General Ecology

Department of Environmental Science

By: Samuel T.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 Unit 1-Introduction

– Historical Background of Ecology

– Ecology is a new Science & considered as an
important branch of biological science become
prominent during second half of 20th century.
– Its history stems all the way back the 4th century
– Aristotle and his student Theophrastus were
considered as the first ecologists.
– Both were so interested in animal and plant species.
– Theophrastus described interrelationships between
animals and their environment at early as 4th century.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 – Ecology developed substantially in the 18 th and 19th
century.
– It begins with Carl Linnaeus and his work with
economy of nature.
– Soon after came Alexander von Humboldt and his
work with botanical geography.
– Eugenius warming’s work with ecological plant
geography led to the ecology as discipline.
– Charles Darwin work also contributed to the science of
ecology.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 Definition of ecology

– The word ecology (Greek Oikos= home, habitat,

logos= study).
– So literally; it is the study of organisms at home or
the study of the earth’s “house holds” including the
plants, animals, microorganisms and people that live
together as interdependent components.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 – Haeckel (German zoologist) 1870: “By ecology we
mean the body of knowledge concerning the economy
of Nature - the investigation of the total relations of
the animal to its inorganic and organic environment.”
– This definition still holds good if we simply replace
the words “relations of the animal” by “relations of
the organism” to include also the plants and man.
– Andrewartha (1961): “The scientific study of the
distribution and abundance of organisms.”
– Odum (1963): “The structure and function of Nature.”

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 Introduction con....
– Krebs (1985)- defined ecology as the scientific study of
the interactions that determine the distribution and
abundance of organisms.
 Ecology is the study of the interactions of living
organisms with one another and with their physical
environment (soil, water, climate…)

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 Development of ecology
– "The science of nature" took a giant leap (hop) in the
19th century when naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-
1882) published his views on evolution and natural
selection,
– Processes by which species change and forms
succeed one another through adaptation to the
environment to attain a better "fit."
– The direction of species change was called
"succession" by evolutionists.
– The effects of environment and succession became
fundamental concepts to ecology.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 – Late in the 1800s, a shift from exploration and classification
toward trying to understand how nature works became a
focus for scientists.
– With the new focus came an interest in studying plants and
animals and their relationship with the environment.
– Scientists began to understand animals and plant populations
as "communities."
– By the early 1900s, botanists and zoologists, both in England
and the United States, studied plant and animal
"communities" independently until a new science, "ecology,"
emerged that could embrace both fields.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 – While the new science had some foundation in
Darwin's concepts of evolution and natural selection,
– most historians of ecology cite an indirect rather than
direct role for Darwinism in the growth of the
science of ecology.
– They suggest that internal changes in the fields of
biology, botany, and zoology created ecology.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 – The independent science of ecology began in the
1890s.
– Many cite the German zoologist Ernst Haeckel
(1834-1919) as the most likely "father" of ecology,
based on his holistic approach to biology.
– Haeckel's ideas about energy flow in a closed system
formed the foundation of modern ecology half a
century after his work.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 Level of study in ecology
– The hierarch in the level of organization connected
with ecological grouping of organisms is called
ecological hierarchy/ecological level of organization.
– There are no sharp lines/breaks in the functional
sense amongst various level of hierarchy as the same
individual is a component of population, biological
community as well as an ecosystem.
– Individual/ organisms–An individual is any living
thing or organism.
– Is the basic/smallest unit of ecological hierarchy

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 Level of study in ecology

– Population- grouping of similar individuals in a

particular geographical area/space.
– Community- two or more populations of different
species occupying the same geographical area.
– It is an assemblage of population difference species
of plants, animals, bacteria and fungi which live
particular area and interact with one another through
competitions, predations, mutualism, etc
– Ecosystem - a community plus its abiotic factors, e.g.
soil, rain, temperatures, etc.
– Individual population Community Ecosystem

