AGA1101 ECOLOGY September 2024

AGA 1101 Ecology, September 2024
ECOLOGY (1 CU)
Course description
Introduction to Ecology, definitions of major ecological terms, types of ecology, rationale and
application of ecology, Adaptations, and natural selection and fitness of plants and
animals. (2Hrs)
Ecosystem ecology: organism and its biotic and abiotic environment, concepts of ecosystem
productivity, trophic dynamics, decomposition and nutrient cycling, human population and
environment: contribution towards Habitat degradation and fragmentation. (2Hrs)
Water and air pollution, invasive exotic species and over harvesting contributions towards climatic
change and biodiversity loss, consequences on genetic resources for agriculture. (2Hrs)
Global Ecology of Biogeochemical cycles between the Earth’s atmosphere; nitrogen, carbon,
phosphorous and Sulphur cycles (2Hrs)
Community and Population Ecology: Community Succession and Keystone species, population
interactions (2Hrs)
Practical
Identification of ecological succession and keystone species, application of sampling procedures in plant
and animal population and estimations (10Hrs)
Definitions of some ecological terms:

Ecology: is the scientific study of interactions of organisms with one another and with the physical and
chemical environment
Climax community: final, stable community resulting from ecological succession that is theoretically
possible but unlikely in most real-world ecosystems.
Ecological succession: changes through time in the numbers and types of species that make up the
community of an ecosystem.
Pioneer species: type of species that first colonizes a disturbed area.
Primary succession: change in the numbers and types of species that live in a community that occurs
in an area that has never before been colonized by organisms and lacks soil.
Secondary succession: change in the numbers and types of species that live in a community that occurs
in an area that has soil and was previously colonized but has been disturbed.
Carbon cycle: The biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged between earth's biosphere,
pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere ., .
Carrying capacity: The maximum number of individuals a given environment's resources can support,
including the food and water available for that environment.
.
Decomposition: The process by which tissues of dead organisms are broken down by both biotic and
abiotic processes into simpler forms of organic matter, thereby clearing the limited available space in
a biome.
Ecosystem modeling: The use of mathematics, computer programs and models to understand and
predict ecosystem behavior.
Ecosystem services: Resources and processes provided in an ecosystem and which benefit organisms.
Food chain: A group of organisms interrelated by the fact that each member of the group feeds upon the
one below it.
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Food web: A set of interconnected food chains by which energy and nutrients circulate within
an ecosystem.
Species diversity: is the number of different species that are represented in a given community (a
dataset).
Symbiosis: Any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological
organisms
Biome: A biome is an area classified according to the species that live in that location. Temperature
range, soil type, and the amount of light and water are unique to a particular place and form the niches
for specific species allowing scientists to define the biome
Basic Ecological Concepts

There are 4 basic principles of ecology”
1. The system of ecology is huge (ecosystem) and it contains a network of interrelations of its parts.
2. These interrelated network is inclusive of a structure that contains both the abiotic and biotic
composition (environment).
3. The networks present in the ecological system has a control of the energy flow and also in the flow
of nutrients.
4. Energy from our solar system has a control over the flow of all the nutrient and energy.
Evolution organizes ecological systems into hierarchies. Individual organisms combine into
populations, populations combine into species, species combine into higher taxa like genera and phyla.
Each can be characterized by its abundance and diversity (number of kinds) in a given ecosystem or
study plot. How and why abundance and diversity vary in time and space is the basic question of
ecology.
The sun is the ultimate source of energy for most ecosystems. Life runs on the carbon-rich sugars
produced by photosynthesis; every ecosystem’s sugar output depends on how much solar energy and
precipitation it receives.
Organisms are chemical machines that run on energy. The laws of chemistry and physics limit the ways
each organism makes a living and provide a basic framework for ecology. The supply of chemical
elements and the sugars needed to fuel their assembly into organisms limit the abundance and diversity
of life.
Scope of Ecology
Ecology has a wide scope of coverage and is significant in many fields such as range, forest and game
managements; agriculture – livestock raising; fish culture; conservation of land and its products
(minerals, soil, vegetation, water); space ecology; problems of increasing population; pollution;
urbanization; town planning; disaster mitigation.
Subdivisions of Ecology:
There are two artificial divisions’ autecology and synecology:
Autecology: This is the study of interrelations of individual organisms with the environment or
environmental physiology or ecophysiology or eco-physiological ecology. It is the level of
integration between the environment and the individual. It is experimental (field and laboratory)
the level of integration between the environment and the individual. It is experimental (field and
laboratory).
Synecology: The study of groups of organisms i.e. community. It is descriptive but also can be
experimental with the aid of tools such as computer and radioactive tracers. It is subdivided into aquatic
and terrestrial; Terrestrial includes Desert, Grassland, Forest and Aquatic includes Freshwater, Brackish
and Marine water.
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Through the concept of Tansley (1935) the divergence between autecology and synecology were
brought together. The concept states that “all organisms are interacting with one another and also with
the abiotic elements of their environment in an interrelated system. This means that organisms and
environment form a reciprocating system. There is a give and take between these two systems with the
action or inaction of one system having impact on the other system.
From this concept therefore emanates three main levels of integration in ecology:
i. Individual
ii. Population
iii Community
iii. Ecosystem
These are referred to as the basic units of ecology especially the ecosystem.
Population: An aggregation of individuals of the same species in a continuous area which contain
no potential breeding barrier.
Community: A group of interacting populations in a given habitat. Usually restricted to organisms of
similar size and life habits e.g tree community, insect community, bird community and human
community.
Biome: Several interacting communities
ECOSYSTEM
• a localized group of interdependent organisms together with the environment that they inhabit
and depend on- i.e. the biotic community and its abiotic environment functioning as a system
constitute a self-maintaining and self-regulating system
• a dynamic entity composed of a biological community and its associated abiotic environment.
• it is an assemblage of biotic factors in a particular place which interact with each other and with
physical and chemical environment in such a way as to constitute a self-maintaining and self
regulating system
• It is dynamic in nature, self-sustaining and self-regulating
Ecosystem Structure
1. Biotic Levels = living organisms
a. Individual Organisms: ones directly affected by environmental factors such as climate, temperature,
seasonality, light, food, etc individuals vary (due to genes) and vary in their ability to survive and adapt
to changing environmental conditions their success is measured by their ability to produce offspring
“struggle for existence” “survival of the fittest” Ecosystem Processes most affecting Individual
Organisms: tolerance ranges and limiting factors nutrient requirements, oxygen requirements
b. Populations: self contained group of interacting individuals of the same species each population
consists of dozens to thousands of individual organisms Ecosystem Processes most affecting
populations: feeding strategies: herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, detritivores, etc immigration and
emigration seasonal migrations
c. Communities: self contained group of all interacting species within an ecosystem made up of many
populations Ecosystem Processes most affecting communities: microhabitat preferences: soil, benthos,
plankton, eipfauna, infauna biogeochemical cycling symbioses: mutualism, commensalism, parasitism
2. Abiotic Components = nonliving portion of biosphere

