ECOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

Life within ecological communities evolves around relationships or interactions. There are 3 major
categories of relationships: competition, dependence and Interdependence.
Types of association
➢ Parasitism: is an association in which one organism (the parasite) lives on or in the body of
another organism (the host). The parasite derives its nutrients from the host at the host’s
expense. The external living parasites are known as ectoparasites while the internal living ones
are known as endoparasites. Examples of parasites includes plants such as dodder, witch
weed, mistle toe, and animals such as louse, ticks, plasmodium, leech, aphids, mites,
trypanosome, tapeworm, ascaris and guinea worm.

➢ Symbiosis is a close association of two or more species of organisms which are beneficial to
one or both organisms.

• Mutualism: is the relationship between two organisms of different species, in which both
benefit from the relationship.
Examples:
1. Lichen results from this type of relationship between the 10% algae and 90% fungi; where the
latter helps attach the fungi to substrates by mycelia so that the algae can receive maximum light
for photosynthesis.
2. Protist living in the gut of the termites which help the termite digest the cellulose from the
wood it has eaten, it in turn gets a constant supply of food and a stable environment to dwell.
3. Rhizobium bacteria found in the root nodules of legumes; the bacteria obtain carbohydrate
from the plant and provide the plant with ammonium compounds.
4. Microorganisms in the intestine of ruminants which help the ruminant break down the
cellulose from the plant material they eat and get constant supply of food and shelter.
5. Boxer crab has anemones attached to its pincers, which it uses to defend itself from predators
in turn the anemones get scraps of food from the crab.

• Commensalism: is an association between two species of organisms in which one

(commensal) benefits but the other (host) is unaffected. The commensal benefits shelter
and food.
Examples:
1. The relationship between the remora fish (commensal) and the shark.
2. Epiphytes (commensal) and rainforest trees. The epiphytes get physical support so they are in
position to get maximum amount of sunlight for photosynthesis.

FOOD CHAINS AND WEBS.

Organisms show interdependence by feeding. Feeding is one of the ways by which energy is
transferred from one organism to another in the ecological community. The linkage of this energy
transfer is referred to as food chain.
FOOD CHAIN: is a sequence by which energy in form of food passes from one organism to
another. And every food chain begins with a producer, as energy is passed along this food chain,
each organism uses part of this energy for its metabolism so the further along the food chain, the
organism is the less the energy available to it. Therefore, the shorter the food chain the more
efficient it is.
RAIN FOREST HABITAT
TREE LOG TERMITE INSECT EATING BIRD HAWKS

SAVANNA HABITAT

GRASS GRASSHOPPER LIZARD SNAKE

MARINE HABITAT
DIATOM COPEPOD TILAPIA SHARK
DESERTED FARM LAND
GRASS FIELD MOUSE SNAKE HAWK
POND
LEMMA DRAGONFLY FROG
FOOD WEB: In the community, more than one organism might depend on a particular organism
for energy hence the existence of related or linked food chains. The food web can be defined as a
network of interlinked or inter-related food chains.
DIAGRAM OF A TERRESTRIAL FOOD WEB

ENERGY FLOW
Understanding how energy is passed along the food chain can be useful in agriculture. We can
eat a wide variety and can feed at several different trophic levels. The most form of efficient sort
of food for the farmer to grow and for us to eat would depend on its nearness to the beginning of
the food chain, this is why our staple foods are plants e.g wheat, rice, potatoes, plantain and
cassava. When we eat meat, eggs and drink milk, we are feeding further along the food chain and
the energy available to us is lower than the original energy provided by the sun.
In principle, it is more efficient to eat grass in the field than to allow the cattle eat it and then eat
the cattle. However, there are many plant products which we can eat e.g soya beans, this yields
a high amount of protein, it is much more efficient in terms of energy and cheaper than other
forms of flesh e.g beef.
ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS
PYRAMID OF ENERGY: is a diagram that compares energy used by the producer, consumer and
other trophic levels. The pyramid therefore illustrates how available energy is distributed among
the trophic levels in an ecosystem.
The unit of measurement used to describe the amount of energy at the trophic level is kilojoules
(KJ). Each horizontal bar or tier of the pyramid represents the trophic level with the size
correlating with the amount of energy at that level.
The typical energy pyramid is upright with a very large section at the base for the producer and
sections that become progressively smaller above.
Note: Between each tier up to 70% of the energy is lost as heat and waste into the atmosphere.

DIAGRAM SHOWING THE PYRAMID OF ENERGY

PYRAMID OF NUMBERS: is a representation of the numbers of individual organisms at each
trophic level of an ecosystem. It is particularly effective in showing the vast number of producers
required to support even a few top-level consumers. The pyramid of numbers maybe upright or
inverted. The inverted pyramid usually occurs when the producer is a single tree. This single tree
would be greatly outnumbered by the primary and secondary consumers such as insects and
birds that live within it. The pyramid could also be irregular, when there are parasitic consumers
in the food chain.

DIAGRAM SHOWING THE NORMAL PYRAMID OF NUMBERS

DIAGRAM SHOWING AN INVERTED PYRAMID OF NUMBERS

DIAGRAM SHOWING AN IRREGULAR PYRAMID OF NUMBERS
PYRAMID OF BIOMASS: is a diagram that compares the biomass of different trophic levels within
the ecosystem. Biomass is a measure of total dry mass of organisms in a given area. It provides
a picture of the mass of producers needed to support primary consumers, the mass of primary
consumers required to support secondary consumers and so on. Usually when a consumer
incorporates the biomass of a producer into its own biomass, a great deal of energy is lost in the
process as heat and waste. The conversion of biomass of a consumer is inefficient. The unit of
biomass is gram per metre.
NOTE: The pyramid of biomass can also be inverted when there are seasonal changes.

DIAGRAM SHOWING THE PYRAMID OF BIOMASS

ENERGY TRANSFORMATION IN NATURE
In nature, energy exists in different forms which are inter convertible that is, one form of energy
can be transformed into another. Such energy transformations are brought about by living
organisms and governed by the laws of thermodynamics.
LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS
The first law states that energy may be changed from one form to another, but it can never be
create nor destroyed.

The second law states that no process of energy transformation occurs without a part
of energy being converted to heat. It is also called the law of entropy.

The food resulting from photosynthesis in the green plant contains potential energy. This
potential energy is a result of light energy tapped by the plant from the sun which it
converted to chemical energy (carbohydrate). This chemical energy is used for growth,
respiration and the rest is stored as potential energy in the plants. The primary consumer
that feeds on this plant converts the potential energy to chemical energy which it uses
for growth, respiration etc. and even movement which is kinetic energy. The same occurs
as the energy is being transferred from one trophic level to another as energy does not
remain in one form but is converted to various forms. As this energy moves from one
trophic level to another, no energy is destroyed neither is any created but at every trophic
level, some amount of energy is converted to heat which enters into the atmosphere.