ORGANISMS & POPULATION

1. ECOLOGY

 Term ecology was coined and described by – E.Haeckel

 Father of ecology – Reiter

 Father of Indian Ecology – Prof. Ram Deo Misra

 First of all term ecology was employed for study of plant by - Warming
 The study of interaction or inter-relationship of organisms with their enviroment is called ecology
interactism
Organiama enviroment

Organism and enviroment are organisation always interdependent, inter related or mutually reactive

 basically concerned with four levels of biological organisation i.e., organisms, populations communitis and
biomes
 ECOLOGY HIERARCHY

Organism Population (species) Community Ecosystem Biome Biosphere

size Increase
Complexity Increase
2. ORGANISM

 An organism is the smallest unit of ecological

hierarchy

 Everyindividual of a species is called an organism

Organisms form the basic unit of study of ecology

 Organisms with similar feature and potential to

interbreed among themselves and produce fertile
offspring, constitute a population

 Ecology at the organismic level is essentially

physiological ecology which deals with the adaptations
the organisms have, to survive and reproduce in their
environment/habitats
3. POPULATION

 A population consists of
individuals of the same species at a
given place

 Intraspecific competition exists in

a population for basic needs
4. COMMUNITIES

 A biological community is constituted by an

assemblage of population of all different species
that live in an area and interact among themselves

 A biotic community has a distinct species

composition and structure
5. BIOMES

A biome is a large unit, consisting of a major vegetation type and associated fauna in a specific
climatic zone
Major biomes of India include :

i. Tropical rain forest ii. Deciduous forest iii. Sea coast iv. Desert, etc
 The major biomes of the world are :

i. Arctic and Alpine tundra, ii. Coniferous forests, iii. Temperate forests, iv. Grassland
v. Tropical forests , vi. Desert
 Regional and local variations within each biome lead to the
formation of a wide variety of habitats

 On our planet Earth, life exists not only in a few favourable

habitats but even in extreme and harsh habitats like deep
ocean trenches, permafrost polar regions, boiling thermal
springs, high mountain top, etc; even our intestine is a unique
habitat for different species of microbes
6. ENVIRONMENT

 Environment is the sum total of all biotic (living) and

abiotic (non-living) factors that surround and
potentially influence an organism, not only in its
survival but also in reproduction

The rotation of earth around the sun and its own

tilted axis causes annual variations in temperature and
thereby seasons

The seasonal variations and the annual variation in

precipitation lead to the formation of major biomes
 The key elements which lead to the variations in the physical and chemical conditions of different
habitats include the biotic and a biotic factors

 The biotic factors include pathogens and parasites , predators, competitors, symbionts, etc

 The most important abiotic factors of the environment are temperature, water light and soil
 Temperature- On land varies seasonally

 Decreases towards equator to poles and from plain to

mountains.

 Temp. range subzero level in the polar areas and high altitudes
to >50*C in tropical deserts in summer.

 some unique habitat such as thermal springs & deep sea

vents(avg. temp. >100*C)

 Physiological function & geogrophical distribution of organisms

is governed by distribution.

 Some are eurythermal while others are stenothermal.

 Global warming poses problems both in survival & disribution.

Water -

 It influence the life of organisms.

Life on earth has arises in water & cannot sustain without water.

Productivity & distribution of plants is dependent on water.

 For aquatic organisms , the chemical composition, pH, salinity & temp.
of water are important.

 Organisms may be euryhaline.

Light –

Important factor of Life as plant prepare food and release O2 through photosynthesis in
presence of light.

Herbs & some shrubs live under canopy of forest trees are adapted to low light intensity
and photosynthesis (SCIOPHYTES)

Many animals use diurenal and seasonal variation & photoperiod as cues for timing of
reproduction, migration etc.

 UV is harmfull for many animals.

The distribution of diff. algae depends on light

Soil –

 Nature and properties of soil depends on a) Climate b) Weathering process c) whether soil
is sedimentary or transported d) how the soil development occurred.

properties of soil (grain size,composition etc.) determine the water holding capacity.

 Physical and chemical properties of soil determine the type of plant that can grow in a
particular habitat & type animals that depends on these plants.