a. Lithosphere: solid: rocks, soil particles, sediments, etc.
Ecosystem Processes affecting lithosphere: biogeochemical cycling weathering: mechanical &
chemical soil formation and structure
b. Hydrosphere: liquid: water in every form; oceans, groundwater, rivers, lakes, rainfall, ice. Ecosystem
pprocesses affecting hydrosphere: biogeochemical cycling: the water cycle precipitation & rainfall
erosion discharge and water velocity
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c. Atmosphere: gases: primarily nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide gas with mixture of other gaseous
compounds
Ecosystem pprocesses affecting atmosphere: biogeochemical cycling: nutrient cycling weather
phenomena: temp, storms, nitrogen fixing oxygen avail
Ecosystem ecology
• the integrated study of biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems and their interactions within
an ecosystem framework
• It examines how ecosystems work in relation to their components such as chemicals, bedrock,
soil, plants, and animals focusing on functional processes and ecological mechanisms that
maintain the structure and services produced by ecosystems
• These include primary productivity (production of biomass), nutrient cycling and
decomposition, and trophic interactions/energy and nutrient transfer
• Functional processes are mediated by regional-to-local level climate, disturbance, and
management thus ecosystem
Components of ecosystem
Ecosystems are made up of both living /biotic and non-living /abiotic factors. Biotic factors include the
plants and animals within a location, which interact with each other and with their environment
The abiotic components include water, which is at the same time an essential element to life; air, which
provides oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide to living species and allows the dissemination of pollen
and spores.
Soil as an abiotic factor –provides physical support and it the source of nutrients
soil moisture
• supplies of water and dissolved nutrients to plants
• affects nutrient availability
• affects seed germination as a necessary conditions
• too much water /water logging affects water absorption, aeration and decay
Soil temperature
Soil temperature is influenced by absence of presence and type of vegetation, color, texture, structure,
water content, organic matter (humus)
Effects of soil temperature
This affects physical e.g. soil formation, chemical e.g. nutrient releases and biological e.g.
nitrogen fixation processes
• It influences the rate of water absorption which decrease with increase in temperature
• high soil temp reduces the amount of water in the soil
• It influences seed germination
• It influences root growth and growth of underground
• influences activity of soil microorganisms
• Soil pH, salinity, nitrogen and phosphorus content, ability to retain water, and density are all
influential
*Temperature, which should not exceed certain extremes, even if tolerance to heat is significant for
some species
*Light, which provides energy to the ecosystem through photosynthesis
*Natural disasters can also be considered abiotic
Biotic components
There are three categories of organisms:- producers, consumers, and decomposers
1. Producers or autotrophs: -
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• organisms that can manufacture the organic compounds they use as sources of energy and
nutrients using inorganic substances from their environment.
• Most producers are green plants that can manufacture their food through the process of
photosynthesis where the sun provides the necessary energy but could be other organisms such
as bacteria around ocean vents that are capable of chemosynthesis.
• Therefore, the green plants are the autotrophic organisms or primary producers in most
ecosystems i.e. the first trophic level is made up of the primary producers, the organisms that
obtain from inorganic sources the energy that powers ecosystems
• Primary producers typically are generally photosynthetic organisms
2. Consumers or heterotrophs
• Consumers are the heterotrophs, i.e., organisms that obtain their carbon from other organisms
• The typical consumer is a chemoheterotroph that consumes other organisms or parts of other
• organisms to obtain their carbon and energy
• Consumers are organisms that get their energy and nutrients by feeding directly or indirectly on
producers.
• They cannot make organic compounds from inorganic substances.
• They are dependant upon autotrophic organisms in an ecosystem.
• The consumers are further subdivided according to their diet, into:
*Herbivores or plant eaters: - these are primary consumers e.g. cows, giraffes, elephants, etc;
i.e. consumers that eat plants for their energy and nutrients.
*Carnivores or meat eaters: - the secondary consumers e.g. Lions, leopard, fish eagle, which
catch their prey, kill it and then eat it;
*Omnivores: - eat plant and animal material and can be primary, secondary and tertiary
consumers simultaneously; human beings are a good example of an omnivore.
3. Decomposers
• Consumer organisms that feed on organic matter supplied from plants and animal shed tissues
and dead, or detritus.
• These are usually saprophytic organisms such as bacteria and fungi which degrade organic
matter of all categories, and restore minerals to the environment
• They obtain their energy by decomposing the carcass/corpses and other dead parts of organisms.
• They break down all the organic material of the bodies of producers and other consumers into
inorganic materials that are restored to the soil or water to be reused by producers.
• The organic matter that is consumed by the decomposers is eventually converted back into
inorganic nutrients in the soil.
• Decomposers consume the waste given off by living organisms or the remains of dead organisms
which they did not kill
• The organic material that composes the living organisms in an ecosystem is eventually broken
down and returned to the abiotic environment in forms that can be used by plants and the
recycled. These nutrients can then be used by plants for the production of organic compounds.
• Decomposers, which feed on dead organic material, are a key to this recycling process.
• The most important decomposers are bacteria and fungi, which first secrete enzymes that digest
organic material and then absorb the breakdown products; some can even digest cellulose
e.g.termites.
How do ecosystems work/function?

Biomass production/primary production
• Biomass productivity/accumulation is one of the most apparent and economically important
ecosystem functions/services.
• It begins at the cellular level via photosynthesis. During photosynthesis, the green pigments
within the chloroplasts intercepts the solar energy that is stored as chemical products of the light
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reactions, it is utilised to fuel the chemical reactions that produce simple organic carbon
compounds from CO2 and H2O
• The energy accumulated by the plant is then the primary production (it is the first and most basic
form of energy in an ecosystem
• Amount of productivity is dependent on the amount of water available (precipitation), the overall
capacity of plants to capture sunlight which is directly correlated with plant leaf area and leaf N
content.
• Therefore the amount of primary production varies a great deal from place to place, due to
differences in the amount of solar radiation and the availability of nutrients and water.
Definition of terms in production
Productivity: rate at which energy fixed or stored per unit time

Production: amount of energy is formed by an individual i.e. Production (either net or gross) is the
rate at which energy or biomass is produced per unit area per unit time
Biomass: weight of living material normally expressed as dry weight per unit area (= grams dry
weight of organic matter per unit area (g dry wt/M2)
Standing crop biomass: accumulated organic matter found in a given area at a given time.
Gross primary production (GPP)
• GPP represent all the energy that is assimilated in photosynthesis. Plants like all living organisms
require energy for maintenance of basic metabolic processes
• The energy for these needs is provided through the oxidation of organic compounds in the
process of respiration (R) i.e R is photosynthate (Carbon) lost via cellular respiration.
• Therefore the energy remaining after respiration and stored as organic matter is the net primary
production (NPP) i.e. total amount of productivity is adjusted for total productivity losses
through maintenance of biological processes; Therefore NPP= GPP-R
• Net primary productivity (NPP) is the primary measure of biomass accumulation within an
ecosystem. Assessment of net primary productivity has lead to many scientists and policy
makers to speculate that ecosystems can be managed to ameliorate problems of global warming.
• This type of management may include reforesting or altering forest harvest schedules many parts
of the world.
Environmental control of primary production
Primary productivity increases with increasing temperature and rainfall as follow:
• Temperature and precipitation influence the rates of photosynthesis, the amount of leaf area that
can be supported and the duration of the growing season. Primary productivity is a function of
the rate of photosynthesis (energy capture) and the total surface area of leaves that are
photosynthesising.
• Temperature extremes (cold or hot) limit the rate of photosynthesis. Within tolerable
temperatures, the rates of photosynthesis rise with temperature increase therefore warmer
temperatures support higher rates of photosynthesis hence net primary production
• For photosynthesis and so productivity to occur, the plant must open its stomata to take in
carbon-dioxide. However, when the stomata open, water is lost from the leaf to the surrounding
air. In order for a plant to keep its stomata open, water must be available for uptake by the roots
to replace what is lost through transpiration.
• The higher the rainfall, the more water is available to plants for transpiration. Therefore, the
amount of water available to plants influences both the rates of photosynthesis and the amount
of leaves (surface area that is transpiring) that can be supported
• The influence of precipitation and temperature on productivity is interrelated i.e. if temperatures
are warm but water availability is low, productivity will be low likewise.
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• Therefore, it is the combination of adequate water supply and warm temperature to meet the
demands of transpirations that results in the highest values of productivity.
Effects of nutrients on primary production

In addition to climate, the availability of essential nutrients needed for plant growth directly affects the
productivity of an ecosystem. Primary productivity increases with increasing nutrient availability.
• Trophic dynamics refers to process of energy and nutrient transfer between organisms.
• Trophic dynamics is an important part of the structure and function of ecosystems.
• The transformations of energy in an ecosystem begin first with the input of energy from the sun
i.e. energy flows through the ecosystem starts with the process of photosynthesis.
• Energy from the sun is captured by the process of photosynthesis.
• Carbon dioxide is combined with hydrogen (derived from the splitting of water molecules) to
produce carbohydrates (CHO).
• Energy is stored in the high-energy bonds of adenosine triphosphate, or ATP.
• All energy available to organisms originates in plants. Because it is the first step in the
production of energy for living things, it is called primary production.
• Energy gained by primary producers (plants, P) is consumed by herbivores (H), which are
consumed by carnivores (C), which are themselves consumed by “top- carnivores”(TC) While
Detritivores consume the droppings and carcasses of all the above.
• One of the most obvious patterns is that as one moves up to higher trophic levels (i.e. from plants
to top-carnivores) the total amount of energy decreases.
• Plants exert a “bottom-up” control on the energy structure of ecosystems by determining the
total amount of energy that enters the system.
• However, predators can also influence the structure of lower trophic levels from the top-down.
So called top-down effects can dramatically shift dominant species in terrestrial and marine
systems.
• However, predators can also influence the structure of lower trophic levels from the top-down.
So called top-down effects can dramatically shift dominant species in terrestrial and marine
systems.
• Energy transfer through the food chain is inefficient.
• This means that less energy is available at the herbivore level than at the primary producer level,
less yet at the carnivore level, and so on
• An ecosystem(s) is unstable when the load capacity is overrun and is especially unstable when
a population doesn't have an ecological niche and over consumers.
ORGANISM IN ITS ENVIRONMENT

