April

2020

Lesson 4

Interactions: Environment and Organism

 Objective of the lesson:
• Able to describe an ecosystem and importance of limiting factors
• Distinguish between habitat and niche, a population and a species
• Describe how the process of natural selection and its ecological effect
• Describe the processes that lead to speciation, extinction, and
coevolution
• Describe different type of organism relationships
• Define the roles of producer, consumer, and decomposer
• Define Keystone species,
• Understand about food webs and food chains
• Understand nutrient cycle in an ecosystem and impact of human
activities on nutrients cycles

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Contents
4. Community and Ecosystem Interactions
1. Ecological Concepts
2. The Role of Natural Selection and Evolution
3. Kinds of Organism Interactions

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1. Ecological concepts

Ecology is the study of the

ways organisms interact
with their environments.
 Biotic factor (living things
 Abiotic factor (non-living thing

The whole system is called

Ecosystem.

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1. Ecological concepts

The Limiting factor

 A limiting factor is the factor that
demine success of species in an
ecosystem.
 A shortage or absence of a limiting
factor restricts the success of the
species.
 Limiting factors may be either
abiotic or biotic and can be quite
different from one species to
another.

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1. Ecological concepts

The Habitat
The habitat of an organism is
the space that the organism
inhabits, the place where it
lives (its address).
The particular biological
requirements of an organism
determine the kind of habitat
in which it is likely to be found.

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 1. Ecological concepts

The Niche –
ecological role

 The niche of an organism is

the functional role it has in
its surroundings (its
profession).
 An organism’s niche
includes all the ways it
affects the organisms with
which it interacts as well as
how it modifies its physical
surroundings, and all of the
things that happen to it.

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 2. The Role of Natural Selection and Evolution

Genes, Populations, and Species

 Genes are distinct pieces of DNA that
determine the characteristics an
individual displays.
 A population is considered to be all the
organisms of the same kind found within
a specific geographic region.
 A species is a population of all the
organisms potentially capable of
reproducing naturally among themselves
and having offspring that also reproduce.

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 2. The Role of Natural Selection and Evolution

Natural Selection

 Natural selection is the process that

determines which individuals within a
species will reproduce and pass their
genes to the next generation.
 Thus, natural selection is the mechanism
that causes evolution to occur.

Only strong gene will continue!

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2. The Role of Natural Selection and Evolution

Evolutionary Patterns

 Speciation is the production of new

species from previously existing species.
(it is a result of a species dividing into
two isolated subpopulations).
 Extinction is the loss of an entire species
and is a common feature of the evolution
of organisms.

Speciation and Extinction are both

affecting by environmental change!
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2. The Role of Natural Selection and Evolution

Evolutionary Patterns

 Coevolution is the concept that two

or more species of organisms can
reciprocally influence the
evolutionary direction of the other.

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3. Kinds of Organism Interactions

Symbiotic Relationships
 Symbiosis is a close, long-lasting,
physical relationship between two
different species. In other words, the
two species are usually in physical
contact and at least one of them
derives some sort of benefit from this
contact.
 There are three different categories of
symbiotic relationships:
• parasitism,
• commensalism, and
• mutualism.

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3. Kinds of Organism Interactions

Symbiotic Relationships
Parasitism
 Parasitism is a relationship in which
one organism, known as the parasite,
lives in or on another organism, known
as the host, from which it derives
nourishment.
 Generally, the parasite is much smaller
than the host.
 The host is harmed by the interaction,
but it is not killed immediately by the
parasite, and some host individuals
may live a long time and be relatively
little affected by their parasites.

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 3. Kinds of Organism Interactions

Symbiotic Relationships
Commensalism
 Commensalism is a
relationship between
organisms in which one
organism benefits while the
other is not affected.
 It is possible to visualize a
parasitic relationship evolving
into a commensal one.
 Many commensal relationships
are rather opportunistic and
may not involve long-term
physical contact.

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 3. Kinds of Organism Interactions

Symbiotic Relationships
Mutualism
 Mutualism is another kind of
symbiotic relationship and is
actually beneficial to both
species involved.
 In many mutualistic
relationships, the relationship
is obligatory; the species
cannot live without each other.
In others, the species can exist
separately but are more
successful when they are
involved in a mutualistic
relationship.

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 3. Kinds of Organism Interactions

Competition and
Natural Selection

 Competition among members

of the same species is a major
force in shaping the evolution
of a species. => Encourage
natural selection.
 The competitive exclusion
principle is the concept that
“no two species can occupy
the same ecological niche in
the same place at the same
time”.

