What is ecology?

Comes from the Greek word oikos, which means house and logos, which means study. The science which tries to understand how interactions between organism and their environment happen. The study of the relationship and interactions of living things with one another and with external environment. Involves learning about the living things and nonliving world interactions to support life.

Ecologists scientist who study the interaction of the organism and their environment. Ecologists ask questions like:

What animals and plants live in a particular place such as lake or forest? How do they interact with each other and with each physical environment? What changes will this environment (lake or forest) undergo overtime?

Ecologists, therefore study both the living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) or physical environment.

Layers of Ecological Organization

Biosphere The part of the earth that supports life, which includes the top portion of the earths crust (troposphere) all the bodies of water on the Earths surface (hydrosphere) and the surrounding atmosphere. Ecosystem The area in which living things interacts with one another and their physical environment. It may be large, such as an ocean, wetland and forest, or they may be small like a pond, a single tree or a rotting wood. Communities It is where different species of organisms interact with each other in a given area. It is composed of all population of plants, animals and microorganisms living and interacting in a given habitat. Population A group of organism of the same species that live in a define area. Habitat It is the actual place or type of environment in which an organism or a population lives. It may include food, shelter and other resources the organism needed to survive. Niche It is the role an organism has in its habitat.

Ecosystems and its Components

Ecosystem consists of all biotic and abiotic factors that interact with one another in a given area.
Abiotic Factors are nonliving components of an ecosystem.

Some Abiotc Factors in an Ecosystem

Light intensely affects the distribution, activities, and growth of both plants and animals. Green plants need an adequate supply of sunlight to perform photosynthesis while most animal needs light to be able to search for their foods and some other important things they need to survive.

Temperature affects the physical activities of plants and animals. Most organisms cannot tolerate extreme temperatures.

Water the amount of water available is caused by the distribution of rainfall throughout the year. This is one of the factors that determine the distributions of plants and animals.

Oxygen most terrestrial organisms cannot live without the presence of oxygen

pH (acidity and alkalinity) the pH value, the alkalinity or acidity of the soil or water in the environment, particularly in aquatic environments has an important bearing on the types of organisms that can live in such environments.

Salinity (salt concentration) is an important factor for aquatic organisms.

Soil - contains nutrients and improves the soil's ability to hold water and air. Thus, nutrients in the soil are used by plants and animals and are returned to the soil when they die and rot.

Biotic Factors - all the living parts of an ecosystem. Various organisms obtain their

energy in the ecosystem. Their interaction can be used to classify them as: Producers, Consumers and Decomposers. Producers

They are mainly green plants that manufacture their own food. They are the only organism that can convert radiant energy from the sun into chemical energy, and store it in their food molecule during photosynthesis. Consumers They are organisms that cannot make their own food and depend on producers for food and energy. They obtain their energy directly or indirectly from producers. Consumers are classified into different kinds: Herbivores, Carnivores and Omnivores.
Herbivores comes from the word herba meaning herb and vorare

meaning eat. They are the plant eaters that feed directly on plants. Example: rabbits and cows

Carnivores comes from the word carnis which means flesh. They

are animal eaters, which feed on other animals. Example: snakes and wolves

Omnivores comes from omnis, meaning all. They are those

organisms that eat both plants and animals. Example: human and bears

Scavengers consumers that feed on the dead bodies of dead animals.

Example: hyenas and vultures

Decomposers They are those organisms that breakdown dead organisms into simpler substances to enable the materials locked up in them to be returned to the physical environment and be used again by the green plants. Example: fungi and bacteria

Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem Food and Energy Food Chain - It is a way of describing the flow of energy in food through community. - Arrows are used to show the direction in which the energy flows.

- Each stage is known as trophic level. Food Web - Interconnected food chains - Show how same source of food may be part of several different food chains. - The flow of energy branches in many different directions. Ecological Pyramids Energy Pyramids Illustrate the flow of energy through an ecosystem A feeding level tells the location of an organism along a food chain At each feeding level, organisms use the energy they obtain to carry out lifes activities. The shape of an energy pyramid indicates that the amount of available energy decreases at each successive level of a food chain in an ecosystem. Interrelationships in an Ecosystem Biotic Relationships 1. Symbiosis an interaction between two organisms of different species in which at least one benefits. There are three major types of symbiotic relationship: a. Mutualism a symbiotic relationship in which both organisms benefits. Example: green alga and a fungus The fungus protects the alga from bright sunlight and extreme temperatures while the alga provides the fungus with nutrients. b. Commensalism is a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is an affected. Commensal- the one that benefits Host- the one unaffected Example: sea anemone and clown fish Sea anemones use stinging tentacles to catch and stun small fishes and other prey while the clown fish takes shelter in the sea anemones tentacles, sharing sea anemones food without giving in return. c. Parasitism is a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits while the other is harmed. Parasite organism that harms the host Two types of Parasite Endoparasite parasite that lives inside the organism. Example: parasitic worms like tapeworms, hookworms and heartworms. Ectoparasite lives outside the body. Example: dogs tick, head louse and leeches. 2. Predation is the feeding of one organism on another. Predator organism that feed on other organism Prey organisms eaten by the predator Example: chicken eaten by the snake 3. Competition is a type of interaction when two species use the same limited resources. It will result in elimination of one organism by another.