LESSON NO.

AND TITLE
Lesson 1. Organisms and Ecosystems

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, students are able to:
 Discuss the properties of water as well as the processes involved in water cycle
 Describe the interactions in the living organisms in the aquatic environment
TIME FRAME
9 hours

INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Lesson 1!
In an aquatic system, water plays important role in the regulation of global scale ecosystem processes,
linking atmosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere by moving substances among them and enabling chemical
reactions to occur. Water exhibits its own physicochemical characteristics that represent the quality of water
body. The functioning of an aquatic ecosystem and its stability to support life forms depends on its
physicochemical characteristics.

ACTIVITY
Please study the image below

ANALYSIS
After studying the image…
1. What are the special properties of water and how this affects the organisms?
2. What are the things that you observed in the picture?
3. What are the relationships of each of the components of the said ecosystem?

ABSTRACTION

Please read carefully.

Water is essential for life as we know it. Living cells are 75- 95% water, depending on the organism.
Biochemical molecules are even classified based on how they interact with water: everything that is soluble
in water is called "hydrophilic," while materials that are not water-soluble are known as "hydrophobic."
There are some unusual physical and chemical properties of water that make it well-suited to support life.
Almost all of these unusual properties are the result of water molecules being extensively hydrogen bonded
to each other.
Special Properties of Water
1. Water is polar
A single water molecule is held together by polar covalent bonds. Oxygen is more electronegative
than hydrogen, so the electrons in the H–O bond spend more time closer to the oxygen atom. That side of
the water molecule has a partial negative charge (shown with a lowercase Greek letter delta minus: δ- ).The
other side (next to the hydrogens) then has a partial positive charge (delta plus: δ+) because the electrons
spend less of their time there. The polar nature of water inflfluences all of its interactions with biochemical
molecules. Nonpolar (hydrophobic) molecules will act to exclude water, which is another kind of interaction
in itself.

2. Water molecules form hydrogen bonds with each other

Pay special attention to this property–it explains virtually all of the unusual behaviors of water. Water
molecules are very likely to form hydrogen bonds between different water molecules (not within a single
water molecule, that’s a polar covalent bond).1 Hydrogen bonds are weaker than covalent bonds. Picture
them blinking on and off–that’s why they’re shown as a dotted line rather than a solid line. This means
water, as a material, is fairly interconnected to itself, which leads to several interesting emerging properties.

3. Water is cohesive
Because water is extensively hydrogen bonded, it behaves differently than materials where their
molecules are not stuck together. For instance, you can see a drop of water beading up into a round shape
(compared to, say, a drop of alcohol that lies flat). This is important when you consider how body fluids
move in plants and animals.

4. Water has high surface tension

Because water is extensively hydrogen bonded (and is cohesive), it forms almost a skin on its surface.
High surface tension means water can support a surprising amount of weight before something sinks. This
provides a new place to support some forms of life–like a stick insect or Jesus lizard, running across the
surface of a body of water.

5. Water adheres to surfaces

Because of its ability to form hydrogen bonds, water can stick to certain surfaces. This is especially
important for moving water (and watery liquids) through living tissues, like how water moves through made
of water, this makes it easier for living creatures to maintain a constant body temperature.
7. Water has high heat of vaporization
Because of water’s extensive hydrogen bonding, it takes a lot of energy for water to evaporate. Before
it can change from liquid to gas, it has to break all those hydrogen bonds holding the water molecules
together. Then the individual water molecules can start vibrating with higher kinetic energy, eventually
breaking free and leaving as a gas (water vapor). Living organisms can take advantage of this inthe form of
"evaporative cooling"–when water evaporates, it carries away heat energy, leaving a cooler animal behind
(think of how a dog pants to cool off).

8. Solid water is less dense than liquid water

When water changes from liquid to solid (ice), the molecules are held frozen in a fixed structure. Ice
has a lot of open space between water molecules, compared to how they are closer together in liquid water.
This is to say, ice is less dense than liquid water , which means ice floats on top of liquid water. Again, this
provides additional habitats for living organisms (like polar bears). It also insulates the liquid water
underneath, keeping fish and other aquatic creatures alive in cold weather.

THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

The constant movement of water above, on, and below the Earth’s surface is called the hydrologic
cycle.The concept of the hydrologic cycle is central to an understanding of the occurrence of water and the
development and management of water supplies. Although the hydrologic cycle has neither a beginning nor
an end, it is convenient to discuss its principal features by starting with evaporation from vegetation, from
exposed moist surfaces including the land surface, and from water bodies. This moisture forms clouds,
which return the water to the land surface or lakes and streams in the form of precipitation.

Precipitation occurs in several forms, including rain, snow, and hail. The remaining rain wets
vegetation and other surfaces and then begins to infiltrate into the ground. Melt waters comprise the largest
quantity of precipitation. Infiltration rates vary widely, depending on land use, the character and moisture
content of the soil, and the intensity and duration of the precipitation. The first infiltration replaces soil
moisture, and, thereafter, the excess percolates slowly across the intermediate zone (also known as the
“vadose zone”) to the zone of saturation. The top of the zone of saturation is the water table. When and if the
rate of precipitation exceeds the rate of infiltration, runoff occurs.
 Ground water flows through the rock and soil layers of the earth until it discharges as a spring or as
seepage into a stream. Water reaching streams, both by runoff and from ground water discharge, moves to
the lake or ocean where it is again evaporated to perpetuate the cycle. Movement is, of course, the key
element in the concept of the hydrologic cycle. Typical rates of water movement vary from hundreds of
miles per day in the atmosphere, to only yards per day below the land surface. In rocks with extensive
fractures, or in some limestone formations that have caves, ground water can move at rates of several
hundreds of feet per day. This has been documented in parts of Michigan. Some “basics” to ground water
movement are:
• In almost all cases, ground water flows down gradient under the influence of gravity.
• The velocity of ground water flow is influenced by the permeability of the rock or sediments through
which it is passing.
• The greater the amount of recharge, the greater the chance of higher rates of ground water movement.
• Ground water may be moving at different rates at different depths in different directions at a single site.

Contrary to popular historical belief, ground water does not flow in “underground rivers” or “veins.”
An aquifer is a water-bearing reservoir capable of yielding enough water to satisfy a particular demand. In a
sand aquifer, ground water is found within the open spaces between sand grains. Bedrock formations such as
limestone, sandstone, granite, and shale also serve as aquifers in many regions. Ground water is found in
bedrock within fissures and crevices, along bedding planes, and in tiny spaces within the rock structure.
Confining layers (such as clay) restrict the movement of ground water either into or out of adjacent aquifers,
acting as ground water roadblocks. Unconfined aquifers do not have protective confining layers and are less
desirable as a safe drinking water supply. Therefore, drilling a deeper well into a confined aquifer is much
more likely to be protected from contamination than a shallow well in an unconfined aquifer. Wells drilled
into confined aquifers are referred to as artesian wells. The water level in an artesian well stands at some
height above the top of the aquifer, but not necessarily above the land surface. When the artesian well stands
above the land surface, the well is a flowing artesian well.

ECOLOGY

Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and with their environment (habitat),
including relationships between individuals of the same species, between different species, and between
organisms and their physical and chemical (abiotic, or nonliving) environments. Aquatic ecology includes
the study of these relationships in aquatic environments. An ecosystem is a community of living organisms
and their abiotic environment (water, land, and air), linked by the flow of energy. Aquatic ecosystems may
be permanent (e.g., oceans, lakes, rivers), or ephemeral (e.g., some streams, wetlands, floodplains). Aquatic
ecosystems can also be present in areas that may appear to be inhospitable to life, such as thermal springs,
glaciers, and polluted waters.

