Evolution, Biological

Communities, and
Species
Environmental Science and Engineering
ECE 2013
 Reporters

Abbey Bringquez April Rose Garcia

John Darell Fabillar Renz Reniel Kalaw

 Reporters

Nib Owen Lat John Steven Lindog Khyle Monterola

 Species diversity
Species interactions
Community properties
Dynamic communities
 Evolution Produces
Species Diversity
Each species adapts to their
environment. All organisms need
to adapt to their habitat to be
able to survive.
ADAPTATION
● It is an interrelated phenomena
to evolution. One of the most
important concept in Biology.

● The acquisition of traits that allow a

species to survive in its environment.
Over the course of time, species
modify their phenotypes in ways that
permit them to succeed in their
environment.
How Polar Bears have adapted to
their environment.

Polar bears have ahave

Polar bears layeraoflayer
thickoffur
thick fur
and a and
layeraoflayer
fat under its skinitsforskin for
of fat under
insulation against
insulation the cold.
against the cold.
How Camels have adapted
to their environment.
How Camels have adapted to the dessert.
 2 Ways of using the
term “Adapt”
When an individual organism can respond
Acclimation immediately to a changing environment.

Passed from generation to generation and

allow a species to live more successfully in its
Genetic traits environment. This process of adaptation to
environment is explained by the theory of
evolution.
Acclimation
A reversible short term change to
the body to help adapt to changes
to the environment.

An example of how an organism must

acclimate is setting up an aquarium for
a pet fish. The water that the fish is
packaged in has different temperature,
pH, and salinity parameters than your
aquarium. It is recommended to
acclimate the fish so it can adjust to its
new environment.
 2 Ways of using the
term “Adapt”
When an individual organism can respond
Acclimation immediately to a changing environment.

Passed from generation to generation and

allow a species to live more successfully in its
Genetic traits environment. This process of adaptation to
environment is explained by the theory of
evolution.
Genetic traits
Evolution Natural Selection Mutations
Changes to the DNA coding
Species change over
The process of better-selected individuals sequence of individuals that
generations
passing their occurs occasionally, and the
because individuals compete
traits to the next generation. changed sequences are
for scarce resources.
inherited by offspring.

Darwin defined evolution as Because resources are limited in nature, Mutations can result from
"descent with modification," organisms with heritable traits that favor errors in DNA replication
the idea that species change survival and reproduction will tend to during cell division, exposure
over time, give rise to new leave more offspring than their peers, to mutagens or a viral
species, and share a causing the traits to increase in infection.
common ancestor. frequency over generations.
 Natural Selection Mutations

Over time the smaller giraffes will die off and the new Polydactyly
offspring will be adapted to the environment with
longer necks and being taller than the last generation
that has died.
Limiting factors
of species
Species have limitations in where they can live. These limiting factors are:

1. Physiological stress due to inappropriate levels of some critical

environmental factors, such as moisture, light, temperature, pH, or
specific nutrients.
2. Competition with other species.
3. Predation, including parasitism and disease.
4. Luck.
Critical Factor
According to the chemist Justus von Liebig (1840), the single factor in shortest supply
relative to demand is the critical factor determining where a species lives.

Temperature, moisture level, nutrient supply, soil and water chemistry, living space, and
other environmental factors must be at appropriate levels for organisms to persist.
Tolerance Limits

Victor Shelford
(1877-1968)
● He is a ecologist who expanded
Leibig’s principle
● He stated that each environmental
factor has both minimum and
maximum levels, called tolerance
limits, beyond which particular
species cannot survive resonable to
reproduce
Tolerance Limits
● The single-factor closest to the survival limits is the critical factor that
limits for a particular organisms can live.
● In some species, tolerance limits affect the distribution of young
differently than they affect adult.
Ecological Niche
● It describes both the role played by a species
in a biological community and the set of
environmental factors that determine its
distribution.
Charles Elton
(1900-1991)
● A british ecologist who defined the concept of niche
in 1927.
● according to him each species had a role in
community of species, and the services are provided
to its community
 G. E. Hutchinson
(1903–1991)
● The American limnologist who, thirty years later,
proposed a more biophysical definition of niche.
● According to him, every species exists within a
range of physical and chemical conditions such as
temperature, light levels, acidity, humidity, or salinity.
It also exists within a set of biological interactions
such as predators and prey present, defenses, or
nutritional resources available.
Generalists – species that
tolerate a wide range of
conditions or exploit a wide
range of resources.

Specialists – species that

have a narrow ecological
niche
Speciation
The development of a new species
 2 kinds of Speciation
A kind of speciation that occurs when
Allopatric Speciation species are geographically sundered

It is when the species’ habitats have

Geographic Isolation great distance that interbreeding could
not occur.

Is a kind of speciation where it only

Sympatric Speciation occurs in one location.

Occurs when two identical species

Behavioral Isolation cannot interbreed due to differences in
behaviors.
Sympatric Speciation
Mercury is the closest planet to the
Natural heritage Sun and the smallest one of them all

Jupiter is a gas giant and the biggest

Firefly habitat planet in the Solar System

Venus has a beautiful name and is

Festival venue the second planrom the Sun
Taxonomy

Binomials
It is used to Identify and
describe species using
Latin l
 Species
Interaction
Competition
Competition
concept
A type of antagonistic relationship
within a biological community.
Defining Competition:
● Organisms compete for resources that are in limited
supply such as energy and matter in usable forms,
living space, and specific sites to carry out life’s
activities.

● Competition shapes a species population and

biological community by causing individuals and
species to shift their focus from one segment of a
resource type to another.
Types of Competition
Intraspecific Interspecific
Intraspecific Competition
competition among members of the same
species.

