Ecology

1. The Scope of Ecology

6. Life Histories and Natural

Selection

2. Biogeography

7. Human Population Growth

3.Distributions: Biomes and Habitats

4. Population Demography

5. Population Dynamics and Regulation

Introduction to Ecology
Ecology is the study of the factors that

determine species abundances and

distributions.
The four main levels of study in ecology are the
organism, population, community, and
ecosystem.
Ecological areas of study include topics ranging
from the interactions and adaptations of

organisms within an ecosystem to the abiotic

processes that drive the development of those
Levels of ecological study

ecosystems.

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Hierarchical Ecology

Genes
Cells
Tissus
Organs
Organisms
Populations
Species
Communities
Ecosystems
Biomes
Biosphere

Organismal Ecology
Organismal ecology focuses on the morphological, physiological,

and behavioral adaptations that let an organism survive in a specific

habitat, the distribution and population growth of an organism, the
relationship of an organism with others of the same species, in the same
area.
Source: Boundless. Organismal Ecology and Population Ecology. Boundless Biology. Boundless, 03 Jul. 2014. Retrieved
19 Feb. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/biology/textbooks/boundless-biology-textbook/ecology-and-the-biosphere-

44/the-scope-of-ecology-244/organismal-ecology-and-population-ecology-903-12155

What adaptations does this butterfly have that make it suited to their

environment?

Karner blue butterfly

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POPULATION ECOLOGY
Population ecology deals with the dynamics
of species populations and how these populations interact with
the environment. It is the study of how the population sizes of
species living together in groups change over time and space.
The development of population ecology owes much
to demography . Population ecology is important

in conservation biology, especially in the development

of population viability analysis(PVA) which makes it possible to
predict the long-term probability of a species persisting in a
given habitat patch, such as a national park.

Biogeography
Biogeography

Energy Sources
Temperature and Water
Inorganic Nutrients and Other Factors
Abiotic Factors Influencing Plant Growth

Biogeography
Species distributions depend on abiotic factors, which include temperature

and altitude, and biotic factors, such as interactions with other species.
Species can be either endemic, usually found in isolated land masses, or
widely distributed, found in many regions.
Note: we will talk about biotic factors/species interactions later when studying
community

ecology.

Endemic species of Australia

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Abiotic Factors: Energy Sources

Light:
In land habitats, plant adaptations include life cycles that are maximizing the
availability of light; for example, species will flower or grow at varying times to
ensure they capture enough available light suitable to their needs.
In aquatic ecosystems, species adaptations deal with the sometimes-limited
availability of light due to its absorption by water, plants, suspended particles,
microorganisms, and water depth.

Nutrients:
Nutrient availability is connected to the energy needs of
organisms since sequestered energy is reused by living organisms from dead
ones.
Ocean upwelling and spring and fall turnovers are important
processes regulating the distribution of nutrients in an aquatic
ecosystems.

Ephemeral plant
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Abiotic Factors: Temperature and Water

Organisms must either maintain a specific

internal temperature or inhabit an environment

that will keep the body within a temperature
range that supports their metabolism.
Many species have developed adaptations, such
as migration, hibernation, and torpor, to deal with
temperature fluctuations.
Water retention is vital to all living beings;

adaptations have evolved within both terrestrial

(eg. aestivation) and aquatic species (eg. salt
glands) to minimize water loss.

Arctic tern
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Abiotic Factors: Inorganic Nutrients and Other Factors

Soil structure, pH, and its nutrient content affect

the distribution of plants, which in turn influences

the distribution of the animals that feed on them.
Oxygen availability is an important abiotic factor
affecting species in both aquatic and terrestrial
environments.
Wind and fire impose physical disturbances that
species must be adapted to in order to live in

affected areas.
Gravity, Fire

Jack pine cones

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Abiotic Factors Influencing Plant Growth

Primary production, on which almost all of life on earth is dependent,

occurs through either photosynthesis or chemosynthesis.

Annual biomass production, used to estimate net primary productivity by
plants in an area, is directly influenced by an environment's abiotic factors,
which include temperature and moisture.
Warm and wet climates have the greatest amount of plant biomass because
they offer conditions in which photosynthesis, plant growth, and the resulting
net primary productivity are highest.

Primary productivity and biomass production

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Ecology and the Biosphere > Terrestrial Biomes

Biomes revisited
The climate, including precipitation and temperature, and the geography control the type of biome found in a
region: each type of biome can be found in multiple locations on Earth .

There are two major classifications of biomes, which are terrestial and aquatic.
A habitat is determined by environmental variables (location) where a type of organism (a population) lives,
while a biome contains all the habitats in a given region and climate.

"habitats can be defined as regions in environmental space that are composed of multiple dimensions, each representing a
biotic or abiotic environmental variable; that is, any component or characteristic of the environment related directly (e.g. forage
biomass and quality) or indirectly (e.g. elevation) to the use of a location by the animal."

Earth's Major Biomes

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Biomes
Biomes are larger units of organization that

categorize regions of the Earth's ecosystems,

mainly according to the structure and composition
of vegetation. There are different methods to
define the continental boundaries of biomes

dominated by different functional types of

vegetative communities that are limited in
distribution by climate, precipitation, weather and

other environmental variables. Biomes

include tropical rainforest, temperate broadleaf
and mixed forest, temperate deciduous
forest, taiga, tundra, hot desert, and polar desert

Species Distributions within Habitats

Dispersion or distribution patterns show the spatial relationship between

members of a population within an habitat.