Aquatic ecosystems often contain a variety of species, including (but not limited to), bacteria, viruses,
fungi, protozoans, algae - microscopic plants, a variety of invertebrates (insect larvae, molluscs, worms,
zooplankton (microscopic animals), etc.), macrophytes (plants), and animals (fish, amphibians, mammals,
reptiles, birds, etc.). The species found in each system vary depending on both biotic and abiotic conditions.
Habitat conditions are unique to each type of ecosystem, leading unique assemblages of species. For
example, many rivers are relatively oxygen-rich and fast-flowing compared to lake habitats. The species
adapted to flowing water are often rare or absent in the still waters of lakes and ponds. Abiotic (chemical,
physical) characteristics of aquatic habitats influence which species may be found in an area. For an animal
or plant to be found within a habitat, it needs to be able to survive the conditions, find shelter and space, and
have nutrients available. The species within an area can also impact aspects of their environment (for
example, beaver dams change water flows on the landscape). Biotic (living) characteristics of habitats also
impact the organisms found within them. Interactions between species, competition for resources (food,
habitat), predation, and parasitism, all impact species abundance and diversity.

Levels of organization in ecology

Ecology not only deals with the study of the relationship of individual organisms with their
environment, but also with the study of populations, communities, ecosystems, biomes, and biosphere as a
whole.

The main levels of organization in ecology are six and are as follows.
1. Individual
2. Population
3. community
4. Ecosystem
5. Biome
6. Biosphere

Individual
The organism is an individual living being that has the ability to act or function independently. It may
be a plant, animal, bacterium, fungi, etc.

Population
A population is a group of organisms usually of the same species, occupying a defined area during a
specific time.

The main limiting factors for the growth of a population are abiotic and biotic components.

Community
In ecology, the term community, or more appropriately ‘biotic community, refers to the populations of
different kinds of organisms living together and sharing the same habitat. The characteristic pattern of the
community is termed as the structure of the community and is determined by:
 the roles played by its various populations
 the range of its various populations
 the type of area that is inhabited by the populations of the community
 the diversity of species in the community
 the interactions between various populations of the community inhabiting the area.

Members of a community also actively interact with their environment. In a community, only those
plants and animals survive which are adapted to a particular environment. The climate determines the type
of environment, hence, the type of organisms in a community.

For example, it is the climate of the area which determines whether a given area becomes a desert or a
forest.
Communities created by human such as lawns or crop communities are such man-made
communication are crop communities are relatively simple and consists of only one species as opposed to a
natural community characterized by a large number of species. Man-made communities are very unstable
and require a great deal of care and constant manipulation and maintenance.

Types of Community
On the basis of size and degree of relative independence communities may be divided into two types:
Major Community:
These are large-sized, well organized and relatively independent. They depend only on the sun’s
energy from outside and are independent of the inputs and outputs from adjacent communities.
Example: tropical evergreen forest in the North-East

Minor Communities:
These are dependent on neighboring communities and are often called societies. They are secondary
aggregations within a major community and are not therefore completely independent units as far as energy
and nutrient dynamics are concerned.
Example: A mat of lichen on a cow dung pad.

Ecosystem
An ecosystem is defined as a structural and functional unit of biosphere consisting of a community of
living beings and the physical environment, both interacting and exchanging materials between them. The
term ‘ecosystem ‘was coined by A.G. Tansley in 1935. An ecosystem is a functional unit of nature
encompassing complex interaction between its biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) components. For
example- a pond is a good example of an ecosystem. Ecosystems vary greatly in size and elements, but each
is a functioning unit of nature. Everything that lives in an ecosystem· is dependent on the other species and
elements that are also part of that ecological community. If one part of an ecosystem is damaged or
disappears, it has an impact on everything else. The ecosystem can be as small as a single tree or as large as
the entire forest.

Components of an Ecosystem
They are broadly grouped into:
1. Abiotic components
2. Biotic components

Abiotic Components (Nonliving):

The abiotic component can be grouped into the following three categories:
1. Physical factors: Sunlight, temperature, rainfall, humidity, and pressure. They sustain and limit the
growth of organisms in an ecosystem.
2. Inorganic substances: Carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur, water, rock, soil, and other
minerals.
3. Organic compounds: Carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and humic substances. They are the building
blocks of living systems and therefore, make a link between the biotic and abiotic components.

Biotic Components (Living):

1. Autotrophs/Producers: The green plants manufacture food for the entire ecosystem through the process
of photosynthesis. Green plants are called autotrophs, as they absorb water and nutrients from the soil,
carbon dioxide from the air, and capture solar energy for this process.
2. Consumers: They are called heterotrophs and they consume food synthesized by the autotrophs. Based
on food preferences they can be grouped into three broad categories. Herbivores (e.g. cow, deer, and rabbit,
etc.) feed directly on plants, carnivores are animals that eat other animals (e.g. lion, cat, dog, etc.) and
omnivores organisms feeding upon both plants and animals e.g. human, pigs and sparrow.
3. Decomposers: Also called saprotrophs. These are mostly bacteria and fungi that feed on dead
decomposed and the dead organic matter of plants and animals by secreting enzymes outside their body on
the decaying matter. They play a very important role in the recycling of nutrients. They are also called
detrivores or detritus feeders.

Functions of an Ecosystem
Ecosystems are complex dynamic systems. They perform certain functions. These are:
 Energy flow through the food chain
 Nutrient cycling (biogeochemical cycles)
 Ecological succession or ecosystem development
 Homeostasis (or cybernetic) or feedback control mechanisms

Ponds, lakes, meadows, marshlands, grasslands, deserts and forests are examples of the natural
ecosystems. Many of you have seen an aquarium; a garden or a lawn etc. in your neighborhood. These are a
man-made ecosystem.
Types of Ecosystems
Ecosystems are classified as follows:
1. Natural ecosystems
2. Manmade ecosystems

Natural ecosystems:
Totally dependent on solar radiation e.g. forests, grasslands, oceans, lakes, rivers, and deserts. They
provide food, fuel, fodder, and medicines. Ecosystems are dependent on solar radiation and energy subsidies
(alternative sources) such as wind rain and tides. e.g. tropical rain forests, tidal estuaries, and coral reefs.

Man-made ecosystems:
 Dependent on solar energy. e.g.- agricultural fields and aquaculture ponds.
 Dependent on fossil fuel e.g. urban and industrial ecosystems.

PRODUCTIVITY OF ECOSYSTEMS
The rate of biomass production is called productivity. The portion of fixed energy, a trophic level passes
on to the next trophic level is called production.

Productivity in ecosystems is of two kinds, i.e., primary and secondary. Green plants fix solar energy
and accumulate it in organic forms as chemical energy. As this is the first and the basic form of energy
storage, the rate at which the energy accumulates in the green plants or producers is known as primary
productivity.

Productivity is a rate function and is expressed in terms of dry matter produced or energy captured
per unit area of land, per unit time. It is more often expressed as energy in calories/cm2/yr or dry organic
matter in g/m2/yr (g/m2 x 8.92 = lb/acre). Hence, the productivity of different ecosystems can be easily
compared.

