What is Ecology?

Concepts
Origin of the word…”ecology”
 Greek origin
 OIKOS = household
 LOGOS = study of…

 Study of the “house/environment” in

which we live.
Who coined the term ecology?
 Dr Ernst Haeckel in 1869.
 He was a German zoologist.
Ecology is study of interactions between
 non-living components in the environment…
 light
 water
 wind
 nutrients in soil
 heat
 solar radiation
 atmosphere, etc.

AND…
 Living organisms…
 Plants
 Animals
 microorganisms in soil, etc.
Objectives of ecology
 Conservation, preservation and
management of natural resources.
 Distribution of organisms on a regional
and local level.
 Interrelations between organisms and
communities.
 Evolutionary progress of interrelations.
Objectives of ecology
 The behavior of organisms under natural
conditions.
 Relation between man and biological
productivity.
 Development of mathematical and statistical
tools to study ecological parameters.
 Practical adaptations of organisms to their
habitat.
 The scope of Ecology involves…
 For non-living  For living (biotic)
(abiotic)  animal behavior
 Climatology  Taxonomy
 Hydrology  Physiology
 Oceanography  mathematics
 Physics (population studies)
 Chemistry  etc.
 Geology
 soil analysis, etc.
Ecosystem
 Who coined the term ecosystem?
 British ecologist Arthur G
Tansley
Ecosystem
 Plants ,animals and other organisms
together with physical environment
with which they interact is called as
an ecosystem.
Component of an ecosystem
 1) Non living environment or abiotic
world.
 2) Living environment or biotic
world.
 3) Decomposers..
1) Non living environment or
abiotic world.

All non biological parts of an ecosystem are

mainly physical and chemical in nature.
They consist of
1) Sunlight
2) Climate
3) Soil
4) Temperature
5) Carbon di oxide
6) Calcium etc.
2) Living environment or biotic
world.

 This consists :-
 Producers
 Consumers.
Producers

 Producers are auto trophic organisms.

 They contain chlorophyll and produce own
foods by photosynthesis.
 Examples : Plant bacteria, algae and blue
green algae.
Consumers.

 Consumers are heterotrophic organisms.

 They require ready made food material
as they cannot produce own food.
 They are classified as :-
 Herbivores – Plant eaters.
 Carnivores – Flesh eaters.
 Omnivores – Both plant and flesh eaters.
3) Decomposers..

 Organisms that feed on the dead organic

material breaking down either
chemically or physically into simpler
substances.
 It includes animals – earthworms
 Plants – fungi.
Decomposers..

 Without decomposers no
ecosystem can work. This is
because all organisms have to
die one day and without
decomposers the body would not
decay and supply nutrition to
the earth.
Classifications of ecosystems
 1) Natural and man made
ecosystems
 2) Terrestrial and aquatic
ecosystems
1) Natural and man made ecosystems

 Natural Ecosystems are those which are

self regulating without interference by
man.
 E.g.Forest,desert,river,lake etc

 Man made ecosystem are purely man

made and controlled by him :-
 E.g. garden,dam,aquarium,city etc.
2) Terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems

 Terrestrial ecosystems are those

ecosystems which exist on land .
 E.g. Forest, desert etc
Terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems

 Aquatic ecosystems :-
 Aquatic ecosystems are water based
ecosystems.
 There are two types of aquatic ecosystems :-
 a) fresh water e.g. waterfall, lake river etc.
 b) Marine .e.g. sea, ocean and other salt water
bodies.
Example of a Food Chain
 Food web

• All the food chains in an area make up the

food web of the area.
Condensation

Precipitation

Evaporation
 Nitrogen in
the air

nitrogen fixing
plant animal protein
eg pea, clover
plant made dead rabbit
protein

denitrifying dead plants & animals

root nodules urine & faeces
(containing nitrogen bacteria
fixing bacteria)
decomposition by bacteria & fungi
nitrates absorbed

nitrates ammonia

bacteria bacteria
nitrites
Free powerpoints at http://www.worldofteaching.com (nitrifying bacteria)