CHAPTER 12

ECOLOGY
 Interaction
component of
Biodiversity Terminologies life
in crisis
Biotic
Conservation
Malaysia Ecosystem component
diversity concept Abiotic
component

Conservation
management
ECOLOGY Interactions
biotic
component

Sustainable
Energy flow Interactions
development through biotic & abiotic
ecosystem component
Biogeochemical
Ecological
cycles pyramidc

Carbon cycle Trophic levels

Energy transfer
i. Niche
ii. Habitat (macrohabitat and microhabitat)
iii. Organism
iv. Population
v. Community
vi. Ecosystem
vii. Biome
viii.Biosphere

12.1 Introduction to ecology

- Define basic terminologies in ecology

12.2 Ecosystem concept

- Explain ecosystem concept
- Define the relationship between the following
component of life; Organism, population,
community, ecosystem, biome and biosphere
 OBJECTIVES
Students should be able to:

Define terminologies in ecology

Define the ecosystem concept according
to Odum
 ECOLOGY
A scientific study on the interactions of organisms
with other organisms & their environment

The living organisms and the physical environment

interact in an immense and complicated web of
relationships.
 Fields of study
Ecology can be divided into four
increasingly comprehensive levels of
inquiry :

Organism
ecology
Population
ecology

Community
ecology

Ecosystem
ecology
 Organismal ecology studies the behavioral,
physiological & morphological ways of individuals
with the environment.
The distribution of organisms is limited by their
tolerance of abiotic conditions.

Population ecology studies interactions between

members of a population & examines factors that
affect population size & composition.
Questions in population ecology concern factors that
affect population size and composition.
 Community ecology examines interactions between
populations, and how factors such as predation,
competition & diseases affect community structure &
organization.
Questions concern predation, competition, disease
and other ways in which interactions among
organisms affect community structure and
organization.

Ecosystem ecology examines the energy flow &

cycling of chemicals among the various abiotic &
biotic components.
Questions concern energy flow and chemical cycling
among the abiotic and biotic components.
Type of ecology & their interaction
 ECOLOGICAL NICHE
The functional role of an organism in its ecosystem.

According to Odum: habitat is the address & niche

is the occupation.

Including the physical area where it lives, the

resources it uses & its interaction with others
 ECOLOGICAL NICHE
Determines where it can live & how it fits into an
ecosystem to survive better.

Different individuals cannot coexist stably if they

have the same ecological niche.

Ecologically similar species can coexist in a

community if there are one or more significant
differences in their niches.
 Includes numerous dimensions (niche variables)
such as feeding behaviour, temp, humidity, nesting
site, food type
Eg: caterpillars & aphids may feed on a same plant
but caterpillars eat the leaves as aphids take the
phloem sap

Aphids
Caterpillars
Feeding niches for wading birds
 HABITAT
Place where an organism lives & reproduces
Provides factors necessary for survival
ie: food, water, protection & space
Eg: forests, lakes, deserts
 HABITAT
Microhabitats: slightly different locations (within
a same general habitat) where certain species of
individuals live
a physical location that is home to very small
creatures, such as woodlice
Eg: different species of millipedes living on a
woodland floor actually live in different
microhabitats (centre of logs, surface of logs,
underneath the leaf litter)
Organism
An individual living thing, with its own living
systems
Eg: a giraffe
Population
A group of individuals of the same species that live
in a habitat & may interbreed to produce fertile
offspring
Eg: all the giraffes living in a certain savannah
Community
All the organisms that live in an area
Consists of different populations that
interact among each other
Eg: a community for a certain savannah
includes giraffes, zebras, lions, birds as well
as the grass & trees
Ecosystem
A natural system consisting of ecological
communities of living organisms & the physical
abiotic (non-living) components of the
environment with which they interact
A stable but dynamic system
Can be disturbed if there are changes in the
biotic or abiotic components
Eg: grassland, forest, pond, lake, ocean
Ecological levels
Biome
Major ecosystem type that is largely determined
by climatic factor
Extends over a large geographical area
Characterized by a dominant type of plant
community & supported by animals with
adaptations to the particular environment
Eg of biomes: tropical rain forest, savannah,
desert, temperate grassland, coniferous forest,
tundra
Tropical rain forest Savannah

Desert Temperate deciduous forest

Sequence of biomes
Major terrestrial biomes
Biosphere
Entire portion of Earth that is inhabited by life
The sum of all Earths ecosystems
Most complex level in ecology
Includes the atmosphere, land (lithosphere),
freshwaters & oceans (hydrosphere)
BIOSPHERE
 THE ECOSYSTEM CONCEPT
Definition of ecosystem according to Eugene
Odum (1969) :
The basic functional unit of nature including
both organisms and their non-living
environment, each interacting with the other
and influencing each others properties and
both are necessary for the maintenance and
development of the system
 E. P. Odum define ecosystem structure and
function in the manner described below.

The structure of an ecosystem consist of three

divisions:
1) The ecological community, including all its
species, the number of individuals in each
species, the biomass (total weight of all the
living), and the life histories and dispersion
pattern of the species.
1) The ecological community
2) The quantity and distribution of abiotic materials,
such as water and nutrients, with which the
organisms interact.
3)The range of physical conditions, such as
temperature, light intensity, wind and water
velocity and nature of the bedrock.
 THE ECOSYSTEM CONCEPT
Ecosystem:
- consists of biotic & abiotic components
- collectively known as community
- shows interactions between the components
by one way energy flow
- involved cycling of nutrient with physical
environment
- open-system
- unable to sustain itself
- requires an energy input (sun)
 THE ECOSYSTEM CONCEPT
Ecosystem:
- nutrients inputs from other environment
- involved energy and nutrient output
- energy cannot be recycled
- nutrients are recycled
- efficiency of energy flow and nutrient cycle
- stabilizes the ecosystem
 ORGANIZATION OF LIFE
Each living system has several levels of organization & can also be
organized according to ecological levels

Biosphere
Biome
Ecosystem ecology
Community
Population

Organism diversity

Organ
Tissue
Cell cell biology
Protoplasm/organelle

Gene genetics
 Organization of life
With the information of the genes,
molecules of life are organized specifically to form cells

Cells are grouped to form different tissues

Tissues are arranged to form a functional organ

Organs are grouped to form various systems

 The arrangement of all these systems constitutes a
complete organism

Individuals of one type of organism live in a group

called population

Various populations of organisms interact with one another

forming a community

Communities interact with abiotic factors in their environment

forming an ecosystem

All ecosystems on planet Earth together constitute

the biosphere
BIOSPHERE