Primary productivity is measured in two ways: Gross Primary Productivity and Net Primary
Productivity.

The total solar energy trapped in the food material by photosynthesis is referred to as gross
primary productivity (GPP). However, a good fraction of gross primary productivity is utilized in the
respiration of green plants. The amount of energy-bound organic matter created per unit area and time that is
left after respiration is net primary productivity (NPP).

Net productivity of energy = Gross productivity — Energy lost in respiration.

The rates at which the heterotrophic organisms re-synthesize the energy-yielding substances are called
secondary productivity. Here, the net primary productivity (NPP) results in the accumulation of plant
biomass, which serves the food of herbivores and decomposers.

It is notable that the food of consumers has been produced by the primary producers, and secondary
productivity depicts only the utilization of this food for the production of consumer biomass. Secondary
productivity is the productivity of animals and saprobes in the ecosystem.

Environmental Factors Affecting Productivity in the Ecosystem:

1. Solar radiation and temperature.
2. Moisture, i.e., leaf water potential, soil moisture, fluctuation of precipitation, and transpiration.
3. Mineral nutrition, i.e., uptake of minerals from the soil, rhizosphere effects, fire effects, salinity, heavy
metals, and nitrogen metabolism.
4. Biotic activities, i.e., grazing, above-ground herbivores, below ground herbivores, predators and parasites
and diseases of primary producers.
5. Impact of human populations, i.e., populations of different sorts, ionizing radiations, such as atomic
explosions, etc.
6. In aquatic systems, productivity is generally limited by light, which decreases with increasing water
depth. In deep oceans, nutrients often become limiting for productivity. Nitrogen is the most important
nutrient limiting productivity in marine ecosystems. The largeness of primary productivity depends on the
photosynthetic capacity of producers and the existing environmental conditions, such as solar radiation,
temperature, and soil moisture. In tropical conditions, primary productivity may remain continuous
throughout the year, provided adequate soil moisture remains available. While in temperate regions, primary
productivity is limited by the cold climate and a short snow-free growing period during the year.

Classification of Natural Ecosystem

1. Terrestrial
 Forest
 Grasslands
 Deserts
2. Aquatic
 Fresh Waters
 Saline Waters
 Marine Waters

Goods and Services provided by ecosystems include:

 Purification of air and water
 Mitigation of floods and droughts
 Detoxification and decomposition of wastes
 Generation and renewal of soil and natural vegetation
 Pollination of crops and natural vegetation
 Control of the vast majority of potential agricultural pests
 Dispersal of seeds and translocation of nutrients
 Maintenance of biodiversity
 Protection from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays
 Partial stabilization of climate
 Moderation of temperature extremes and the force of winds and waves
 Support of diverse human culture
 Providing aesthetic beauty and intellectual stimulation that lift the human spirit.

Threats to Ecological Goods and Services

Because of their importance, it is extremely important to reduce the threat of irreversible damage to
our ecological systems caused by:
 Land-use change and irreversible conversion of landscapes and their ecological functions.
 Disruption of bio-geochemical cycles i.e. nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus cycles.
 Disruption of the water cycle and groundwater recharge.
 Invasion by or the introduction of exotic (non-native) organisms.
 Toxins, pollutants, and human wastes.
 Changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere and ozone depletion.
 Climate change.

Ecotone
Ecotone is a zone of the junction between two or more diverse ecosystems e.g. the mangrove forests.
They represent an ecotone between marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Some more examples of ecotone are
grassland, estuary, and riverbank.

Characteristics of Ecotone:
 It may be very narrow or quite wide.
 It has conditions intermediate to the adjacent ecosystems. Hence ecotone is a zone of tension.
 It is linear as it shows a progressive increase in species composition of one incoming community and a
simultaneous decrease in species of the other outgoing adjoining community.
 A well-developed ecotone contains some organisms which are entirely different from that of the
adjoining communities.
 Sometimes the number of species and the population density of some of the species is much greater in
this zone than either community. This is called edge effect. The organisms which occur primarily or
most abundantly in this zone are known as edge species. In the terrestrial ecosystem, the edge effect is
especially applicable to birds. For example, the density of songbirds is greater in the mixed habitat of
the ecotone between the forest and the desert.
Niche and Organism
In nature, many species occupy the same habitat, but they perform different functions. The functional
characteristic of a species in its habitat is referred to as “niche” in that common habitat. Habitat of a species
is like its ‘address’ (i.e. where it lives) whereas niche can be thought of as its “profession” (i.e. activities and
responses specific to the species).

The term niche means the sum of all the activities and relationships of a species by which it uses the
resources in its habitat for its survival and reproduction.
Or
A niche is the unique functional role or place of a species in an ecosystem.

A niche is unique for a species while many species share the habitat. No two species in a habitat can
have the same niche. This is because if two species occupy the same niche they will compete with one
another until one is displaced. For example, a large number of different species of insects may be pests of
the same plant but they can co-exist as they feed on different parts of the same plant.

Types of Niche
1. Habitat niche – where it lives
2. Food niche – what is eating or decomposes & what species it competes with
3. Reproductive niche – how and where it reproduces.
4. Physical & chemical niche – temperature, land shape, land slope, humidity, and other requirements.

Biome
The terrestrial part of the biosphere is divisible into enormous regions called biomes, which are
characterized, by climate, vegetation, animal life, and general Soil type. No two biomes are alike. The
climate determines the boundaries of the biome and abundance of plants and animals found in each one of
them. The most important climatic factors are temperature and precipitation.

Types of Biome
1. TUNDRA
 Treeless low (less than 1 m) vegetation with short perennials, water frozen.
 Typical plants include sedges, lichens, mosses, grasses, and dwarf woody plants.
 Typical animals include snowy owls, musk ox, reindeer, polar bears, and migrant birds.
 Very cold, often dry climate, but with the permanently frozen ground creating saturated soils during
summer months. Arctic Tundra is circumpolar (scanty Antarctic).

2. BOREAL FOREST (TAIGA)

 Dense evergreen needle-leafed forest.
 Typical plants include white spruce, black spruce, and jack pine.
 Typical animals include moose, black bears, wolves, and migrant birds.
 Cold winters with deep snow, but longer growing season than the tundra. The warm month average
temperature is greater than 100 C. Periodic fires are common.

3. TEMPERATE FOREST
 Dense forest with thin, broad, deciduous leaves; or rainforests typically dominated by conifers. Tall
trees with single boles creating deep shade. Understories are often sparse.
 Typical plants include maples, oaks, elms (deciduous) spruce or araucaria (rainforest).
 Typical animals include deer and squirrels.
 Freezing winters and warm, wet summers and a longer growing season than the boreal forest.
4. GRASSLANDS (STEPPE)
 Treeless vegetation less than 1 m high.
 Typical plants include grasses and members of the sunflower family. Woody plants predominate in
steppes.
 Typical animals include large grazing ungulates such as horses, buffalo, and rhinoceros.
 Cold or warm winters with growing seasons moisture too dry for trees; fires every 1- 5 years.

5. DESERT
 Sparse drought-resistant vegetation, typically spiny and with tiny leaves and photosynthetic bark.
 Typical plants include cactuses, acacias, and short-lived annuals.
 Typical animals include reptiles and ground-dwelling rodents.
 Precipitation is low (less than 250 mm/yr) and evapotranspiration high (more than 250 mm/yr).
Temperature is generally high. Fires generally are rare due to low biomass.

