.
● Therefore, the transfer of energy from one trophic level to another is inefficient
and thus the length of the food chain become limited to 4-6 trophic levels.
Trophic Levels in the Food Chain