Ecology the study of how organisms live and how they interact with their environment.

Autecology the ecology of a single species.

Synecology the ecology of different species living in the same habitat (whole
communities), their relations with one another.
Ecosystem the area, composed of a community (biotic) and the physical environment
(abiotic) it occupies
Example:
1. Floodland ecosystems obtain their water from rivers and are often extremely
seasonal
2. Swamp and marsh ecosystems are found in areas of impeded drainage, where
water runs off the surrounding land and collects, or where groundwater lies close to
the surface
3. Marine wetland coastlines in the tropical and subtropical regions fringed with a
strip of swampland
which is inundated every high tide with marine and brackish waters
4. Bog ecosystems receive water only from rainfall, not from streams, rivers or
groundwater
Population the group interacting and interbreeding organism of the same species
Community composed of different populations living together interacting as
competitors, predator
and prey, or symbiotically
Habitat It is a description of where an organism is found / an ecological or
environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of
organism
Niche a complete description of how organism relates to its physical and biological
environment
how an organism makes a living (derived from the Middle French word nicher, meaning
to nest)
Organism (dolphin) population (same) [dolphins] community (2 or more
population) [dolphins and whales] ecosystem (biotic and abiotic) [dolphins and
whales in ocean]
Roles of Organisms
Organisms can be either producers or consumers in terms of energy flow through an
ecosystem.
Producers Plant
Sun ultimate source of energy
Autotrophs another word for producer
a. photoautotrophs These autotrophs are photosynthesizers such as algae and
green plants that produce most of the organic nutrients for the biosphere
b. chemautotrophs autotrophs are bacteria that obtain energy by oxidizing
inorganic compounds such as ammonia, nitrites, and sulfides, and they use this
energy to synthesize carbohydrates or simply make their food energy from
chemicals
Heterotrophs consumers

Consumer animals which

cannot manufacture their own
food and need to consume
other organisms

Primary producer (plant)

Trophic level
position of an
organism
occupies in a
food chain
First level

Herbivore ( feed on plants)

Second level

Carnivore (feed on animals)

Third level

Omnivore (feed on animals

and plants)

Fourth level

Detritivores feed on detritus like eearthworms and some beetles, termites, and
maggots
Biosphere thin film on the surface of the earth in which all life exists
Decomposers perform a very valuable service by releasing inorganic substances that are
taken up by plants once more.
Scavengers feed on the bodies of larger dead animals (vultures, ravens, hyenas)
Co-evolution considered as a subset of the general evolutionary relationships between
species in communities
Antagonistic Co-evolution to the relationship usually produces an arms race of
chemical and mechanical attack and defense mechanism
Biomes large ecosystem where plants, animals, insects, and people live in a certain type
of climate
The four major types of biomes
1. aquatic biomes are probably the most important of all the biomes. Their medium,
water, is a major natural resource. Aquatic biomes can be subdivided into freshwater,
seawater and atmospheric biomes
2. grasslands subdivided into savanna, temperate grasslands (prairie) and tundra. This
classification corresponds to decreasing average temperatures
3. forests receive more precipitation than other biomes and vary from boreal, to
temperate, to rainforest
4. desert have the fewest species and the most extreme climate
Symbiosis is a close ecological relationship between the individuals of two (or
more) different species.
Mutualism both species benefit
Commensalism one specie benefits, the other unaffected
Parasitism one specie benefits, the other is harmed
Competition --. Neither species benefit
Neutralism both species unaffected
Food Chain starts with a producer and only connects with single links
Food Web multiple (many) food chains or complicated that interconnect showing
many feeding relationships.
Biomass the net weight of all organisms living in an ecosystem, which, increases as a
result of its net production
Net primary productivity as the total amount of energy fixed per unit of time
minus the amount of energy expended by the metabolic activities of the photosynthetic
organisms in the community
Gross primarya productivity total amount of organic matter produced by all
autotrophs in an ecosystem, including that used by them
Biomagnification increase in concentration of a pollutant from one link in a food chain
(trophic level) to another
Bioaccumulation - increase in concentration of a pollutant from the environment to the
first organism in a food chain
Bioaccumulants substances that increase in concentration in living organisms as
they take in contaminated air, water, or food because the substances are very slowly
metabolized or excreted
Bioconcentration referring to uptake and accumulation of a substance from water alone
Bioindicator an organism or biological response that reveals the presence of the
pollutants by the occurrence of typical symptoms or measurable responses, and is therefore
more qualitative
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given species, ecosystem,
biome, or an entire planet.

Bioremediation any process that uses microorganisms, fungi, green plants or their
enzymes to return the natural environment altered by contaminants to its original
condition
Eutrophication the release large amounts of phosphate and nitrate or organic matter
into the water resulting in a lowering of oxygen levels and change in the fauna of the water

Pollution occurs when substances are released into the environment in harmful amounts
as a direct
result of human activity
Greenhouse effect a process by which radiative energy leaving a planetary surface is
absorbed by some
atmospheric gases
Sustainable Development meeting the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Ecological Footprint measures how much land and water area a human population
requires to produce the resource it consumes and to absorb its wastes, using prevailing
technology and also called "appropriated carrying capacity
Conservation the management of the earth's resources in a way which aims to restore
and
maintain the balance between human requirements and the other species of the world