6. TROPICAL DECIDUOUS FOREST AND SAVANNAH

 Thorny forest, woodlands, or scattered trees, many of which loose leaves during the dry season.
 Typical plants include acacias and grasses.
 Typical animals include giraffes and elephants.
 Warm frost-free winters, hot usually-wet summers, and a pronounced dry season. Fire and grazing are
important vegetation-forming processes.

7. TROPICAL RAIN FOREST

 Dense tall evergreen forest.
 Typical plants include strangler figs and tree ferns.
 Typical animals include snakes and birds.
 Mild frost-free winters and summers with year-round rain.


AQUATIC ZONES
Aquatic systems are not called biomes; however, they are divided into distinct life zones, with regions
of relatively distinct plant and animal life. The major differences between the various aquatic zones are due
to salinity, levels of dissolved nutrients; water temperature, depth of sunlight penetration.

Types of Aquatic Ecosystem:

1. Fresh Water Ecosystem- The freshwater ecosystem is classified as lotic (moving water) or lentic (still or
stagnant water). The lotic water system includes freshwater streams, springs, rivulets, creeks, brooks, and
rivers. Lentic water bodies include pools, ponds, some swamps, bogs, and lakes. They vary considerably in
physical, chemical, and biological characteristics.

2. Marine Ecosystem – Nearly three-quarters of the earth’s surface is covered by the ocean with an average
depth of 3,750 m and with salinity 35 ppt, (parts per thousand), about 90 percent of which is sodium
chloride.

3. Estuaries – Coastal bays, river mouths, and tidal marshes from the estuaries. In estuaries, freshwater from
rivers meets ocean water and the two are mixed by the action of tides. Estuaries are highly productive as
compared to the adjacent river or sea.
Biosphere
The biosphere is a part of the earth where life can exist. The biosphere represents a highly integrated
and interacting zone comprising of the atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water) and lithosphere (land). It is a
narrow layer around the surface of the earth. If we visualize the earth to be the size of an apple the biosphere
would be as thick as its skin.

The biosphere is absent at extremes of the North and South poles, the highest mountains and the
deepest oceans since existing hostile conditions there do not support life. Occasionally spores of fungi and
bacteria do occur at a great height beyond 8,000 meters, but they are not metabolically active, and hence
represent only dormant life.

Living organisms are not uniformly distributed throughout the biosphere. Only a few organisms live
in the Polar Regions, while the tropical rain forests have an exceedingly rich diversity of plants and animals.

LIMNOLOGY
Limnology is the study of fresh or saline waters contained within continental boundaries. Limnology
and the closely related science of oceanography together cover all aquatic ecosystems. Although many
limnologists are freshwater ecologists, physical, chemical, and engineering limnologists all participate in
this branch of science. Limnology covers lakes, ponds, reservoirs, streams, rivers, wetlands, and estuaries,
while oceanography covers the open sea.

Limnology evolved into a distinct science only in the past two centuries, when improvements in
microscopes, the invention of the silk plankton net, and improvements in the thermometer combined to show
that lakes are complex ecological systems with distinct structures. Today, limnology plays a major role in
water use and distribution as well as in wildlife habitat protection.

Limnologists work on lake and reservoir management, water pollution control, and stream and river
protection, artificial wetland construction, and fish and wildlife enhancement. An important goal of
education in limnology is to increase the number of people who, although not full-time limnologists, can
understand and apply its general concepts to a broad range of related disciplines.

PRINCIPLES PERTAINING TO LIMITING FACTORS

1. Liebig’s law of the minimum
This “law” or “principle” of the minimum was formulated by Carl Sprengel, a German botanist, as
early as 1828. It became more well known when German biochemist and professor Justus von Liebig
publicized and studied it more widely starting around 1840. Liebig’s work became the foundation for
laboratory oriented teaching as its known today and earned him consideration as the “Father of the fertilizer
industry”. Simply put, Liebig’s Law of The Minimum summarizes that plant growth and health is not
controlled by the total amount of nutrients available in the soil… But instead plant growth and health is
controlled by the scarcest of the nutrients available in the soil. Liebig’s Law many times is summarized
with the icon of a leaking bucket. The factor of which is the weakest or slowest on the bucket is where the
bucket leaks. It is also described using a chain example – the weakest link in the chain is where the chain
will break.
 The “Law of the Minimum” states that growth is controlled by the scarcest resource (limiting factor).
This concept was originally applied toplant or crop growth and quantitatively supported by many
experiments. Some generalizations based on more complicated “dose-response” curves were proposed.
Violations of this law in natural and experimental ecosystems were also reported. We study models of
adaptation in ensembles of similar organisms under load of environmental factors and prove that violation of
Liebig’s law follows from adaptation effects. If the fitness of an organism in fixed environment satisfies the
law of the minimum then adaptation equalizes the pressure of essential factors and therefore actsagainst the
Liebig’s law. This is the the Law of the Minimum paradox: if for a randomly chosen pair
“organism–environment” the Law of the Minimum typically holds, then, in a well-adapted system, we have
to expect violations of this law.

1. Shelford's law of tolerance

Shelford's law of tolerance is a principle developed by American zoologist Victor Ernest Shelford in
1931. He states that the presence and success of an organism depend upon the extent to which a complex of
conditions are satisfied. The absence or failure of an organism can be controlled by the qualitative or
quantitative deficiency or excess or any one of several factors which may approach the limits of tolerance
for that organism. The abundance or distribution of an organism can be controlled by certain factors (e.g. the
climatic, topographic, and biological requirements of plants and animals) where levels of these exceed the
maximum or minimum limits of tolerance of that organism.

This law postulates that each ecological factor to which an organism responds has maximum and
minimum limiting effects between which lies a range or gradient that is now known as the limits of
tolerance. Between the lower and upper limits of tolerance lies a broad middle sector of a gradient which is
called the zone of compatibility, the zone of tolerance, the biogenetic zone or the zone of capacity
adaptation. The region at either end of the zone of compatibility is called the lethal zone or the zone of
resistance or zone of intolerance. The zone of compatibility too includes a broad range of optimum and
narrow zones of physiological stresses in between the range of optimum and lethal zones.

But inspite of all physical requirements present within the range of tolerance, organism may still fail
to survive, due to biological inter-relations. There are several other factor also. For example, organism may
have a wide range of tolerance for one factor and a narrow for another. To express the relative degree of
tolerance, a series of terms are in general use in ecology, using prefixes steno (narrow) and eury (wide).
Thus, stenothermaleurythermal (temp.); stenohydric- euryhydric (water); stenohaline- euryhaline (salinity);
stenophagiceuryphagic (food); stenoecious- euryecious (habitat selection).

Examples- Carbon dioxide is necessary for the growth of all green plants, small increase in concentration
of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will, under certain circumstances; increase the rate of plant growth, but
very considerable increases become toxic. Small additions of arsenic to the human diet actually have a tonic
effect, further increase in the dosage, however, soon proves fatal.

Species vary in their limits of tolerance to the same factor.

For example- The Atlantic salmon spends most of its adult life in the sea, but goes annually into freshwater
streams to breed. Most other marine fishes are killed quickly when placed in freshwater, as are freshwater
fishes when placed in salt water.