Adaptation
• The development of heritable physiological, morphological and behavioral traits/characteristics
that maintain or increase the fitness of an organism under a given set of environmental conditions
–the traits developed allow the organism to survive and reproduce in its habitat e.g. the giraffe
neck
• Consider: a population of any organism (such as insects) living in a given environment. It
consists of individuals of different ages that possess heritable variations, some individuals die
early in life, others survive to maturity but fail to reproduce, while other reproduce and leave
behind numerous offsprings.
Thus the fate of individuals hinges on genetically determined characteristics that enable them to cope
with the physical and biological environment
What is fitness?
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• Fitness of an individual organism is the ability of an organism to produce offspring that survive
and reproduce
• It is measured by the proportionate contribution an individual makes to future generations
• It is not the number of offsprings one leaves behind but it is the number of descendants that
influence the heritable characteristics of the population.
Tolerance
• Limited resource: plant growth responds to the resource that is most limiting e.g. one of the
mineral substances present in minimal quantities only, the growth of the plant will be minimal
= law of minimum- . It states that growth is controlled not by the total amount of resources
available, but by the scarcest/limiting resource- = Law stresses the importance of limiting factors
= applies only under steady state condition with all other resources being in excess.
• If the quantity of the limiting resource increases so that the rate of plant growth increases, then
that resource is no longer limiting
• Too little of a resource e.g. a nutrient may be harmful but too much of a good thing is also just
as bad , hence limiting.
• Therefore, maximum quantities of a resource tolerated by an organism would limit the response
as well;
• Adaptation of an organism to its environment is showed by its ability to function between some
upper and lower limits in a range of environmental conditions. e.g. a plant grown in limited or
excessive environmental factors thus organisms live within a range of too much and too little-
limits of tolerance
• Tolerance: ability of an organism to grow, survive and reproduce within too little too much
(environmental limitation)-law of tolerance = states that an organism’s needs must fall within a
range of acceptable limits, or the organism will struggle to survive.
Explanation: example, if an animal requires a minimum 5 hours and maximum 10 hours basking in
the sun to thrive. Above these minimum and maximum, the organism can adjust its behaviour and
physiology to adapt to the decreases and increases in available sunlight. However, if the amount of
sunlight decreases or increases beyond the maximum established by the law of tolerance, the organism
may fail to thrive.
The law of tolerance can be applied to all aspects of an organism’s life e.g. available food, reproductive
partners, oxygen or any number of other requirements that an organism needs are subject to the law of
tolerance.
If the law of tolerance was not an accurate description of the real world, organisms may have exact
requirements for life. For example, an insect requires exactly 10 kg of food per year, not less not more.
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TROPHIC LEVEL AND FOOD CHAINS/WEBS

Trophic level
Functional classification of organisms in an ecosystem according to feeding relationships from first
level being autotrophs through succeeding levels of consumers and decomposers. A trophic level is
composed of organisms that make a living in the same way i.e. organisms that obtain their food by same
number of producers are said to belong to the same trophic level. That is they are all primary producers
(plants), primary consumers (herbivores) or secondary consumers (carnivores) or decomposers
NB: Dead tissue and waste products are produced at all levels. Scavengers, detritivores, and
decomposers collectively account for the use of all such "waste" -- consumers of carcasses and fallen
leaves may be other animals, such as crows and beetles, but ultimately it is the microbes that finish the
job of decomposition.
In an ecosystem, the connections between species are generally related to food and their role in the food
chain. In any food chain, the energy contained in the level of the producers is not completely transferred
to the consumers. And the higher one goes up the chain, the more energy and resources is lost and
consumed. Thus, from an energy—and environmental—point of view, it is more efficient for humans
to be primary consumers (to subsist from vegetables, grains, legumes, fruit, etc.) than as secondary
consumers (from eating herbivores, omnivores, or their products, such as milk, chickens, cattle, sheep,
etc.) and still more so than as a tertiary consumer (from consuming carnivores, omnivores, or their
products, such as fur, pigs, snakes, alligators, etc.).
Food chain
• Movement of energy and nutrients from one feeding group of organisms to another in a series
of steps of eating and being eaten that begins with plants and ends with decomposers
• Transfer of food energy from the source (plants) through a series of organisms that eat and are
being eaten in a repeated manner
• Energy fixed by plants is the basis on which the rest of life on the earth depends.
• At each transfer of energy from one organisms to another, some part is degraded into heat
therefore, the shorter the food chain the more energy available
Types of food chain

• There mainly 2 types: - grazing and detritus food chains
Grazing food chain: plant eaten by herbivores, then carnivores
• Grass …..>goat ……>leopard; it can move from small predators to large ones
• Grass Grasshopper ….>.small predator……..> birds ……>.large predator birds ……>human
being man eater
Detritus food chain: from dead matter into decomposers (micro-organisms) and/or herbivore i.e. dead
plants and animals to the rest e.g. detritus/dead matter----------→ decomposers/herbivores-(get
nutrients) carnivores. Some of the materials from grazing food chain are passed into detritus food chain
and vice-versa.
Food web-bed
Food web is an important conceptual tool for illustrating the feeding relationships among species within
a community, revealing species interactions and community structure, and understanding the dynamics
of energy transfer in an ecosystem.
Food web is an important ecological concept. Basically, food web represents feeding relationships
within a community. It also implies the transfer of food energy from its source in plants through
herbivores to carnivores. Normally, food webs consist of a number of food chains meshed together.
Each food chain is a descriptive diagram including a series of arrows, each pointing from one species
to another, representing the flow of food energy from one feeding group of organisms to another.
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Applications of Food Webs

• Food webs are constructed to describe species interactions (direct relationships).
• Food webs can be used to illustrate indirect interactions among species.
• Food webs can be used to study bottom-up or top-down control of community structure.
• Food webs can be used to reveal different patterns of energy transfer in terrestrial and aquatic
ecosystems.
CONTROLS ON ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION

What controls ecosystem function"?
There are two dominant theories of the control of ecosystems.
Bottom-up control
• States that it is the nutrient supply to the primary producers that ultimately controls how
ecosystems function.
• If the nutrient supply is increased, the resulting increase in production of autotrophs is
propagated through the food web and all of the other trophic levels will respond to the increased
availability of food (energy and materials will cycle faster).
Top-down control,
• States that predation and grazing by higher trophic levels on lower trophic levels ultimately
controls ecosystem function.
• For example, if you have an increase in predators, that increase will result in fewer grazers, and
that decrease in grazers will result in turn in more primary producers because fewer of them are
being eaten by the grazers.
• Thus the control of population numbers and overall productivity "cascades" (flows) from the top
levels of the food chain down to the bottom trophic levels.
o organic matter from the grazing food chain,
o indicated as a series of arrows from each trophic level in the grazing chain towards the
box designated as detritus
o both food chains are also interconnected via the process of predation
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o In the grazing food chain the flow is unidirectional, with net primary production
providing the energy source to herbivores and so on while in the decomposer food chain
the energy flow is not unidirectional. The waste materials and detritus in each of the
consumer level are recycled, returning as inputs to the detritus box.
o An ecosystem is a group or community composed of living and non-living things and their
interactions with each other. It is a dynamic complex of biotic components and abiotic
components. These biotic and abiotic interactions maintain equilibrium in the ecosystem. We
as humans are an integral part of it. The numerous benefits we obtain from the ecosystem are
known by the term ecosystem services.
Ecosystem Services
The earth is home to millions of species. Every organism depends on one or another organism for
energy, survival, and other life processes. This dependence of organisms on one another and their
surroundings forge an interacting system called ecosystems. The interactions among different
components of ecosystems are fundamental to a well-defined environment.
As a part of an ecosystem, humans derive lots of benefits from the biotic and abiotic components. These
benefits are collectively termed as ecosystem services. Life and biodiversity on earth depend on these
services.
Ecosystem services are classified into four types:
Provisioning Services
o This includes the products/raw materials or energy outputs like food, water, medicines and other
resources from ecosystems. Ecosystems are a source of food, water, medicines, wood, biofuels,
etc. Also, they provide conditions for these resources to grow.
Regulating Services
o This includes the services which regulate the ecological balance. For example, terrestrial
environs like forest purify and regulates air quality, prevent soil erosion, and control greenhouse
gases. Biotic components such as birds, rats, frogs, act as natural controllers and thus help in
pest and disease control. Hence, ecosystems act as regulators.
Supporting services
o Supporting services form the basis for other services. They provide habitat for different life
forms, retain biodiversity, nutrient cycling, and other services for supporting life on the earth.
Cultural services
o It includes tourism; provides recreational, aesthetic, cultural and spiritual services, etc. Most
natural elements such as landscapes, mountains, caves, are used as a place for cultural and
artistic purposes. Even a few of them are considered sacred. Moreover, ecosystems provide
enormous economic benefits in the name of tourism.
o The price tagging of the ecosystems and their services is quite unfeasible. Among all the
ecosystem services, supporting services alone contribute about 50% and the rest of the services
account for less than 10% in the same.
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POPULATION/COMMUNITY INTERACTIONS
There are varies interactions between organisms that include the following among others:
Commensalism
• Commensalism is a type of relationship between two living organisms in which one organism
benefits from the other without harming it.
• A commensal species benefits from another species by obtaining locomotion, shelter, food, or
support from the host species, which (for the most part) neither benefits nor is harmed.
• Commensalism ranges from brief interactions between species to life-long symbiosis.
• Commensalism is common and is a significant factor in organism succession within microbial
• communities. Prior modification of the environment by one organism often leads to better
growth for another organism.
• For example, orchids (examples of epiphytes) found in tropical rainforests grow on the branches
of trees in order to access light, but the presence of the orchids does not affect the trees
There are four types of commensal associations.
• Inquilinism – An entity occupies living habitat of another species (burrow, nest)

