Environmental Science I Cycle 1

Fundamental Ecological Principles

Observe the cheetah hunting its prey. What is it called when

one organism hunts another organism? Predation. Predation
may not be good for the survival of an individual organism, but
it is a very important part of life. This is because every
interaction between an organism affects other organisms in an
ecosystem.

What other things do you notice about the image? Where is the
cheetah hunting? How do you think the cheetah has adapted to
Figure 1. Cheetah hunting prey. live in that particular environment? What do you think the
weather is like? Does it rain a lot? Are there bigger trees? Or
just small grasses?

All of the living and non-living things and how they interact with
each other make up an ecosystem. The study of these
interactions is called ecology. Ecologists ask questions like,
"What would happen if the cheetahs' prey goes extinct?" and,
"What would happen if a fire wiped out the grasslands where
cheetahs live?"

Think about other interactions between organisms you have

observed. Maybe you have seen a bee sucking the nectar out of
a flower, or a cow grazing on grass. What habitats do these
organisms live in? How do humans affect their habitats?

All of these questions are ecological questions. Think about them as you read the following chapter.

1. Ecology

What is ecology? Ecology, the study of relationships between

organisms and the environment, has been a focus for human
study for as long as we have existed as a species. Our survival
has depended upon how well we could observe variations in the
environment and predict the responses of organisms to those
variations. The earliest hunters and gatherers had to know the
habits of their animal prey and where to find food plants. Later,
agriculturists had to be aware of variations in weather and soils
and of how such variation might affect crops and livestock.

Today, most of earth’s human population live in cities and most of us have little direct contact with
nature. More than ever before, though, the future of our species depends on how well we understand
the relationships between organisms and the environment. Our species is rapidly changing earth’s
environment, yet we do not fully understand the consequences of these changes. For instance, human
activity has increased the quantity of nitrogen cycling through the biosphere, changed land cover across
the globe, and increased the atmospheric concentration of CO2.

Changes such as these threaten the diversity of

life on earth and may endanger our life support
system. Because of the rapid pace of
environmental change at the dawn of the twenty-
first century, it is imperative that we continue as
ardent students of ecology.

Behind the simple definition of ecology lies a

broad scientific discipline. Ecologists may study
individual organisms, entire forests or lakes, or
even the whole earth. The measurements made
by ecologists include counts of individual
organisms, rates of reproduction, or rates of
processes such as photosynthesis and
decomposition. Ecologists often spend as much
time studying nonbiological components of the
environment, such as temperature or soil
chemistry, as they spend studying organisms.
Meanwhile, the “environment” of organisms in
some ecological studies are other species. While
you may think of ecologists as typically studying in
the field, some of the most important conceptual
advances in ecology have come from ecologists
who build theoretical models or do ecological
research in the laboratory. Clearly, our simple
definition of ecology does not communicate the
great breadth of the discipline or the diversity of
its practitioners.

In addition, because it is such a large field,

ecology involves many different fields, including
geology, soil science, geography, meteorology,
genetics, chemistry, and physics. You can also
divide ecology into the study of different
organisms, such as animal ecology, plant ecology,
insect ecology, and so on. Figure 2. Levels of ecological organization and
examples of the kinds of questions asked by
ecologists working at each level.
A biome is a large community of plants and animals
that live in the same place. Ecologists can also study
biomes. For example, ecologists can study the Arctic,
the tropics, or the desert (Figure below). Can you
think of different species or biomes that ecologists
could study?

Ecologists do two types of research:

1. Field studies.
2. Laboratory studies. Figure 3. An example of a biome, the
Field studies involve collecting data outside in the Atacama Desert, in Chile.
natural world. An ecologist who completes a field
study may travel to a tropical rain forest and count all of the insects that live in a certain area.
Laboratory studies involve working inside, not in the natural world. Sometimes, ecologists collect data
from the field, and then analyze it in the lab. Also, they use computer programs to predict what will
happen to organisms in who live in a specific area. For example, they may make predictions about what
happens to insects in the rainforest after a fire.

1.2 Levels of Organization in Ecology

Ecology can be studied at small levels or at large

levels. Levels of organization are described
below from the largest to the smallest:

• The biosphere (ecosphere) is the part of

the planet that has living things on it
(Figure 4 b). This is most of Earth. The
oceans, land surface, and lower parts of
the atmosphere all form part of the Figure 4 a: Levels of Organization in Ecology.
biosphere.
• An ecosystem is the living things in an
area interacting with all of the abiotic
parts of the environment (Figure 5).
• A community are all of the populations
of different species that live in the same
area and interact with one another.
• A population is a group of organisms
belonging to the same species that live
in the same area and interact with one
another.
Figure 4 b: The global biosphere, which includes all areas
that contain life, from the sea to the atmosphere.
;
 Table 1. Ecological Range

Figure 5. Satellite Image of Australia

A hydrosphere is the total amount

of water on a planet. The
hydrosphere includes water that is
on the surface of the planet,
underground, and in the air. A
planet's hydrosphere can be liquid,
vapor, or ice. On Earth, liquid
water exists on the surface in the
form of oceans, lakes and rivers.

The lithosphere is the solid, outer

part of the Earth. The lithosphere
includes the brittle upper portion of
the mantle and the crust, the
outermost layers of Earth's
structure.
The atmosphere is a mixture of
gasses that surrounds the planet.
It helps make life possible on
Earth.
Figure 6: Biosphere = Hydrosphere + Lithosphere + Atmosphere
Ecologists study ecosystems at every level. They can ask different types of questions at each level.
Examples of these questions are given in Table below, using the zebra as an example.

Table 2. Ecological Ecosystem

Figure 7. Levels of organization from genes to ecosystems. The whole planet, the Earth, operates as an
ecosystem. The oceans, forests, grasslands, etc. are smaller ecosystems which are linked, by energy flow
and exchange of materials, to form the overall planetary ecosystems.
Review Questions
Recall
1. Name three fields you can study when you study ecology.
2. Define ecosystem.
3. Define organism.
4. What are the four main levels of organization in ecology?

Apply Concepts
5. What is the difference between field studies and laboratory studies?
6. What is the difference between a population and a community?
7. Explain why almost the entire planet is a biosphere.