2.

Ecosystems and Ecology

2.1 Species and Population

An ecosystem is a community of
interdependent organisms and the physical
environment they interact with. An ecosystem
is made up of biotic (living) and abiotic (non-
living) components.
Ecologists look at and try to understand
various aspects of organisms – how varied
they are (diversity), where they are
located (distribution), what they are
(species) how many there are of them
(population) and how they interact and
adapt
Videoof how Biotic and abiotic
components make up the ecosystem
Biotic components
Biotic components
Producers – the plants that convert energy into
matter.
Consumers – animals that eat plants or other
animals.
Decomposers – organisms that breakdown
waste into component parts for reuse.
Interactions that happen between the living
components – predation, herbivory, 
parasitism, mutualism,  disease and
competition. 
Abiotic factors
Group discussion on the effects of the
following on the biotic components of the
ecosystem.
Temperature
Sunlight
pH
Salinity
Precipitation.
 Abiotic factors cont…
Temperature
All organisms have a temperature range within
which they can live and if the temperature
deviates too much then they will be stressed
and may die.

Water temperature influences the amount of

oxygen the water contains and so is vital to
aquatic life. The seasonal and diurnal patterns
of temperature will affect plant life cycles. 
Sunlight
 Isthe base of the vast majority of food
chains on earth.
Photosynthesis is possible and enables
plants to transform light energy into
chemical energy. 
sunlight determine the length of the
growing season, mating cycles, when
flowers bloom and much more.
Sunlight cont…
The deeper you go in a column of water
the less light is available
by 200 meters there is so little light that
photosynthesis is not possible.
From 1,000 meters down there is
absolutely no light and it is known as the
midnight zone. 
Water
Basic ingredient of photosynthesis
Medium in which life’s processes take
place
Absence may lead to withering and
death of plants
Animals become weak and confused
Different organisms have different
adaptations to lack or too much of
water
Adaptations
pH
In freshwater systems the tolerance range
is between pH 6 and 8, above or below
that and the ecosystem will start to
breakdown.
In terrestrial ecosystems the impact of pH
is generally seen in soil and the tolerance
range of soil microbes is tylically pH 6 to
7. 
Salinity
Open ocean ecosystems have a salinity of
35 ppm (parts per million, which means
35 grams to every kilogram)
Freshwater ecosystems have an average
salinity on 0.5 ppm.
The Dead Sea has a salinity of 250,000
ppm – that is why species present are
limited to only micro-organisms and there
no fish or aquatic plants.
Ecological terms
Species- a group of organisms that share
common characteristics and that
interbreed to produce fertile offspring.
E.g. humans, giraffes, orange trees
They have their scientific names
Human-------- Homo sapiens
Giraffe --------- Giraffa camelopardalis
Species
For example the liger is a cross between a
male lion (Panthera leo) and a female
tiger (Panthera tigris).
Parents are of the same genus (Panthera)
but different species (leo and tigris).
The liger is not considered a species
because they are genetically or physically
sterile and unable to produce offspring of
their own.
Hierarchy of biological classification
Population
Factors affecting population size:
Natality (birth rate)
Mortality (death rate)
Migration- immigration & emigration
Population
Population
Births + immigration > deaths and
emigration (population growth)
Births + immigration < deaths and
emigration (population decline)
Births + immigration = deaths and
emigration (population is in dynamic
equilibrium)
Population Graph
Habitat

 Is the environment in which a species

normally lives.
A habitat is made up of :
 The non-living, physical factors that
influence the organisms and ecosystem
—such as temperature, sunlight, pH,
salinity, and precipitation- abiotic
 Habitat cont….
The interactions between the organisms—such
as predation, herbivory, parasitism, mutualism,
disease, and competition— biotic factors
Niche
Describes the particular set of abiotic and
biotic conditions and resources to which
an organism or population responds.
A niche is how an organism makes a
living
No two species can inhabit the same
ecological niche in the same place at the
same time
 Niche cont….
The fundamental niche:
describes the full range of conditions and
resources in which a species could survive and
reproduce.
The realized niche:
describes the actual conditions and resources in
which a species exists due to biotic interactions
In Figure 2 the area bottom left shows where competition is highest. In
this area if species A out-competes species B then species B’s realised
niche will be the smaller green area on the right, which is smaller than its
fundamental niche. On the other hand species A will have a realised
niche that is the same size as the fundamental niche. 
Limiting Factors
Limiting factors are the resources in the
environment that limit the growth, abundance
and distribution of organisms/populations in an
ecosystems.