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 4. Community and Ecosystem Interactions

Major Roles of Organisms in Ecosystems

Producer, Consumer, Decomposer
 Producers are organisms that are
able to use sources of energy to
make complex, organic molecules
from the simple inorganic
substances in their environment.
 Consumers are organisms that
require organic matter as a source
of food (primary consumer is
herbivore, secondary consumer
is carnivore).
 Decomposers are organisms that
use nonliving organic matter as a
source of energy and raw
materials to build their bodies.
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 4. Community and Ecosystem Interactions

Major Roles of Organisms in Ecosystems

Keystone species

A keystone species is one

that has a critical role to play
in the maintenance of specific
ecosystems.

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 4. Community and Ecosystem Interactions

Energy flow in
an ecosystem
o As energy flows through an
ecosystem, it passes through
several levels known as trophic
levels.
o Each trophic level contains a
certain amount of energy. Each
time energy flows to another
trophic level, approximately 90
percent of the useful energy is
lost, usually as heat to the
surroundings.
o Therefore, in most ecosystems,
higher trophic levels contain less
energy and fewer organisms. 19
 4. Community and Ecosystem Interactions

Tropic level and energy relationship

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4. Community and Ecosystem Interactions

Food Chains and Food Webs

 A food chain is a series of organisms occupying
different trophic levels through which energy
passes as a result of one organism consuming
another.
 When several food chains overlap and intersect,
they make up a food web.

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4. Community and Ecosystem Interactions

Nutrient Cycles in Ecosystems—

Biogeochemical Cycles
 All matter is made up of atoms that are
cycled between the living and nonliving
portions of an ecosystem.
 The activities involved in the cycling of
atoms include biological, geological, and
chemical processes, collectively called
biogeochemical cycles.
 Carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and
phosphorus are found in important organic
molecules such as proteins, DNA,
carbohydrates, and fats, which are found in
all kinds of living things.

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 4. Community and Ecosystem Interactions

Nutrient Cycles in Ecosystems—

Biogeochemical Cycles
 Carbon Cycle-
Carbon atoms are cycled through ecosystems.
1. Plants can incorporate carbon atoms from
carbon dioxide into organic molecules when
they carry on photosynthesis.
2. The carbon-containing organic molecules are
passed to animals when they eat plants or
other animals.
3. Organic wastes or dead organisms are
consumed by decay organisms.
4. All organisms, plants, animals, and
decomposers return carbon atoms to the
atmosphere when they carry on respiration.
5. Oxygen atoms are being cycled at the same
time that carbon atoms are being cycled.
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4. Community and Ecosystem Interactions

Nutrient Cycles in Ecosystems

—Biogeochemical Cycles
 Nitrogen Cycle -
Nitrogen atoms are cycled in ecosystems.
1. Atmospheric nitrogen is converted by
nitrogen-fixing bacteria to a form that
plants can use to make protein and other
compounds.
2. Nitrogen is passed from one organism to
another when proteins are eaten.
3. Dead organisms and waste products are
acted on by decay organisms to form
ammonia, which may be reused by plants
or converted to other nitrogen
compounds by other kinds of bacteria.
4. Denitrifying bacteria are able to convert
nitrate and other nitrogen-containing
compounds into atmospheric nitrogen.
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4. Community and Ecosystem Interactions

Nutrient Cycles in Ecosystems

—Biogeochemical Cycles
 Phosphorus Cycle-
1. Plants obtain phosphorus from the soil
through their roots and incorporate it into
their bodies.
2. Animals eat plants and obtain phosphorus.
3. Dead organisms and waste materials are
broken down by decomposers that release
phosphorus.

The ultimate source of phosphorus in the

phosphorus cycle is rock that, when
dissolved, provides the phosphate used by
plants and animals.

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 5. Summary

 Everything that affects an organism during its lifetime is collectively known as its environment, which consist of
living and non-living things.
 The space an organism occupies is known as its habitat, the role it plays in its environment is known as its niche.
 Organisms interact with one another in a variety of ways.
1. Predator-Prey relationship: predator kills and eat prey
2. Competition relationship: Organisms that have the same needs compete with one another and do mutual
harm, but oneis usually harmed less and survives. Competition relationship can be intraspecific or
interspecific.
3. Symbiotic relationships are those in which organisms live in physical contact with one another. There are 3
type of symbiotic relationship (1) Parasites live in or on another organism and derive benefit from the relationship,
harming the host in the process. (2) Commensal organisms derive benefit from another organism but do not harm the
host. (3) Mutualistic organisms both derive benefit from their relationship.
 A community is the biotic portion of an ecosystem that is a set of interacting populations of organisms.
 In an ecosystem, energy is trapped by producers and flows from producers through various trophic levels of
consumers (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers).
 The sequence of organisms through which energy flows is known as a food chain. Several interconnecting food
chains constitute a food web.
 Carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and phosphorus are found in important organic molecules such as proteins,
DNA, carbohydrates, and fats, which are found in all kinds of living things. They are continuously cycled through
the ecosystem. 26
THANK YOU!
Danet HAK, PhD

Phone
012 867 507
Email
Hakdanet.fmse@puc.edu.kh