Individuals of a population can be distributed in one of three basic patterns:
uniform, random, or clumped.
In a uniform distribution, individuals are equally spaced apart, as seen in
negative allelopathy where chemicals kill off plants surrounding sages.
In a random distribution, individuals are spaced at unpredictable distances
from each other, as seen among plants that have wind-dispersed seeds.

In a clumped distribution, individuals are grouped together, as seen among

elephants at a watering hole.

Species Distributions within Habitats

Three patterns of distribution in populations of

organisms
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Population Ecology and Demography

A population is a distinct group of members

of a particular species, that live within an

ecosystem.
Demography is the science of (human)
populations. Demographers seek to
understand population dynamics by
investigating three main demographic
processes: birth, migration, and aging

(including death).
Principles have been extended to animal
and plant populations.

Life table of Dall mountain sheep

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Population Ecology and Demography

Demographic studies help scientists understand the population dynamics of

species, such as invasive species like the Asian carp.

Population fluctuations depend on the weather, food availability, natural
disasters such as forest fires or volcanic eruptions, predation, and biological
competition (density independent and density dependent factors).
Researchers originally designed demographic tools to study human
populations, but demographic approaches can be applied to all living
populations.

Asian carp jump out of the water in response to

electrofishing
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Population Size and Density

A population's size refers to the number of individuals (N) it comprises.

Population density is the number of individuals within a given area or

volume.
Scientists usually study populations by sampling, which involves counting
individuals within a certain area or volume that is part of the population's
habitat.

Population density is negatively correlated with

body size
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Population Growth
To get an accurate growth rate of a population, the number that died in the

time period (death rate) must be removed from the number born during the
same time period (birth rate).
When the birth rate and death rate are expressed in a per capita manner, they
must be multiplied by the population to determine the number of births and deaths.

The intrinsic rate of increase is the difference between birth and death rates;
it can be positive, indicating a growing population; negative, indicating a
shrinking population; or zero, indicting no change in the population.
Different species have a different intrinsic rate of increase which, when

under ideal conditions, represents the biotic potential or maximal growth

rate for a species.

Exponential and Logistic Growth

When there are no limitations, growth is exponential

The carrying capacity of a particular environment is the maximum population

size that it can support.
As population size increases and resources become more limited,
intraspecific competition occurs: individuals within a population who are
more or less better adapted for the environment compete for survival.

Exponential and logistical

population growth
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Population Regulation
The density of a population can be regulated by various factors, including

biotic and abiotic factors and population size.

Density-dependent regulation can be affected by factors that affect birth
and death rates such as competition and predation.
Density-independent regulation can be affected by factors that affect birth
and death rates such as abiotic factors and environmental factors, i.e.
severe weather and conditions such as fire.

Effect of population density on fecundity

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Theories of Life History

K-selection species are defined as those present in stable and predictable

environments that produce fewer offspring, have longer gestation periods,

and provide long-term care after birth.
r-selected species are defined as those present in fluctuating environments
that have large numbers of offspring and do not provide long-term care after
birth.
Based on evidence that shows not all species follow solely the K- or rselection theories, new models of life include additional factors that affect

life and survivorship such as population age structure and mortality factors.

K- and r- selected species

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Life History Patterns and Energy Budgets

The amount of parental care given to an individual offspring is inversely

related to the reproductive capacity of an animal species.

Animal species that produce many small, vulnerable offspring tend to provide little
or no care for them due to their energy budget constraints; just enough offspring
survive to maintain the species.
Animal species that have few offspring expend large amounts of their energy
budgets on caring for helpless offspring that need to develop before being on their
own.
Plants with low fecundity produce few energy-rich seeds with high germination
rates, while plants with high fecundity usually have many small, energy-poor seeds
with poor survival rates.
Semelparous species use all of their reproductive
budgets on one single reproductive event, while
iteroparous species spend it on multiple mating
seasons.
Semelparous species
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Human Population Growth

Global human population growth is around 75 million

annually, or 1.1% per year.The global population has grown

from 1 billion in 1800 to 7 billion in 2012.
Although the direct consequences of human population
growth have not yet been realized, exponential growth
cannot continue indefinitely.
In the late 1970s, China's "one-child" policy tried to control
population growth, but restrictions were relaxed in the early

2000s.
One of the major consequences of population growth is the
potential for widespread food shortages.

The estimated growth of the human population

from 10,000 BCE2000 CE.
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Overcoming Density-Dependent Regulation

Humans' ability to alter their environment is an underlying reason for human

population growth, enabling people to overcome density-dependent limits on

growth, in contrast with all other organisms.
Advances in medicine, notably vaccines and antibiotics, as well as
improvements in nutrition and vector control, have significantly curbed
mortality from disease.

Measles cases reported in the United States,

1944-2007
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References
Boundless. 2014. Biology. <https://www.boundless.com/biology/>

Big History Project. sin fecha. Chapter 3 - Life.

<https://www.bighistoryproject.com/home>
Smith, T. M. & Smith, R. L. 2007. Ecologa. Pearson, Mxico.