1st ppt in Ecology

1. ECOLOGY
The study of living organisms in the
natural environment
How they interact with one another
How the interact with their nonliving
environment
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

2. Evolution of Definitions of
Ecology
 Ecology = from the Greek root OIKOS, “at home”, and
LOGY, “the study of”
 Haeckle (1870): “By ecology we mean the body of
knowledge concerning the economy of Nature -
theinvestigation of the total relations of the animal to its
inorganic and organic environment.”
 Burdon-Sanderson (1890s): Elevated Ecology to one
of the three natural divisions of Biology: Physiology
Morphology -Ecology
 Elton (1927): “Scientific natural history”
 Andrewartha (1961): “The scientific study of the
distribution and abundance of organisms”
 Odum (1963): “The structure and function of Nature”

3. • Ecology (from the Greek oikos
meaning "house" or "dwelling", and
logos meaning "discourse")
• It is the study of the interactions of
organisms with each other and their
environment.

4. • Applied Ecology: Using ecological
principles to maintain conditions necessary
for the continuation of present day life on
earth.
• Industrial Ecology: The design of the
industrial infrastructure such that it consists of
a series of interlocking "technological
ecosystems" interfacing with global natural
ecosystems. Industrial ecology takes the
pattern and processes of natural ecosystems
as a design for sustainability. It represents a
shift in paradigm from conquering nature to

5. • Ecological Engineering: the focus of
Ecological Engineering is on the
manipulation of natural ecosystems by
humans for our purposes, using small
amounts of supplemental energy to
control systems in which the main energy
drives are still coming from non-human
sources.
• It is the design of new ecosystems for
human purposes, using the self-organizing
principles of natural
ecosystems.
• "the design of human society with its

6. • Ecological Economics: Integrating ecology
and economics in such a way that economic
and environmental policies are reinforcing
rather than mutually destructive.
• Urban ecology: For ecologists, urban
ecology is the study of ecology in urban
areas, specifically the relationships,
interactions, types and numbers of species
found in urban habitats. Also, the design of
sustainable cities, urban design programs
that incorporate political, infrastructure and
economic considerations.

7. Conservation Biology: The application of
diverse fields and disciplines to the
conservation of biological diversity.
Restoration Biology: Application of
ecosystem ecology to the restoration of
deteriorated landscapes in an attempt to
bring it back to its original state as much as
possible. Example, prarie grass.

8. Landscape Ecology: is concerned with
spatial patterns in the landscape and how
they develop, with an emphasis on the role
of disturbance, including human impacts”
(Smith and Smith). It is a relatively new
branch of ecology, that employs Global
Information Systems. The goal is to predict
the responses of different organisms to
changes in landscape, to ultimately facilitate
ecosystem management.

9. Ecological Organization:
1. Population: all the members of a species
inhabiting a given location
2. Community: all the interacting
populations in a given area
3. Ecosystem: the living community and
the physical environment functioning
together as an independent and
relatively stable system

10. 4. Biosphere: that portion of the earth
where life exists
a. The biosphere is composed of
numerous complex ecosystems.
b. An ecosystem involves interactions
between abiotic (physical) and biotic
(living) factors. The members of the
community in the ecosystem and
environment must interact to maintain
a balance.

12. An ecosystem is self-sustaining if the
following requirements are met:
1. A constant source of energy and a
living system capable of incorporating
this energy into organic molecules.
2. A cycling of materials between
organisms and their environment.

13.  In all
environments,
organisms with
similar needs may
compete with
each other for
resources,
including food,
space, water, air,
and shelter.

14. Abiotic factors:
 those physical and chemical factors which
affect the ability of organisms to survive
and reproduce

15. Some Abiotic Factors:
1. intensity of light
2. range of temperatures
3. amount of moisture
4. type of substratum (soil or rock type)
5. availability of inorganic substances such
as minerals
6. supply of gases such as oxygen, carbon
dioxide, and nitrogen
7. pH

16. ** Each of the prior listed abiotic factors varies
in the environment and, as such, may act as
a limiting factor, determining the types of
organisms that exist in that environment.

17. Some examples:
1. A low annual temperature common to the
northern latitudes determines in part the
species of plants which can exist in that
area.
2. The amount of oxygen dissolved in a
body of water will help determine what
species of fish live there.
3. The dry environment of desert regions
limits the organisms that can live there.