Characteristics of the bottom sediments of aquatic enviornment determine the type of

benthic animals that can live there.
• 5. Responses to abiotic factors determines how organisms can cope or manage with
stressful conditions of the habitat.
• (i) During the course of millions of years of their existence, many species would have
evolved a relatively constant internal (within the body) environment that permits all
biochemical reactions and physiological functions to proceed with maximal efficiency
and thus, enhance the overall fitness of the species.
• (ii) The organisms should try to maintain the constancy of its internal environment,
• i. e. homeostasis, despite of varying external environmental conditions that tend to upset
its homeostasis.
• (iii) Human beings can maintain their homeostasis by using artificial means
• (air conditioner in summer and heater in winter).
• (iv) Ways by which other organisms can cope up with environmental changes are given
below:
• Regulate
• (a) Some organisms maintain homeostasis by physiological and sometimes behavioural
means.

• (b) All birds and mammals and few lower vertebrates and invertebrates are capable of
thermoregulation and osmoregulation.

• (c) In mammals, during summer, sweating occurs profusely and the evaporation brings
down temperature of the body.

• (d) In mammals, during winter, shivering occurs which is a kind of exercise that
produces heat and raises the body temperature.

• (e) Plants, on the other hand, do not have such mechanisms to maintain their internal
temperature.
• Conform
• (a) About 99% of animals and almost all plants cannot maintain a constant internal
environment. Their body temperature changes with the ambient temperature.
• (b) In aquatic organisms, the osmotic concentration of the body fluids change with that of
the osmotic concentration of the ambient water. These animals and plants are called
conformers.
• (c) Thermoregulation is energetically expensive for many organisms. This is specially
true for small animals like shrews and humming birds.
• Heat loss or gain is a function of surface area. Since, smal^animals have a larger surface
area relative to their volume, they tend to lose body heat very fast when it is cold outside;
they have to expend much energy to generate body heat through metabolism. This is the
reason that very small animals are rarely found in polar regions.
• (d) It can be concluded that during the course of evolution, some species have evolved
the ability to regulate but only over a limited range of environmental conditions, beyond
which they simply conform.
• Migrate
• It is the temporary movement from a stressful habitat to a more hospitable area and
• return, when the stressful period is over.

• (a) Many animals, particularly birds, during winter undertake long-distance migrations to
more hospitable areas.

• (b) Every winter the famous Keolado National Park in Bharatpur (Rajasthan) hosts,
thousands of migratory birds coming from Siberia and other extremely cold Northern
regions every winter.
• Suspend
• (a) Under unfavourable conditions bacteria, fungi and lower plants slow down their
metabolic rate and forms a thick-walled spore to overcome stressful conditions. These
spores germinate under onset of suitable environment.
• (b) In higher plants, seeds and some other reproductive structures serve as means to tide
over periods of stress. They reduce their metabolic activity and undergo dormancy.
• (c) Some animals, which fail to migrate might avoid the stress by escaping in time. For
example, Bear undergoes hibernation during winter.
• (d) Some snails and fish undergo aestivation to avoid summer related problems.
• (e) During unfavourable conditions, many zooplanktons in lakes and ponds enter diapause
(a stage of suspended development).
• Adaptation
• It is any attribute of an organism, i.e. morphological, physiological or behavioural, that
enables the organism to survive and reproduce in its habitat. Many adaptations have
evolved over a long evolutionary time and are genetically fixed.
• Some examples of adaptations are:
• (i) Adaptations in kangaroo rat
• (a) The kangaroo rat in North American deserts is capable of meeting all its water
requirements by internal oxidation of fat (water is a byproduct) in the absence of water.
• (b) It can concentrate its urine, so that minimal volume of water is used to expel
excretory products.
• (ii) Adaptations in desert plants
• (a) Many desert plants have a thick cuticle on their leaf surfaces and have their stomata
arranged in deep pits to minimise water loss through transpiration.
• (b) They have special photosynthetic pathway (CAM) that enables their stomata to remain
closed during day time.
• (c) Some desert plants like Opuntia, have no leaves. They are reduced to spines and
photosynthesis occurs in flattened stems.