Some subsidiary principles to the “Law of Tolerance”

1. Organisms may have a wide range of tolerance for one factor and narrow range for another

2. Organisms with wide ranges of tolerance for all factors are likely to be most widely distributed.

3.When conditions are not optimum for a species with respect to one ecological factor, the limits of
tolerance may be reduced with respect to other ecological factors.
4. Very frequently, it is discovered that organisms in nature are not actually living at the optimum range with
regard to a particular physical factor. In such cases, some other factor/s are found to have greater
importance.
5. The period of reproduction is usually a critical period when environmental factors are most likely to be
limiting

3. Combined concept of limiting factors

The presence and success of an organism or a group of organisms depends upon a complex of
conditions. Any conditions which approaches or exceeds the limits to tolerance is said to be a limiting
condition or a limiting factor
Thus, organisms are controlled in nature by

1. the quantity and variability of materials for which there is a minimum requirement and physical factors
which are critical

2. the limits of tolerance of organisms themselves to these materials and physical factors and other
components of the environment
If an organism has a wide limit of tolerance for a factor which is relatively constant and in moderate quantity
in the environment, that factor is not likely to be limiting. Conversely, if an organism is known to have
definite limits of tolerance for a factor which is variable in the environment, then factor merits careful study,
since it might be limiting
4. Conditions of existence as regulatory factors
Light, temperature and water (rainfall) are ecologically important environmental factors on land,;
light, temperature, and salinity are the “big three” in the sea. In freshwater other factors such as oxygen may
be of major importance. In all environments the chemical nature and cycling rates of basic minerals nutrients
are major considerations. All these physical conditions of existence may not only be limiting factors in the
detrimental sense but also regulatory factors in the beneficial sense- that adapted organisms respond to these
factors in such a way that the community of organisms achieves the maximum homeostasis possible under
the conditions.

Organisms not only adapt to the physical environment in the sense of tolerating it, but they use the
natural periodiities in the physical environment to time their activities and program their life histories so as
to benefit from favorable conditions.One of the most dependable cues by which organism time their
activities in temperate zones is the day- length period, photoperiod.

Photoperiod would regulate the axis photoreceptors, central nervous system, hypothalamus pituitary
gonadotropin, ovarian estrogen secretion, oogonial proliferation and endogenous yolk formation. In some
vertebrates photoperiod acts as a chief proximate factor in the regulation of seasonal reproduction.
Photoperiod changes accurately and reliably around the year, so that animals can use this use for prediction
of seasonal changes and accordingly programme their gonadal development (Fraile et al., 1989). When
goldfish, Carassius auratus were exposed to various photoperiods at low temperatures several times in the
year it was noticed that the long photoperiods stimulated gonadal maturation only in Spring, the effect of
photoperiod on gonadal activity of goldfish, Carassius auratus vary with season.

PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS PERTAINING TO ENERGY IN ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

1.1 TROPHIC LEVEL
Trophic level is the feeding position in a food chain. All organisms in an ecosystem can be placed in
trophic levels depending on what energy source they rely upon and how they provide energy for other
organisms. With the exception of life near hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean, life is always dependent
directly or indirectly on energy from the sun. In every ecosystem, there is an organism at the lowest level
that converts energy from the sun into useable energy for other organisms. For example, phytoplankton are
photosynthesizers that provide energy for a vast number of primary consumers, which then provide energy
for secondary consumers and decomposers.
Most food webs are made up of four trophic levels, from the plants that make their own food at the
bottom level to the animals that eat other animals at the top level in a food chain. But these trophic levels are
not always simple integers, because organisms often feed at more than one trophic level. The feeding habits
of a juvenile animal, and consequently its trophic level, can change as it grows up. One example is the
bluefin tuna. Size-related shifts in the diet of bluefin tuna, obtained from isotopic data, subtly reflected trophic
levels. Tuna displayed a wide range of trophic levels, shifting from about TL 3.0 for juveniles to about TL 4.8
for adults (by using the Mediterranean trophic baseline; 3.64) or about TL 4.4 if using the Atlantic baseline.
To date, there is no information available on tuna trophic position in the Mediterranean, as highlighted by
Pinnegar et al. (2003).
Daniel Pauly sets the values of trophic levels to one (1) in plants and detritus, two (2) in herbivores
and detritivores (primary consumers), three (3) in secondary consumers, and so on. Trophic levels can be
represented by numbers, starting at level 1 with plants. Further trophic levels are numbered subsequently
according to how far the organism is along the food chain.
Level 1: Plants and algae make their own food and are called primary producers.
Level 2: Herbivores eat plants and are called primary consumers.
Level 3: Carnivores which eat herbivores are called secondary consumers.
Level 4: Carnivores which eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers.
 Level 5: Apex predators which have no predators are at the top of the food chain

Trophic levels

Due to basic principles of thermodynamics, energy is always lost to the environment any time an
organism at one trophic level uses the energy from the trophic level below. For example, the energy gained
by animals that eat phytoplankton is less than the amount of energy initially available. Every trophic level
loses energy, so trophic levels are often illustrated as a triangle with primary producers forming the base and
the top occupied by tertiary consumers, or apex predators. The primary producers yield the most profit from
the energy of the sun. By the time this energy has been transferred up to the higher trophic levels much of it
has been lost to the environment.

The Marine Biomass Pyramid

The loss of energy between trophic levels is illustrated by the pioneering studies of Howard T. Odum
in the Silver Springs, Florida, ecosystem in the 1940s. The primary producers generated 20,819 kcal/m 2/yr
(kilocalories per square meter per year), the primary consumers generated 3368 kcal/m 2/yr, the secondary
consumers generated 383 kcal/m2/yr, and the tertiary consumers only generated 21 kcal/m 2/yr. Thus, there is
little energy remaining for another level of consumers in this ecosystem.
Figure 3. The relative energy in trophic levels in a Siver Springs, Florida ecosystem. Each trophic level has
less energy available and supports fewer organisms at the next level.

The calculation and definition of the trophic level, TL, for any consumer species i is

where TLi is the fractional trophic level of the prey j, and DCij represents the fraction of j in the diet of i. In
the case of marine ecosystems, the trophic level of most fish and other marine consumers takes value
between 2.0 and 5.0. The upper value, 5.0, is unusual, even for large fish, though it occurs in apex predators
of marine mammals, such as polar bears and killer whales. There is a very definite limit to the number of
possible links in a food chain, and consequently also to the number of trophic levels in any ecosystem. The
reason for this is that only about 10 percent of the available energy is assimilated in passing from one
trophic level
The mean trophic level of the world fisheries catch has steadily declined because many high trophic
level fish, such as this tuna have been overfshed. In fisheries, the mean trophic level for the fisheries catch
across an entire area or ecosystem is calculated for year y as:

where Yiy is the catch of the species or group i in year y, and TLi is the fractional trophic level for
species i as seen earlier. It was once believed that fish at higher trophic levels usually have a higher
economic value; resulting in overfishing at the higher trophic levels. Earlier reports found precipitous
declines in mean trophic level of fisheries catch, in a process known as fishing down the food web.

Trophic level calculation

 True production of organic matter takes place only in the chlorophyll possessing plants and certain
synthetic bacteria, and this has been referred to as the primary production Only a very small portion of the
light energy absorbed by green plants that is transformed into food energy (gross production) because most
of it is dispersed as heat. Furthermore, some of the synthesized gross production is used by the plants in their
own respiratory processes (respiratory losses, leaving a still smaller amount of potential energy (net
production) available for transfer to the next trophic level.

