Ecological factors What are ecological factors? The living organisms are influenced by a large number of environmental factors.

These environmental factors are known as ecological factors or eco-factors. Role of ecological factors: All the environmental factors bring marked distributional, structural and functional changes in living organisms. To live, grow and carry out all its activities, the organisms require a harmonious relationship with their environment. The differences in vegetation of a desert and a rain forest, plants in a pond and grassland, animals in tropical countries and cold countries, clearly indicate the role of environmental factors in the distribution and survival of organisms in different eco-systems. CLASSIFICATION OF ECOLOGICAL FACTORS: Major ecological factors can be classified by two classification system CLASSIFICATION I: Climatic factors: (a) Rainfall (b) Light (c)Temperature (d) Wind (e)Relative Humidity Topographic factors: (a) Configuration of land surface (b) Altitude (c) slope and direction of mountain chain and valleys (d) Aspect and exposure. Edaphic factors: Structure, formation and characteristics of different types of soils. Biotic factors: Biotic factors can be described under the following titles: Influence of plants, Influence of insects, Influence of wild animals, Influence of man and his animals CLASSIFICATION II: 1. Direct factors: Which influence plants directly: Light, temperature, humidity, soil moisture, soil solutes, and soil air e.t.c 2. Indirect factors: Which influence plants indirectly: Precipitation, wind, soil structure, soil organisms, altitude, and slope. Here we will discuss the ecological factors according to classification system I 1|Page6

The climatic factors They are abiotic components of the environmental factors that influence the lifestyle of living organisms. The climatic factors include: a.Rainfall What is rainfall? Rainfall is the most common form of precipitation. It is the falling of water in droplets on the surface of the Earth from clouds.The amount and regularity of rainfall vary with location and climate types .Other forms of precipitation are freezing rain, sleet or ice pellets, snowfall, and hail. Affect of rainfall on vegetation: This climatic factor is essential to all plants and living organisms. It affects the dominance of certain types of vegetation as well as crop growth and yield. Anaerobic organisms can live without oxygen, but they cannot live without water. Some plants called xerophytes, however, are more tolerant to scarce water while others, called hydrophytes, are adapted to watery or water-logged habitats. b. Light: Why light is important for life? It transfers energy. The earth would be very, very cold, and there would be no life without sunlight. There is quite a bit of life in caves, where there isn't any light.It transfers information, allowing us to, with our eyes and brain, interpret where things are in relation to other things, and how that's changing. Importance of light for plants: It is important in the processes; i.e, production of chlorophyll, photosynthesis, stomatal movement, phototropism, photomorphogenesis, translocation, mineral absorption, abscission. Light properties affecting plant growth & development: Light quality (the specific wavelengths of light), Light intensity (the degree of brightness of light that a plant receives), Daylength or Photoperiod (the duration of the day with respect to the night period). c.Temperature "The degree of hotness or coldness of a substance is called temperature". It is commonly expressed in degree Celsius or centigrade (C) and degree Fahrenheit (F). Importance of temperature for plants: Photosynthesis; increases with temperature to a point, Respiration; rapidly increases with temperature, Transpiration; increases with temperature, Flowering; may be partially triggered by temperature, Sugar storage; low temperatures reduce energy use and increase sugar storage, Dormancy; warmth, after a period of low temperature, will break dormancy and the plant will resume active growth, Translocation; at high temperatures the translocation of photosynthate is faster so that plants tend to mature earlier. 2|Page6

How rise in temperature enhances the growth and development of plant? Generally, rise in temperature enhances the growth and development of plant but up to a certain limit. Increased Rate of Enzymatic Reactions: Mostly, rise in temperature results in increase in the rate of enzymatic activity thus enhancing rate of chemical reactions. Every 10 C rise in temperature will double the rate of enzymatic reaction.But excessive rise in temperature might cause denaturation of protiens (i.e; enzymes). More Photosynthesis: Plants produce maximum growth when exposed to a day temperature that is about 10 to 15F higher than the night temperature. This allows the plant to photosynthesize (build up) and respire (break down) during an optimum daytime temperature, and to curtail the rate of respiration during a cooler night. High temperatures cause increased respiration, sometimes above the rate of photosynthesis. This means that the products of photosynthesis are being used more rapidly than they are being produced. For growth to occur, photosynthesis must be greater than respiration. d. Relative Humidity: What is relative humidity? Relative humidity (RH) is the amount of water vapor in the air, expressed as the proportion (in percent) of the maximum amount of water vapor it can hold at certain temperature. Normal range for relative humidity: RH in the air ranges from 0.01% by volume at the frigid poles to 5% in the humid tropics. Importance: The relative humidity affects the opening and closing of the stomata which regulates loss of water from the plant through transpiration as well as photosynthesis. A substantial understanding of this climatic factor is likewise important in plant propagation. Newly collected plant cuttings and bare root seedlings are protected against desiccation by enclosing them in a sealed plastic bag. The propagation chamber and plastic tent are also commonly used in propagating stem and leaf cuttings to ensure a condition with high relative humidity. e. Air The air is a mixture of gases in the atmosphere.About 75% of this air is found in the troposphere (the innermost layer of the atmosphere which extends about 17 km above sea level at the equator and about 8 km over the poles). About 99% of the clean, dry air in the troposphere consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, slightly less than 1% argon, carbon dioxide 0.036%, traces of other gases. The air also consists of suspended particles of dust and chemical air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, sulfur trioxide, nitrogen oxides, methane, propane, chlorofluorocarbons, solid particles of dust, soot, asbestos and lead, ozone and many more.

