Concepts and Principal of

Ecology

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 Course Outline
• Definition of ecology
• Important concepts
• Principles of ecology

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 What is “Ecology”
• Ecology

– Greek oikos means “house” or “place to live”

– Concerned with the biology of groups of organisms and
with functional processes on the land, in the oceans and
freshwater, and in the air
– Defined as the study of the structure and function of
nature

“The study of organisms and their environment and

all the external conditions and factors, living and
nonliving (biotic & abiotic), that affect an
organism”
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 “It is the science of the interrelations between
living organisms and their environment, and
dealt with the interactions of plants and
animals in natural systems”

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 Five levels of ecology:
1. The individual organism
2. The population (consisting of individual of the
same species)
3. The community (consisting of a greater or lesser
number of populations
4. The ecosystem (the concept of abiotic
components such as temperature, nutrients, and
moisture are introduced that interact with the 3
previous levels)
5. The biome level (a classification of ecosystems
into general categories that contain similar types
of organisms (e.g., planet earth)
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 The Realm of Ecology
Ecology Level Description
Biome A classification of ecosystems into general
categories that contain similar types of organisms
Ecosystem The community of organisms and populations
interacting with one another and with the
chemical and physical factors making up their
environment
Community Populations of different plants and animals living
and interacting in an area at a particular time
Population Group of individual organisms of the same species
living within a particular area
Organism Any form of life including all plants and animals

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 Major Components of an Ecosystem

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 Important Concepts of Ecology
1. Cycles
– The circulation of the chemical elements in the biosphere
from the environment to organisms and back to the
environment

2. Food Chain
– The transfer of food energy from its sources in plants
through a series of organisms where eaten is repeated a
number of times

3. Community
– Any assemblage of populations living in a prescribed area
or physical habitat that has characteristics in addition to
its individual and population components

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 Carbon Cycle

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 4. Carrying Capacity
– Maximum population of a particular species that a given
habitat can support over a given period of time

5. Range of Tolerance
– The ability of species and organisms to respond to
variations of physical and chemical factors in its
environment

6. Limiting Factors
– Single factor that limits the growth, abundance, and
distribution of the population of a particular organism in
an ecosystem

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 Range of Tolerance to Temperature for a
Population of Organisms

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 7. Threshold Effect
– A harmful or fatal reaction triggered when the limits of
an organism’s tolerance have been exceeded

8. Habitat
– The place where an organism lives. The 4 major habitats
– atmosphere, marine & estuarine, freshwater, and
terrestrial

9. Ecological Niche
– An organism’s functional role in the community or its
status. Habitat is the organism’s address; niche refers its
role in the community

10. Biological Clock

– Natural rhythms or cycles that are in the nature of
physiological mechanisms for measuring time in some
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 The Principles of Ecology
1. The distribution of species is limited by barriers
and unfavorable environments

2. No population increases without limit

3. Good and poor places exist for every species

4. Overexploited populations can collapse

5. Communities can rebound from disturbances

6. Communities can exist in several stable

configurations
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 Determinants of Population Size

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 Effects of Oil Pollution on Marine Organisms

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 7. Keystone species may be essential to a
community

8. Natural systems recycle essential materials

9. Climates change – communities change

10. Natural systems are products of

evaluation

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