• Chemical commensalism – A bacteria produces a chemical which nurtures another bacteria
• Phoresy – An organism tentatively attaches itself to another entity for transportation
requirements.
• Metabiosis – One entity is dependant on the other for survival
Amensalism
• Association, which is detrimental to one species and neutral to the other.
• In amensalism, the unaffected population releases agents such as antibiotics that restrict the
growth of the other population.
• Amensalistic interactions can induce dormancy or morphogenesis in the antagonized population.
• Non-specific amensalism can result from the lowering of the system pH or the production of
oxygen or hydrogen peroxide.
• There is some overlap between amensalism and competition, although the latter must be a two-
way process.
Mutualism
• Obligatory relationship between two populations that benefits both populations. In mutualism,
the interaction is necessary for survival.
• It is an interaction that is beneficial to both species e.g. certain fungi and plant roots, plants and
animals that disperse their seeds.
Mutualism iinteractions take place in three patterns:
• Facultative mutualism – Species survive on their own under favourable conditions
• Obligate mutualism – One species is dependent for survival on the other
• Diffusive mutualism – One entity can live with multiple partners
Neutralism
• Two species do interact but with no effect on each other at all
• Represents a lack of influence between two populations. The significance of neutralism is
difficult to evaluate; i.e. no effect on the growth of the interacting population.
• It can occur if populations are far apart.
• It would be found most frequently in very dilute populations where competition would be
minimal or when the organisms use different substrates and they do not have to compete.
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Competition
• Competition, on the other hand, is when populations or even an individual compete for food
resources.
• Competition is an interactive association between two species both of which need some limited
environmental factor for growth and thus grow at sub-optimal rates because they must share the
growth limiting resource.
• This is a struggle of different or same species for same limited resources
• It represents a lose-lose relationship i.e. the competing individuals are less able to convert
resources into progeny because each is laying claim to the same resources
• Competition reduces the fitness of one or both of competing individuals or species. The two
species use the same limited resource or harm one another while seeking a resource.
• Inter-specific competition: interactions between individuals of different species.
• Intra-specific competition: interactions between individuals of the same species.
Types of competition
Exploitation
• Competition in which the species co-use the resources available
• Occurs when individuals of the same or different species reduce the availability of shared,
limited resources such as light, water, soil nutrients, space through their use.
• The use of the resources by one individual/species reduces availability for another
• May lead to symmetric (scramble) competition, which means that both competitors are harmed
(i.e., fitness is reduced) as a result of the competition i.e. it results in reduced growth of all
competitors.
• Most often detected as density-dependent effects (direct or indirect) on growth of individual.
Interference
• Occurs when individuals seeking a resource interact directly and harm one another even if the
• resource is not in short supply.
• One species occupies a habitat (space) preventing the other from access and so exploiting the
• resources in that habitat.
• One species denies access to the resources by the other
• This results into reduced fitness by essentially "behavioral" mechanisms
• In animals, it involves aggressive behavior.
• In Plants, interference is influenced by production of allelopathic chemicals.
• May lead to asymmetric (contest) competition because one species is harmed more than the
other species, i.e the rate of growth is reduced and so biomass accumulation.
Apparent Competition (indirect effects) or Diffuse Competition

• Occurs when many species have combined effects on another species i.e the competition is
spread among species over a number of resources
• In such situations, the combined effects of minimal competition on one species by a number of
other species can be equivalent to a strong competitive interaction for one resource from a single
competing species.
• By degree of proximity, each individual affects the environment of it’s neighbour by consuming
the resources in limited supply, by modifying the environmental conditions e.g. shading,
production of toxins.
• Diffuse competition can reduce the species’ number or exclude it from the habitat.
Competitive Exclusion Principle

In community ecology, Competitive Exclusion Principle States that “two species with similar
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environmental requirements cannot stably co-exist in the same ecological niche in the same
community”. This suggests that two competing species with identical ecological requirements cannot
occupy the same area.
• Either of the two competitors will always have an advantage over the other that leads to
extinction of the second competitor or an evolutionary shift of the inferior competitor towards a
different ecological niche.
• One species would inevitably harvest the resources and reproduce more efficiently driving the
other species to local extinction.
• If two species compete for the same limited resource, the superior competitor will win, and
exclude the other, which eventually will become extinct; i.e “Complete Competitors Cannot
Coexist".
• According to the competitive exclusion principle, coexistence of species is due to niche
differentiation so that species although using the same resource, are using different ranges (or
levels) of that resource.
• For example, two seed-eating bird species may coexist because one species consumes seeds
under 3 mm in size while the other consumes seeds > 3 mm in size; this is niche differentiation.
• As a consequence, competing related species often evolve distinguishing characteristics in areas
in which they coexist. This aids in mate recognition, thus maintaining each species' superiority
in exploiting slightly different ecological niches.
Ecological niche
There are numerous definitions of ecological niche.
1. All the sites where organisms of a species can live (where conditions are suitable for life): emphasizes
the "address" of the species
2. The function performed by the species in the community of which it is a member: - i.e. the role of
the organism in the community: - emphasizes its "profession"
3. It is a region in a multi-dimensional space of environmental factors that affect the welfare of a species.
In summary: An ecological niche is the sum/total of an organism's use of biotic and abiotic resources in
its environment, how it "fits into" an ecosystem i.e the sum of all activities and relationships a species
has while obtaining and using the resources needed to survive and reproduce.
A fundamental niche
• This is the resource an organism or population is theoretically capable of using under ideal
circumstances.
• However biological constraints such as competition restrict organisms to their realised niche i.e
range of values of all ecological factors (biotic and abiotic) that a species needs to survive in the
absence of competition
A realized niche
• This is the resource an organism or population actually uses, niche occupied in the presence of
competition from other species.
• Therefore, the species cannot coexist in a community if their niches are identical.
A species' niche includes:
a. Habitat - where it lives in the ecosystem
b. Relationships - all interactions with other species in the ecosystem
c. Nutrition - its method of obtaining food.
NB
A niche may apply to species, populations or even individuals.
Niches change in the life cycle
Niches change from one geographical region to another
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PARASITISM
Parasitism is generally defined as a relationship between the two living species in which one
organism is benefitted at the expense of the other. The organism that is benefitted is called the
parasite, while the one that is harmed is called the host. A few examples of parasites are tapeworms,
and fleas.
Parasites
• Parasites can at times be difficult to distinguish from grazers.
• Their feeding behavior is similar in many ways, however they are noted for their close
association with their host species.
• While a grazing species such as an elephant may travel many kilometers in a single day, grazing
on many plants in the process, parasites form very close associations with their hosts, usually
having only one or at most a few in their lifetime.
• This close living arrangement may be described by the term symbiosis, 'living together’;
however unlike mutualism the association significantly reduces the fitness of the host.
• Some species however have more loose associations with their hosts.
• Parasites consume parts of their prey,
• Their attacks are harmful but rarely lethal in the short term e.g. dodder, striga for cereals, tape
worms, liver-flukes, tuberculosis bacterium, and cholera.
Parasitoids
• Group of insects classified on the basis of egg laying behaviour of the adult female and the
• subsequent development pattern of the larva.
• Parasitoids are organisms living in or on their host and feeding directly upon it, eventually
leading to its death.
• They lay eggs in, on or near other insects
• The larva parasitoids develop inside a single host individual usually pre-adults. Initially it does
little apparent harm to the host but eventually kills it before or during pupal stages
• They are much like parasites in their close symbiotic relationship with their host or hosts.
• Parasitoid predators do not kill their hosts instantly. However, unlike parasites, they are very
similar to true predators in that the fate of their prey is quite inevitable death; e.g. ichneumon
fly (a slender insect related to and resembling a wasp that is a parasite of many insect pests,
laying its eggs in insect larvae).
• Its larva(e) feed on the growing host causing it little harm at first, but soon devouring the internal
organs until finally destroying the nervous system resulting in prey death.
• By this stage the young wasp(s) are developed sufficiently to move to the next stage in their life
cycle.
PREDATION
Predation describes a biological interaction where a predator organism feeds on another living
organism or organisms known as prey. It involves the consumption of part or whole of one organism
(prey) by another organism (predator) in which the prey is alive when the predator first attacks it.
Predation decries the relationship that benefits one organism at the expense of the other (lose-win
relationship); i.e an interaction between organisms in which one benefits and one is harmed based on
the ingestion of one organism, the prey, by another organism, the predator. Predators usually control
prey population, although in extreme cases they can drive the prey to extinction. Predators may or may
not kill their prey prior to or during the act of feeding on them.
Classification of predators
Functional predators
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• Classification of predators by the extent to which they feed on and interact with their prey.
• Instead of focusing on what they eat, this system classifies predators by the way in which they
eat, and the general nature of the interaction between predator and prey species.
True predators,
• Kill their prey more or less immediately after attacking them.
• They consume the entire prey but some consume only parts of the prey e.g. are tigers, eagles,
seed eating rodents and ants, plankton consuming Wales
Grazers
• eat only a part of each prey individual, hence their effect though harmful is short lived e.g. cattle,
goats, leeches (e.g. mosquito) that suck blood.
Importance of predation
Predation is an important phenomenon because:
• Predation on a prey population may restrict the prey distribution or may reduce the prey
abundance. If the prey is a pest, then predation is useful. This is the principle used in biological
control of pests. In contrast if the prey species is valuable or rare, predation on the species may
be undesirable.
• Predation is a major selection force of both predator and prey species. It removes indviduals that
may be genetically weak and have abnormal characteristics such for prey individuals are more
easily taken by predators. Likewise predators with those characteristics are less successful in
predation and so naturally eliminated from the population.
• Buffers the prey population- buffering effects occur as predator exerts more pressure on the most
abundant prey and less pressure on the scarce prey.
• Helps sustain species diversity among prey populations. Without greater predator pressure on
the more numerous prey species, some of them might become so abundant as to out compete
local population of less numerous prey. That is predation favors an increase in species diversity
by permitting greater niche overlap between competing species
Response of predators to prey density

