ECOLOGY

THE TERMINOLOGY:
Species
Population
Community
Ecosystem
Habitat
Biosphere
Biotic environment
Abiotic environment
SPECIES
BIOSPHERE

POPULATION COMMUNITY ECOSYSTEM

THE

PHYSICAL

ENVIRONMENT

Light
Temperature
Water
Oxygen
Salinity (salt concentration)
pH (acidity or alkalinity)

PRODUCERS
CONSUMERS
DECOMPOSERS

1. LIGHT
PLANTS need light to make their
food.
Some plants show adaptations
to reach for light such as
climbers.

Most of the animals need

sunlight.
Some live in dark such as bats.
Some are nocturnal: search for
food in the night.

2. TEMPERATURE
Affects the physiological activities of plants and animals.
A fall in temperature = decrease in the metabolic activities
of the organism
Find it difficult to tolerate extremes of temperature:
extreme hot extreme cold.
Flowering plants have special adaptations to survive
through the hot, dry season or winter by:
1. Underground storage organs (tubers, corms, bulbs etc)
2. Shedding of leaves to reduce water loss
3. Formation of seeds just before the beginning of
unfavourable seasons.
. Polar regions have their characteristic animals such as
polar bears, penguins and seals. These animals have thick
layer of fat under their skin so as to protect them from
extreme cold.

3. WATER
Rainfall determines the amount of water
Water is the most important factor in the distribution of plants and
animals.
No organism can survive without water for long. Only some are
adapted like camels, which can store water, so as to survive under
conditions where there is limited amount of water.
1. Xerophytes
2. Hydrophytes

1. XEROPHYTES
. Xerophytes are those plants which can live in conditions of
prolonged drought in their habitat.
. Mechanism of survival:
1. reduce rate of transpiration (loss of water) by shedding
young leaves.
2. Stems become fleshy, storing up water.
3. The stems are green and take over the function of
photosynthesis from the leaves.
A.
.
.
.

Casuarina:
Leaves reduced to tiny sheaths at the nodes.
Food manufactured by the long green stems
Stomata lie in grooves protected by minute
hairs.

B. MARRAM GRASS
leaves have sunken stomata that lie in
grooves in the upper surface.
Grooves bear many tiny hairs which
trap water vapour diffusing out of
stomata, which leads to increased
humidity around the stomata and so
reduces the rate of transpiration.
When leaves loose too much water,
they roll up reducing the surface area
exposed.

2. HYDROPHYTES
Live in water or very wet places.
1. Completely submerged (Hydrilla)
2. Partially submerged (water lily)
3. Free floating (water hyacinth)
ADAPTATIONS:
4. Stems have air spaces so as to help plant float
5. Upper surface of leaf protected by water proof cuticle
to prevent water form blocking the stomata.

PNEUMATOPHORES
Have their roots buried in oxygen-poor mud, but special
breathing roots called pneumatophores arise from the
root system and project above the mud surface.
Pneumatophores bear openings thorugh which oxygen
can pass downwards to the whole root system

IN ANIMALS:
Gills for oxygen absorption
Webbed toes in frogs
Fins in fishes

4. OXYGEN
ANIMALS ARE EITHER:
Aerobes
Anaerobes
Aerobes need special adaptations to survive in low oxygen in
atmosphere:
Pneumatophores in mangroves
Fishes living in water of low oxygen concentration are
usually air-breathers and come to the surface to gulp air.

5. SALINITY
(salt concentraion)
Salinity of the water is a very important factor for the
aquatic organisms
Either adapted for life in very salty water such as sea
water.
FRESH WATER
Or in streams and freshwater
ponds where the salt
concentration
is low.
Salt
conc. Of the cytoplasmic
contents of FRESHWATER
ORGANISMS is higher than the surrounding water, hence water
enters these organisms by osmosis.
Their cells dont burst with water because of their rigid cellulose
cell walls.
Have contractile vacoule to remove excess of water (amoeba)
Fishes possess water-proof coat consisting of closely-fitting

SEA WATER
Animals lose water by osmosis as the sea water contains a
higher concentration of salt than the tissue cells.
Saltwater fish has a slimy scaly skin which reduces the
rate of water loss.

