Teodorico M. Collano, Jr.

ENRM 223 Student

History of Ecology

Ecology, the study of the interaction of all living things and non-living things with
one another, is an ancient discipline. It is traced back to the time of Aristotle and
Theophrastus in the 3rd century BCE. It became known in its present name, as coined
by Ernst Haeckel from the Greek words oikos(house) and logos(study), in 1866. Before
the 1960s, it was a discipline of primary importance only to biologists. However, in the
wake of the rapid deterioration of the environment caused by rampant industrialization
without regard to sustainable development, it began to gain traction in other disciplines
such as physics, chemistry, engineering, atmospheric science, law, political science,
etc. In Sarker et al. (2019), it has been mentioned that since 1950s mangrove forests
are one of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth becoming a major concern for
environmental managers.

Environmental science has ecology as its core discipline. It concerns with the
application of ecological principles in analyzing the effects of the impact of all players in
the environment, particularly the ones generated by humans as the primarily important
species. As exemplified in Grizzeti et al. (2016), ecosystem services or the benefits that
people get from ecosystems remain one of the important areas of environmental
science as understanding it provides for a more improved and sustainable ecosystem
management. Since the 18th century, ecology had made strides of discovering concepts
important to environmental science. It had been realized that environmental factors
simultaneously act with one another to produce dynamic conditions. Another important
realization about the management of our ecosystems is that the indigenous peoples’
beliefs are conducive to sustainable development.

Areas of Interest

Since ecology involves the study of the interaction of living things and non-living
things in every ecosystem, it always starts with the study where such living things live or
the so-called habitat. It also studies the prevailing conditions in an ecosystem. The
hierarchal levels of life are one of the major interests of ecology. At a macroscopic level,
the organization of life is usually reckoned from every organism. A group of organisms
having the same species is called a population while a group of organisms having
variable species is called a community. Both groups are categorized as group of
organisms living in a certain area at a certain time. The organisms are usually affected
by the non-living things or conditions whether in a positive or negative manner. As
demonstrated in De Marco et al. (2019), air pollution has been affecting terrestrial and
freshwater ecosystems by making the habitats become less livable to the organisms
present in those ecosystems.

The interaction of the living things with the non-living things and conditions
constitutes every ecosystem. A group of similar or interdependent ecosystems is called
a biome. Both an ecosystem and a biome can be terrestrial, freshwater or marine. All
biomes reckoned from the outermost section of the Earth’s crust up to the livable
portions of the atmosphere constitute the biosphere. All constituent parts of the
biosphere’s system work together harmoniously and if one part is deemed not to work
well, then all parts would suffer. All ecosystems interact with each other and exchange
matter and energy in a manner consistent with the description of open systems
interacting with each other. As stated in Braat and De Groot (2012), energy and matter
transformations occur in ecosystems before ecological services and benefits are
generated. Thus, this makes a prudent and sustainable manner of environmental
management critical to a healthy ecosystem.

Ecosystem Structure

It can be recalled that an ecosystem is made up of living or biotic components

and non-living or abiotic components. They usually interact to produce a dynamic
environment. As for the biotic components, they consist of various subsystems deemed
to be hierarchal in nature. The first subsystem recognized is the autotrophs or the
primary producers or organisms that produce their own food. Among the autotrophs,
there are the photoautotrophs that produce glucose through photosynthesis using
chlorophyll to capture sunlight. Apart from the photoautotrophs, there are
chemoautotrophs that thrive by producing sugar through chemosynthesis or food
production by harnessing the prevailing chemical compounds in the environment.

The second subsystem recognized is the heterotrophs or organisms that are not
capable of producing own food. Instead, they tend to feast on other organisms in the
ecosystem. Among the heterotrophs, there are consumers that feed on other organisms
on a larger scale. Aside from the consumers, there are decomposers that break down
organisms into simpler matter for their own consumption. In the absence of their
capability to generate own food, heterotrophs usually rely on other organisms for their
sustenance and energy. Such arrangement among the living things makes ecosystems
dynamically structured. In addition, ecosystem structures are analyzed based on the
manner organisms feed on each other which paves for the usage of the term trophic
structure.

For the abiotic components, they consist of the physical and chemical factors that
influence the various physiological processes of an organism. They are subdivided into
conditions and resources; the former are indirectly consumed but affects the
development of an organism while the latter is the one directly consumed or used by the
organisms. As demonstrated in Tammi et al. (2017), ecosystem services in Finland are
directly consumed or utilized hence they are considered as a resource. On the other
hand, air pollution as documented in De Marco et al. (2019) can be considered as a
condition. Both are known to affect organisms despite the difference in the perception of
tangibility.