There are two types of responses: functional response and numeric response
1. Functional response
• The relationship between the density of prey in a certain area and the average number of prey
consumed by each predator in that area.
• It is a change of consumption of the prey per individual predator with abundance or density of
the prey.
• When prey is very abundant, predators will respond by taking more of the prey to a point where
the consumption will reach a maximum that is the plateau regardless of the abundance of the
prey
• Two factors dictate the functional response of individuals to reach the plateau.
✓ 1st as the predator capture more prey, the time spent handling and eating the prey cuts into
hunting time. Eventually, the two reach a balance and prey capture rate levels off.
✓ 2nd, the predators become satiated and cannot feed any faster than they can digest and
assimilate their food.
Components of functional response
✓ Rate of succession search
✓ Time available for hunting
✓ Time spent handling the prey and
✓ Hunger levels
Numerical response
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• is the increase in number of predators resulting from an increase in food supply (prey) i.e. is the
change of predator population size with abundance or density of the prey population
• as the density of the prey population in a given area increases, the density of the predators
increases
• It occurs as a result of reproduction or movements or congregation of predators in patches of
high prey density.
Predation on animals: Animal defenses against predation

Animals are a little bit more versatile behaviorally when it comes to defending themselves against
predation. Prey have also evolved an array of defensive tactics ranging from chemical defense to simply
overwhelming the predator. They affect the predators’ breadth of diet and its ability to secure prey.
1. Chemical defenses
• Chemical defense is a wide spread mechanism of controlling predation among many groups of
• animals.
• These may have been borrowed from some other uses. E.g. venom was developed to protect
snakes from enemies but it is also the means by which snakes capture prey and as well as
protecting themselves from predator.
• Arthropods, amphibians and snakes employ secretions to repel predators. Commonly used
chemicals include pheromones, strong odours, which are easily detected substances.
• These chemicals can effectively repel birds, mammals, insects or discourage attacks by would
be predators e.t.c.
2. Colorations and Mimicry

Warming coloration
Some animals posses warning coloration; bold colors with patterns that serve as warning to would be
predators e.g. yellow and black colorations of bees, wasps and some snakes serve notice of danger to
their predators
Cryptic coloration
Cryptic coloration is camouflage, the art of looking like something else, i.e. being visible against
appropriate backgrounds. Camouflage, called cryptic coloration, is the characteristic passive defense,
making potential prey difficult to spot against its background. A camouflaged animal remains still on
an appropriate substrate to avoid detection.
BatΘsian mimicry
This is the tendency of edible or palatable and otherwise succulent prey species living in the same
environment/habitat with inedible or palatable species evolves a similar false resembles i.e. the edible
or palatable pretend to be unpalatable by looking like unpalatable species in the same habitat. This
works to a point, but limits the size of the mimic's population since once mimics are sufficiently
prevalent, predators will catch on to the mimicry. However, when their numbers are sufficiently few,
the mimic gains from protection of predation while simultaneously not putting out the resources needed
to achieve lack of palatability, etc.
Mⁿllerian mimicry
• Under this type of mimicry, an unpalatable or venomous species mimics another i.e. it works in
everybody's favor when unpalatable species mimic each other (e.g., both wasps and bees sharing
black and yellow coloration)
• Such mimicry increases the representation of lack of palatability among potential prey
associated with a given form of coloration
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• Note that both BatΘsian and Mⁿllerian mimicry can occur simultaneously with the same
coloration within the same communities (i.e., a group a similarly marked organisms, some of
which are harmless and others which are not)
3. Predator avoidance by behavioral mechanisms

Some animals can defend themselves against predators by behavior means. Behavioral responses to
predation risk range from immediate escape activities such as fleeing, taking cover, or "freezing", to
longer-term tactics that decrease the risk of encountering predators e.g. alarm calls given at the moment
of potential danger when a predator is sighted. Alarm calls bring in a number of potential preys that
respond by mobbing or harassing the predators. Living in groups is also a behavioral means of defending
against predators. Mobs can scare away the predators.
Other examples include:
Avoiding dangerous habitats,
• Reducing activity during certain times of the day, staying close to cover,
• Changing diet or intake rate of forage
• Foraging in groups
• Transporting food to shelter
• Reducing activity on moonlit nights
• Reducing movements when a predator is detected
• Change patterns of habitat use.
• Run and hide
• Fight back e.t.c
4. Use of weapons/structural mechanisms

Some of the effective means of defense in animals involves use of weapons or physical structures e.g.
beetles withdraw into armors coats/shells when danger approaches, porcupines have quills modified
hair) which effectively discourage predators, i.e. the animals employ morphological adaptations that
interfere with consumption.
5. Predator satiation
A more subtle defense is the timing of reproduction so that most of the offsprings are produced in a very
short period of time. i.e. having restricted seasonality of birth. The ideal situation is attributed to the
selective advantage of producing young ones when food is sufficiently abundant to support them. The
other advantage is the synchronization of births to reduce predation on the newborns. This results in
collective defense of the young ones by the breeding adult or a small fraction of such abundant prey can
be taken by predator
Herbivory
• Herbivory is the consumption of plants by animals (insects or vertebrates)
• One species (animal) eats all or part of a plant species
• Herbivores generally specialize on specific parts of the plant but range over many species
because different parts are different in their composition.
• A herbivore is any organism that normally consumes only autotrophs such as plants, algae and
• photosynthesizing bacteria.
• Some herbivores such as aphids do not directly eat tissues but act as parasites by tapping out
plant juice without killing the plant while others directly consume the tissue destroying the plant.
• The diets of some herbivorous animals vary with the seasons, especially in the temperate zones,
where different plant foods are most available at different times of year.
• Herbivores form an important link in the food chain as they transform the sun's energy stored in
the plants to food that can be consumable by carnivores and omnivores up the food chain. As
such, they are termed the primary consumers in the food chain
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Effects of herbivory
The effects of herbivores on plants may be negative, neutral, or positive - the importance of scale.
However, removal of plant tissue affects the plants’ fitness and its ability to survive. Loss of foliage,
roots and plant juices and other parts of the plant decrease the plants’ biomass, reduce the vigor and
place the plant at a competitive disadvantage to the surrounding vegetation and lowers it’s reproductive
effort/fitness.
• Some herbivores, particularly insects become so numerous that they defoliate trees completely
(e.g.,tent caterpillars, gypsy moth). Complete defoliation results into replacement growth of
smaller leaves and reduced canopy size. This in turn results in reduced food production by the
new leaves. If defoliation is repeated frequently, mortality will occur especially in conifers
which do not have the physiological trait that allow them to recover by forming new needles i.e.
an outbreak can destroy the whole plantation.
• Withdrawal of nutrients and phenols from roots exposes plants to attack by root fungi as well as
severely reducing growth rate. So removal of plant tissue draws on the plants’ chemical
defenses, a costly response.
• Adverse reduced growth rates and biomass of woody plants due to sap sucker e.g. aphids that
tap plat juice on new growth rather than consuming the tissue and grazing on young leaves due
to removal of nutrients/nutrient harvesting.
• Seed predation can cause reduction in a species population or even may lead to extinction.
• Herbivores influence the distribution of plant species. Some herbivores are agents of seed
dispersal; some plants are only found in specific areas where certain herbivores are found.
• Herbivores can also stabilize plant succession and prevent encroachment of new forms into an
area.
• Damage to the cambium and growing tips/apical meristem is more destructive in some plants,
the plant may die or change its growth form
• Moderate grazing increases biomass production. However, the degree of stimulating effect of
biomass production depends on the nature of the plant, nutrient supply and moisture contents.
Plant defense against herbivory- Plant responses to herbivory

