Debre Tabor University, College of Natural and Computational Science

Principles of Ecology (Biol 3086)

Course guidebook
Department Biology
Course title Principles of Ecology
Course code Biol 3086
Course Credit points 5
Credit Hour 3
Pre-requisite None
Semester II
Target group 3rd year students
Course status Compulsory
Instructor’s contact information Academic year :
Name: Class schedule :
E-mail: Venue:
Phone :
Office Number:
Office Hour:
UNIT ONE: INTRODUCTION
Ecological terminologies
Define the following Ecological Terminologies
vegetation
abiotic,
photosynthesis,
autotrophic,
scavengers,
biotic,
saprophytes,
biosphere,
omnivores,
biome,
heterotrophic,
carnivores,
herbivores,
ecosystem,
Discuss in a group about the meaning of the above ecological
terminologies for 15min.
• The term ecology was first coined in 1869 by the German biologist
Ernst Haeckel.
•The term ecology comes from Greek words oikos, meaning ‘‘the family
household’’ and logy meaning ‘‘the study of.’’
• Ecology is the scientific study of relationships in the natural world.
• It includes relationships between:-
 organisms and their physical environments;
 organisms of the same / different /species and
 organisms and the fluxes of matter and energy through biological
systems.
Branches of ecology
• Ecology can be divided depending on the following things:-
 Hierarchical organization-according to level of organization
 Taxonomic –according to organisms studied
 Place -according to time/place
Accordingly:
A) Hierarchic: organism, population, community, ecosystem, biospher
B) Taxonomic: plant ecology, animal ecology, microbial ecology, avian
ecology, etc.
C) Place: marine ecology, tropical ecology, freshwater ecology
Figure 1.1. Hierarchical structure of ecological systems
Some examples of the above ecological branches are given
below.
Population ecology (or autecology)
 It is concerned with population growth including birth rates
and
death rates, fluctuation, spread and interactions (scientific
study of
relationships between organisms of the same species).
Community ecology (or synecology)
 Community ecology is the scientific study of relationships
between
organisms of different species.
Ecosystems ecology
 This branch of ecology often focuses on the energy and
nutrient
flows of ecosystems, and when this approach is combined
with
Methods of studying communities
There are three major categories.
1. Floristic methods: flora is studied by listing various genera and
species present in the community.
 The method gives little or no idea of structure, growth forms etc. of
the
community.
2. Physiognomic method: It is expressed in terms of growth form, life
forms, general stature; spread etc.
 Raunkiaer’s (1934) life form method becomes most popular.
It has two parts:-
a) it records different life forms in the community
b) Biological (phytoclimatic spectrum): it refers to the percentage
distribution
of the total species in the community of species among the various life
forms.
3. Phyto-social methods: In this case, the data on the vegetation is
collected
in terms of types of species present and individual number of each
type in
 Three types of sampling units are generally considered for
studying
various plant communities. These are: a) area, b) line, and c)
point.
 Both area and line are based on definite size of the sampling
unit while
point is used in those situations where it is difficult to
determine area.
e.g. thick forest.
 Sampling unit where definite area is selected is known as
quadrant.
 Quadrant is thus a sampling unit of definite area that is usually
a square
but it can also be a rectangle or circle.
 Depending upon the purpose of study, the quadrant may be :-
a) list quadrant :where species present in the area are listed,
b) list-count quadrant :where species are listed as well as their
numbers counted,
c) chart quadrant :where all details like distribution of species,
 Transect is the term used in cases where sampling unit is a
strip of
definite area.
 Transect may be a line or belt depending upon the study area.
 In a line transect, sampling is usually done across a line.
 In belt transect, an area (belt) of suitable size is selected
where the
sampling is done.
 Belt transects are particularly used in forests and can be
further
divided into segments for convenience.
Community features
 Communities may be identified and recognized by several
features
that may be quantitative, qualitative or synthetic.
 Quantitative characters: are those that can be measured, e.g.
density,
abundance, frequency, cover area and basal area of species
 Density of a species reflects the numerical strength of species
in a
given community.
Total number of plants of a species present in all quadrants
Density = -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total number of quadrants studied
 For more clarity see example in Table 1.1 where density of five
species has been shown as calculated by the above formula.
 Another important aspect about density is that if the size of
the
quadrant is either lesser or more than 1m2, the final value of
density
is presented equivalent to 1m2.
 This is true only in grasslands or communities of a smaller
area, but
not in forests or aquatic systems.
Table 1.1. Vegetation analysis of a small area showing values of density, abundance and frequency.
No.
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Total Density Abundance Frequency
1. 20 40 43 21 26 150 150/5 = 30 150/5 = 30 5/5×100= 100
2. 22 - - 21 7 50 50/5 = 10 50/3 = 16.7 3/5×100= 60
3. 100 - - 25 25 150 150/5 = 30 150/3 = 50 3/5×10 = 60
4. - - - 25 10 35 35/5 = 7 35/2 = 17.5 2/5×100= 40
5. 50 25 25 100 100 300 300/5 = 60 300/5 = 60 5/5×100= 100
Total 192 65 68 192 168 685 137 174.2 360

