DYNAMIC ECOSYSTEM - When a primary consumer feeds on a producer, 10% of

the original energy in producer is incorporated into the

Ecology = the scientific study of the interactions of living primary consumer and 90% is lost as heat.
organisms with other living organisms and with physical
environment - When a primary consumer is eaten by a secondary
consumer, 10% of the original energy in producer is
Producers incorporated into the next consumer and 90% is lost as heat.

*autotrophs- green plants THE INTERACTION BETWEEN BIOTIC COMPONENTS

*synthesis organic substances / food from nutrients &
sunlight

Consumers

(heterotrophs) acquire energy and nutrient by feeding on

other organisms-primary, secondary, tertiary consumers

Decomposers

*microorganisms-bacteria / fungi

*break down waste products and dead bodies of other

organisms into simple substances

Abiotic components

 pH affects the distribution of organisms

 Light intensity - distribution and growths of plants and
distribution of animals
 Humidity - rate of water loss by plants and animals (ii) Saprophytism = living organisms obtain food from dead
 Temperature - physiological activities of p and a and decaying organic matter
 Topography
- secretes enzymes to digest dead organisms before
 altitude- height
absorbing the digested compound.
 gradient- steepness of a slope
- Examples:
 aspect- windward / leeward slope
 Saprophyte - plants that depends fully on dead
 Microclimate
organisms for food - mushroom, fungi
 climate in microhabitat
 Saprozoite - animal that obtains food from dead
 affects the number and distribution of organisms
organisms - Earthworm, paramecium, saprophytic
Food chain = a sequences of organisms through which bacteria
energy is transferred.
(iii) Prey-predator = prey is hunted and killed by the
Food web - food chains link up to form a food web. predator for food.

The tropics level of an organism is its position in a food

chain.
- helps control the population of organisms in an An ecosystem = a system formed by the interactions of a
ecosystem, maintain the balance of the nature community of organisms with their non-living environment.
- At the beginning, the rats (prey) have plenty of food,
and they survive to breed and their population rises. - dynamic system where all the biotic components are in
- Increases in the population of rats means more food for balance with one another and with the abiotic components.
owls (predator), so they survive to breed and their
1. Niche
population rises.
- With more owls, the population of rats goes down - the role that an organism plays in the ecosystem.
because the rats are eaten by the owls. - the way of life of an organism in its natural surrounding
- With less rats, fewer owls survive to breed and their - Example: grasshopper – hops and flies around the grass
population declines. Some of the owls migrate to other field, feeds on grass, mates and becomes food for others.
places.
- With fewer owls, more rats will survive to breed and 2. Habitat - a place where an organism lives.
their population rises, so the cycle repeats itself.
3. Community - consists of all the different populations of
- The predator-prey cycles are self regulating and keep
plants and animals living together and interacting within a
the populations of both predator and prey in a dynamic
defined area of habitat.
equilibrium.
4. Population - a group of organisms of the same species
Competiton = for limited resources, such as food, shelter,
living in the same habitat at the same time.
breeding mates, light, nutrients, water, space
1. Colonisation is a process whereby living organisms move
(i) Intraspecific Competition
into the newly formed area which is completely devoid of
- a competiton between individuals of the same species life.
- The two species of paramecium aurelia and
2. The species organisms that colonise the newly formed
paramecium caudatum are cultured in two separate
area called pioneer species.
culture dishes but given the same amount of food.
- The population of paramecium aurelia and paramecium - usually hardy plants
caudatum in each culture dish increased and then - able to survive on dry or nutrient-poor soil or sand.
reached a maximum.
5. Succession of a habitat take places when species move
(ii) Interspecific Competition into the modified environment, compete and gradually
replace the pioneer species.
- a competiton between individuals of two or more
different species 6. Successor species grow larger than the pioneer species,
- in this type of competition, the species that thus cutting off light, nutrients and space of pioneer species
- loses: either dies, or is forced to move out of the habitat and finally eliminating the pioneers.
- wins : stays and become dominant in that habitat
- When paramecium aurelia and paramecium caudatum 7. The succession process continues gradually. Finally after
are cultured in a same culture dish with the fixed amount many levels of succession, a climax community (a balanced
of food and space, paramecium caudatum lost out to and stable community) forms.
paramecium aurelia in this competition for food and
space. Pond
- The population of paramecium caudatum initially rose
Pioneer Stage
and then decreased while the population of paramecium
aurelia rose and finally became the dominant species. a. Phytoplankton, zooplankton and submerged aquatic
plants (Hydrilla, Utricularia and Cabomba) are the pioneers.

b. They have long fibrous roots to penetrate the soil and

8.2 COLONISATION AND SUCCESSION IN AN ECOSYSTEM
absorb nutrients.
c. When they die and decompose, the organic matter - prop roots for support in the soft and unstable mud.
settles to the bottom of the pond. This organic matter, - help the plants to breathe as they are permeable to gas.
together with the eroded soil from the bank of the pond - viviparous seedling - germinate while still being
gradually settles to the bottom, making the pond shallower attached to the parent on the tree branch.
and more suitable for floating plants. - Hydathodes (on the edges of the leaves to get rid of
excess salt from the tree through guttation)
Succession by aquatic floating plants - Thick and fleshy leaves (to store water)
- Waxy cuticle (protects the epidermis from excessive
- (Pistia, Eichornia and Lemna) gradually multiply and
water loss)
cover the surface of the pond and prevent sunlight from
entering it. Succession by Bruguiera sp.:
- This causes the submerged aquatic plants to die as they
cannot carry out photosynthesis. The stilt roots of Rhizophora sp. trap the deposit floating
- The dead plants decompose and add on to the layer of debris, wood, sand and mud brought in by the tide. Over
organic matter at the bottom of the pond. time, these deposition creates firmer soil, raises the ground
- The dead plants together with the eroded soil from the level and makes it drier, making the habitat more suitable
bank of the pond gradually raise the floor of the pond, for Bruguiera sp.
making it too swallow for the floating plants.
Adaptations:
emergent (amphibious) plants
- buttress roots and pneumatophores that are knee-
- (Firmbristylis sp, Scirpus sp and Cyperus sp) which can shaped.
live in water and on dry land succeed the floating plants. - The buttress roots form loops that protrude the soil,
- The emergent plants multiply and change the habitat of providing strong support and trapping more silt.
the pond. - viviparous seedling, Hydathodes, Thick and fleshy
- Some of the emergent plants die, their decomposed leaves, Waxy cuticles
remains add on to the sediment making the pond even
swallower and eventually dry it up. 8.2 POPULATION ECOLOGY

land plants (creepers, herbaceous and woody plants)

replace the emergent plants and gradually from a jungle

Climax community Succession will stop when a level of

balance is achieved. It takes a few hundred years to form.

Colonisation and Succession In Mangrove Swamp

Pionner stage: Avicennia sp. and Sonneratia sp.

Adaptations:

- vertical aerial roots - pneumatophores.

- At the end of the pneumatophores are aerenchyma
tissues for gaseous exchange.

Succession by Rhizophora sp.:

Pneumatophores trap mud and sediment and the amount of

soil increases and becomes more compact and firm, making
the habitat more suitable for Rhizophora sp.

Adaptations: