Environment and Ecology

ENVIRONMENT and ECOLOGY

Environment Everything that surrounds or affects an organism during its lifetime is collectively
known as its environment

Ecosystem Ecosystem is like functional unit of nature where living organisms (producer,
consumer, decomposer) interact with each other and also with the physical
environment
Ecology The study of interactions between organism with and their surroundings in an
ecosystem

The interaction of organisms with biotic and non biotic components shapes HABITAT and
ECOSYSTEM

HABITAT: It is the physical environment in which an organism lives. Many habitats together
joins to form environment
A same habitat can be occupied by multiple organism.Ex: a pond occupied by
fish,frog,crab,etc

Habitat v/s Environment

A habitat always has life in it, whereas the
environment may have no life in it.

All habitats are environment, but all

environments are not habitat

ECOLOGY The term ecology was derived from two Greek words ‘Oikos’ meaning home &
‘logos’ meaning study
It is the branch of biology which studies the relationships of the living organism
with each other (energy flow & mineral cyclings) and with their environment
 TYPES of ECOLOGY

Autecology Molecular Ecology

Synecology Organismal Ecology

Global Ecology Population Ecology

Landscape Ecology Community Ecology

Ecosystem Ecology

1.Autecology It is concerned with the study of individual organism or the population

of individual organism in relation to the environment.

2.Synecology
it is the study of communities of individual organisms in relation to the
environment.

3.Global Ecology the study of how ecosystem on earth interact with the
geosphere,hydrosphere and atmosphere is known as global ecology. This
study helps in understanding the effects of climate change

4.Landscape Ecology it deals with the flow of materials, organisms,energy and other
ecological byproducts. The influence of human activity on its structure
and functions of the landscape

5.Ecosystem Ecology The study of interactions between biotic & abiotic elements within an
ecosystem framework is known as ecosystem ecology.And these
interactions accomplish the continuance of life on earth

6.Community Ecology It is made up of two or more population of different species, living in

a particular geographical area .and it studies how the communities
structure gets modified with the interaction among living organisms

7.Population Ecology It deals with the process that affect the distribution and
abundance of population of different species in the same area of at
a particular time.For example high population density of certain
species or reasons for extinction of the species
8.Organismal Ecology. The study of individual organisms, behaviour, morphology, physiology,
etc i.e in response to environmental challenges.For example, desert
lizard taking shelter in shadows
9.Molecular ecology It focuses on the study of production of various molecules and how
these molecules normally affect the organisms and their environment is
called molecular ecology. For example, DNA forms M RNA by
transcription and by translation proteins gets formed from mRNA.

Ecological hierarchy

It refers to the organisation of biological system into

levels of increasing complexity from individual organism to
the biosphere

Individual An organism is an individual living being

that can act or function independently

Species These are group of laying organisms

consisting of similar invisible capable of
exchanging genes (interbreeding).For
example, homo sapiens

Population It is a community of interbreeding organism

(same species) occupying a defined area
during a specific time
Pugmarks foot imprints left by animals helps
in knowing their
-> presence
-> identification of individual animal
-> population
-> sex ratio and age of large cats can be determined from pugmarks

Community Communities are named after the dominant plant form(species).For example a
grassland community is dominated by grasses, though it may v contain herbs,
shrubs , trees ,etc
Community

Major Community Minor Community

They are large size to organised They depend on neighbouring and
independent communities, they only major communities for energy and
depend on the sun energy or example, nutrient dynamics. They are often
tropical evergreen forest called societies for example, a met of
lichen on a cow dung
Ecosystem It constitutes habits of various species interacting with each other as well as with
the environment, such that energy is exchanged and cycling of elements keeps on
going

Biome The test part of the bias where is TV visible into enormous reason called biome,
which are characterised by
-climate
-vegetation
-General soil type
-Animal life
()No two biomes are alike, and any biome can comprise our variety of habitats.
()Plants and animals in a biome have common characteristics due to similar
planets and our various continents. For example, Taiga forests are found beyond
the temperate regions in all the northern continents.

Ecotone an ecotone is a zone of junction a transition area between two biome (diverse
ecosystem). It is the zone where two communities interact and integrate. For
example, mangrove forest represent and ecotone between marine and terrestrial
ecosystem.

Characteristics of an Ecotone
1.An ecosystem may be narrow (between grassland and forest) or wide (between forest
and desert)
2.It has condition intermediate to the adjacent ecosystems, hence it is a zone of
tension
3.Ecotone regions, transitional zone like mango headline, et cetera, have Par greater
productivity than natural ecosystem, like a pond,forest,ocean ecosystem
4.The number and population density of the species of an ongoing community, decrease
as remove away from the community or ecosystem
5. A well developed ecotone contains some organisms recharge entirely different from
that of the adjoining communities
Ecocline It is a zone of gradual, but continuous change from one ecosystem to another
when there is no proper boundary present between the two ecosystem in
terms of species
It occurs across the environmental gradiant (gradual change) in abiotic
factors, such as altitude, temperature (thermocline), salinity (halocline),
depth, etc

Edge Effect Greater number of

species are found in
the ecotone than
the adjacent
ecosystem
Edge species The species with the
most population density
in an ecosystem.For
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example, in terrestrial
ecosystem the
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population density of
bird is greater in the
ecosystem between
forest and desert

Biosphere It is the narrow layer around the surface of the earth, which is highly
integrated and formed by the interaction of atmosphere, hydrosphere, and
lithosphere.
The biosphere is absent at extreme of the north and South pole, highest
mountain and deepest ocean due to hostile condition.
Occasionally, spores of fungi and bacteria occurs at great height of 8 km,
but they are metabolically inactive and represents only dormant form of life .