• Plant defense against herbivory include a range of adaptations evolved by plants which improve
their survival and reproduction by reducing the impact of herbivores that eat them.
• Plants have evolved an array of mechanical and chemical defenses against herbivores.
• These defenses include mechanical protections on the surface of the plant, production of
complex polymers that reduce plant digestibility to animals, and the production of toxins that
kill or repel herbivores.
• Plants have also evolved features that enhance the probability of attracting natural enemies to
herbivores. Specifically, they emit odors that attract natural enemies, and provide food and
housing to maintain the natural enemies’ presence.
Structural/mechanical defenses
Structural defense is anything a plant can do to stop a herbivore from reaching, biting or deriving
benefits from a piece of tissue by making penetration by herbivores difficult or impossible. The main
effect of structural defense is to restrict to small size through increased handling time. Plants have many
external structural defenses that discourage herbivory. Depending on the herbivore’s physical
characteristics (i.e. size and defensive armor), plant structural defenses on stems and leaves can deter,
injure, or kill the grazer. The structures include: -
• A plant’s leaves and stem covered with sharp spines or trichomes, glandular hairs and thorns
that restrict foliage losses to large herbivores. Plant structural features like spines and thorns
reduce feeding by large ungulate herbivores (e.g. impala, and goats) by restricting the
herbivores’ feeding rate. The animal may also incur scar tissues and scratches in the esophageal
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mucosa. Note that there may be other reasons, beyond herbivory defenses for the development
of spines.
• Some plants prevent the laying of eggs by insect species by mimicking the presence of insect
eggs on their leaves. Because female butterflies are less likely to lay their eggs on plants that
already have butterfly eggs, some species of neo-tropical vines of the genus Passiflora (Passion
flowers) containing physical structures resembling the yellow eggs of Heliconius butterflies on
their leaves, and discouraging ova-position by butterflies.
• Epidermal hairs with thickened walls that form strong hooks or points which trap or
impale/fence outbinsects and discourage browsing by vertebrate herbivores e.g., bean
(Phaseolus vulgaris) has hooked trichomes on the underside of leaves which impale the nymphs
and adult leaf hoppers (Empoasca fabae).
• Digestibility reducers - Cellulose and hemicellulose (complex polysaccharides) comprise 80-
90% of dry wt of most plant parts. Lignin (complex phenolic polymers) stiffens plant tissues
and interferes with digestion by binding to digestive enzymes in the gut. Impede digestion by
blocking digestive enzymes. silica strengthens plant cell walls, but is completely indigestible.
• Protective coatings – Thick and hard coated nuts or seeds increase time spent by consumers
extracting food, thus reducing the number of nuts or seeds consumed. The thick hard seed coats
provide protection from seed eating animals
• Size - Many legumes have tiny seeds which do not provide enough food to support insect larvae
that feed on them and so they aren't suitable host plants for these insects. The thorns on the stem
of this raspberry plant, serve as a mechanical defense against herbivory.
Nutritional deficiencies
Some plants tend to lack essential nutrients needed by the herbivores for proper growth e.g. essential
amino acids and such nutritional deficiencies force predators to diversify the plants they consume
preventing herbivores from getting specialized at exploiting a particular plant species.
Predator satiation
This is the physiological timing of reproduction so that a maximum number of offsprings are roduced
within one particular period of time. It allows a big percentage of the offsprings to escape. It involves
four approaches in plants: -
• Distribution of seeds so that all of the seed crop are not equally available to seed predators. Some
seeds fall near the parents and the number decline as distance from the mother tree increases.
The seed predator may concentrate on the parent plants while the searching predators miss many
of the scattered seeds due to searching time and un-profitability. These seeds survive and
reproduce the recruitments.
• Shortening the time of seed availability. If all seeds mature and are available at the same time,
the seed predators will not be able to use the entire crop before germination.
• Timing of fruiting season of seed crop of one species is the same as another and both share same
seed predators. The seed predators may be attracted away from one species to another reducing
predatory pressure on both species.
• Producing the seed crop periodically rather than annually. The longer the time between seed
crops, the less opportunity dependent seed predators have to maintain a large population between
crops. Seed predators normally experience local increase in density during good seed years but
decline rapidly when the food supply is depleted. This strategy reduces the number of predators
available to exploit the next seed crop.
Chemical defenses/Secondary metabolic products

• Plants contain a wide variety of chemicals known as secondary metabolites that are not essential
to plant metabolism. These chemicals are often by-products produced during the synthesis of
primary metabolic products. E.g. of secondary products include oxalic acid, cyanide, complex
glycosides, terpenoids, alkaloids, resins and tannins.
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• These secondary products may be stored within the cells and released only when the cells are
broken or they may be stored and released by epidermal glands to function as a contact poison
or as a volatile inhibitor or serves as repellents to herbivores.
• These products may affect the reproductive performance of some herbivorous mammals e.g.
consumption of Isoflavonoid in plants induces a hormonal imbalance in grazing herbivores that
result in infertility, difficult labour and reduced lactation. While others, when eaten cause severe
pain in the digestive tract, nausea, vomiting, convulsions, and death
• Secondary products may also function as warning odors, repellents, and attractants or in some
cases direct poisons.
Mechanisms employed by animals to counteract the plant defense mechanisms include:

Herbivores are dependent on plants for food, and have coevolved mechanisms to obtain this food despite
the evolution of a diverse weapons of plant defenses against herbivory. Plants, on the other hand, protect
their resources for use in growth and reproduction, by limiting the ability of herbivores to eat them.
Relationships between herbivores and their host plants often results in reciprocal evolutionary change.
When an herbivore eats a plant it selects for plants that can mount a defensive response, whether the
response is incorporated biochemically or physically, or induced as a counterattack. These include: -
a) Mechanical adaptations
• Herbivores have developed a diverse range of physical structures to facilitate the consumption
of plant material. An herbivore’s diet often shapes its feeding adaptations. Herbivores have
evolved a wide range of tools to facilitate feeding. Often these tools reflect an individual’s
feeding strategy and its preferred food type. E.g. to break up intact plant tissues, mammals have
developed teeth structures that reflect their feeding preferences. For instance, animals that feed
primarily on fruit and herbivores that feed on soft foliage have low-crowned teeth specialized
for grinding foliage and seeds. Grazing animals that tend to eat hard, silica-rich grasses have
high-crowned teeth, which are capable of grinding tough plant tissues and do not wear down as
quickly as low-crowned teeth.
• Birds grind plant material or crush seeds using their beaks.
• Insect species that eat relatively soft leaves (e.g. moth) are equipped with incisors for tearing
and chewing, while the species that feed on mature leaves and grasses cut them with toothless
snipping mandibles (the uppermost pair of jaws in insects, used for feeding).
b) Biochemical adaptations
• The main mechanism involved to counteract chemical defense mechanism by plants is
detoxification of the secondary products. The major detoxifying system is the Mixed Function
Oxidase (MFO) possessed by all animals MFO metabolises foreign potentially toxic substances.
By oxidation, reduction and hydrolysis, MFO converts fat-containing (lipophilic) foreign
chemicals into water solublebmolecules that can be eliminated by the excretory systems.
• Some herbivores get around chemical defenses by stopping the flow of toxic sap to the leaf on
which they will feed e.g. milk weeds produce toxic latex and resins under pressure and ruptured
e.g. by herbivores in secretory canals that follow major veins on these plants to the release point.
Herbivores can evade this defense, however, by damaging the leaf veins. This technique
minimizes the outflow of latex or resin beyond the cut and allows herbivores to freely feed above
the damaged section. E.g. beetles and some caterpillars cut the leaf vein, blocking the flow of
latex to the intended feeding sites.
• Herbivores may also produce salivary enzymes that reduce the degree of defense generated by
a host plant. E.g the enzyme glucose oxidase, a component of saliva for the caterpillar
counteracts the production of induced chemical defenses in tobacco. Similarly, aphid saliva
reduces its host’s induced response by forming a barrier to the plant cells.
C) Behavioral adaptations
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• Herbivores can avoid plant defenses by eating plants selectively in space and time. E.g. the
winter moth, feeding on oak leaves early in the season maximizes the amount of protein and
nutrients available to the moth, while minimizing the amount of tannins produced by the tree.
• Herbivores can also spatially avoid plant defenses. The piercing mouthparts of species in
Hemiptera allow them to feed around areas of high toxin concentration. Several species of
caterpillar feed on maple leaves by "window feeding" on pieces of leaf and avoiding the tough
areas, or those with a high lignin concentration. Similarly, the cotton leaf perforator selectively
avoids eating the epidermis and pigment glands of their hosts, which contain defensive terpenoid
aldehydes.
• Some herbivores have also evolved from specialists to generalists so that they are able to feed
on a variety of plants
d) Microbial symbionts
• Herbivores are unable to digest complex cellulose and rely on mutualistic, internal symbiotic
bacteria, fungi, or protozoa to break down cellulose so it can be used by the herbivore. Microbial
symbionts also allow herbivores to eat plants that would otherwise be inedible by detoxifying
plant secondary metabolites. For example, fungal symbionts of cigarette beetles (Lasioderma
serricorne) use certain plant allelochemicals as their source of carbon, in addition to producing
detoxification enzymes (esterases) to get rid of other toxins.
• Microbial symbionts also assist in the acquisition of plant material by weakening a host plant’s
defenses. Some herbivores are more successful at feeding on damaged hosts. As an example,
several species of bark beetle introduce blue stain fungi into trees before feeding. The blue stain
fungi cause lesions that reduce the trees’ defensive mechanisms and allow the bark beetles to
feed.
IMPACT OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON THE ENVIRONMENT
• Humans use and modify natural ecosystems through agriculture, forestry, recreation, urbanization, and
industry development.
• The most obvious impact of humans on ecosystems is the loss of biodiversity. Due to human actions,
species and ecosystems are threatened with destruction to their brink of a mounting loss of species
that exceeds any mass extinction in geological records.
• The frequency of species extinctions is correlated to the size of human population on the Earth, which
is directly related to resource consumption, land-use change, and environmental degradation.
• Human beings have caused climatic changes as well as changes in the abundance and dominance of
species in communities, modified the biogeochemical cycles, the hydrologic cycling through the
following ways
Pollution (Water, land and air pollution)