AQUATIC ORGANISMS ARE HIGHLY SPECIALIZED:

They can survive only in their own environment.
Many fresh water animals cannot live in sea water and
vice versa.
Starfishes and coral reefs are only found in sea. Are not
found even in BRACKISH water (water where fresh and sea
water mix)
Animals and plants living in brackish water are adapted to
tolerate wide fluctuations in salt concentration.

. pH (acidity or alkalinity
pH value of soil water OR water of the freshwater ponds or sea
is very important.
Sensitive to pH of water and may be killed if the pH changes
appreciably.
Sea water is alkaline with pH 8. And this pH has little
variation.
In Freshwater ponds and streams, pH varies from region to
region.
Changes in pH occur, especially if pH of water depends on the
amount of bicarbonates present in it.
In strong daylight, photosynthesis of plants uses up carbon
dioxide in the water, making the water more alkaline.
During the night, photosynthesis ceases and carbon dioxide
produced as a result of respiration makes the water more
acidic.
For most freshwater organisms, neutral or nearly neutral
water is best.

FOOD CHAINS
FOOD WEBS
Energy enters an ecosystem from outside SUN
And flows through it in a non-cyclic manner. Thats why energy has
to be constantly supplied to an ecosystem.
Materials are not supplied fro m outside.
Obtained from the physical environment and flow through the
ecosystem in a cyclic manner.
In a balanced ecosystem, materials are never lost and are
continually recycled.

A series of organisms through which energy is

transferred in material form (food) constitutes a food
chain.
Each level in a food chain is called a TROPHIC LEVEL.

HOW MATERIALS ARE RECYCLED!!!

ENERGY TRANSFER IS INEFFICIENT

The amount of energy that is passed on in a food chain is
reduced at every step.
Energy can be neither created nor destroyed, it is not lost
but is converted into some other form.
During respiration, some energy is transferred to the
environment as heat.

FOOD WEB
Little energy is transferred from the base to the top of a
food chain, a top carnivore must eat many herbivores.
These herbivores are probably not all of the same
species.
In turn, each herbivore is likely to feed on many different
plant species.
These different relationships are shown linked to each
other in a food web.
The more complicated a food web, the more stable a
community is.

TROPHIC
LEVEL
Ter.
Consume
r
Seconda
ry
Consume
r

HAWK

STARLING
OWL

Primary
SNAILS
WOODLICE
Consume
SQUIRRELS
r

ProducersFALLEN LEAVES

GRASSES

WORMS

RATS

MICE

LIVING LEAVES

SEEDS

FOREST FOOD WEB

FEEDING RELATIONSHIPS
PYRAMIDS OF NUMBERS
PYRAMIDS OF BIOMASS
PYRAMIDS OF ENERGY

. PYRAMID OF NUMBERS
A diagrammatic representation of the number of different
organisms at each trophic level in an ecosystem at any one
time!!!
Note:
1. The number of organisms at any trophic level is
represented by the length or the area of the rectangle.
2. Moving up the pyramid, the number of organisms
generally DECREASES , but the size of each individual
INCREASES.

2. PYRAMID OF BIOMASS
BIOMASS is the number of individuals x mass of each
individual.
Pyramid of biomass represents the biomass at each trophic
level at any one time.

GRASS

RABBIT SNAKE

HAWK

Lets suppose:
10 hawks in an area and each hawk feeds on 2 snake
every day.
Each snake eats one rabbit every day.
Each rabbit eats 20 grass plants every day.
Construct a PYRAMID OF NUMBERS .

The pyramid of biomass is constructed based on the dry mass

of organisms in each trophic level at any one time. This is
called the STANDING MASS of organisms.
HOW CAN WE CONSTRUCT A PYRAMID OF BIOMASS???
Lets suppose there are 1000 rabbits in a given area at one
time.
We can determine the biomass of rabbits at that time as
follows.
1. Dry 10 rabbits in an oven at 1000C until a constant mass is
obtained. Lets say the dry mass of 10 rabbits is A g. the
biomass of 1000 rabbits will be 100A g.
2. Repeat step one for all the other trophic levels.
3. Construct a pyramid of biomass using the information
obtained in steps 1 and 2.