Q means quadrant; 5 quadrants of 1m*1m where,

Density can also be presented as relative density.
Relative density is calculated based on following formula:

Individual density of a species

Relative density of a species = -------------------------------------------------
Total density of all species encountered
From the above example (Table 1.1), the relative density for
species 1 is
calculated by taking its individual density i.e. 30 and dividing it
by 137,
i.e. total densities of all species.
 To convert it into percent relative density, multiply it with 100. It
comes
out to be 21.80%.
 Likewise, the relative density of other species can be calculated.
 Abundance is also calculated like density but in this case, only
those
quadrants are considered for calculation where a species
actually occurs.
 For example, if a species has occurred in only 3 quadrants out
of total 5
studied, then the total number of individuals of the species is
divided by
3 (instead of 5, as in case of density).
 The difference between density and abundance thus becomes
 Abundance is also presented on the basis of unit area, i.e. 1m2
especially in smaller areas or grasslands.
 However, it is not much used as compared to density in
ecological
studies.
 It can also be multiplied by 100 to get percent abundance.
Individual abundance of the species
Relative abundance of a species = -----------------------------------------------------
Total abundance of all species
encountered
 Frequency: Frequency is another important parameter of
vegetation
analysis, which reflects the spread, distribution or dispersion
of a
species in a given area, and given in percent.
 For example, a species is distributed uniformly in an area
there is
greater probability of its occurrence in all quadrants and it
 In another case, a species may be clustered or present only in a part
of the
area. In this case, it will occur only in few quadrants and hence it
would
have lesser frequency.
 The frequency of a species in a given area is studied by either
quadrant
method or transects and is calculated by the following formula:
Number of quadrants in which a species occurs
Frequency = ------------------------------------------------------- × 100
Total number of quadrants studied
 Thus, if a species occurs in 5 out of total 10 quadrants studied, its
frequency would be 50%.
 If a species occurs in all the quadrants studied, its frequency would
be
100%.
 Like density, frequency can be expressed in relative terms.
 For this, sum of frequencies of all species is calculated and following
formula is applied:
 This can also be converted into percent relative frequency by
 The relative value is important in further determining
importance value
index of species, which gives the total ecological status of
species.
 Basal area and dominance: Cover area, also known as herbage
area, is
usually confined to above-ground parts and is defined as
percent area
occupied by the above ground parts of species per unit area.
 It tells us about the dominance of a species in terms of area
occupied by
its aerial parts in given vegetation.
 Basal area is calculated from the point of ground where the
stem of the
plants pierces out of the ground.
 At this junction, i.e. near the ground, the diameter of the stem is
measured with scales, calipers, or screw gauge.
 Based on formula for any area measurement i.e. πr2, the basal
area of
For dominance also, relative value is calculated as per the following
formula:
Individual dominance of a species
Relative dominance of a species = ----------------------------------------------
Total dominance of all species encountered
 This can also be converted into percent relative dominance by
multiplying with 100.
 In case of trees, circumference of trees is measured at breast
height
(1.5m from base).
 From circumference, the radius is calculated and in turn from
radius,
area is calculated.
 In trees, the crown area is calculated based on area of its
crown that
is measured by taking radius along crown perimeter on the
ground
surface starting from the stem of the tree.
 If the crown of the tree is not circular which is normally so,
Qualitative characters of communities
 These characters are not measurable but calculated on the
basis of various qualitative features such as
 phenology,
 physiognomy,
 life forms and
 biological spectrum.
 UNIT TWO
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Introduction
This chapter focuses on the two important environmental
factors:
 Density dependent and
 density independent factors.
 It explains biotic and abiotic factors.
 Biotic factors include animals, plants and microbes;
 whereas abiotic factors include soil, rocks, temperature
etc.
Density dependent factors
 All living things need food, water, shelter and space to survive.
 As long as organisms have all of these things available to
them their
population will continue to grow.
 However, populations cannot grow forever.
 Some form of environmental resistance will stop the
population’s
growth.
 The form of environmental resistance is called a limiting
factor
(environmental factor) since it limits the population.
 We will look at many different limiting factors and classify
them into
density independent factors and density dependent factors.
 Density is difficult to define and to determine.
 It can be characterized as the number of individual per unit of
space-
 Regulation of population growth by mechanisms controlled by
the size
of population; effect increase as population size increase or if
the
effects of a particular influence change with population density,
then
the influence is density dependent.
 It influences a population in proportion to its size. At low
density there
is no influence.
 Above that point, the larger the populations become, the greater
is the
proportion of individuals affected.
 Density dependent mechanisms act largely through competition
for
abundant or meager resources.
 In this case populations do not increase indefinitely.
 As resources become less available to an increasing number of
individuals, birth rates decrease, mortality increases, and
Density independent factors
 If the effects of a particular influence do not change with population
density, or if the proportion of individual affected is the same at any
density, then the influence is density- independent.
 Density independent influences have considerable impact on birth
rates
and death rates.
 Density independent factors can affect a population no matter what
its
density is.
 For example: natural disasters, temperature, sunlight, human
activities,
physical characteristics and behaviors of organisms affect any and
all
populations regardless of their densities.
Abiotic (climatic and edaphic) and biotic factors
Abiotic factors
 These are the non living components of ecosystem
Abiotic factors can be classified as:-
1. Physical factors:
ii) Atmosphere: It is a mixture of air around the earth.
iii) Edaphic factor: Nature and structure of soil constitute
** Refer the details of the above physical abiotic factors on any
related
references
2) Chemical factors
1. Inorganic substances: elements such as carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen,
phosphorus, oxygen, sulphur and others.
2. Organic substances: molecules like carbohydrates, proteins, lipids
and humus.
Biotic factors & trophic levels
 The term 'biotic factors" refers to all living organisms in an
ecosystem.
 Depending on how the living organisms in an ecosystem obtain, store ,
utilize and release energy, they are categorized into three main trophic
levels:
(a) producers
(b) consumers and
(c) decomposers or detritivores.
** Refer the details of the above trophic level on any related
Periodicity
 Daily and seasonal patterns govern life’s activities.
 For example: the pattern of human activity quickens with day-
light.
at dusk, day time animals retire, water lilies fold, moonflowers
open,
and animals of the night appears.
 Human activity also changes as evening begins.
 As seasons progress, day length changes, and activities shift.
 Spring brings migrant birds and initiates the reproductive
cycles of
many plants and animals.
 These rhythms are driven by the daily rotation of earth on its
axes
and its 365- day revolution about the sun.
 In short, periodicity is characteristics of being periodic; the
life
activities that tends to recur at regular intervals.
Continuous vs. Seasonal reproduction
 Reproduction is the biological process by which new "offspring"
individual organisms are produced from their "parents".
 Individuals may be added to populations by reproducing
continuously or seasonlly.