➢ Human beings produce pollutants that are released into land, air and water, which drastically affect life on
earth. The major source of pollution include burning of fossil fuels—natural gas, coal, and oil—to power
industrial processes and motor vehicles, deforestation, use of fertilizers e.t.c. these produce harmful
chemical compounds into the atmosphere e.g. carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur
dioxide, and tiny solid particles—including lead from gasoline additives—called particulates. decomposing
garbage in landfills and solid waste disposal sites also emit methane gas
CONSEQUENCES OF POLLUTION
Health risks:
➢ Addition of harmful substances to the atmosphere results in damage to the environment and human health
thus quality of life.
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➢ For instance Air pollution makes people and animals sick—it causes breathing problems and promotes
cancer—and it harms plants, animals, and the ecosystems in which they live.
Eutrophication
Eutrophication is the process by which a body of water becomes rich in dissolved nutrients from fertilizers or
sewage, thereby encouraging the growth and decomposition of oxygen-depleting plant life and resulting in
harm to other organisms
➢ Human beings respond to limited nutrients in agricultural ecosystems by applying inorganic fertilizers
➢ Runoff from agricultural fertilizers increases these nutrients esp. N and P into aquatic systems, leading to
runaway plant growth, or eutrophication.
➢ Increased plant population eventually leads to increased bacterial populations that reduce oxygen levels
in the water, causing fish and other organisms to suffocate.
Production of acid rains
➢ Some air pollutants return to Earth in the form of acid rain and snow, which corrode buildings, damage
crops and forests, slows the growth of esp trees and make lakes and streams unsuitable for fish and other
plant and animal life.
Global warming- increase in temperature

➢ Pollution is changing Earth’s atmosphere so that it lets in more harmful radiation from the Sun. At the
same time, our polluted atmosphere is becoming a better insulator, preventing heat from escaping back
into space and leading to a rise in global average temperatures.
➢ Global warming is predicted to affect world food supply, alter sea level, make weather more extreme,
and increase the spread of tropical diseases.
2. Harvesting/hunting
➢ Harvesting of species has destabilised the ecosystem. E.g. Removal of preys or predators destabilises the
prey-predator relationships in an ecosystem. Where humans hunt, trap, or otherwise reduce predator
populations, allowing the prey population to increase vice versa.
➢ E.g. Elimination of wolves has led to increase in their natural prey: deer. Large deer populations often cause
over grazing that in turn leads to starvation of the deer. Like wise removal of a competing species can cause
the ecological release of a population explosion in that species competitor
➢ Over hunting and harvesting for food, commercial or fashion have a significant cause of extinction of so
many species e.g. Whale
3. Introduction of New Species/non-native species/ invasion of exotic species

➢ The introduction of exotic or alien non-native species into new areas is the greatest single factor affecting
natural populations. Human beings introduce invasive non-native species either intentionally or
accidentally that threaten the native species. Once an introduced species becomes established, its
population growth is explosive.
➢ The exotic organisms may be either predators, parasites, or simply aggressive species that deprive
indigenous species of nutrients, water and light.
➢ E.g. the African great Lake Victoria is popular for its great diversity of endemic species (“species flocks”). A
single exotic species, the Nile perch has become established and is likely to cause extinction of most of the
native species by eating them all. This was a purposeful introduction for subsistence, sport fishing and great
disaster.
➢ After some years, a community of more than 400 species especially Tilapia species has collapsed to just 3
co-dominants whose total abundance was greater than total native abundance prior to the introduction of
Nile perch.
➢ If humans continue to combine species from different eco-regions, there is the potential that the world's
ecosystems will end up dominated by relatively a few, aggressive, cosmopolitan super-species.
➢ Breeding: development of high yielding materials (both plants and animals)- introduction of resistant
materials to harsh environmental conditions, however, a number of local materials
➢
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4. Use of fire
➢ Human beings carry out either accidental or intentional burning that can create either favorable or
unfavorable conditions for some species. Some species germinate after burning while others die. Therefore
burning can either increase number of species in a given area or decrease.
5. Habitat degradation – loss and fragmentation

