19.

ORGANISMS IN THEIR
ENVIRONMENT

MR BASHEER AHMED
ECOSYSTEMS
ORGANISATION OF ECOSYSTEM
ORGANISATION OF ECOSYSTEM
 ORGANISATION OF ECOSYSTEM
 Population is a group of organisms of one species, living in the same area, at the same time.
 Community is all the populations of different species present in an ecosystem.
 Ecosystem consists of many communities of different organisms.

 Ecosystem is a unit containing biotic components and abiotic components living together and
interacting with each other.

1. Biotic components include- microorganisms, animals, plants, etc.

2. Abiotic components include sunlight, temperature, air, water, soil, etc.

FACTORS affecting
POPULATION GROWTH
DO POPULATIONS OF ORGANISMS REMAIN SAME EVERYTIME

 Most populations tend to stay roughly the same if measured over a period of time.
 In any population, the rate at which new individuals are born is called the birth rate and the
rate at which older individuals die is called the death rate.
 Populations increase due to high birth rate and decrease due to high death rate.
 Populations increase due to Immigration and decrease due to Emigration.
 WHAT FACTORS AFFECT THE POPULATION GROWTH
 Some of the common factors which affect the rate of population growth are:

1. Food supply

2. Competition for food, space, mating

3. Predation

4. Disease

5. Other factors, such as deforestation, air and water pollution, climate change, natural disasters
like drought, floods, tsunamis, forest fires, etc.
 HOW DOES FOOD SUPPLY AFFECTS POPULATION GROWTH
 The higher the supply of food, the higher the population of any organism, the lower the supply of
food the lower the population.
 However, if population rises uncontrollably, then food supply will become limited and population
starts decreasing.
 HOW DISEASE AFFECTS POPULATION GROWTH ?
 Disease increases the death rate and thus decrease the population of any species.
 Organism are infected by pathogens regularly and this keeps population under check.
 However a very large scale spread of disease can drastically reduce the population
 Had the Black
Death not
occurred, human
population would
have been
something else
today..
Just for your knowledge….
 HOW DOES PREDATION AFFECT POPULATION GROWTH
1. Predator – animal which hunts and kills other animal for food
2. Prey – animal which gets killed and eaten
Higher the population of predators lower the population of prey.
 HOW DOES PREDATION AFFECTS POPULATION GROWTH
 In general, more predators will decrease prey population and more prey will increase the
predator population.
Representation of Predator and prey population
change
Actual Predator and prey population change
Actual Predator and prey population change
 HOW DOES PREDATION AFFECTS POPULATION GROWTH

 Due to fewer predators, prey population will first increase.

 As prey population increase, it provides more food for the predators, so predators will start to
increase in number.
 The predators keep increasing and eat too much, so the prey population falls.
 Now there is less food for the predators, and they starve to death. The predator numbers
decrease too much
 Since the predators are too few that prey population increase again.
 Prey numbers always increase first followed by the number of predators.
HUMAN POPULATION
GROWTH
HUMAN POPULATION GROWTH CURVE
 MAIN CAUSES of HUMAN POPULATION GROWTH

1. INCREASE IN FOOD SUPPLY

2. REDUCTION IN DISEASE
 HOW INCREASE IN FOOD SUPPLY HAPPENED

Food supply increased due to:

1. Large scale Intensive farming, and intensive fishing
2. Use of tractors, and machines in farming
3. Use of insecticides and fertilizers in agriculture
4. Modern agricultural methods like Glass houses, hydroponics
5. Selective breeding, Genetic engineering
6. Improved food storage methods
 HOW REDUCTION IN DISEASES HAPPENED

Reduction in diseases happened due to:

1. Immunization
2. Discovery and development of antibiotics
3. Improvements in medicine/drug production
4. Improvements in water supply, sewage treatment.
5. Hygienic food handling
6. Increase in standards of cleanliness.
POPULATION PYRAMIDS
 INCREASING POPULATION PYRAMID
(Found in developing countries)

 Reasons :
 poor quality of nutrition

 poor healthcare facilities

 lack of education about contraceptives

 lack of awareness of family planning

 This pyramid is common for

population in developing regions.

 STABLE POPULATION PYRAMID
(Found in developed countries)

 Reasons:
 awareness of contraceptive methods that limit the birth rate.

 better nutrition

 medical facilities which increase their life span.

SIGMOID GROWTH
When paramecium and daphnia are grown in lab,
following growth curve was obtained
SIGMOID GROWTH CURVE OR S-SHAPED GROWTH
CURVE

1. A few bacterial/yeast cells are put in a container of

nutrient broth/culture solution.

2. The cells feed on the nutrients, grow and reproduce.

3. The number of cells are counted every hour for few days

4. Finally a graph is drawn

The graph obtained is called as A Sigmoid curve

SIGMOID GROWTH CURVE
OR
S-SHAPED GROWTH CURVE
SIGMOID GROWTH CURVE
OR
S-SHAPED GROWTH CURVE
SIGMOID GROWTH CURVE OR S-SHAPED GROWTH
CURVE
 LAG PHASE
Reasons for animals to be in lag phase
1) There were small number of bacteria
when it started
2) Bacteria need to adapt to new
environment---lab conditions
3) Bacteria need to adapt to use new food
source.
4) Not all bacteria may be mature so they
need time to reach maturity
5) May be food provided was not suitable
or not enough, etc.
Reasons for animals to be in lag phase
1) There were small number of animals
when it started
2) Animals need time to grow and reach
maturity
3) There may not be enough food available
for animals
4) Environmental conditions may not be
suitable ex: too cold / too hot
5) There may be a predator or they may
have got a disease in the new place
6) There may be competition from another
local animal
 LOG PHASE OR EXPONENTIAL PHASE:
Reasons for bacteria to be in LOG PHASE
1) Birthrate is higher than death rate
2) Now there are many bacterial cells
3) Conditions became better for bacteria
4) Bacteria adapted to the lab conditions
5) There is plenty of food, oxygen, etc.
available
6) Wastes are less in amount, not to much
Reasons for animals to be in LOG PHASE
1) Birthrate is higher than death rate
2) Animals adapted very well to the
environment
3) Environmental conditions became
better
4) There is plenty of food available,
5) There are plenty of mates and space
available to reproduce
6) Predators may have died in large
numbers
 STATIONARY PHASE:
Reasons for bacteria to be in STATIONARY
PHASE
1) Birthrate is equal to death rate
2) Now there are too many bacterial cells
3) Conditions became unsuitable for bacteria
4) Bacteria run out of space, food, oxygen , etc
5) There is of food, oxygen, etc. available
6) Wastes become so much and start to become
toxic for bacteria
Reasons for animals to be in STATIONARY
PHASE
1) Birthrate is equal to death rate
2) There is over population of animals
3) Environmental conditions may have
changed became less favorable
4) Lack of food and space
5) New predator may have arrived I this
place
6) Animals may have been struck by some
disease
 DEATH PHASE:
Reasons for bacteria to be in DEATH PHASE
1) Death rate is GREATER to birth rate
2) Bacterial cells GOT OVER CROWDED
3) Conditions became EXTREMELY unsuitable for
bacteria
4) SCARCITY of space, food, oxygen , etc
5) Wastes become TOO MUCH AND EXTREMELY
toxic for bacteria
Reasons for animals to be in DEATH PHASE
1) Death rate is GREATER to birth rate
2) Animals GOT OVER CROWDED
3) Environmental conditions EXTREMELY
unsuitable for animals
4) EXTREME LACK of food and space
5) New predator may have arrived this
place
6) Animals may have been struck IN LARGE
NUMBERS by some disease