ECOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEM

ECOLOGY AND
ECOSYSTEM
Introduction to Ecology
The meaning of the word ecology was given
by German Biologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866.
The word ecology is derived from Greek
words ‘Oikos’ meaning house, habitat or place
of living and 'Logos' meaning to study.
Ecology is defined as the study of
interrelationship of different organisms with
each other and with their environment. It is
concerned with the general principles that
apply to both animals and plants.
Objectives of Ecological
Studies
 It is important for humanity to understand its
environment because we have the ability to modify the
environment through the use of technology, and
through over exploitation of natural resources as a
result of greed or sheer pressure of numbers. Therefore,
ecology is more than just the understanding of the
interrelationships between organisms and their
environment; it also has social, political, economic and
technonogical dimensions.
 It also is a study of evolutionary development of
organisms, the biological productivity and energy flow
in the natural system.
 To develop mathematical models to relate interaction of
parameters and to predict the effects.
Classification of Ecology
 Based on study area
1) Autecology : It deals with the study of an individual
species of organisms and it’s population. The
ecologists study the behavior and adaptations of
particular species to the environmental condition at
every stage of that individual's life cycle. It is also
called the Species ecology.
2) Synecology : It deals with the study of communities,
their composition, their behavior and relation with the
environment. It is also called as Ecology of
communities. It is further divided into 3 types :
1) Population Ecology
2) Community Ecology
3) Ecosystem Ecology
 Based on Environment or habitat
1) Aquatic ecology : The study of interaction of organisms in the
water.
I. Marine water ecology
a) Ocean
b) Deep Sea
c) Estuary
II. Freshwater Ecology
i) Lotic (Running water)
a) River
b) Stream
c) Spring
ii) Lentic (Standing Water)
a) Pond
b) Lake
 Terrestrial Ecology: The study of
interaction of organisms on land
a) Forest Ecology
b) Grassland Ecology
c) Desert Ecology
Ecosystem
The term Ecosystem was first proposed by A.
G. Tansley in 1935. He defined it as 'the
system resulting from the interaction of all the
living and non living factors of the
Environment.
An ecosystem consists of the biological
community that occurs in some locale, and the
physical and chemical factors that make up its
non-living or abiotic environment. There are
many examples of ecosystems - a pond, a
forest, an estuary, a grassland.
Types of Ecosystem
1. Natural Ecosystems : These operate under natural
conditions without any major interference by
man.
i. Terrestrial Ecosystem :
 Forest, grassland, desert, etc.
ii. Aquatic Ecosystem :
a) Fresh water : lotic (running water like spring,
stream, or rivers) or Lentic (standing water as
lake, pond, pools, etc.)
b) Marine water :
Such as deep bodies as ocean or shallow ones as
Sea or an estuary.
Types of Ecosystem
2. Artificial (Man Engineered) Ecosystems:
These are maintained artificially by man
where by addition of energy and planned
manipulation, natural balance is disturbed
regularly e.g., crop land ecosystem.
Components of Ecosystem
1. Abiotic
 Consists of Non-living chemical & physical
components such as water, air, nutrients in the soil or
water & Solar Energy.
 Physical & chemical factors that influence living
organisms in land (terrestrial) ecosystem & aquatic life
zones.
 Abiotic factors can act as LIMITING FACTORS that
keep a population at a certain level.
 Abiotic Components are mainly of two types:
1) Climatic Factors: which include rain, temperature,
light, wind, etc.
2) Edaphic Factors: which include soil, pH, Topography,
Minerals, etc,
2. Biotic factors
 All the living things that directly or indirectly affect the ecosystem.
 Made up of biological components consisting of living and dead
plants, animals and microorganisms.
 The Major Biological Components of Ecosystem :
a) Producers (Autotrophs)(self-feeders)
 Make their own food from compounds that are obtained from their
environment.
 Are the source of all food in an ecosystem.
 On land most producers are green plants.
 In freshwater and marine ecosystems, algae and plants are the major
producers near shorelines.
 In open water, the dominant producers are phytoplankton (most of
them microscopic) that float or drift in the water.
 Most producers capture sunlight to make carbohydrates (such as
glucose) by photosynthesis .
b. Consumers (Heterotrophs) ("other feeders"):
Get their energy and nutrients by feeding on other
organisms or their remains.
i) Primary consumers : Are those that eat producers (plants)
as a source of food. They are also known as
herbivores.
ii) Secondary consumers or carnivores : Eat other animals.
iii)Tertiary Consumers : Large Carnivores which feed on
secondary consumers.
iv) Quaternary Consumers : Largest Carnivores that feed
on tertiary consumers. They are not eaten by any animals.
v) Omnivores : Have mixed diet that include both plants and
animals.
c) Decomposer :
Mostly certain types of bacteria and fungi are
specialized consumers that recycle organic
matter in ecosystems.
They do this by breaking down (biodegrading)
dead organic material to get nutrients and
releasing the resulting simpler inorganic
compounds into the soil and water, where they
can be taken up as nutrients by producers.

ECOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEM

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ECOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEM

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

ECOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEM

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ECOLOGY AND

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.