Limiting factors will slow population growth as

it approaches the carrying capacity of the system
Carrying capacity is the maximum number of a
species or ‘load’ that can be sustained by a given
area.
Density dependent
 These factors affect the population only
when it reaches a certain density. 
These include competition, disease,
parasitism and predation - they tend to be
the biotic factors.
Disease spreads best when there are a lot
of organisms for it to infect.
Density independent
 These factors will control populations no
matter what the density of it is. They
include sunlight, temperature, water
and natural disasters.
High density or low density the organisms
still need a certain temperature range or a
particular amount of sunlight and water.
Population interactions
Interactions between organisms e.g.
predation, herbivory, parasitism,
mutualism, disease, competition are
termed biotic factors.
Competition
Competition occurs :
When all organisms in an ecosystem have
some effect on every other organism in
that ecosystem
When any resource in an ecosystem exists
only in a limited supply.
Intraspecific competition
Competition between members of the
same species
Fig 2.1.3 pg 60 ESS course companion
Some species deal with intra specific
competition by being territorial: an
individual or a pair holds an area and
fends off rivals.
Intraspecific competition tends to
stabilize population numbers
Interspecific competition
Individuals of different species could be
competing for the same resource.
This may result in both individuals
sharing resources or one species may
totally out –compete the other. (principle
of competitive exclusion)
E.g a garden being overrun by weeds.
Plant species that cannot get enough light
dies in temperate deciduous woodland.
 Predation
When one animal, the predator, eats another
animal, the prey- lions eating zebras
Predation is where one organism (the
predator) hunts and kills another (the prey) in
order to provide it with the energy for
survival and reproduction.
Predatory Plant
Negative feedback loop of a predator
prey relationship. 
Herbivory is the consumption of plant
material by an animal (Herbivores).
 Just as predator and prey adapt for survival
so do the plants and the herbivores
Plants evolve defense mechanisms to cut
down herbivory, these are either
structural/mechanical or chemical. The
herbivores evolve coping mechanisms to
continue eating.
Plant defence mechanisms and
Herbivores coping mechanisms
Plants: thorns or prickles, produce
chemicals(poisonous)
Herbivore:
some animals simply have a varied diet that avoids
consumption of too much of the same species thus
avoiding toxin build up.
Some will vomit and remove the toxins from their
system, whilst others build up a tolerance to the
toxin.
Amazonian Macaw eats clay from the river banks
to neutralise the toxins in their diet. 
Predator prey population curves
Parasitism: relationship between two
species in which one species (parasite)
lives in or on another (the host), gaining
food from it.
Mutualism : a relationship between two or
more species in which all benefit and non
suffer.
E.g. Nitrogen fixing bacterium Rhizobium
living in the root nodules of leguminous
plants.
Small Group Discussions
Population growth curves
What are J shape curves in population of
living organisms.
What are S curves in population of living
organisms
 Population changes
Exponential or geometric growth of bacteria
is seen if no limiting factors exist.
Bacteria reproduce asexually by binary
fission
S- curves
Lag phase: colony grows slowly as it
starts to multiply
Exponential phase: colony grows very
rapidly as a result of plentiful nutrient
supply
Stationary phase: population size
stabilizes as only a set number of yeast
cells can exploit the limited resources.
Stabilization occurs at the carrying
capacity of the environment

The area between the exponential growth

curve and the S-curve is called
environmental resistance
J shaped Population Curve
J- curves
Boom and bust pattern
The population grows exponentially at
first and then , suddenly collapses.
The collapses are known as diebacks
A J shaped population growth curve is
typical of microbes, invertebrates, fish
and small mammals
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