LINEAR AND NON-LINEAR FOOD CHAIN

Linear food chains are the ones in which oscillations at one trophic level induce oscillations at the
next level. The overall dynamics is determined by coupling of these two oscillations: one original and other
induced. In non-linear food chain both oscillations are independent and represent intrinsic system dynamics.
The simplest case is a linear pelagic food chain or web of 5 organisms, with no link to sediment, with
phytoplankton at the base and with simple defined predator prey relationships; species 2 having an exclusive
diet of species 1, species 3 having an exclusive diet of 2, etc. The phytoplankton compartment is assigned,
by definition, a TL of 1 and TLs increase by integers of 1.0 to TL of 5 for trout. The user can address more
complex omnivorous food webs by assigning dietary preferences to organisms 2 to 5 in the form of a
feeding matrix, the non-linear food chain.

A) Linear pelagic food chain, B) Non-linear pelagic omnivorous food web assuming dietary preference is
50% when consuming two different organisms.

Food webs as complex food chains

Food web is an important ecological concept. Basically, food web represents feeding relationships
within a community (Smith and Smith 2009). It also implies the transfer of food energy from its source in
plants through herbivores to carnivores (Krebs 2009). 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.
The basic difference between food chain and food web is that flow of energy is in linear direction in
food chain while in food web it is in multiple directions. A food chain differs from a food web, because the
complex network of different animals’ feeding relations are aggregated and the chain only follows a direct,
linear pathway of one animal at a time.
 Food web and Food chain

Differences between Food chain and Food web

Food Chain
 Food chain indicates the flow of energy in the ecosystem in one linear direction
 Nutrients and energy are passed from one trophic level to the next
 The eater at the higher trophic level feeds on a single type of organism of the lower trophic level
 Isolated and separate food chains results in instability in the ecosystem, that is, when on organism is
removed from the food chain energy and nutrient flow is hampered
 Food chains have no implications for improving the competitiveness and adaptability of the organisms
in the ecosystem because food energy travels in a single pathway
Food Web
 Food web indicates the feeding relationship between other organisms in different directions
 Food web represents the number of interconnected food chains by which nutrients and energy flow in
the entire ecosystem
 The eater at the higher trophic level feeds on several types of organism of the lower trophic levels
 Because the food web is complex and interlinked, isolation of a single organism category doesn’t
hamper ecosystem stability. Thus, food webs often increase ecosystem stability
 Since food webs are complex and interlinked, they can significantly improve competitiveness and
adaptability of organisms in the ecosystem

Food webs describe the relationships — links or connections — among species in an ecosystem, but the
relationships vary in their importance to energy flow and dynamics of species populations. Some trophic
relationships are more important than others in dictating how energy flows through ecosystems. Some
connections are more influential on species population change. Based on different ways in which species
influence one another, Robert Paine proposed three types of food webs based on the species of a rocky
intertidal zone on the coast of Washington (Ricklefs 2008). Connectedness webs (or topological food webs)
emphasize feeding relationships among species, portrayed as links in a food web (Paine 1980). Energy flow
webs quantify energy flow from one species to another. Thickness of an arrow reflects the strength of the
relationship. Functional webs (or interaction food webs) represent the importance of each species in
maintaining the integrity of a community and reflect influence on the growth rate of other species'
populations. Limpets Acmaea pelta and A. mitra in the community consume considerable food energy
(energy flow web), but removal of these consumers has no detectable influence on the abundance of their
resources (functional web). The most effective control was exerted by sea urchin Stronglocentrotus and the
chiton Katharina (Ricklefs 2008).

Three types of food web diagrams based on species of a rocky intertidal zone on the coat of Washington

A common metric used to quantify food web trophic structure is food chain length. In its simplest form, the
length of a chain is the number of links between a trophic consumer and the base of the web and the mean
chain length of an entire web is the arithmetic average of the lengths of all chains in a food web.

Trophic fluxes/transfers
Ecosystems maintain themselves by cycling energy and nutrients obtained from external sources. At
the first trophic level, primary producers (plants, algae, and some bacteria) use solar energy to produce
organic plant material through photosynthesis. Herbivores—animals that feed solely on plants—make up the
second trophic level. Predators that eat herbivores comprise the third trophic level; if larger predators are
present, they represent still higher trophic levels. Organisms that feed at several trophic levels (for example,
grizzly bears that eat berries and salmon) are classified at the highest of the trophic levels at which they feed.
Decomposers, which include bacteria, fungi, molds, worms, and insects, break down wastes and dead
organisms and return nutrients to the soil.
On average about 10 percent of net energy production at one trophic level is passed on to the next
level. Processes that reduce the energy transferred between trophic levels include respiration, growth and
reproduction, defecation, and nonpredatory death (organisms that die but are not eaten by consumers). The
nutritional quality of material that is consumed also influences how efficiently energy is transferred, because
consumers can convert high-quality food sources into new living tissue more efficiently than low-quality
food sources.
The low rate of energy transfer between trophic levels makes decomposers generally more important
than producers in terms of energy flow. Decomposers process large amounts of organic material and return
nutrients to the ecosystem in inorganic form, which are then taken up again by primary producers. Energy is
not recycled during decomposition, but rather is released, mostly as heat (this is what makes compost piles
and fresh garden mulch warm). Figure 6 shows the flow of energy (dark arrows) and nutrients (light arrows)
through ecosystems.
 Energy and nutrient transfer through ecosystems

An ecosystem's gross primary productivity (GPP) is the total amount of organic matter that it
produces through photosynthesis. Net primary productivity (NPP) describes the amount of energy that
remains available for plant growth after subtracting the fraction that plants use for respiration. Productivity
in land ecosystems generally rises with temperature up to about 30°C, after which it declines, and is
positively correlated with moisture. On land primary productivity thus is highest in warm, wet zones in the
tropics where tropical forest biomes are located. In contrast, desert scrub ecosystems have the lowest
productivity because their climates are extremely hot and dry.

Terrestrial net primary productivity

In the oceans, light and nutrients are important controlling factors for productivity. In oceans light
penetrates only into the uppermost level of the oceans, so photosynthesis occurs in surface and near-surface
waters. Marine primary productivity is high near coastlines and other areas where upwelling brings nutrients
to the surface, promoting plankton blooms. Runoff from land is also a source of nutrients in estuaries and
along the continental shelves. Among aquatic ecosystems, algal beds and coral reefs have the highest net
primary production, while the lowest rates occur in the open due to a lack of nutrients in the illuminated
surface layers.
 Ocean net primary productivity, 1997-2002

How many trophic levels can an ecosystem support? The answer depends on several factors,
including the amount of energy entering the ecosystem, energy loss between trophic levels, and the form,
structure, and physiology of organisms at each level. At higher trophic levels, predators generally are
physically larger and are able to utilize a fraction of the energy that was produced at the level beneath them,
so they have to forage over increasingly large areas to meet their caloric needs.
Because of these energy losses, most terrestrial ecosystems have no more than five trophic levels,
and marine ecosystems generally have no more than seven. This difference between terrestrial and marine
ecosystems is likely due to differences in the fundamental characteristics of land and marine primary
organisms. In marine ecosystems, microscopic phytoplankton carry out most of the photosynthesis that
occurs, while plants do most of this work on land. Phytoplankton are small organisms with extremely simple
structures, so most of their primary production is consumed and used for energy by grazing organisms that
feed on them. In contrast, a large fraction of the biomass that land plants produce, such as roots, trunks, and
branches, cannot be used by herbivores for food, so proportionately less of the energy fixed through primary
production travels up the food chain.
Growth rates may also be a factor. Phytoplankton are extremely small but grow very rapidly, so they
support large populations of herbivores even though there may be fewer algae than herbivores at any given
moment. In contrast, land plants may take years to reach maturity, so an average carbon atom spends a
longer residence time at the primary producer level on land than it does in a marine ecosystem. In addition,
locomotion costs are generally higher for terrestrial organisms compared to those in aquatic environments.
The simplest way to describe the flux of energy through ecosystems is as a food chain in which
energy passes from one trophic level to the next, without factoring in more complex relationships between
individual species. Some very simple ecosystems may consist of a food chain with only a few trophic levels.
For example, the ecosystem of the remote wind-swept Taylor Valley in Antarctica consists mainly of
bacteria and algae that are eaten by nematode worms. More commonly, however, producers and consumers
are connected in intricate food webs with some consumers feeding at several trophic levels.

