Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017
AQUATIC ECOLOGY
ECOLOGY
- Fundamental branch of biology that
is defined as the interrelationship
among organism and the
interrelationships of organisms with
their non-living environment (W.
Royce)
- Study of relationship of organism or
group of organism to their
environment
A. SUBDIVISIONS OF ECOLOGY
1. Autecology: the study of the
individual organism or an
individual species
2. Synecology’: study of groups of
organisms
B. Aquatic Ecology: branched of
ecology which is concerned with the
aquatic ecosystems such as:
freshwater, estuarine and marine
ecosysytem
C. ECOLOGICAL HIERARCHY:
1. Organism: a living plants or
animals
 Species: is any particular kind
of organism
2. Population: group of the same
species that lives in one area
3. Community (Biocoenosis): is a
group of different species that
live together in one area; a
group of population
4. Ecosystem (Biogeocoenosis):
basic functional unit in ecology
where the community and non-
Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT
living environment function
together
5. Biosphere (Ecosphere): includes
all of the earth’s living organisms
interacting with the physical
environment as a whole so as to
maintain a steady-state system
D. COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEM
1. Biotic Components: living factor
that influences an ecosystem
1. a. Producers/Autotrophs
- Self nourishing or those which
synthesize new organic matter
- make their own food, and
sunlight is the main source of
energy through photosynthesis
(used light energy to convert CO2
and H2O into O2 and
carbohydrates)
- include plants, phytoplankton
and photosynthetic bacteria
*Chemosynthetic Bacteria:
perform “chemosynthesis” that
used chemicals directly or
indirectly from plants for their
food and oxygen, ex.; Beggiatoa-
sulfur bacteria.
1. b. Consumer/heterotrophs/
phagotrophs (phago=eat)
- Other nourishing; chiefly
animals which ingest other
organisms or particulate organic
matter
- Organism rely on other
organism for their energy and
food supply
Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017
*Classification of Consumers
(Macroconsumers)
i. Herbivores: eat and obtain energy from
plants
ii. Carnivore: eat and obtain energy from
other animals
iii. Omnivores: eat and obtain energy from
both plants and animals
iv. Detritivore/scavenger: eat tissues of
dead plants and animals
1.c.Decomposers/reducers/microconsume
rs/ saprotrophs (sapro=decomposed) or
osmotrophs (osmo= to pass through a
membrane)
- “heterotrophic organisms”, mostly
microorganisms such bacteria and molds,
which breakdown the complex compound
of dead protoplasm of organism and
absorbed some decomposition products
- release inorganic nutrients that are usable
by the producers together with the organic
substances through the process of
“mineralization”
- represented in different processes of
decomposition such as fermentation, decay
and decomposition
*Biophages= organism consuming other
living organism
2. Abiotic Components: non-living factor
that influence an ecosystem, includes basic
inorganic and organic compounds, sunlight,
Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT
water, CO2, O2, CaN and phosphorous salt,
amino acids and humic acids, etc.
E. COMMUNITIES OF ECOSYSTEM
1. Autotrophs
2. Phagotrophs (consumer)
3. Saprotrophs/decomposers
*Classified according on their mode of life:
a. Benthos: organism attached or resting o
the bottom or living in the bottom
sediments
b. Periphyton/aufwuchs: organism (both
plants and anmals) attached or clinging to
the stem, leaves of rooted plants or other
surfaces projecting above the bottom
c. Plankton: floating organisms whose
movements is dependent on water
currents, two types:
c.1. Phytoplankton: unicellular
aquatic plants and also a producer
c.2. Zooplankton: small consumer
that fed on phytoplankton, two
types
c.2.1.Haloplankton/perman
ent plankton: remains for
their entire life cycle in the
plankton, ex. Krills
C.2.2.Meroplankton/tempor
ary plankton: part of their
life cycle that an organism is
planktonic
Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017
d. Nekton: organism that can swim and
navigate independently to water current
e. Neuston: organism resting or swimming
in the surface
f. Seston: particulate matter suspended in
the seawater
* Lotic communities:
a. Permanent attached to affirm substrate:
green algae, moss
b. Hook and suckers: to enable gripping
c. Sticky undersurface (to adhere to
surface): snail
d. Streamlined body (body is egg shape,
resistance to water floating)
e. Flattened body (refuge understones and
in crevices)
f. Positive rheotaxis (orient themselves
upstream)
g. Positive thigmotaxis (touch, contact) -
keep the body in close conact with the
surface
* Vertical components of aquatic
ecosystem:
1. Epifauna: organism living on the surface,
attached or moving freely on the surface
2. Infauna: organism that digs into the
substrate or construct tube or burrows
F. FROM THE FUNCTIONAL STANDPOINT,
AN ECOSYSTEM MAY BE CONVENIENTLY
ANALYZED IN TERMS OF THE FOLLOWING:
Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT
1. Energy circuits
2. Food chains
3. Diversity patterns in time and space
