ECOLOGY LECTURE NOTES

Ecology

Comes from two Greek words Oikos meaning house, dwelling place, habitation and logia
meaning study.

coined in 1866 by the German scientist Ernst Haeckel (18341919)

It iis the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other
and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition,
distribution, amount (biomass), number, and changing states of organisms within and among
ecosystems.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Biodiversity - abbreviation of biological diversity, describes the diversity of life

from genes to ecosystems and spans every level of biological
organization.
- Measures the health of the ecosystem

Habitat - the environment over which a species is known to occur and the
type of community that is formed as a result.
- can be defined as regions in environmental space that are
composed of multiple dimensions, each representing a biotic or
abiotic environmental variable; that is, any component or
characteristic of the environment related directly (e.g. forage
biomass and quality) or indirectly (e.g. elevation) to the use of a
location by the animal

Niche - which a species is able to persist and maintain stable population

sizes

Niche Construction - organisms that directly or indirectly modulate the availability of

resources to other species, by causing physical state changes in
biotic or abiotic materials. In so doing they modify, maintain and
create habitats.

Biome - larger units of organization that categorize regions of the Earth's

ecosystems mainly according to the structure and composition
of vegetation.
Types of Biomes

Tropical Rainforest - Minimum normal annual rainfall between 175 cm (69 in) and
200 cm
(79 in) occurs in this climate region. Mean monthly temperatures exceed
18 C (64 F) during all months of the year.
- Can also be called lowland evergreen rainforest.

Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest Temperate and humid

 Temperate deciduos forest - has a temperate of 4 seasons. Temperate deciduous forests get
about 950 to 1500 millimeters of rain annually, which is the second most of all the biomes. They
have summer highs of about 27 to 32 Celsius with winter highs temperatures of around -1 to -15
Celsius.

Taiga / Boreal Forest Worlds largest land biome and makes up 29% of worlds forest cover
- taiga is the terrestrial biome with the lowest annual average
temperatures after the tundra and permanent ice caps.
 Tundra - at least one month has an average temperature high enough
to melt snow (0C or 32F), but no month with an average
temperature in excess of (10C/50F).
- No trees, contains vegetation but mostly surrounded by ice.

Desert - receives an extremely low amount of precipitation (Dry desert and polar desert)
Biological Interactions

1. Symbiosis - close and often long-term interaction between different biological species.
2. Commensalism - one organism and the other organism is neither benefited nor harmed.
- Example: remora living with a shark. Remoras eat leftover food
from the shark. The shark is not affected in the process as
remoras eat only leftover food of the shark which doesn't
deplete the shark's resources.

(remora living with a shark. Remoras eat leftover food from the shark. The shark is not affected in the
process as remoras eat only leftover food of the shark which doesn't deplete the shark's resources.)
3. Mutualism - any relationship between individuals of different species where both individuals
derive a benefit. Example: Clown fish and anemones (Nemo)

4. Metabiosis - involve one organism using something another created, after its death. Example:
Hermit crab using the shell of gastropods for protection.
 5. Parasitism - one in which one member of the association benefits while the other is harmed.
Example: Tick Infestation
6.

7. Amensalism - exists where one species is inhibited or completely obliterated and one is
unaffected. Example: sapling growing under the shadow of a mature tree

(sapling growing under the shadow of a mature tree)

Food Chain/ Food web - depicts feeding connections (who eats whom) in an ecological community.

Trophic Level The position of an organism that it occupies in the food chain.

The three basic ways organisms get food are as producers, consumers and decomposers.

Producers (autotrophs) are typically plants or algae. Plants and algae do not usually eat
other organisms, but pull nutrients from the soil or the ocean and manufacture their own food
using photosynthesis. For this reason, they are called primary producers. In this way, it is
energy from the sun that usually powers the base of the food chain.[1] An exception occurs in
deep-sea hydrothermal ecosystems, where there is no sunlight. Here primary producers
manufacture food through a process called chemosynthesis.[2]

Consumers (heterotrophs) are animals which cannot manufacture their own food and
need to consume other organisms. Animal that eat primary producers (like plants) are called
herbivores. Animals that eat other animals are called carnivores, and animals that eat both
plant and other animals are called omnivores.

Decomposers (detritivores) break down dead plant and animal material and wastes and
release it again as energy and nutrients into the ecosystem for recycling. Decomposers, such
as bacteria and fungi (mushrooms), feed on waste and dead matter, converting it into
inorganic chemicals that can be recycled as mineral nutrients for plants to use again.
Trophic levels can be represented by numbers, starting at level 1 with plants. Further trophic
levels are numbered subsequently according to how far the organism is along the food chain.

Level 1: Plants and algae make their own food and are called primary producers.
Level 2: Herbivores eat plants and are called primary consumers.
Level 3: Carnivores which eat herbivores are called secondary consumers.
Level 4: Carnivores which eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers.
Level 5: Apex predators which have no predators are at the top of the food chain. (top
predators)

(Lolong, an Example of an Apex Predators) Level 5)

Keystone Species - species that is disproportionately connected to more species in the food-web.
Keystone species have lower levels of biomass in the trophic pyramid relative to the importance of their
role. The many connections that a keystone species holds means that it maintains the organization and
structure of entire communities. The loss of a keystone species results in a range of dramatic cascading
effects that alters trophic dynamics, other food-web connections and can cause the extinction of other
species in the community.[