Lake Michigan food web

 An important consequence of the loss of energy between trophic levels is that contaminants collect in
animal tissues—a process called bioaccumulation. As contaminants bioaccumulate up the food web,
organisms at higher trophic levels can be threatened even if the pollutant is introduced to the environment in
very small quantities.
The insecticide DDT, which was widely used in the United States from the 1940s through the 1960s,
is a famous case of bioaccumulation. DDT built up in eagles and other raptors to levels high enough to affect
their reproduction, causing the birds to lay thin-shelled eggs that broke in their nests. Fortunately,
populations have rebounded over several decades since the pesticide was banned in the United States.
However, problems persist in some developing countries where toxic bioaccumulating pesticides are still
used.
Bioaccumulation can threaten humans as well as animals. For example, in the United States many
federal and state agencies currently warn consumers to avoid or limit their consumption of large predatory
fish that contain high levels of mercury, such as shark, swordfish, tilefish, and king mackerel, to avoid
risking neurological damage and birth defects.

Pyramidal structure of biomass

A pyramid of biomass is a more accurate indication of how much energy is passed on at each trophic
level. Biomass is the mass of living material in each organism multiplied by the total number of organisms in
that trophic level. This makes it easier to compare the food value of a small number of large organisms with a
large number of small organisms. Pyramids of biomass usually are a true pyramid shape (each level is smaller
than the one below it).
The biomass in each trophic level is always less than the trophic level below. This is because biomass
is a measure of the amount of food available. When animals eat, only a small proportion of their food is
converted into new tissue, which is the food for the next trophic level. Most of the biomass that animals eat is
either not digested, or used to provide the energy needed for staying alive.

Pyramid of biomass shows sharp decrease in biomass at higher trophic levels

Pyramid of biomass is usually determined by collecting all organisms occupying each trophic level
separately and measuring their dry weight. This overcomes the size difference problem because all kinds of
organisms at a trophic level are weighed. Biomass is measured in g/m 2. The biomass of a species is
expressed in terms of fresh or dry weight. Measurement of biomass in terms of dry weight is more accurate.
Each trophic level has a certain mass of living material at a particular time called as the standing crop. The
standing crop is measured as the mass of living organisms (biomass) or the number in a unit area.

Pyramid of Biomass – Upright

 For most ecosystems on land, the pyramid of biomass has a large base of primary producers with a
smaller trophic level perched on top. The biomass of producers (autotrophs) is at the maximum. The
biomass of next trophic level i.e. primary consumers is less than the producers. The biomass of next higher
trophic level i.e. secondary consumers is less than the primary consumers. The top, high trophic level has
very less amount of biomass.

Pyramid of Biomass – Inverted

Inverted pyramid of biomass-small standing crop of phytoplankton supports large standing crop

In contrast, in many aquatic ecosystems, the pyramid of biomass may assume an inverted form.
Pyramid of numbers for aquatic ecosystem is upright. This is because the producers are tiny phytoplankton
that grow and reproduce rapidly. Here, the pyramid of biomass has a small base, with the consumer biomass
at any instant actually exceeding the producer biomass and the pyramid assumes inverted shape.

Inverted pyramid in an aquatic ecosystem

Trophic cascades
Trophic cascades are predator and prey interactions; as a predator population increases, it will in turn
affect prey population number 1 by decreasing the population, than prey number 1’s food source will
increase. For example as orca populations increase their prey, sea otters, population will decrease; than
leaving room for the sea otter’s prey population to increase which are sea urchins. Sea urchins in this case
will be the primary consumers to the producers, kelp; kelp abundance will decrease. This is a trophic cascade
as well as trophic interactions. The trophic interactions are the ways organisms within a food web interact,
their connections to each other by predator and prey relationships. Studying trophic cascades are important;
understanding the anthropogenic affects of removing a trophic level by hunting and/or fishing a species that is
a part of the food web can have dramatic affects on trophic interactions

Trophic cascade

Top-Down Cascade
A top-down cascade is the trophic cascade of the removal of top predators that can be either the quaternary
and/or tertiary consumer, can cause shifts and changes in abundance in primary consumers and
producers. This disrupts the natural order of the trophic cascade; in the orca example if orca population
decline greatly than sea otter population increase declining sea urchin populations. But if sea otter population
is decrease orca population will also decrease because their food source is dwindle, although sea urchin
populations will increase.
 Top-down cascade; arrow thickness is relative to Top-down cascade; arrow thickness is relative to
population abundance. population abundance.

Bottom-Up Cascade
A bottom-up cascade is the removal of either primary consumer and/or producers. Using the same
example, when kelp abundance decreases that limits the food source to sea urchin which will have a decline in
their population. Sea otters depend greatly on sea urchins as a food source, when sea urchin population
decrease there will be a decline in sea otter population. This type of trophic cascade of bottom-up affects
every member of the food chain community.

Bottom-up cascade, arrow thickness is relative to population abundance

Trophic cascades are important they are a natural population control between species.
Anthropogenic additions deviates the natural abundance of species population that many species are seen
today as endangered to very rare to finally extinct.

Community Interactions
A community is the biotic part of an ecosystem. It consists of all the populations of all the species in
the same area. It also includes their biological interactions, the interactions between different organisms in
an environment. Species interactions in communities are important factors in natural selection. They help
shape the evolution of the interacting species. All living things depend on their environment to supply them
with what they need, including food, water, and shelter. Their environment consists of physical
factors—such as soil, air, and temperature—and also of other organisms. An organism is an individual living
thing. Many living things interact with other organisms in their environment. In fact, they may need other
organisms in order to survive. This is known as interdependence. For example, living things that cannot
make their own food must eat other organisms for food. Other interactions between living things include
predation, competition, and symbiosis. Predation Predation is a relationship in which members of one
species (the predator) consume members of another species (the prey). The lions and buffalo are classic
examples of predators and prey. In addition to the lions, there is another predator in this figure. The other
predator is the buffalo. Like the lion, it consumes prey species, in this case species of grass. However, unlike
the lions, the buffalo does not kill its prey. Predator-prey relationships such as these account for most energy
transfers in food chains and food webs.

Predation and Population

A predator-prey relationship tends to keep the populations of both species in balance. As the prey
population increases, there is more food for predators. So, after a slight lag, the predator population
increases as well. As the number of predators increases, more prey are captured. As a result, the prey
population starts to decrease. What happens to the predator population then?