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 Ecological principles
• Protection of species and species subdivisions will
conserve genetic diversity
• Maintaining habitat is fundamental to conserving species
• Large areas usually contain more species than smaller
areas with similar habitat
• All things are connected but the nature and strengths of
those connections vary
• Disturbances shape the characteristics of populations,
communities, and ecosystems
• Climate influences terrestrial, freshwater and marine
ecosystems
Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.
 Relevance and application of ecology
– The applications described below provide ways of applying the
ecological concepts and principles in order to conserve
biodiversity.
– No single application will be sufficient – each approach ideally
needs to be operating in conjunction with others.
– The applications are grouped into those that primarily relate to:
– • coarse and fine filter applications: techniques to help conserve
biodiversity; and
– • planning applications: techniques to promote biodiversity
conservation using planning tools and adaptive management that
continuously improves our understanding of what needs to done
and how this can be more effectively delivered over time.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 Use coarse and fine filter approaches
– Coarse filter approaches can be applied in a manner that
focuses conservation efforts where they most matter.
– for example, by identifying those ecosystems or regions
with a high number of endemic species (unique to that
ecosystem or region) where a high percent of the
original habitat has been lost.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 – Fine filter approaches focus on ecosystems, features
and species, including species and ecosystems of
conservation concern that may not be adequately
protected through ‘coarse filter’ management
approaches.
– Retain large contiguous or connected areas.
– Protected areas are generally too small to maintain
mobile species such as large carnivores which require
large home ranges, and therefore it is critical to
consider what happens outside of protected areas.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 – Maintain or emulate natural ecological processes.
– Natural ecological processes shape ecosystems and
should be maintained where possible; this includes
hydrological processes, nutrient cycles and biotic
interactions that also shape evolutionary processes.
– Manage landscapes and communities to be responsive to
environmental change.
– Disturbances are a key source of environmental change.
– Natural disturbances can significantly affect ecosystems
through agents such as insect and disease outbreaks,
wildfires, flooding and drought.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 – Minimize the introduction and spread of invasive
alien species that disrupt ecological resilience and
population variability.
– Some invasive alien species can out-compete native
species, thereby lowering the population levels of
native species and impacting their viability.
– In Ethiopia, close to 35 invasive alien plant species are
posing negative impacts on native biodiversity,
agricultural lands, range lands, national parks, water
ways, lakes, rivers, power dams, road sides, urban
green spaces with great economy and social
consequences.
Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.
 Examples of Invasive Alien Plants
– Prosopis common in Afar and Awash
– Lantana common around Adama and Debrezite

Prosopis juliflora
Lantana camara

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 – Invasive alien species are considered the second-most
serious factor responsible for the extinction of native
species and loss of biodiversity, worldwide, after
habitat loss
– E.g. Lantana camara.
– Climate change is expected to increase the capacity of
existing invasive alien species to invade natural
ecosystems and to allow new invasive alien species to
establish.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 – Ecology is a very important subject and it has an
application in major areas such as:-

– Watershed management
– Soil conservation
– Agriculture
– Wildlife management
– Aqua culture
– Land utilization
– Pollution
– Forestry
Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.
 – Water shed management
– Water is stored in dams or reservoirs for the purpose
of electricity production at the time of construction of
dams there should be ecologist to see ecological
aspect.
– The major aspects are soil erosion and wind because
these two aspects can fill the dams (silting up).

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 – Soil conservation
– Nowadays many factors are disturbing the soil.
– Many cultivated lands are being disturbed by construction of
buildings or any other residential areas.
– With the help of ecology we can study the topography, climatic
condition, soil erosion.
– Agriculture
– For agricultural crops following aspects are important;- soil
mineral composition, temperature, biotic factors of the area.
– All these factors are studied by an ecologist so without
information of all aspects it will be very difficult to grow plants
and it can result an economic loss.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 – Wildlife management
– For the establishment of wildlife vegetation of area have major
roles for different species of animals.
– There will be different types of food web and food chain, both
these are equally important.
– Aquaculture
– The rearing and breeding of fish in water is called aquaculture.
The ratio of predators in aquaculture is important so for fish
culturing there should be dense population of fish than other
types of animals.
– Other ecological studies such as temperature and soil
conditions are important in fish culturing.

Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.

 – Land utilization
– For the use of land for the purpose of construction,
cultivation, ecological studies have much importance. e.g.;
if we cultivate a crop in an area soil nutrition composition,
process of soil erosion and the availability of water are
important.
– In case of construction of buildings or houses in
topography of location is important.
– Pollution
– Any physical, chemical, or biochemical undesirable
changes in environment, soil, water, or environment is
called pollution. For the control of pollution we have to
study causes of pollution. These causes can be controlled
by ecological studies.
Wolaita Sodo, 2017/2018 Samuel T.