UNIVERSITY OF CROSS RIVER STATE, (UNICROSS), CALABAR

DEPARTMENT OF PLANT SCIENCE AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

LECTURE NOTE ON BIO 2201 GEN. ECOLOGY.

Ecology.

Ecology is a branch of science, including human science, population, community, ecosystem and
biosphere. Ecology is the study of organisms, the environment and how the organisms interact
with each other and their environment. It is studied at various levels, such as organism,
population, community, biosphere and ecosystem. An ecologist’s primary goal is to improve
their understanding of life processes, adaptations and habitats, interactions and biodiversity of
organisms.

Ecosystem.

An ecosystem is a structural and functional unit of ecology where the living organisms interact
with each other and the surrounding environment. In other words, an ecosystem is a chain of
interactions between organisms and their environment. The term “Ecosystem” was first coined
by A.G.Tansley, an English botanist, in 1935.

Population.

A population is a subset of individuals of one species that occupies a particular geographic area
and, in sexually reproducing species, interbreeds. The geographic boundaries of a population are
easy to establish for some species but more difficult for others.

Community ecology or synecology is the study of the interactions between species in

communities on many spatial and temporal scales, including the distribution, structure,
abundance, demography, and interactions between coexisting populations. The primary focus of
community ecology is on the interactions between populations as determined by specific
genotypic and phenotypic characteristics.

Types of Ecology

Global Ecology.

It deals with interactions among earth’s ecosystems, land, atmosphere and oceans. It helps to
understand the large-scale interactions and their influence on the planet.
Landscape Ecology.
It deals with the exchange of energy, materials, organisms and other products of ecosystems.
Landscape ecology throws light on the role of human impacts on the landscape structures and
functions.
Ecosystem Ecology.
It deals with the entire ecosystem, including the study of living and non-living components and
their relationship with the environment. This science researches how ecosystems work, their
interactions, etc.
Community Ecology
It deals with how community structure is modified by interactions among living organisms.
Ecology community is made up of two or more populations of different species living in a
particular geographic area.
Population Ecology
It deals with factors that alter and impact the genetic composition and the size of the population
of organisms. Ecologists are interested in fluctuations in the size of a population, the growth of a
population and any other interactions with the population.
In biology, a population can be defined as a set of individuals of the same species living in a
given place at a given time. Births and immigration are the main factors that increase the
population and death and emigration are the main factors that decrease the population.
Population ecology examines the population distribution and density. Population density is the
number of individuals in a given volume or area. This helps in determining whether a particular
species is in endanger or its number is to be controlled and resources to be replenished.
Organismal Ecology
Organismal ecology is the study of an individual organism’s behaviour, morphology, physiology,
etc. in response to environmental challenges. It looks at how individual organisms interact with
biotic and abiotic components. Ecologists research how organisms are adapted to these non-
living and living components of their surroundings.
Individual species are related to various adaptations like physiological adaptation, morphological
adaptation, and behavioural adaptation.
Molecular Ecology
The study of ecology focuses on the production of proteins and how these proteins affect the
organisms and their environment. This happens at the molecular level.
DNA forms the proteins that interact with each other and the environment. These interactions
give rise to some complex organisms.
Importance of Ecology
The following reasons explain the importance of ecology:
Conservation of Environment
Ecology helps us to understand how our actions affect the environment. It shows the individuals
the extent of damage we cause to the environment.
Lack of understanding of ecology has led to the degradation of land and the environment. It has
also led to the extinction and endangerment of certain species. For eg., dinosaurs, white shark,
mammoths, etc. Thus, the study of the environment and organisms helps us to protect them from
any damage and danger.
Resource Allocation
With the knowledge of ecology, we are able to know which resources are necessary for the
survival of different organisms. Lack of ecological knowledge has led to scarcity and deprivation
of these resources, leading to competition.
Energy Conservation
All organisms require energy for their growth and development. Lack of ecological
understanding leads to the over-exploitation of energy resources such as light, nutrition and
radiation, leading to its depletion.
Proper knowledge of ecological requirements prevents the unnecessary wastage of energy
resources, thereby, conserving energy for future purposes.
Eco-Friendliness
Ecology encourages harmonious living within the species and the adoption of a lifestyle that
protects the ecology of life.

following are a few examples of ecology:

Human Ecology

It focuses on the relationship between humans and the environment. It emphasizes the impact
human beings have on the environment and gives knowledge on how we can improve ourselves
for the betterment of humans and the environment.

Niche Construction

It deals with the study of how organisms alter the environment for the benefit of themselves and
other living beings. For eg, termites create a 6 feet tall mound and at the same time feed and
protect their entire population.

The four law of ecology

The first of these informal laws, Everything is connected to everything else, indicates how
ecosystems are complex and interconnected. This complexity and interconnectedness are not like
that of the individual organism whose various organs have evolved and have been selected based
on their contribution to the survival and fecundity of the whole. Nature is far more complex,
variable, and considerably more resilient than the metaphor of the evolution of an individual
organism suggests. An ecosystem can lose species and undergo significant transformations
without collapsing. Yet, the interconnectedness of nature also means that ecological systems can
experience sudden, startling catastrophes if placed under extreme stress. “The system,”
Commoner writes, “is stabilized by its dynamic self-compensating properties; these same
properties, if overstressed, can lead to a dramatic collapse.” Further, “the ecological system is an
amplifier, so that a small perturbation in one place may have large, distant, long-delayed effects
elsewhere.”

The second law of ecology, Everything must go somewhere, restates a basic law of
thermodynamics: in nature, there is no final waste, matter and energy are preserved, and the
waste produced in one ecological process is recycled in another. For instance, a downed tree or
log in an old-growth forest is a life source for numerous species and an essential part of the
ecosystem. Likewise, animals excrete carbon dioxide into the air and organic compounds into the
soil, which helps sustain plants upon which animals will feed.

Nature knows best, the third informal law of ecology, Commoner writes, “holds that any major
man-made change in a natural system is likely to be detrimental to that system.” During 5 billion
years of evolution, living things developed an array of substances and reactions that together
constitute the living biosphere. However, the modern petrochemical industry suddenly created
thousands of new substances that did not exist in nature. Based on the same basic carbon
chemistry patterns as natural compounds, these new substances enter readily into existing
biochemical processes. But they do so in ways that are frequently destructive to life, leading to
mutations, cancer, and many different forms of death and disease. “The absence of a particular
substance from nature,” Commoner writes, “is often a sign that it is incompatible with the
chemistry of life.”

There is no such thing as a free lunch. The fourth informal law of ecology expresses that the
exploitation of nature always carries an ecological cost. From a strict ecological standpoint,
human beings are consumers more than they are producers. The second law of thermodynamics
tells us that in the very process of using energy, human beings “use up” (but do not destroy)
energy, in the sense that they transform it into unworkable forms.