➢ Human activities such as logging, urban development, road construction, agriculture e.t.c. cause habitat
loss and fragmentation thus degradation.
Habitat fragmentation
➢ Caused by humans when native vegetation is cleared for human activities such as agriculture, rural
development or urbanization. Habitats which were once continuous become divided into separate
fragments
➢ The habitats remain in small isolated units each is a tiny island that can at best maintain a very small
population.
➢ Any species that requires a large home range will not survive if the area is too small
➢ Plants and sessile animals in these areas are usually directly destroyed while mobile animals (especially
birds and mammals) migrate remaining patches.
➢ Leading to over crowding and increased competition.
➢ Environmental fluctuations and diseases make such small isolated population highly vulnerable to
extinction.
Habitat loss
➢ Complete loss of habit results in migration of spp, complete extinction, or spp may become endangered or
threatened or become rare
➢ For example if trees are destroyed it means birds that had their nests on such trees will be lost too. For
endemic spp such birds become extinct.
Ecological crisis
an ecological crisis is the loss of adaptive capacity when the resilience of an environment or of a species or
a population evolves in a way un-favourable to coping with disturbances troubles that interfere with that
ecosystem, landscape or species survival.
Causes of ecological crisis -read
Degradation of the environment quality compared to the species needs, after a change in an abiotic
ecological factor (for example, an increase of temperature, less amounts rainfall).
Increased pressure of predation (for example over-fishing/harvesting) making the environment unfavorable
for the survival of a species (or a population) due to an).
Increased number of individuals (overpopulation) creating unfavorable situation to the quality of life of the
species or population. This may result into reduced availability of resources hence carrying capacity or
diseases e.t.c.
Consequences and scale
Ecological crises may be more or less brutal (occurring within a few months or taking as long as a few million
years).
They can also be of natural or artificial origin. They may relate to one unique species or to many species.
An ecological crisis may be local (as an oil spill) or global (a rise in the sea level due to global warming).
The consequences of ecological crisis depend on the degree of endemism and scale e.g. is it local or global.
Death of many individuals For instance if it is a global crisis some extinction events may show the
disappearance of more than 90% of existing species at that time
Total extinction of a species.
24
Disappearance of one or several species often involves a rupture in the food chain, further impacting the
survival of the remaining specie
However, the disappearance of certain species by freeing an ecological niche, may allow the development
and the diversification of other species for example the disappearance of dinosaurs paved way for the
development mammals. An ecological crisis thus ironically favors biodiversity.
Reduction of the quality of life of the remaining individuals. E.g epidemic diseases, famines, impact on
health of reduction of air quality, food crises, reduction of living space, accumulation of toxic or non
degradable wastes, are also factors influencing the well-being of people.
Examples of ecological crisis
The increasing responsibility of humanity in some ecological crises has been clearly observed.
Due to the increases in technology and a rapidly increasing population, humans have more influence on
their own environment than any other ecosystem engineer.
Global warming related to the Greenhouse effect is one of the examples of ecological crisis. Warming could
involve flooding of the Asian deltas, multiplication of extreme weather phenomena and changes in the
nature and quantity of the food resources
Ozone layer hole issue
Deforestation and desertification, with disappearance of many species.
The nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl in 1986 caused the death of many people and animals from cancer,
and caused mutations in a large number of animals and people. The area around the plant is now
abandoned by humans because of the large amount of radiation generated by the meltdown.
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
Communities are not static, they gradually change over time because the environment changes and
species themselves tend to also change their habitats
Succession is the relatively gradual change in structure and composition of spp that arises as the
vegetation itself modifies various environmental variables, including light, water and nutrient levels
over time.
It is a cumulative change in the species that occupy a given area, through time which may be uni-
directional with a defined endpoint– the climax or as mosaic of patches, each undergoing a
continuous sequence of cyclic replacement.
These modifications change the suite of species most adapted to grow, survive and reproduce in an
area, causing floristic changes.
Succession can be interrupted at any time by disturbance, setting the system either back to a previous state,
or off on another state altogether.
Because of this, successional processes may or may not lead to some static, final state.
Succession starts with a pioneer community, the first organisms to occupy an area
Over a period of time the pioneers gradually modify the area, often making it unsuitable
for themselves and providing optimal conditions for others to move in
Succession may be initiated either by formation of new, unoccupied habitat (e.g., a lava
flow or a severe landslide) or by some form of disturbance (e.g. fire, severe wind-throw,
logging) of an existing community.
The former case is often referred to as primary succession, the latter as secondary succession.
The ecological change can be influenced by site conditions, by the interactions of the species present, and
by more stochastic factors such as availability of colonists or seeds, or weather conditions at the time of
disturbance.
Some of these factors contribute to predictability of successional dynamics; others add more probabilistic
elements.
In general, communities in early succession will be dominated by fast-growing, well-dispersed species
(opportunist, fugitive, or r-selected life-histories).
As succession proceeds, these species will tend to be replaced by more competitive (k-selected) species.
25
Climate change often occurs at a rate and frequency sufficient to prevent arrival at a climax state. Additions
to
Pioneer species
A pioneer species is a plant species which colonizes previously un-colonized land, usually leading to
ecological primary succession.
Since uncolonised land usually has thin, poor quality soils with few nutrients, pioneer species are typically
very hardy plants, with adaptations such as long roots, root nodes containing nitrogen fixing bacteria, and
leaves that reduce transpiration. They are characterised by high growth rates, smaller size, high degree of
dispersal and high rates of population growth
Pioneer species are often grasses such as marram grass, which grows on sand dunes
The plants will be specially adapted to the extremes that may be experienced, and once they have modified
the environment may be out-competed by less specific plants
Examples of the plants and organisms that colonise such areas are:
Barren rock - blue-green bacteria,
Barren sand - lyme grass, sea couch grass, marram grass
Salt water - green algae, eel grass, Salicornia townsendii and Spartina townsendii
Clear water - Algae, mosses
Pioneer species can also be found in secondary succession (an established ecosystem being reduced by an
event such as a forest fire of a clearing), colonizing newly created open spaces quickly.
Primary succession
Primary succession is one of two types of ecological succession of plant life, and occurs in an environment
in which new substrate, devoid of vegetation and usually lacking soil, is deposited (for example of such
places are lava flow, sand dunes, rock outcrops, newly exposed glacial till). i.e. it begins on sites that never
have supported life
Primary succession starts from barren ground e.g. new islands or volcanic destruction of an environment
i.e. the environment being exploited is essentially lifeless-lacking in both living organisms and their remains.
In primary succession pioneer plants like mosses, lichen , algae ,fungus and other abiotic factors like wind
and water start to "normalize" the habitat, creating conditions nearer to the optimum for vascular plant
growth and pedogenesis or the formation of soil is the most important process.
These pioneer plants are then dominated and often replaced by plants better adapted to less harsh and a
bit favorable conditions
These plants include vascular plants like grasses and some shrubs that are able to live in thin soils that are
often mineral based.
example of primary succession- eruption of volcano-The barren land is first colonized by pioneer plants
which pave the way for later, less hardy plants, such as hardwood trees, by facilitating pedogenesis,
especially through biotic acceleration of weathering and the addition of organic debris to the surface.
It also occurs following an opening of a pristine habitat, for example a lava flow, an area left from retreated
glacier, or abandoned strip mine.
Read: Allogenic succession and Autogenic succession
Secondary succession
Secondary succession is the second type of ecological succession of plant life. As opposed to primary
succession, secondary succession is a process started by an event (e.g. forest fire, harvesting, hurricane)
that reduces an already established ecosystem (e.g. a forest or a wheat field) to a smaller population of
species, and as such secondary succession occurs on preexisting soil whereas primary succession usually
occurs in a place lacking soil.
Secondary succession starts from disturbed areas, e.g. abandoned farm land or storm ravaged land
Secondary succession is succession that follows primary succession, i.e., of an environment that already
contains life (or, at least, soil)
Because resource availability changes over the course of succession, different species compete better at
different stages.
26
Early stages are typically characterized by r-selected species that are good colonizers because of their high
fecundity and excellent dispersal mechanisms.
Many of these may be described as or ‘weedy’ species that do not compete well in established communities,
but maintain themselves by constantly colonizing newly disturbed areas before better competitors can
become established in the same places.
Climax community
The process of succession has the appearance of direction in time, eventually arriving at some
equilibrium or steady with the physical and biotic environment
This apparent end point of succession is the climax.
The community within an ecosystem that exists following ecological succession is termed as the climax
community
A climax community is made up of organisms that are good at reproducing in the face of inter-specific
competition
At the climax stage, environmental conditions are such that the same species can continue to maintain
themselves.
For example, the forest that is the climax stage of old-field succession maintains the moist, shaded
environment that allows offspring of these species to grow, while inhibiting most of the species typical
of earlier stages of succession.
Climax communities will remain in place until either the climate changes, a better competitor arrives,
or the community is catastrophically disrupted, e.g., by fire or, more recently, by extensive logging
Examples of succession
For example 1, open ground might be colonized by sun tolerant plants. However, as
they grow they produce more shade, which makes the habitat less suitable for them
and more suitable for shade tolerant species
For example 2, the soil pH may undergo a considerable change over a period of time,
alternately excluding and including different species
• The bare rocky soil starts with a pH of 8.0 and no ground cover
• Mosses and mat forming plants with nitrogen fixing bacteria quickly colonize the area
• Willow and alder shrubs, also containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria eventually form dense
thickets
• Over a period of time plant litter enriches the soil with nitrogen, allowing Sitka spruce trees
to come in
• Within 200 years the soil pH changes to 4.8 and the climax community, a hemlock-spruce
forest forms
READ BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
27

AGA1101 ECOLOGY September 2024

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AGA 1101 Ecology, September 2024

Definitions of some ecological terms:

Basic Ecological Concepts

2. Abiotic Components = nonliving portion of biosphere

How do ecosystems work/function?

Definition of terms in production

Productivity: rate at which energy fixed or stored per unit time

Effects of nutrients on primary production

ORGANISM IN ITS ENVIRONMENT

TROPHIC LEVEL AND FOOD CHAINS/WEBS

Types of food chain

Applications of Food Webs

CONTROLS ON ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION

There are four types of commensal associations.

• Inquilinism – An entity occupies living habitat of another species (burrow, nest)

Apparent Competition (indirect effects) or Diffuse Competition

Competitive Exclusion Principle

Response of predators to prey density

Predation on animals: Animal defenses against predation

2. Colorations and Mimicry

3. Predator avoidance by behavioral mechanisms

4. Use of weapons/structural mechanisms

Plant defense against herbivory- Plant responses to herbivory

Chemical defenses/Secondary metabolic products

Mechanisms employed by animals to counteract the plant defense mechanisms include:

IMPACT OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Pollution (Water, land and air pollution)

Global warming- increase in temperature

3. Introduction of New Species/non-native species/ invasion of exotic species

5. Habitat degradation – loss and fragmentation

Causes of ecological crisis -read

Consequences and scale

Examples of ecological crisis

Read: Allogenic succession and Autogenic succession

READ BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES

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