Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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COURSE DESCRIPTION:
An introduction to the interactions between living organisms and their physical, chemical and
biological environment. Several levels of ecological organization are examined. These include the
study of different types of populations, communities and ecosystems. Topics include population
structure and growth, species interaction, energy flow, nutrient cycling, succession, and applications
to current environmental management issues. Students perform ecological experiments in the field
as well as in the laboratory.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. Assess the major biotic and abiotic ecological characteristics that identify a given ecosystem;
2. Describe the biogeochemistry of an ecosystem; and
3. Collect ecological data and apply basic statistical skills for analyzing quantitative and
qualitative data to formulate conclusions.
COURSE OUTLINE:
Chapter 1. Ecology and the ecosystem concepts
AUTECOLOGY & SYNECOLOGY: Autecology & Synecology are two main branches of ecology.
Autecology is the study of individual organism or individual species. It is also known as population ecology. Synecology
is the study of group of organisms of different species which are associated together as a unit in form of a community.
1. ORGANISMAL ECOLOGY - the study of individual organisms' behavior, physiology, morphology, etc. in
response to environmental challenges.
2. POPULATION ECOLOGY - the study of factors that affect and change the size and genetic composition of
populations of organisms.
3. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY - the study of how community structure and organization are changed by
interactions among living organisms
4. 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.
5. LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY – study of the exchanges of energy, materials, organisms and other products of
between ecosystems.
6. 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.
ECOSYSTEM: An ecosystem is a large community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in a particular
area. The living and physical components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Ecosystems
are of any size, but usually they are in particular places.
1. Abiotic components - The non-living factors or the physical environment prevailing in an ecosystem form the
abiotic components. They have a strong influence on the structure, distribution, behavior and inter-
relationship of organisms. Abiotic factors are light, temperature, water, nutrients, topography, etc. Abiotic
components are mainly of two types:
Climatic Factors which include rain, temperature, light, wind, humidity etc.
Edaphic Factors which include soil, pH, topography minerals etc
2. Biotic Components: The living organisms including plants, animals and micro-organisms (Bacteria and Fungi)
that are present in an ecosystem form the biotic components.
On the basis of their role in the ecosystem the biotic components can be classified into three main groups:
Producers Consumers Decomposers or Reducers.
A. Producers: The green plants have chlorophyll with the help of which they trap solar energy and change it
into chemical energy of carbohydrates using simple inorganic compounds namely water and carbon
dioxide. This process is known as photosynthesis. As the green plants manufacture their own food they
are known as Autotrophs (i.e. auto = self, trophos = feeder) The chemical energy stored by the producers
is utilized partly by the producers for their own growth and survival and the remaining is stored in the
plant parts for their future use.
B. Consumers: The animals lack chlorophyll and are unable to synthesize their own food. Therefore, they
depend on the producers for their food. They are known as heterotrophs (i.e. heteros = other, trophos =
feeder) The consumers are of four types, namely:
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a. Primary Consumers or First Order Consumers or Herbivores: These are the animals which feed on
plants or the producers. They are called herbivores. Examples are rabbit, deer, goat, cattle etc.
b. Secondary Consumers or Second Order Consumers or Primary Carnivores: The animals which feed
on the herbivores are called the primary carnivores. Examples are cats, foxes, snakes etc.
c. Tertiary Consumers or Third Order Consumers: These are the large carnivores which feed on the
secondary consumers. Example are Wolves.
d. Quaternary Consumers or Fourth Order Consumers or Omnivores: These are the largest carnivores
which feed on the tertiary consumers and are not eaten up by any other animal. Examples are lions
and tigers.
C. Decomposers or Reducers: Bacteria and fungi belong to this category. They breakdown the dead organic
materials of producers (plants) and consumers (animals) for their food and release to the environment
the simple inorganic and organic substances produced as by-products of their metabolisms. These simple
substances are reused by the producers resulting in a cyclic exchange of materials between the biotic
community and the abiotic environment of the ecosystem. The decomposers are known as Saprotrophs
(i.e., sapros = rotten, trophos = feeder)
In the ecosystem, biotic components and other materials like N, C, H2O Circulated within and outside of the system.
The energy is transferred from one tropic level to the other in the form of a chain called as food chain. The important
source of energy is the sun. Some factors which are responsible for high productivity are also for example high
temperature and rainfall accelerate weathering and decomposition of dead organic matter. Climatic change is the
functioning of ecosystem effects of local and regional shifts of energy, materials and populations on ecosystems.
1.Production: "Conservancy of solar energy into potential energy" Every year about 100 billion tones of organic matter
is produced on the earth by "Photosynthetic organisms".
The plants capture the solar energy and convert it into carbohydrate through the process of photosynthesis
The Presence of chlorophyll in the plants absorbs sun light, CO2 and water to prepare carbohydrate and liberate
oxygen.
2. Composition (Consumption): It is the process of transfer of material and transformation of energy from one tropic
level to another through the process of eating and being eaten.