4. Nutrients (biogeochemical cycle)
5. Development and evolution
6. Control (cybernetics)
G. THE BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF THE
CHEMICAL ENVIRONMENT
- “Physical Factors” controls the activities of
organism, it is not always realized that
organisms influence and control the abiotic
environment in many ways
- The chemical content of the sea and of its
bottom “oozes” is largely determined by
the action of marine organisms
- “Vital resources” are air, water and food:
‘the greatest good for the greatest number’
H. RESPIRATION (Energy-producing process
in cells)
* Types of Respiration
1. Aerobic Respiration: gaseous
(molecule) oxygen is the hydrogen
acceptor
2. Anaerobic Respiration: gaseous
oxygen is not involved; an inorganic
compound is the electron acceptor
3. Fermentation: also anaerobic but
an organic compound is the electron
acceptor (oxidant)
Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017
I. HOMEOSTASIS OF THE ECOSYSTEM
- Ecosystem is capable of self-maintenance
and self-regulation
- Cybernetics: the science of control;
disrupts natural control
- Homeostasis: the tendency for the
biological systems to resist changes and to
remain in a state of equilibrium
J. CONCEPT RELATED TO ENERGY
1. Energy: the ability to do work
2. Law of Thermodynamics
First Law of Thermodynamics:
“state that energy maybe
transformed from one type into
another but is another but is never
created or destroyed”
Second Law of Thermodynamics:
“energy transformation will
spontaneous occur unless there is a
degradation of the energy from a
concentrated form into a dispersed
form
3. Low Entrophy (a measure of disorder or
the amount of unavailable energy in the
system). Low entropy is achieved by a
continual dissipation of energy of high
utility (light or food…eq.) to energy of low
utility (heat, for eq.)
4. “order” in terms of a complex biomass
structure is maintained by the total
community respiration which continually
“pump out disorders”
Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT
K. CONCEPT OF PRODUCTIVITY
* Basic or Primary Productivity
- the rate at which radiant energy is stored
by photosynthetic and chemosynthetic
activity of producer or organism, in the
form of organic substance and used as food
material
* 4 Successive steps in the production
process
1. Gross primary productivity
- the “total rate of photosynthesis”,
including the organic matter used up in
respiration during the measurement period,
also known as “total photosynthesis or total
assimilation”
2. Net primary productivity
- rate of storage of organic matter in plant
tissue, also called “apparent photosynthesis
or net assimilation”
3. Net community productivity
- the rate of storage of organic matter not
used by heterotrophs
4. Secondary community productivity
- the rates of energy storage at consumer
level
L. FOOD CHAIN, FOOD WEB AND TROPHIC
LEVELS
*Anton Van Leeuwenhoek: pioneered the
study of “food chains” and population
Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017
1. Food chain: the transfer of food energy
from the source in plants through a series
of organism with repeated eating and being
eaten. “the shorter the food chain, the
greater the available energy”
*Two types of food chain:
1. Grazing food chain: plant to
herbivore to carnivore
2. Detritus food chain: dead organic
matter to microorganism to
detritivore and their predators
*The 10% Rule
- “states that an animal assimilates
only 10% or less of the food that it
eats- the rest being used in
maintaining its metabolism or being
eliminated as heat, there is 90% of
reduction in total production
attainable at each step”
* Food chain and Law of
Thermodynamic
“Energy inflows balance outflows as
required by the first law of
thermodynamics, and each energy
transfer is accompanied by
dispersion of energy into unavailable
heat (i.e. Respiration) as required by
the second law.”
2. Food web: is a combination of complex
food chains and there is an interlocking
pattern
Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT
3. Trophic levels
- from the word “trophe” means
“nourishment”
- levels of energy consumption
- a given species population may occupy
once or more than one trophic level
according to the source of energy actually
assimilated, this trophic classification is one
of function and not of species as such
-Biomass (= living weight)
4. Energy flows (EF)
* EF= total assimilation= production of
biomass + respiration
* EF= A ≠D + R
M. METABOLISM AND SIZE OF
INDIVIDUALS
- Standing Crop biomass: expressed as the
total caloric content of organisms present
at any one time which can be supported by
a steady flow of energy in a food chain
depends to a considerable extent on the
size of the individual organism
- Size-metabolism Relationship: the smaller
the organism, the greater its metabolism
per gram (or per calorie). Consequently the
smaller the organism, “the smaller the
biomass which can be supporte3d at the
particular trophic level in the ecosystem”,
“the larger the organism; the larger
standing crop biomass”
Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017
N. TROPHIC STRUCTURE AND ECOLOGICAL
PYRAMIDS
1. Trophic structure: the interaction of the