VARIATIONS IN ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS

Mostly they are pyramid shaped, but there are impostant
exceptions.
1. A PYRAMID OF NUMBERS MAY E UPSIDE DOWN if:
. Organisms of one trophic level are parasitic on organisms of
another trophic level.
. Many small organisms of one trophic level feed on a large
organism of another trophic level
EXAMPLE:

tree aphid protozoa

In this case the pyramid of numbers is inverted.

Bottom of the pyramid is one tree.

Many aphids are parasitic on the tree.
Many protozoa are parasitic on the aphids.
Pyramid of biomass is going to be the same, ie, broad at the
bottom and narrow towards the apex. This is because one
tree has comparatively large biomass.

2. Pyramid of biomass for rapidly reproducing organisms are also

not pyramid shaped.
As the pyramid of biomass is based on standing mass, it does not
take into account the rate of reproduction of organisms.
This is a disadvantage when considering organisms that
reproduce rapidly.
PHYTOPLANKTON ZOOPLANKTON SMALL FISH LARGE FISH

Phytoplanktons are
microscopic , plant-like
organisms which make food
through photosynthesis.
Zooplanktons are microscopic
primary consumers, feeding of
phytoplanktons.

Biomass of phytoplankton is
smaller than the zooplankton
which is not possible.
Rate of reproduction of
phytoplankton is fast enough
to replace the organisms that
were eaten by zooplankton.

3. PYRAMID OF ENERGY
The total energy in the various trophic levels of a food chain
can be represented in the form of a pyramid.
We need to determine the total energy content of each
trophic level over a period of time.
We should take into consideration the rate at which the
organisms reproduce.
The average energy content of each trophic level can then be
calculated using special techniques.
Then we can construct the pyramid of energy.
THE PYRAMID OF ENERGY IS THUS CONSTRUCTED BASED ON
THE TOTAL ENERGY LEVEL IN EACH TROPHIC LEVEL OVER A
CERTAIN PERIOD OF TIME, FOR EXAMPLE, ONE YEAR

A LOT OF ENERGY IS LOST TO THE ENVIRONMENT AS FOOD IS

TRANSFERRED FROM ONE TROPHIC LEVEL TO THE NEXT
It may be lost to the environment:
1.
2.
3.
4.

As heat during respiration at every trophic level.

In uneaten body parts
Through undigested matter egested by consumers.
Through waste products excreted by consumers, eg. Urea.

Heat energy is wasted energy since it cannot be recycled in

any way in the ecosystem.
. More and more energy is lost as we go down a food chain.
. The total energy level is highest at the 1st trophic level.
. Hence, the enrgy of pyramid is always broad at the base
and narrow towards the top.

We can assume that about 90% of the energy is lost

when it is transferred from one trophic level to the next.
The greatest amount of energy is lost during transfer of
energy from producer to primary consumer.

PYRAMID OF BIOMASS

PYRAMID OF ENERGY

1. Related to the biomass of the

organisms

1. Related to the energy content

of the organisms

2. Constructed based on the

biomass at any given time

2. Constructed based on energy

content over a period of time

3. Does not consider the rate of

reproduction of organisms

3. Takes in consideration the rate

of reproduction of organisms

NON-CYCLIC ENERGY
FLOW IN ECOSYSTEM
The first source of energy in an ecosystem is the sun.
Some of it is lost to the environment as heat.
Energy lost as heat cant be recycled.
Hence, energy has to be constantly supplied to the ecosystem.
In an ecosystem, energy does not flow in a cycle. Energy flow is
non-cyclic or linear.

1. In an ecosystem, the ultimate source of energy is the sun.

2. Light energy absorbed by chlorophyll in producers is
converted into chemical energy during photosynthesis.
3. Energy in the producers is passed from one trophic level
to another by feeding. (holozoic nutrition)
4. The flow of energy through the ecosystem is non-cyclic.
Energy is released as heat to the environment as it flows
through the ecosystem. This energy can not be recycled
and returned to the same system.
5. Dead organisms and egested and excreted materials
contain trapped chemical energy. Some of this energy is
released by the activity of decomposers. Decomposers
use some of this energy for their needs whereas, the rest
is lost as heat.
ALL the energy that enters the BIOTIC part of the
ecosystem is lost as heat energy. Living organisms can
not use heat energy to do work. They can ONLY use LIGHT