3.Decomposition: It is a process in which complex compounds are broken into simpler compounds. The simple
compounds can be utilized for plants growth. This process is done by bacteria and fungi. In ecosystem dead bodies are
decomposes by bacterial action
An ecosystem comprises biotic and abiotic components which interact extensively with each other. Based on their
ecological roles, the biotic components of an ecosystem can be classified as:
1. Producer: they are the green plants which absorb solar energy to synthesize complex organic compounds from
simple inorganic substances by photosynthesis, they act as the ultimate food source to all the heterotrophs.
The other producers are green algae and blue green algae, they are mainly found in aquatic habitat, such as
freshwater and marine water, they are the most important producers in earth (as 70% of the earth surface is
covered with water).
2. Consumer: they are heterotrophs which ingest other organisms or organic particles, they are mainly animals
primary consumer : they are the herbivores which feed on plants e. g. pond snail, insect larva and zooplanktons
secondary consumer : they are the carnivores which feed on primary consumers e. g. water beetles, tigers,
etc. tertiary consumer : they are large carnivores which feed on the secondary and primary consumers as well
as producers, e. g. man detritus consumer : they are detritivores ( detritus feeder / scavengers) which feed on
detritus that refer to the particulate organic matter involved in the decomposition of dead organisms, e. g.
earthworm and crab etc.
3. Decomposer: they are mainly bacteria, fungi and some flagellates, by means of their saprophytic activities;
they decompose the eliminated products of animals and the dead bodies of the organisms into simple
compounds, these compounds are absorbed as nutrients by the green plants again they enable the nutrients
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to be used continuously in a cyclic form in the ecosystem. They are most abundant in the soil or water bottom
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where the dead bodies of plant and animals accumulate when the temperature conditions are favourable,
decomposition occurs rapidly Energy and essential materials are therefore transferred from producers to
consumers through the feeding processes. Eventually, decomposers break down the organic matter and
release inorganic materials back to the environment. These inorganic materials are used by the producers as
nutrients again.
Food chain: the transfer of food energy from producers through a series of organisms with repeated eating and being
eaten
Food web: In general, the food chains in an ecosystem are not isolated, but are interconnected with one another; i. e.
an herbivore may feed on several species of plants, and/ or be consumed by many consumers and so on, such a number
of interconnected food chains is known as food web.
Energy flow in the ecosystem Productivity: Refers to the amount of energy or living materials fixed in a population,
or a trophic level, or an entire ecosystem in a given time
Gross primary productivity: rate of dry matter production by photosynthesis in an ecosystem, it does not represent
the actual amount of food potentially available to heterotrophs because some of the organic matters are used to meet
plant respiration and metabolism.
Net primary productivity: it is the biomass which is incorporated into a plant community during a specific time
intervals, minus the part respired
Secondary productivity: it is the rate of incorporation of biomass at the consumer levels during a specific time interval.
Energy flow: As solar radiation passes through the biosphere, large parts are used to perform other functions; only
small parts can be used in photosynthesis.
Pyramid of energy: at each transfer of energy from one trophic level to the next higher, there is always a loss of energy
from the system: energy transformation is never 100% efficient and the living organisms in each trophic level required
certain amount of energy for maintaining basal metabolic rate, for growth and reproduction and movement, it
overcomes the difficulty encountered in pyramids of number and biomass, i. e. inverted pyramid never occurred here
it shows the total amount of energy utilized by the organisms in different trophic level in a square meter, over a given
period of time, i .e. it shows the amount of new tissues of organisms produced in a unit time (productivity).
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Figure 1.6 Pyramid of Energy in an Ecosystem
Answer the following questions by writing the letter of your answer on the space provided.
(a) Producers
(b) Consumers
(c) Decomposers
(a) temperature
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(b) water
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(c) wind
(d) both (a) and (b)
___5. All of the following statements about ecology are correct except:
(a) Ecology is the study of the interactions between biotic and abiotic aspects of the environment
(b) Ecology is a discipline that is independent from natural selection & evolutionary history
(d) Ecology spans increasingly comprehensive levels of organization, from individuals to ecosystems
___6. Which of the following are important biotic factors that can affect the structure and organization of biological
communities?
(c) all
___7. Scientific study of the interactions of organisms with the physical environment is called
(a) Ecosystem
(b) Ecology
(c) Environment
(a) Producers
(b) Consumers
(c) Reducers
(d) Detritivores
(a) Lion
(b) Hawk
(c) Human
(d) Snake
(a) Herbivores
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(b) Producers
(c) Carnivores
(d) Protozon
(a) Photo-autotrophs
(b) Saprotrophs
(c) Heterotrophs
(d) Reducers
(b) Grass
(d) Phytoplankton
(c) Producers
(d) Consumers
(b) Cyclic
(a) Respiration
(b) Photosynthesis
(b) Transpiration
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___18. The ecological pyramid always starts with the following at the base
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(a) Decomposer
(b) Producer
(c) Consumer
(d) Environment
(a) Unidirectional
(b) Bidirectional
(c) Multidirectional
(a) Minerals
(b) energy
(c) food
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(b) Sunlight
(c) D.N.A
(d) R.N.A
(a) Niche
(b) Habitat
c) Succession
(d) Community
(a) Chloroform
(b) Chlorophyll
(c) Phosphorus
(d) Polymer
(a) Herbivores
(b) Carnivores
(c) Enzymes