food chain (energy loss at each transfer)
and the size-metabolism relationship result
in communities having a definite “trophic
structure”, which is an often characteristic
of a particular type of ecosystem (lakes,
forest, coral reef etc.)
- trophic structure may be measured and
described either in terms in the standing
crop per unit area or in terms of the energy
fixed per unit area
2. Ecological Pyramids: trophic structure
and also trophic function are shown
graphically
*Three types of ecological pyramids
a. Pyramid numbers: in which the
number of the individual organism is
showed
b. Pyramid of biomass: based on the
total dry weight, caloric value or
other measure of the total amount
of living material in a given area
c. Pyramid of energy: in which the
rate of energy flow and / or
“productivity” at successive trophic
level is shown
*Ecological efficiency: ratios between
energy flows at different points along the
food chain are of considerable ecological
interest and expressed as percentages
Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT
O. BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
- The movement of those chemical
elements and inorganic compounds that are
essential to life can be conveniently
designated as nutrient cycling
* Two compartments or pool
1. the reservoir pool: large, slow-moving,
generally non-biological component
2. the exchange or cycling pool: a smaller
but more active portion that is exchanging
(moving back and forth) rapidly between
organisms and their immediate
environment
* Two basic groups of biogeochemical cycle
1. Gaseous type: in which the reservoir is in
the atmosphere or hydrosphere (ocean)
2. Sedimentary type: in which the reservoir
is in the earth’s crust
I. Hydrologic cycle: the sun-driven cycle of
the water through the biosphere through
evaporation, transpiration, condensation,
precipitation and run – off.
1. Reservoir: ocean, air (water
vapor), groundwater, lakes and
glaciers, evaporation, wind and
precipitation (rain) move water from
oceans to land
2. Assimilation: plants absorb water
from the ground, animals drink
water or eat other organism which
are composed mostly of water
Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017
3. Release: plant transpiration,
animals breathe and expel liquid
waste
II. The Carbon-Oxygen Cycle
1. Reservoir:
CO2-atmosphere (as CO2),
fossil fuels (oil, coal),
decomposing organic matter,
carbonate rocks
O2 – atmosphere (as CO2),
plants (photosynthesis)
2. Assimilation:
CO2 – plants used CO2 in
photosynthesis, animals
consume plants
O2 – decomposition use O2
for oxidation or breaking
down
3. Release:
CO2 – animals release CO2
through respiration and
decomposition while plants
through decomposition, it
release as wood and fossil
fuels and volcanic eruption
O2 – plants give off O2 as a
by-product
*Photosynthesis: removes CO2 and
turn O2 to the atmosphere
* Respiration and decomposition:
removes O2 at the atmosphere and
returns CO2 at the atmosphere
Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT
III. The Nitrogen Cycle
1. Reservoir:
Atmosphere (as N2), soil (as
NH4 or ammonium, NH3 or
ammonia, NO3- or nitrate
acids and nucleic acids
2. Assimilation:
Plants obtain/absorb
nitrogen as either NH4 or as
NO3-, animals obtain nitrogen
by eating plants and other
animals
*Stages in the Assimilation
a. Nitrogen Fixation: N2 to NH4+
- Nitrogen fixers or nitrogen
fixing bacteria:
- Cyanobacteria or blue-
green algae of freshwater or
marine; Anabaena, Nostoc
and other members of the
order Nostocales
- Free-living soil bacteria-
Azotobacter (aerobic) and
Clostridium (anaerobic)
- Bacteria associated with the
roots of leguminous plants is
Rhizobium
- Actinomycetes bacteria,
associated with the roots of
the alder
- N2 to NO3- by lightning and
UV radiation
- Nitrogen fixation take place
under aerobic conditions in
terrestrial and aquatic
environments, where
Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017
nitrogen-fixing species
oxidize sugars to obtain the
required energy
b. Nitrification: NH4+ to NO2 and
NO2- to NO3-
*Nitrifying bacteria:
Nitrosomonas (convert NH4
to NO2-) and Nitrobacter
(convert NO2- to NO3-)
c. Denitrification: NO3 back to N2
*Denitrifying bacteria:
Bacillus, Micrococcaceae,
Pseudomonas
- detritivorous bacteria
convert organic compounds
back to NH4 through
“ammonification”
- Bacteria excrete NH4 or NH3
urea, or uric acid; an energy-
yielding process that occur
under aerobic condition
IV. The Phosphorus Cycle
1. Reservoir: erosion transfer
phosphorus to water and soil
sediment and rocks that accumulate
on ocean floors return to the surface
as a result of uplifting by geological
processes
* apatite: commercially available
phosphate rock
*guano: from bird dropping
Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT
2. Assimilation: plants absorb
inorganic PO43 (phosphate) from soil
and animals obtain organic
phosphorus from plants and other
animals
3. Release: plants and animals
release P when they decompose,
animals excrete P in their waste
products, and P is slowly released to
the terrestrial and aquatic
ecosystem through the weathering
of rocks.
* Biogeochemical cycles of other
minerals such as calcium and
magnesium are similar to the