NUTRIENT CYCLING
Essential nutrients:
Carbon
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Water
Released back into the soil when organisms die.
Decomposers break down dead organisms
The materials locked up in these dead organisms are
returned to the physical environment to be again used up by
green plants.
Thats how nutrients are never lost in a balanced
ecosystem.
They are continually recycled.
Physical processes
Biological processes
Chemical processes

1. CARBON CYCLE

Living organisms require carbon containing

compounds as:
1. A source of energy, when carbon-containing
compounds are oxidized during respiration.
(carbohydrates and fats)
2. Raw materials for the growth of cells (fats and
proteins)
.Carbon is constantly being removed from and
released into the environment in the form of CO2
IMPORTANCE:
.CO2 concentration in the environment remains

relatively constant.

1. Ensures a continuous supply of carbon dioxide for plants.

2. Enables energy to flow through the ecosystems. Carbon
compounds carry the trapped solar energy from organism
to organism in the food chains of an ecosystem.

REMOVAL OF CARBON DIOXIDE

FROM THE ENVIRONMENT
During photosynthesis, green plants absorb CO2 from the
atmosphere and use it to manufacture carbohydrates, for
example: glucose
Glucose may be changed to other organic compounds such
as fats, amino acids and proteins.

When animals feed on

green plants, the carbon
compounds become part
of the bodies of these
animals.

The carbon compounds

may also be preserved in
fossil fuels such as coal,
natural gas and oil.
(This happens in conditions of
low temperature , Oxygen and
low pH, which prevent the
action of decomposers. Carbon

RELEASE OF CARBON DIOXIDE FROM

THE ENVIRONMENT
RESPIRATION: When living organisms respire, Carbon
compounds are broken down in their bodies and CO2 is
released into the environment.
COMBUSTION: When fossil fuels like coal and natural
gas are burnt, or undergo combustion, carbon
compounds preserved in fossil fuels are broken down and
CO2 is released into the environment.
DECAY: When organisms die, their bodies decay into
simpler substances by decomposers. CO2 is one of the
simplest substances released into the environment during
decay.
Also, some of the simple substances are absorbed by
decomposers and become a part of their bodies. When the
decomposers respire, CO2 is released.
Methanobacterium, utilizes acetate and produces
methane and carbon dioxide.

1. NITROGEN CYCLE

WHY NITROGEN IS ESSENTIAL?

Plants need nitrogen for the synthesis of proteins and
other compounds, including the DNA and vitamins.
Nitrogen gas makes up about 80% of the Earths
atmosphere, but plants do not have the enzymes necessary
to use the nitrogen directly instead they must absorb it
as NITRATE.
Nitrate is formed by 2 sets of processes carried out by
microorganisms:
1. Nitrogen fixation
2. Nitrification

NITROGEN FIXATION
Nitrogen and hydrogen are combined to form ammonium
ions and then nitrate.
The process depends upon enzymes that are only possessed
by NITROGEN FIXING BACTERIA, a specific class of bacteria.
Some of these bacteria live free in the soil but a very
important species called Rhizobium leguminosarum lives in
swellings called nodules on the roots of the leguminous
plants such as peas, beans and clover.
Nitrogen fixation only happens IF OXYGEN IS PRESENT.
It also naturally occurs in the atmosphere when the energy
from lightning combines nitrogen directly with oxygen.
Farmers can plant legumes in a crop rotation scheme to
avoid having to use so much nitrogen-containing fertilizers.
This saves money and also limits pollution of water.

NITRIFICATION
In NITRIFICATION, ammonium ions produced by the
decomposition of amino acids and proteins are oxidized ,
first to nitrite and then to nitrate.
The process id carried out by NITRIFYING BACTERIA which
live in the soil.
Nitrifying only happens IF OXYGEN IS PRESENT.
In the absence of oxygen the process gets reversed and
DENITRIFYING BACTERIA obtain their energy by converting
nitrate to nitrogen gas.
This is why waterlogged soils, example: tend to lose nitrate
as nitrogen gas.