Interspecific Competition
competition between members of different
species.
Predator
Predator
concept
Any organism that feeds directly on
another living organism, whether or not
this kills the prey.
 Defining Predator:
● Herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores, which feed on
live prey, are predators.

● Predation is a powerful but complex influence on

species populations in
communities.
 Types of Predator
01 02 03

Herbivores Carnivores Omnivores

An Herbivore is an A carnivore is an organism An omnivore is an organism

organism that mostly feeds that mostly eats meat, or the that eats plants and animals.
on plants flesh of animals.
Predation affects:
1. All stages in the life cycles of predator and prey
species.

2. Many specialized food-obtaining mechanisms.

3. The evolutionary adjustments in behavior and body characteristics that

help prey avoid being eaten and help predators more efficiently catch
their prey.
 Symbiosis
● Two or more species
live intimately
together, with their
fates linked.
● Symbiotic
relationships often
enhance the survival
of one or both
partners.
 Types of Symbiosis
Mutualism

● type of symbiosis in which both members’ benefits.

● involves a close physical association in the long-term between participants
(Angelard & Bever, 2013)
e.g. Lichens
 Types of Symbiosis
Commensalism

● type of symbiosis in which one member clearly benefits and the other apparently
is neither benefited nor harmed.
e.g. Remoras and sharks
 Types of Symbiosis
Parasitism

● a form predation may also be considered symbiosis because of the dependency

of the parasite on its host.
e.g. Tropical ants (Cephalotes atratus) and a parasitic roundworm
 Types of Symbiosis
Endosymbiosis

● one species living inside another one.

e.g. Relationship between Rhizobium and the plant legumes
 Types of Symbiosis
Ectosymbiosis

● one species living on the surface of the other species.

e.g. Head lice in humans
 Keystone Species
● Plays a critical role in a biological community that is out of proportion to its
abundance.
● Thought to be the top predators like lions, wolves, and tigers that limited
herbivore abundance and reduced the herbivory of plants.
● Scientists now recognize that less-conspicuous species also play keystone roles.
e.g. Sea otter which eats sea urchins
 Species
Interaction
● Competition leads to resource
allocation.
● Predation is an important type of
selective pressure.
● Symbiosis benefits both species
involved.
● Species interact and thus affect one
another.
● It can be direct / indirect
e.g. Giraffe eating the leaves of a tree
Community
Properties
Community Properties
● Primary Productivity - rate of biomass
production. Used as an indication of the
rate of the solar energy conversion to
chemical energy.
➢ Net Primary Productivity - energy
left after respiration.
Extremely High
Productivity System:

Tropical rainforest

Coral reefs
 Community Properties
Abundance and Diversity
● Abundance - total number of organisms in a
community
● Diversity - number of different species, ecological niches, or
genetic variation
❖ Abundance of a particular species is often inversely related
to community diversity.
❖ As a general rule, diversity decreases and abundance
within species increases when moving from the equator to
the poles.
Abundance Diversity
 Community Properties
Ecological structure - refers to patterns of spatial
distribution of individuals and populations within
a community, as well as the relation of a particular
community to its surroundings.
Ecological structure
Resilience and
Stability
● Stability is the ability of a system to return to
the same equilibrium state after a temporary
disturbance.

● Resilience is the ability of system to absorb

change and disturbance, and still maintain the
same relationships between populations or
state variables.
Robert MacArthur
● Robert Helmer MacArthur was a Canadian-born
American ecologist who made a major impact on
many areas of community and population ecology.

● He proposed a measure of community stability

that was related to the complexity of an
ecosystem's food web. He stated that ecosystem
stability increased as the number of interactions
(complexity) between the different species within
the ecosystem also increased.
 Three Kinds of
Stability or Resiliency
in ecosystems
1. Constancy - lack of fluctuation in
composition or function.

2. Inertia - resistance to
perturbations.

3. Renewal - ability to repair damage

after disturbance.
 Edges and Boundaries
● The boundary between one
habitat and its neighbors is an
important aspect of community
structure. These relationships
are called edge effects.

● The edge of a patch of habitat is

sometimes relatively sharp and
distinct.
 ● In moving from a woodland patch into a grassland or cultivated
field, you sense a dramatic change from the cool, dark, quiet
forest interior to the windy, sunny, warmer, open space of the
meadow.

Woodland Patch Grassland

● In other cases, one habitat type
intergrades very gradually into
another, so there is no distinct
border.

● Ecotones are what ecologists call the

boundaries between adjacent
communities.
● Closed Community - a community that is
sharply divided from its neighbors.
● Open Community - a community with
gradual or indistinct boundaries over
which many species cross.
 Community Properties
● Productivity is a measure of
biological activity.

● Abundance and diversity measure

the number and variety of organisms.

● Resilience and stability make

communities resistant to disturbance.
Dynamic and
Changing
Communities
Dynamic and Changing
Communities
● Some biological communities are
dependent on periodic disturbance.

● Introduced species can cause profound

community change.
 Ecological Succession
Climax Community is the community that developed last and lasted the longest.
 Ecological Succession is the history of community development. When a
succession occurs, organisms occupy a site and change the environmental conditions.

2 kinds of succession:

Primary succession - Land that is Secondary succession - When an existing

bare of soil (a sandbar, mudslide, rock face, community is disturbed, a new one develops from the
and volcanic flow) is colonized by living biological legacy of the old.
organisms where none lived before.
 Disturbances

Landslides Wildfires
Introduced Species

Occurs when new species travel to another habitat

thus changing the community.

Also when an introduced species preys upon the

natives of the community the nature of the food
chain can be completely altered.
Evolution, Biological
Communities, and
Species
Environmental Science and Engineering
ECE 2013