phosphorus
* Alfred Redfield: published a classic
paper entitled: “The Biological
Control of Chemical Factor in the
Environment” in 1958. Show the
evidence that the oxygen content of
air and nitrate in the sea are
produced largely by organic
productivity and quantities of these
are determine by the biocycling of
phosphorus
P. CONCEPTS OF LIMITING FACTOR
* Limiting factor: conditions of the
environment that limits the growth of
population or control the population
* Liebig’s Law of Minimum
“Growth is controlled not by the total
amount of resources available, but by the
Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017
scarcest (minimum) resource (limiting
factor); applicable in condition steady-
state.”
*Shelford’s Law of Tolerance
“The distribution of a species will be
controlled by that environmental factor for
which the species has the narrowest range
of tolerance.”
- Tolerance is influenced by several factors
such as life stage of organism, acclimation,
interactions, escape mechanisms,
reproduction, etc. “Reproduction period is
commonly the time of least tolerable”.
Tolerance is a function of both level and
time; the greater the change from the ideal
level, the less the length of time the change
will be tolerated.
Manifestation of potential limiting factors:
discomfort, change in behavior, change in
body chemistry, or more commonly, death
of a fraction of the organism
An aquatic species is limited by
temperature, salinity, depth, light, dissolved
oxygen and probably by any of many
factors.
Even though one factor may be critical in a
certain situation, often factors operate
together to create “synergetic affects”
Long –term adjustment occurs in
population where those individuals that are
better able than others to tolerate certain
factors survive and transmit their
Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT
characteristics to their offspring called
“natural selection”
“Adaption” occurs increasingly as man
changes the environment. Adaptions
include resistance to disease, improved
ability predators to find and consume food,
improved ability of prey to avoid and resist
predators.
Tolerance to a factor is expressed by the
prefixes “eury” meaning more tolerant and
“steno” less tolerant: eurythermal and
stenothermal; euryhaline and stenohaline;
euryphagus and stenophagus.
“Ecotype” – species with wide geographical
ranges almost always develop locally
adapted population that have optima and
limits of tolerance adjusted to local
condition.
“Factor Compensation”- organism are not
just “slaves” to the physical environment;
they adapt themselves and modify the
physical environment so as to reduce the
limiting effects of temperature, light, water
and other physical condition of existence.
Factor compensation occurs in communities
or also within the species.
Q. CONCEPT OF CARRYING CAPACITY
*Carrying Capacity: refers to the number of
individuals who can be supported in a given
area within natural resource limits, and
without degrading the natural social,
cultural and economic environment, for
present and future generation-given the
food, habitat, water and other necessities
available in the environment.
Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017
* Two types or Pattern of Carrying Capacity
1. K-selection
- follows a sigmoid curve
- population increase rapidly while
food and habit are abundant
- less abundant, lower birth rate
- then, population slows down to
zero and population reaches a stable
level
2. r-selection
- follows a peak pattern
- Population increases rapidly
- reaches a point where it exhausts
the resources upon which is depend
- at this point, mortality becomes
the primary regulatory factor and
population collapses to a low level
- when the resources are
replenished, the population rises
again
- this process is repeated in a boom
and bust cycle
R. THE BIOTIC COMMUNITY CONCEPT
Community: any assemblage of populations
living in a prescribed area or physical
habitat.
a. Major Communities: are
sufficient size and completeness
of organization that they are
relatively independent, need
Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT
only to received sun energy from
the outside and relatively
independent of inputs and
outputs from adjacent
community.
b. Minor Communities: are more or
less dependent on neighboring
aggregations.
*Ecotone: transition between two or
more diverse communities (e.q.
between a soft bottom and hard
bottom community).
*Edge effect: the tendency of
increased variety and density at
community junction or ecotones
*Intracommunity Classification and
Concept of Ecological Dominance
1. “Intracommunity classification”
goes beyond taxonomic (flora and
fauna) listings and attempts to
evaluate the actual importance of
organisms in the community.
2. Communities at least major ones
have producers, macroconsumers
and microconsumers
3. “Ecological dominants”: species or
species groups which largely control
the energy flow and strongly affect
the environment of all other species
4. “Index of dominance”: degree to
which dominance is concentrated in
one, several, or many species; the
importance of each species in
Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017

relation to the community as a b. Analysis within a given

whole. geographical region or area of
landscape
5. Species diversity index: ratio
between numbers of species and 1. the zonal approach, in
importance values (number, which discrete communities
biomass, productivity, etc.) are recognized, classified and
listed based on community
*Species Diversity Indices:
types
1. Species Richness: number of
2. the gradient analysis
species present in an ecosystem
approach, involves the
2. Species Eveness: relative arrangement of populations
abundance or proportion of along uni- or multi-
individuals among species dimensional environmental
gradient or axis with
3. Simpson’s diversity index: community recognition
proportion of the total number of based on frequency
organism of a particular species and distribution
the total number of organisms
c. “Ordination” refers to the
4. Shannon’s diversity index: ordering of species and communities
communication entropy (widely along gradients
used)
d. “Continuum” it is the gradient
* Community Analysis containing the ordered species or
community
a. Named and classified according
to: e. In general, “the steeper the
environmental gradient, the more
1. major structure feature
distinct or discontinuous are
such as dominant species,
communities
life form or indicator
*Patterns of Distribution: refers to any
2. the physical habitat of the
population has a characteristic structure or
community
arrangement of its individual due to
3. type of community behavioral response of individuals to the
metabolism factor or the environment. Classifications
are follows:

Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017

1. Vertical Pattern: the distribution as the negative binomial may be

of individuals in response to the appropriate.
chemical and physical factors of the
5. Coactive Pattern: results from
environment such as temperature,
competition between closely related
light, pressure, salinity, current and
species, follow the exclusion
bottom type; individuals occur in
principle that only one species can
numbers according to the level of
occupy a single uniform
the factor.
environment
2. Reproductive Pattern: is
S. PERIODITIES IN POPULATION (Biological
evidenced for a time by the species
clock)
that care for their young/ patterns
of distribution of the young after 1. Diel (= day) periodicity
dispersal by the currents
- event which occur at interval of 24 hours
- Many marine species of or less (ex. Migration of plankton at
crustaceans, mollusk, and fish have daytime and nighttime)
such pelagic young, and their
2. Seasonal periodicity
distribution is the result of spawning
time, spawning place, drifting time - complete change of community structure
and the set of the ocean currents. during annual cycles (ex. Migration of birds
during winter)
3. Random or Stochastic Pattern:
3. Circadian (= about a day) rhythm
small scale dispersion in a uniform
part of its environment - persistent periodicity regulated by the
biological clock that couples of
*Two types: environmental and physiological rhythm
(ex. Ocean tides)
a. Contagious distribution or
Underdispersion: distribution 4. Nocturnal
of clump individuals - group of organisms exhibit synchronous
activity patters only during the period of
b. Overdispersion: random
darkness
but might occur in samples
from a school of uniformly 5. Diurnal
spaced animals - only during the day
4. Poisson Distribution: a frequency 6. Crepuscular
distribution of animals per sample
that conforms mathematically such - only during twilight periods

Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017
T. PALEOECOLOGY
- the study of past biota on a basis of
ecological concepts and methods insofar as
they can be applied or more broadly as the
study of interaction of earth, atmosphere
and biosphere in the past (Cain, 1994).
U. POPULATION DYNAMICS
- the study of a population as a living unit,
that focused on change in the population
associated with birth and death rather on
its static composition.
* Population Group Properties
1. Some properties are density, natality,
mortality, age distribution, biotic potential,
dispersion and growth form
2. Population also possess genetic
characteristic directly related to their
ecology namely adaptiveness, reproductive
(Darwinian) fitness and persistence.
*Density
- the size of a population is expressed by
the total number or total weight
- commonly called the “biomass”
(expressed as either live weight or the dry
weight)
- measures of density are useful when
indexes of the same type are being
compared
*Natality
- the rate at which new individuals are
added to a population by reproduction.
Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT
- include young that result from eggs,
spores or as those that are born
- natality of aquatic resource populations
rarely measurable however, because the
new individual are so tiny, so dispersed, or
dying rapidly
*Mortality
- the numbers of individuals in the
population decreased by death, and
because every organism produces a surplus
of young, the rate of mortality at early life
stages is usually the primary factor that
regulates the number in a population
- it is determined from the number of
survivors at various time at from a group of
individual that started life at the same time
Density-dependent or Compensatory
Mortality
-“no population increases indefinitely; each
is limited by some mechanism that either
decreases the rate of natality or increases
the chance of death for the individuals as
the population increases”, the mechanism
includes:
1. Intraspecific Competition
- as organism increases in numbers,
their food, space to move in
opportunities to get rid of waste,
ability to avoid predators and
opportunities to transmit disease
change in way tend to increase
mortality
Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017

2. Environmental Heterogeneity weight at a rate that resembles the sigmoid

(S-shape) growth of an individual organism.
- as population increases, it tends to
occupy a larger area and this are *Any factor, whether limiting or favorable
usually include zone that are less (negative or positive) to a population is:
than favorable for the population
a. Density-independent (density legislative)
3.Increase in predator
- if the effect or action is independent of
- a greater number of prey and a the size of the population
greater ease of finding them
b. Density-dependent (density governing)
4. Genetic adaptation of the
- if the effect on the population is a function
population
of density
- operates to enhance survival of
*Population Dispersal
each succeeding generation under
stress - is the movement of individuals or their
disseminules or propagules (seed, spores,
*Age Structure
larvae, etc.) into or out of the population or
- the interplay of natality and mortality in a population area; three forms:
population results in every unit of time
a. Emigration: one way outward
- usefulness of the age structure depend on movement
its relationship to the survival rate of
b. Immigration: one way inward
“cohort” or “age group”
movement
- in a stable population the proportion of
c. Migration: periodic departure and
each age group at a given time is equal to
return
the proportion of each corresponding age
during a cohort’s life - Dispersal supplements natality and
mortality in shaping population on growth
- from it are constructed life table of the
form and density
estimated survivorship of cohorts and from
these may be computed estimates at each - Dispersal is greatly influenced by barriers
age of number dying and mortality rates and by inherent power of movements of
and life expectancies individuals called “vagility”
Population Growth * Model: it is a formulation that mimics a
real world phenomenon and by means of
“when a species introduced into a new
environment it grows in number and actual

Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017
which prediction can be made, either verbal,
graphical or statistical or mathematical
V. POPULATION ISOLATION &
TERRITORIALITY
*Isolation is the result of:
a. inter-individual competition for
resources in short supply
b. direct antagonism
* Homerange: organism restrict their
activities to a definite area
*Territory: area which is actively protected
*Territoriality: any active mechanism that
space individuals or groups apart from one
another
W. LIVING RELATIONSHIPS OR
INTERACTIONS
* Symbiosis
- term for the interdependence of different
species, which are sometimes called
symbionts. There are three main types of
symbiosis, based upon the specific
relationship between the species involved:
mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism.
1. Neutralism (O, O): Neither population
affects the other
2. Competition, direct interference type (-,-
): Direct inhibition of the species by the
other
Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT
3. Competition, resource used type (-, -):
Indirect inhibition when common resource
is in short supply
4. Amensalism (-, 0): population 1 inhibited,
2 not affected
5. Parasitism (+, -): population 1, the
parasite, generally smaller than 2, the prey
6. Commensalism (+, -): population 1, the
commensal, benefits while 2, the host is not
affected
7. Protocooperation (+, +): interaction is
favorable for both but not obligatory
8. Predation (+, -): population 1, the
predator, generally larger than prey
9. Mutualism (+, +): interaction favorable to
both and obligatory
10. Inquilism: type of relationship in which
animal lives in the home of another or on its
digestive tract without being parasitic
Note
Type 2-4: Negative interaction
Type 7-9: Positive interaction
Type 5-6: Both
Negative Interaction: Competition
- Refers to interaction of two
organisms striving for the same
thing
1. Interspecific interaction: is any
interaction between two or more
Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017
species population which adversely
affects their growth and survival
2. Intraspecific competition:
competition occurring within a species
or involving members of the same
species
* Competitive Exclusion Principle: “ the
tendency for competition to bring about an
ecological separation of closely related or
otherwise similar species
*Symbiosis and Antibiosis
Symbiosis: a relationship between
two species populations that lives
together and depend on each other
Antibiosis: termed as “allelopathy”
means harmful to the other
X. CYCLE OF ABUNDANCE
- the size and structure of populations and
communities are regulated not only by the
physical factors of the ecosystem, such as
temperature, substrate, and depth, but also
by the interplay of intraspecific
competition, interspecific competition and
predation.
- Abundance cycle may follow passively
recurring external influence or perpetuate
themselves under certain combinations of
external factors
Y. HABITAT & ECOLOICAL NICHE
Habitat: place or environment where
species or subspecies naturally occur or has
naturally established its population
Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT
Ecological Niche: include not only the
physical space occupied but also its
functional role in the community and its
position in environmental gradients
Ecological Equivalents: organisms that
occupy the same or similar ecological niche
in different geographical region
Z. CHARACTER DISPLACEMENT
1. Allopatric: species that occur in different
geographical regions
2. Sympatric: species that occur in the same
area
*Differences in closely related species are
often accentuated (diverge) in sympatry and
weakened (converge) in allopatry by an
evolutionary process known as “character
displacement”
AA. NATURAL SELECTION: ALLOPATRIC
AND SYMPATRIC SPECIATION
*Speciation: the formation of new species,
it occur when gene flow within the common
pool is interrupted by an isolating
mechanism
1. Allopatric speciation: results when
isolation occur through geographic
separation of population descended from a
common ancestor
2. Sympatric speciation: when isolation
occurs through ecological or genetic means
within the same area
AB. ARTIFICIAL SELECTION:
DOMESTICATION
Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017
1. Selection carried out by man is called
“artificial selection”
2. Domestication of plants and animals
involves more than modifying the genetics
of species because reciprocal adaptation
between domesticated species and the
domesticator (man) are required which lead
to mutualism.
* Hardy-Weinberg Law
“The frequency of alleles in a
population will remain constant unless
acted upon by outside agent forces; a non-
evolving population is said to be Hardy-
Weinberg Equilibrium.”
AC. ECOSYTEM DEVELOPMENT OR
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
- an orderly process of community
development that involves changes
in species structure and community
process with time
- it is the result from modification of
the physical environment by the
community
- it culminates in a stabilized
ecosystem in which maximum
biomass and symbiotic function
between organisms are maintained
per unit of available energy flow
- the whole sequence of communities
that replaces one another in a given
area is called the “sere”, the
relatively transitory communities
are variously called “seral stages or
developmental stages or pioneer
Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT
stages” while terminal stabilized
system is known as the “climax”.
- The final or stable community in a
developmental series (sere) is the
climax community; it is self-
perpetuating and in equilibrium with
the physical habitat
- Succession ends in an “edaphic-
climax” where topography, soil,
water, fire or other disturbances
such that climatic climax cannot
develop.
AD. EVOLUTION OF ECOSYSTEM
*Short term and long term
*Long-term Evolution
1. Allogenic (outside) forces such as
geological and climatic changes
2. Autogenic (inside) resulting from
activities of the living components of
the ecosystem.
*Coevolution
- a type of community evolutions
involving reciprocal selective
interaction between two major
group of organisms with a close
relationship such as plants and its
pollinators.
*Group Selection
- is a natural selection between
groups of organism not necessarily
closely linked by mutualistic
associations.
Mindanao State University-General Santos City
 Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Fisheries Technologist 2017

AD. Ecological research methods include

observation, experimentation and
modeling.

SOURCES:

1. Fundamentals of Ecology by
Eugene Odum
2. Introduction to Fishery Science
by William F. Royce

Compiled by: Rey J. Caballero, RFT Mindanao State University-General Santos City