The presence or absence of such components dictates the survival of organisms

in an ecosystem. It is also known as the limiting factor as it usually the key ingredient in
the environment that is lacking in an environment which limits the growth of other
organisms while allowing for the native organisms to thrive. Organisms tend to have
their own areas of tolerance which if they were put outside they would most probably die
since their physiological makeup limits them to live in their respective environments.
Alteration of the abiotic components in an ecosystem would likely put organisms in
distress or danger. This is shown in Sarker et al. (2019) and De Marco et al. (2019).

Energy Flow

The energy originating from the Sun drives the dynamic processes occurring in
an ecosystem. Its flow within the ecosystem is mainly governed by the first two laws of
thermodynamics. The first law states that energy cannot be created nor destroyed thus
only transforms from one form to another. The second law states that energy transforms
from a more orderly form to a less orderly form that is less useful. All transformations of
energy move to a level of higher entropy or disorderliness of which the final form is heat.
In the case of ecosystems, solar energy is the most useful form of energy that comes
from the Sun.

As it is used for photosynthesis it transforms into other lesser forms with each
transformation resulting to a release of heat. As other organisms feed on the producers
to gain energy, energy transformations take place also and consequently release heat.
Organisms need energy in order to maintain the orderliness of their bodily system. As
they die, the system of their bodies collapse and move to a level of higher entropy.
Energy produced during photosynthesis by plants in a certain area per unit time is
measured in terms of productivity.

The Gross Primary Productivity is the totality of the energy produced during
photosynthesis. The Net Primary Productivity takes into account the energy consumed
during respiration. Apart from glucose, plants also produce organic compounds from
elements found in soils. The tissues and organs of plants per unit area is referred to as
the plant biomass or phytomass. They are counted as the amount energy and nutrients
available for the heterotrophs’ consumption.

The flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem is organized in trophic

levels. Producers form the first trophic level as they are the main source of energy.
Herbivores or primary consumers constitute the second trophic level as they directly
feed on the producers. Predators or secondary consumers comprise the third trophic
level as they feed on herbivores. Meanwhile, omnivores are organisms that feed on
both producers and consumers. Final predators occupy the uppermost trophic level.

The feeding pattern in ecosystems is illustrated by food chains and food webs. A
food chain is a linear sequence of feeding. A food web is an interaction or
amalgamation of various food chains that can be found in every ecosystem. It has two
types, namely: grazing and detritus. Grazing food chains are based above ground while
detritus food webs are based within soils. They are interdependent thus rely on one
another for an ecosystem to remain functioning and vibrant. It can be noted that in all
food webs only few organisms can be supported due to the consistent release of energy
in every energy transfer occurring from one trophic level to another.

Energy transfers are inefficient due to the need for organisms to respire which
consumes and transforms energy into entropic forms. Only a few remainder of the
useful energy transfers to organisms in the higher trophic level. As there is an increase
in trophic levels, there is a notable decrease in energy received thus denoting lesser
amount of energy available for consumption. This limits the types of organisms that can
be present in higher trophic level. Hence, the trophic structures in ecosystems are
pyramidal in form with the lowermost part having the greatest energy available and the
topmost part having the least energy available.

Summary

In understanding environmental management and environmental science, there

is a necessity to understand first the fundamental thoughts of ecology as the
environment mostly functions due to the dynamic processes that occur in ecosystems.
Carefully analyzing on how organisms thrive, survive, and perish would allow us to
maintain ecological balance while development of the human civilization occurs.

References

Braat, L. C., De Groot, R. (2012). The ecosystem services agenda: bridging the worlds
of natural science and economics, conservation and development, and public
and private policy. Ecosystem Services 1, pp. 4-15.

De Marco, A., Proietti, C., Anav, A. Ciancarella, L., D’Elia, I., Fares, S. Fornasier, M. F.,
Fusaro, L., Gualtieri, M., Manes, F., Marchetto, A., Mircea, M., Paoletti, E.,
Piersanti, A., Rogora, M., Salvati, L., Salvatori, E., Screpanti, A., Vialetto, G.,
Vitale, M., Leonardi, C. (2019). Impacts of air pollution on human and ecosystem
health, and implications for the National Emission Ceilings Directive: Insights
from Italy. Environment International 125, pp. 320-333.

Grizzetti, B., Lanzanova, D., Liquete, C., Reynaud, A., Cardoso, A. C. (2016).
Assessing water ecosystem services for water resource management.
Environmental Science and Policy 61, pp. 194-203.

Sarker, S. K., Matthiopoulos, J., Mitchell, S. N., Ahmed, Z. U., Al Mamun, M. B., Reeve,
R. (2019). 1980s–2010s: The world's largest mangrove ecosystem is becoming
homogeneous. Biological Conservation 236, pp. 79-91.

Tammi, I., Mustajärvi, K., Rasinmäki, J. (2017). Integrating spatial valuation of

ecosystem services into regional planning and development. Ecosystem
Services 26, pp. 329-344.