18. Ecosystem
Community + Abiotic environment,
interacting
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

19. Community
All the populations of the different species living and
inter-acting in the same ecosystem
7-spotted lady
bird
(Adephagia
septempunctata)
Bean aphids
(Aphis fabae)
Red ant
(Myrmica rubra)
and
Broom plant
(Cytisus
scoparius)
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

20. Species
A group of organisms that can breed to
produce fully fertile offspring
Great White © 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus

21. Species
 a group of living organisms consisting of
similar individuals capable of exchanging
genes or interbreeding. The species is the
principal natural taxonomic unit, ranking
below a genus and denoted by a Latin
binomial, e.g., Homo sapiens.

22. Ecotype
 sometimes called ecospecies
 describes a genetically distinct geographic
variety, population or race within a
species, which is adapted to specific
environmental conditions.
 Typically, ecotypes exhibit phenotypic
stemming from environmental
heterogeneity
 capable of interbreeding with other
geographically adjacent ecotypes without
loss of fertility or vigor

23. Ecotype: earthworms
 Earthworms fall into four different ecotypes.
 Compost earthworm prefer warm and moist
environments with a ready supply of fresh compost
material.

24. Ecotype: earthworms
 Earthworms fall into four different ecotypes.
 Epigeic earthworms live on the surface of the soil
in leaf litter and tend not to make burrows but live
in and feed on the leaf litter.

25. Ecotype: earthworms
 Earthworms fall into four different ecotypes.
 Endogeic earthworms live in and feed on the soil,
making horizontal burrows through the soil to move
around and to feed and they will reuse these
burrows to a certain extent.

26. Ecotype: earthworms
 Earthworms fall into four different ecotypes.
 Anecic earthworms make permanent vertical
burrows in soil, feeding on leaves on the soil
surface that they drag into their burrows

28. Population
A group of organism of
the same species which
live in the same habitat
at the same time where
they can freely
interbreed
The black-veined white butterfly
(Aporia crataegi) mating
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

29. Biodiversity
The total number of
different species in an
ecosystem and their
relative abundance
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS Worcester City Museums

30. Habitat
The characteristics of the type of environment
where an organism normally lives.
(e.g. a stoney stream, a deciduous temperate
woodland, Bavarian beer mats)
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

31. Energy and organisms
Autotrophs
Organisms which can synthesise their own
complex, energy rich, organic molecules from
simple inorganic molecules (e.g. green plants
synthesis sugars from CO2 and H2O)
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

32. Heterotrophs
Organisms who must obtain complex,
energy rich, organic compounds form the
bodies of other organisms (dead or alive)
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

33. Detritivores
Heterotrophic organisms who ingest dead
organic matter. (e.g. earthworms,
woodlice, millipedes)
Earth worm
(Lumbricus terrestris)
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

34. Saprotrophs
Heterotrophic organisms who secrete digestive
enzymes onto dead organism matter and absorb
the digested material. (e.g. fungi, bacteria)
Chanterelle
(Cantherellus
cibarius)
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

35. Feeding relationships
 Predators & prey
 Herbivory
 Parasite & host
 Mutualism
 Competition
Large blue
butterfly
(Maculinea arion)
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

36. The place of an organism in its
environment
Niche
An organism’s habitat + role + tolerance
limits to all limiting factors
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

37. THE COMPETITIVE
EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE
G.F. Gause (1934)
If two species, with the same niche, coexist
in the same ecosystem, then one will be
excluded from the community due to
intense competition
© 2008 Paul Billiet ODWS

38. LEVELS OF ECOLOGICAL STUDY
ORGANISMAL ECOLOGY - the study of individual organisms'
behavior, physiology, morphology, etc. in response to
environmental challenges.
POPULATION ECOLOGY - the study of factors that affect and
change the size and genetic composition of populations of
organisms.
COMMUNITY ECOLOGY - the study of how community structure
and organization are changed by interactions among living
organisms
ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY - the study of entire ecosystems,
including the responses and changes in the community in
response to the abiotic components of the ecosystem. This field is
concerned with such large-scale topics as energy and nutrient
cycling.

39. LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY – study of the exchanges of energy,
materials, organisms and other products of between ecosystems.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY - the study of the effects of regional change
in energy and matter exchange on the function and distribution of
organisms across the biosphere.