Ecological Niche Niche refers to the uniform

role and position of a
species in its habitat or
ecosystem
it is a description of all
biological, physical and
chemical chemical factors
that a species need to
survive, stay healthy and
reproduce.
to conserve an organism,
we need to know its niche
requirement
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Difference between niche and habitat

habitat is like that of organism and niche is like its lifestyle and profession
two species can have same habitat, but they cannot have same niche as it is unique

PRINCIPLES of ECOLOGY
Certain principles that govern the evolution of ecosystems
1. Adaptation
2. Variation
3. Speciation
4. Mutation
5. Natural Selection
6. Evolution
7. Extinction

1.Adaptation :It is the appearance/behaviour/structure/mode of life of an organism that

allows it to survive in a particular environment. It may be:

a.Morphological- when tree grew higher, the giraffes snake got longer, Elephant stone, sweat,
elephants, enormous years to lose heat and keep the rest of your body, cool

b. Physiological. In the absence of an external water source, the kangaroo rat in North
America, desert can meet all its water requirements through internal fat oxidation in which
water is a by product

c. Behavioural. Animals migrating temporarily to a less stressful habitat, for example, desert
lizards absorbs heat from the sun when the body temperature drops and move into the
shadow when surrounding temperature increases

Halophytes are plants that have developed unique physiological and morphological action to
thrive in high salt environment (eg.mangrove) such as salt masses, coastal areas and saline
soil .Some common adaptations are :

Specialised Root System: To overcome the respiration problem in saline conditions, some halo-
phytes send arching prop roots and stilt roots down into the water (e.g. Rhizophora). While
other species send vertical Pneumatophores (air roots/blind roots) up from the mud (e.g.
Avicennia).
Prop roots: They develop from horizontally spread branches of the tree.
Stilt roots: They arise from basal nodes of the stem near the soil.
Mode of reproduction: Halophytes rely on viviparity, where seeds germinate in the tree
itself to overcome the problem of germination in saline water (e.g. Rhizophora and Avicennia).
Cellular sequestration: They can sequester toxic ions and salts within the cell wall or
vacuoles.
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Tissue partitioning: Some of them can concentrate salts in particular leaves, which then
drop off.
Root level exclusion: They are structured to exclude salt at the root level.
Salt excretion: Certain parts of the plant (e.g. leaves) may contain salt glands that actively
eliminate salt.
Altered flowering schedule: Halophytes may flower during rainy seasons to minimise salt
exposure.

2.Variation
• Changes in genetic makeup (addition or deletion of specific genes) induce variations.
• Mutations, changes in climate, geographical barriers, etc., induce variations over a period of
time.
• The difference in the colour of skin, type of hair, curly or straight, eye colour, and blood
type among
different ethnic groups represents the variation within the human species.
Adaptive radiation
• Adaptive radiation is a process in which organisms diversify from an ancestral species into
many new forms when the environment creates new challenges or opens new environmental
niches.

3.Speciation
• Speciation is the process by which new species are formed, and evolution is the
mechanism by which speciation occurs.
Allopatric Speciation
• A species comprises many populations. Often,
different populations remain isolated due to geographic
barriers (geographic isolation) such as mountains,
oceans, rivers, etc.
• After an extended period, the isolated
sub-populations become very different(genetic drift)
and be- come isolated reproductively (they no longer
interbreed). Later, even when the barrier is removed,
the subpopulations are unable to interbreed, and thus,
they become different species (allopatric/geo- graphic
speciation).
• Masai giraffes are geographically separated by the Gregory Rift in Tanzania and Kenya,
dividing them into two populations. As a result, these factions have not interbred or exchanged
genetic material in more than a thousand years.

Parapatric Speciation
• Parapatric Speciation occurs when populations are only partially separated by a geographical
barrier. Over time the limited gene flow results in the accumulation of genetic differences,
leading to the devel- opment of distinct species.

Sympatric Speciation
• In sympatric speciation, no physical barriers prevent the same species’ populations from
mating. Here, speciation happens spontaneously within the same geographic area due to
disruptive selection, where different subgroups specialise in different ecological niches, food
sources or mating preferences, leading to reproductive isolation.

Hybridization
• Hybridization occurs when two different species mate and produce hybrid offspring. In some
cases, these hybrids can give rise to new species. For example, the mule is a hybrid between a
donkey and a horse.

3.Mutation
Achange in genetic material that results from an error in DNA replication) causes new genes
to arise in a population.
• Further, in a sexually reproducing population, meiosis and fertilisation produce a new
combination of genes every generation, which is termed recombination. Thus, members of the
same species show ‘variation’ and are not identical.
4.Natural Selection is the mechanism proposed by Darwin and Wallace. It is the process by
which species adapt to their environment.
• It is an evolutionary force that selects among variations, i.e. genes that help the organism
to better adapt to its environment. Such genes are reproduced more in a population due to
natural selection.

5.Evolution
It involves the processes of natural selection, adaptation, variation, etc., that make the or-
ganism better suited to the present environment, ultimately giving rise to new species.
• Most extinctions occur when species cannot evolve fast enough to cope with the changing
environment.
• Currently, the 6th Mass Extinction (Anthropogenic Extinction — human-induced) is in
progress.