Keystone Species
Some predator species are known as keystone species. A keystone species is one that plays an
especially important role in its community. Major changes in the numbers of a keystone species affect the
populations of many other species in the community. For example, some sea star species are keystone
species in coral reef communities. The sea stars prey on mussels and sea urchins, which have no other
natural predators. If sea stars were removed from a coral reef community, mussel and sea urchin populations
would have explosive growth. This, in turn, would drive out most other species. In the end, the coral reef
community would be destroyed. Adaptations to Predation Both predators and prey have adaptations to
predation that evolve through natural selection. Predator adaptations help them capture prey. Prey
adaptations help them avoid predators. A common adaptation in both predator and prey is camouflage.
Camouflage in prey helps them hide from predators. Camouflage in predators helps them sneak up on prey.

Competition
Competition is a relationship between organisms that strive for the same resources in the same place.
The resources might be food, water, or space. Competition occurs whenever they both try to get the same
resources in the same place and at the same time. The two organisms are likely to come into conflict, and the
organism with better adaptations may win out over the other organism. There are two different types of
competition:
1. Intraspecific competition occurs between members of the same species. For example, two male
birds of the same species might compete for mates in the same area. This type of competition is a basic
factor in natural selection. It leads to the evolution of better adaptations within a species.

2. Interspecific competition occurs between members of different species. For example, predators of
different species might compete for the same prey.
Interspecific Competition and Extinction
Interspecific competition, in ecology, is a form of competition in which individuals of different
species compete for the same resource in an ecosystem (e.g. food or living space). If a tree species in a dense
forest grows taller than surrounding tree species, it is able to absorb more of the incoming sunlight.
However, less sunlight is then available for the trees that are shaded by the taller tree, thus interspecific
competition. Cheetahs and lions can also be in interspecific competition, since both species feed on the same
prey, and can be negatively impacted by the presence of the other because they will have less food.

Competition is only one of many interacting biotic and abiotic factors that affect community structure.
Moreover, competition is not always a straightforward, direct, interaction. Interspecific competition may
occur when individuals of two separate species share a limiting resource in the same area. If the resource
cannot support both populations, then lowered fecundity, growth, or survival may result in at least one
species. Interspecific competition has the potential to alter populations, communities and the evolution of
interacting species. On an individual organism level, competition can occur as interference or exploitative
competition. Direct competition has been observed between individuals, populations and species, but there is
little evidence that competition has been the driving force in the evolution of large groups. Many studies
have shown major impacts on both individuals and populations from interspecific competition.

Documentation of these impacts has been found in species from every major branch of organism.
The effects of interspecific competition can also reach communities and can even influence the evolution of
species as they adapt to avoid competition. This evolution may result in the exclusion of a species in the
habitat, niche separation, and local extinction. The changes of these species over time can also change
communities as other species must adapt. Intraspecific Competition and Specialization Intraspecific
competition is an interaction in population ecology, whereby members of the same species compete for
limited resources. This leads to a reduction in fitness for both individuals. By contrast, interspecific
competition occurs when members of different species compete for a shared resource. Members of the same
species have very similar resources requirements whereas different species have a smaller contested resource
overlap, resulting in intraspecific competition generally being a stronger force than interspecific
competition. Individuals can compete for food, water, space, light, mates or any other resource which is
required for survival. The resource must be limited for competition to occur; if every member of the species
can obtain a sufficient amount of every resource then individuals do not compete and the population grows
exponentially.

Exponential growth is very rare in nature because resources are finite and so not every individual in a
population can survive, leading to intraspecific competition for the scarce resources. Sometimes competition
between individuals of the same species can lead to specialization. Specialization allows competing
individuals to continue to survive. Figure 9.27 on the next page explains how anole lizards specialized in
order to survive. Intraspecific competition does not just involve direct interactions between members of the
same species (such as male deer locking horns when competing for mates) but can also include indirect
interactions where an individual depletes a shared resource (such as a grizzly bear catching a salmon that
can then no longer be eaten by bears at different points along a river). The way in which resources are
partitioned by organisms also varies and can be split into scramble and contest competition. Scramble
competition involves a relatively even distribution of resources among a population as all individuals exploit
a common resource pool. In contrast, contest competition is the uneven distribution of resources and occurs
when hierarchies in a population influence the amount of resource each individual receives. Organisms in
the most prized territories or at the top of the hierarchies obtain a sufficient quantity of the resources,
whereas individuals without a territory do not obtain any of the resource.
Symbiosis
The term symbiosis comes from a Greek word that means “living together”. Symbiosis can be used
to describe various types of close relationships between organisms of different species, such as mutualism
and commensalism, which are relationships in which neither organism is harmed. Symbiosis can also be
used to describe relationships where one organism lives on or in another, called parasitism.

Mutualism
Mutualism is a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit. An example of mutualism involves
goby fish and shrimp (see Figure 9.28). The nearly blind shrimp and the fish spend most of their time
together. The shrimp maintains a burrow in the sand in which both the fish and shrimp live. When a predator
comes near, the fish touches the shrimp with its tail as a warning. Then, both fish and shrimp retreat to the
burrow until the predator is gone. From their relationship, the shrimp gets a warning of approaching danger.
The fish gets a safe retreat and a place to lay its eggs

Commensalism
Commensalism is a symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits while the other species is not
affected. One species typically uses the other for a purpose other than food. For example, mites attach
themselves to larger flying insects to get a ‘‘free ride.” Hermit crabs use the shells of dead snails for homes.
Clown fish live with sea anemones for protection from predators and the sea anemone is neither helped nor
harmed (Figure 9.29). If you saw the movie Finding Nemo, then you probably recognize this fish. It’s
known as a clownfish, and it’s swimming near the tentacles of an animal called a sea anemone. The sea
anemone kills prey by injecting poison with its tentacles. For some reason, the anemone doesn’t harm the
clownfish, perhaps because the fish has a coating of mucus that helps disguise it. But why does the
clownfish ‘‘hang out” with the sea anemone? One reason is for the food. The clownfish eats the remains of
the anemone’s prey after it finishes feeding. Another reason is safety. The clownfish is safe from predators
when it’s near the anemone. Predators are scared away by the anemone’s poison tentacles. In return, the
clownfish helps the anemone catch food by attracting prey with its bright colors. Its feces also provide
nutrients to the anemone. The clownfish and anemone are just one example of the diverse ways that living
things may help each other in nature.

Parasitism
Parasitism is a symbiotic relationship in which one species (the parasite) benefits while the other
species (the host) is harmed. Many species of animals are parasites, at least during some stage of their life.
Most species are also hosts to one or more parasites. Some parasites live on the surface of their host. Others
live inside their host. They may enter the host through a break in the skin or in food or water. For example,
roundworms are parasites of mammals, including humans, cats, and dogs. The worms produce huge
numbers of eggs, which are passed in the host’s feces to the environment. Other individuals may be infected
by swallowing the eggs in contaminated food or water Some parasites kill their host, but most do not. It’s
easy to see why. If a parasite kills its host, the parasite is also likely to die. Instead, parasites usually cause
relatively minor damage to their host.

CLOSURE
Congratulations! You did a great Job! You have finished the activities and tasks for Lesson 1. Good Luck!
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Kimberly Hatch Harrison .2020. Properties of Water. , Socratica, LLC. A

Odum, E.P. and Barrett, G.W., 1971. Fundamentals of ecology (Vol. 3, p. 5). Philadelphia: Saunders.

Olwyn F. undated. MANITOBA ENVIROTHON AQUATIC ECOLOGY PROVINCIAL

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