3|Page6

Importance of air for plants: Physiology: Oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air are of particular importance to the physiology of plants. Respiration: Oxygen is essential in respiration for the production of energy that is utilized in various growth and development processes. Photosynthesis: Carbon dioxide is a raw material in photosynthesis. f. Wind Air movement or wind is due to the existence of pressure gradient on a global or local scale caused by differences in heating. Importance: This climatic factor serves as a vector of pollen from one flower to another thus aiding in the process of pollination. It is therefore essential in the development of fruit and seed from windpollinated flowers as in many grasses. Moderate winds favor gas exchanges, but strong winds can cause excessive water loss through transpiration as well as lodging or toppling of plants. When transpiration rate exceeds that of water absorption, partial or complete closure of the stomata may ensue which will restrict the diffusion of carbon dioxide into the leaves. As a result, there will be a decrease in the rate of photosynthesis, growth and yield.

The Topographic factors The physical geographical factors are known as topographic factors. It includes; a. Configuration of the land surface: b. Altitude c. Slope d. Aspect and Exposure:

The Edaphic factors: The physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil that influence the life of organisms are called edaphic factors. The main edaphic factors include water content, organic content, texture, and pH. a. Physical Properties of soil: 4|Page6

1. Soil Texture: It refers to the size of particles that make up soil and plays crucial role for ; Nutrient supplies (The fine-textured soils are high in nutrient status; but sandy soils are low in fertility), Aeration (Coarse-textured soils are better aerated than clayey soils), Root development (percentage of soil particles affect root development), Moisture relation (Coarse-textured soils are easily drained; fine-textured soils are poorly drained and hold much water on the large surface area). 2. Soil Structure: It refers to the arrangement of individual soil particles into aggregates of definite size and shape. It affects soil moisture and soil air relations. It is an indication of nutrient status and activity of micro-organisms in the soil. It affects soil erosion. Crumb is least liable to erosion while single-grained structure is most liable to erosion 3. Soil Porosity: The extent to which gross volume of the soil is unoccupied by solid particles is called soil porosity. Pore space is the space unoccupied by soil particles. Clayey soil has very small pore spaces and retains too little air; on the other hand sandy soils are well-aerated. There are two main types of soil porosity; Capillary porosity is the portion of soil not fulfilled by water when the soil is wet and Noncapillary Porosity is the air space in a soil at field moisture capacity. It determines the air relations of the soil and affects internal drainage and diffusion of soil air. The Biotic factors The influence of living organisms is said to be biotic factors. These factors have a profound influence on vegetation not only by their direct interaction but also through their effect on soil and therefore determine the nature of vegetation that can exist in a place.These include; 1. Influence of plants: Desired Species: When vegetation comes up on a site for the first time, plants gradually increase in number and start competing with each other for essential requirements of life, i.e. food and light by desired and/or undesirable species. Competition between desired species depends on their power to produce abundant seed every year, to disperse it widely, and to germinate and grow even in adverse condition, their rate of growth, moisture requirement, mode of branching, browsing, longevity, fire, etc Undesirable species: Besides desired species, there are some undesirable species affecting the growth of trees of the favored species. Undesirable species may be weeds or harmful species. Undesirable harmful species may be studied as follows: (i) Parasites: Parasites grow on some living plant called host and penetrate their sucking roots into the host plant called hautoria. They do not draw moisture and mineral nutrients from soil. Examples: Sanal tree is a root and valuable parasite. Common parasites-Cuscutareflexa, Cassythafiliformis. Partial parasites-Viscum, Loranthus, Arceuthobium (ii) Epiphytes: Epiphyte is a plant growing on but not nourished by another plant. They only take the help of other plant in getting access to light. Examples: Ficus bengalensis, F. religiosa, orchids, etc.

5|Page6

(iii) Climbers: A herbaceous or woody plant that climbs up or other support by twinning round them or by holding on to them by tendrils, hooks, aerial roots or other attachments. Large woody climbers in tropical areas are called liana. They depend on other plants for physical support or to get access to light. They damage the trees by killing them or by making groove or by bending the trees. Examples: .Bauhinia vahlii, Butea superba, Ipomea, etc. (iv) Obnoxious weeds: Obnoxious weed reaches in an area and spreads fast. It coppices well and becomes a serious obstacle in the regeneration. Examples: Lantana camera, Eupatorium odorantum. (v) Fungi: A large number of fungi attack forest trees and their attack, besides reducing quality of timber of trees attacked, sometimes change the form and structure of forest communities. They cause damping off in seedlings, wood rot and root rot in poles and trees, thereby killing them or making the timber altogether useless. 2. Influence of insects: Insects are important part of forest ecosystem. But some of them are harmful such as Hoplocerambyx spinicornis (Sal borer), Hapalia machaeralis (Teak defoliator), Hyblea puera (Teak skeletonizer), plecoptera reflexa, Hypsipyla robusta, etc 3. Influence of wild animals: Wild animals are also crucial part of forest ecosystem, which help in pollination of flowers and dispersal of seed. However, they damage the forest crops considerably.Examples: Cheetals, Sambars and Nilgai affect on sal regeneration.Porcupines destroy seedlings of bamboo, khair and simal. Pigs, elephants and monkeys damage seedlings samplings and poles by breaking the branches and uprooting them. 4. Influence of man and his animals: Man is responsible for managing forests, yet he continues to be the most powerful agent in destroying forests in many ways. There are some ways of damaging forest vegetation. i.e; Deforestation and denudation, lopping, removal of dry leaves, collection of flowers and fruits, grazing, firing, encroachment.

6|Page6