• (iii) Adaptations in mammals

• (a) Mammals from colder climates generally have shorter ears and limbs to minimise heat
loss. This is called Allen’s rule.
• (b) In polar seas, aquatic mammals like seals have a thick layer of fat (blubber) below
their skin that acts as an insulator and reduces loss of body heat.
• (iv) Adaptations at high altitudes in humans
• (a) At high altitude places like Rohtang Pass near Manali (> 3500 m) and Mansarovar, in
China occupied Tibet, people suffer from altitude sickness.
• (b) Its symptoms are nausea, fatigue and heart palpitations.
• (c) This is because at low atmospheric pressure of high altitudes, body does not get
enough oxygen.
• (d) The relief occurs gradually due to acclimatisation.
• (e) The body cope up with this low oxygen stress by
• • Increasing red blood cells production.
• • Decreasing the binding affinity of haemoglobin.
• • Increasing the breathing rate.
• (v) Adaptations in desert lizards (Behavioural response)

• (a) They absorb heat from the sun when their body temperature drops below the comfort
zone.
• (b) They move into shade when the ambient temperature starts increasing.
• (c) Some species burrow into the soil and escape from the above ground heat.
• Populations:
• Individuals of any species live in groups in well-defined geographical area, share or compete for
similar resources, potentially interbreed and constitute a population.

• Population Attributes: A population has certain attributes that an individual organism does not such
as an individual may have births and deaths, but a population has birth rates and death rates.

• The birth and death rates are referred as per capita births or deaths respectively, which is increase and
decrease with respect to members of the population.
• Sex ratio is another attributes of population. An individual may be male or female but population has
sex ratio.
• A population at given time composed of different individual of different ages. If the age distribution is
plotted for the population, the resulting structure is called age pyramids. The shape of pyramids
reflects the shape of growth status of population. Which may be
• (i) Expending
• (ii) Stable
• (iii) Declining
• POPULATION GROWTH
 Population density is the number of individuals present per unit area or volume at a
given time. For instance, the number of animals per square kilometer, number of trees
per area in a forest, or number of planktonic organisms per cubic meter of water.
 The population density is determined by four basic processes-natality, mortality,
immigration and emigration.
 The percentage ratio of natality over mortality is known as vital index i.e., natality /
mortality × 100. It determines the growth of a population.
 Immigration is the number of individuals of the same species that have come into the
habitat from elsewhere during the time period under consideration.
 Emigration is the number of individuals of the population who left the habitat and gone
elsewhere during the time period under consideration.
• Population Growth Models
• These are used to analyze and predict the growth of organisms, populations, and
biological systems over time.
• Exponential Growth Models
• Assumes that there are no limiting factors and that resources are unlimited. The size of the
population increases at a rate that is proportional to the current size of the population,
leading to a steady increase in population size over time. Graphically, represented as ‘J’
shaped.

• If in a population of size N, the birth rates are represented as b and death rates as d, then
the increase or decrease in N during a unit time period t (dN/dt) will be

• dN/dt = (b – d) × N

• Let (b–d) = r, then dN/dt = rN

• The r in this equation is called the ‘intrinsic rate of natural increase’, it assesses the impact
• Logistics Growth Models
• Describes the population in an area having limited resources(called as nature’s carrying
capacity), initially it exhibits a lag phase, followed by phases of acceleration and
deceleration, finally when the population density attains the carrying capacity, it reaches
an asymptote. Defines the concept of ‘survival of the fittest’.

• Graphically, represented as a sigmoid curve. This type of population growth is called

Verhulst – Pearl Logistic Growth. Described by the following equation:

• dN/dt = rN{K-N}/K

• N = Population density at time t

• r = Intrinsic rate of natural increase
• K = Carrying capacity
• POPULATION INTERACTION
• Members of biotic community depends upon one another for food, reproduction, dispersal
& production, the phenomenon is called species interdependence interaction.
• Types of interactions
• In positive or beneficial interaction, members of one or both the interacting species are
benefitted but neither is harmed.
• In negative interaction, one or both the interacting species is harmed
• POSITIVE OR BENEFICIAL INTERACTION
• It is a widespread phenomenon. It includes mutualism, commensalism, proto-cooperation,
scavenging etc.
• Mutualism (+/+) or Symbiosis : (coevolution) :
• It is a positive interspecific interaction in which members of two different species
completely depend on each other for growth and survival.
• Physical contact is present in between both the interacting species.
• Examples –
• Mutualism between animal and animal-
• E.g., Termites and aflagellates (Trichonympha)
• Mutualism between plant and animals
• E.g., (a) Zoochlorella and Hydra.
• (b) Yucca plant flowers and Pronuba insects -Pollination of Yucca plant by pronuba
(Female yucca moth)
• Mutualism between plant and bacteria
• E.g., legume plant and Rhizobium.
• Mutualism between algae and higher plant
• E.g., Nostoc, Anabaena and Anthoceros plant.
• Mutualism between algae and fungi
• E.g., Lichens.
• Mutualism between fungi and higher plants
• E.g., Mycorrhizal association
• Commensalism (+/0)
• It is an association between members of two species in which one is benefited while the
other is almost unaffected.
• Examples –
• Lianas : Lianas are woody plants. Their roots are present in soil but their stem uses other
plants or objects for support to get better light. They are found in dense forest. No
nutritional relationship is present. Lianas are the speciality of tropical rainforest. E.g.,
Bauhinia, Tinospora
• . Epiphytes : Those small plants which grow on other plants in tropical rainforest. They
utilize the only the space of host plant for light and humidity.
• E.g., Orchids, hanging mosses.
• Epizones : Those animals which depend on plants or other animals. E.g.,
• Sucker fish (Echeneis) – Shark
• Pilot fish – Shark
• E. coli bacteria – Intestine of man
• Clown fish – Sea anemone
• Barnacles – Whale
• Cattle ergot birds – Cattle
• Proto-cooperation (+/+)
• It is an association in which both the organisms are benefited but can live separately.
• It is a facultative or optional or occasional association. It is also called as non-obligatory
relationship.
• Examples –
• Hermit crab – Sea anemone
• Tick bird (Red-billed or yellow billed) – Rhinoceros
• Crocodile – Bird
Scavenging is an association in which one partner (called scavenger or saprobiont), eats the
dead bodies of other animals, which have died naturally or have been killed by another
animal. E.g., Jackal, Vulture, Ant, Crow.
Helotism is an association between two organisms, when one behaves as a master and
another as a slave. E.g., Lichen.
NEGATIVE INTERACTION (ANTAGONISM)
Types of negative interaction are exploitation, amensalism and competition.
Exploitation
One species harms the other by making direct or indirect use of it for support, shelter or food.
It is of two types : parasitism and predation.
Parasitism (+/–) : This association involves individuals of two species of different sizes in
which the smaller (parasite) is benefitted and the larger (host) is harmed. The parasite gets
nourishment and shelter from host but does not kill the host.
Types of parasite :
Ectoparasite : Lives on the body of the host. E.g.,–
• Ectozooparasite : leech on cattle, ticks on dogs, sandfly on man.
• Ectophytoparasite : aphids, lac insects, red cotton bug

Endoparasites : Live in the body of the host. E.g., Tapeworm, Taenia, Ascaris, Entamoeba →
Live in intestine of man.
Plasmodium → Lives in R.B.C. of human.
Hyperparasitism : A parasite living on another
parasite. E.g., Plasmodium on female Anopheles mosquito
• Brood parasitism : Parasitism in which the parasitic bird (cuckoo)
lays its eggs in the nest of its host (crow) and lets the host incubate
them, this relation is known as brood parasitism.

• Holoparasite :Parasite which are totally dependent upon the host

for their requirement
E.g., Rafflesia (Total root parasite), Cuscuta (Total stem parasite).

• Hemiparasite : Parasite which partially depends on the host.

E.g., Viscum – on oak and Loranthus – on mango. Both are partial
stem parasites. Santalum is a partial root
parasite.
Predation (+/–) : A free living organism which catches and kills another species for food.
E.g.,
• Insectivores fungi : Dactylella, Dactylaria.
• Carnivores animals : Lion, Snake.
• Insectivores plants : Drosera, Utricularia, Nepenthes.

Amensalism (–/0)
In this interaction, one species is inhibited by the toxic secretion of another species. Inhibitor
species is neither benefited nor harmed.
Types
Antibiosis – secretion of antibiotics E.g.,
Penicillium fungi secretes penicillin which inhibits the growth of Staphylococcus bacteria.
Allelopathy is the secretion of toxic chemicals and the plant is always harmed in this case.
E.g.,
Parthenium : Trans Cinnamic acid is secreted by Parthenium which inhibits the growth of
some plants like Cassia tora and Vincaregia. This phenomenon is known as allelopathy.
Competition
Interaction between two species, where both suffer adverse effects is known as competition.
It is of 2 types – interspecific and intraspecific.
Interspecific competition occurs between two individuals of two different species occurring
in the same habitat.
Intraspecific competition occurs between individuals of the same species for mating, food etc.
plants like Cassia tora and Vincaregia. This phenomenon is known as allelopathy.