Continuous reproduction
 There are some organisms that have no distinct reproductive
season,
but instead add young at any time of the year.
 Such populations are augmented more or less continuously.
 Humans are a good example.

Seasonal reproduction
 The breeding season is the most suitable season, usually with
favourable conditions and abundant food and water, for
breeding.
 Abiotic factors such as the timing of seasonal rains and winds
 In tropical regions with a distinct wet-dry season, the sequence of
flowering, fruiting and leafy growth reflects the alteration of wet and dry
seasons.
 Seasonal activities of animals center about reproduction and the
availability of food.

Circadian rhythms
Circadian (circa= about; dian= day) rhythms (cycles) are physical,
mental, and behavioral changes that follow a daily cycle.
 Living organisms, except bacteria, have an innate rhythm of activity
and inactivity.
 This rhythm is free-running under constant conditions with an
oscillation that deviates slightly from 24 hours. For that reason it is
called a circadian rhythm.
 Under natural conditions the circadian rhythm is set or entrained to the
24-hour day by external time cues, notably light and dark (day and night).
 This setting synchronizes the activity of plants and animals with the
environment.
 The onset and cessation of activity depend upon whether the
organisms are light active or dark active.
 Circadian rhythms operate the biological clocks of organisms.
 The biological clock is in the cells of plants and in the brain of
multicelled animals.
 Animals produce more of a special hormone, melatonin, in the
dark
than in the light.
 In humans, melatonin is produced by the pineal gland, a small
endocrine gland located in the center of the brain but outside
the
blood–brain barrier.
 The melatonin signal forms part of the system that regulates
the
sleep–wake cycle by chemically causing drowsiness and
lowering
the body temperature.

** Refer the details of the Seasonal availability of nutrients and

food