RECYCLING NITROGEN
Once nitrate has been formed by either nitrogen fixation or
nitrification, it can be absorbed by plants through their
roots.
Eventually the plant dies and its body is added to the nimal
wastes and remains in the soil.
Decomposers break down the nitrogen compounds in these
wastes and remains and the formation of nitrate can begin
again.
Some processes cause the loss of nitrate from the
environment.
This happens naturally as a result of denitrification and less
naturally when crops are harvested and removed from the
site where they have grown.
These losses of nitrate can be made either by nitrogen
fixation or by adding nitrate in the form of fertlisers.

PARASITISM
Parasitism is the association between two organisms such
that one organism (the parasite) lives on or in the body of
another organism (the host). The parasite derives its
nutrients, and usually shelter from its host. In this
process, it normally does some harm to its host.
Parasites live at the expense of their hosts, feeding on the
host tissues, they cause diseases and sometimes death.
Thus called PATHOGENS.
EXAMPLE: hookworms and aphids.
Hookworms live in the intestines of vertebrates.
Aphids suck plant juices.

What is a VECTOR???
An animal that transmits a pathogen (disease causing
organism) from one host to another is called a vector.
The vector may transmit the pathogen:
1. By carrying it on its body
2. By swallowing infected material.
In the case of swallowed material often blood the
pathogen survives and can multiply inside the gut of the
vector.

VECTORS AND DISEASES

Name of Disease

Rabies

Leptospirosis

Dengue fever

Malaria

Pathogen

Virus

Vector and method of

transmission
Mammals including bats, rats
and dogs. Passed on the saliva
e.g. from the bite of an
infected animal

Bacterium

Mammals passed on in the

urine to bodies of water such
as ponds or rivers. Humans
wash or bathe in infected
water.

Virus

Mosquito (Aedes aegypti)

which bites and drinks the
blood of an infected person
and then passes on the virus
in its saliva.

Protoctistan

Mosquito (Anopheles species)

which bites and drinks the
blood of an infected person
and then passes on the
pathogen in its saliva.
Housefly picks up infected

MALARIAL PATHOGEN
Endemic disease in many tropical countries
Caused by certain species of Plasmodium.
Plasmodium is a parasitic protozoan that spends one part of
its life cycle in man and the other part in the female
Nopheles mosquito, ie. It is a parasite of both Man and
mosquito.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

Intermittent fever which occurs either every 48 hours or 72
hours.
It attacks liver cells and red blood cells.
Inside the liver cell or RBC, the parasite reproduces
asexually.
Thousands of them are released into the blood stream.
The toxin produced by the parasite in the bloodstream
causes fever, usually accompanied by chills, shivering and
ending in profuse sweating.
The patient could become anaemic.
Death may occur if untreated.

TRANSMISSION OF THE PATHOGEN

Transmitted by the female Anopheles mosquito. They are the vectors of
malarial parasites as they may carry and transmit them from an infected
person to a healthy person.
When a female anopheline mosquito bites a human being, it uses its
probiscis to pierce the skin of its victim, and at the same time secretes saliva
into the wound.
The saliva prevents the blood of the victim to clot around the probiscis. The
insect then sucks the blood.
If the victim is the infected person, his blood will contain Plasmodium. Thus,
the parasite gets sucked into the mosquitos stomach.
In the stomach wall of the mosquito, the parasite first reproduces asexually
to produce numerous young Plasmodium.
The parasite travels to the mosquitos salivary glands.
This mosquito is now ready to transmit the disease. If it bites an uninfected
person, it injects saliva, containing Plasmodium into his bloodstream.

METHODS OF CONTROL OF MALARIA

An infected person should be treated with quinine or
chloroquine.
Uninfected persons travelling to malarial regions could take
preventive drugs, (PALUDRINE)
Sleep under a mosquito net as mosquitoes are most active at
night.
Anti mosquito measures are aimed at destroying the resting
and breeding places of mosquitoes or making these places
unsuitable for them. They include:
1. Filling and draining of breeding places .
2. Not allowing water to collect in empty tins and other
containers for too long a period in and around houses.
(because they legs in water)
3. Spraying of insecticides especially in dark corners of the
houses.
4. Spraying oil on stagnant water. Oil reduces the surface
tension of water and mosquito larvae and pupae are killed
since they are unable to adhere to the surface to breathe.