College of Agriculture & Natural Resource

Sciences
Department of Natural Resource
Management

General Ecology Manual

By: Belaynesh S.
February 2021
DebreBerhan
 Chapter -1 Introduction

1.1 Historical background

The history of man-environment interaction

Until about 10,000 years ago people lived by hunting, fishing and gathering edible plants, tubers,
and roots. Today less than 1 percent of the earth's inhabitants live by hunting and gathering. The
increase in population, resource use, and pollution are merely symptoms of this fundamental
cultural change from humans as hunter-gatherers to human as shepherd and tillers of the soil to
humans in industrial society.

The human-nature interaction in general is divided in to three major stages:-

1. Humans in nature: Hunter-Gatherers

a) Early Hunter-Gatherer groups - controlled by the local environment

b) Hunter-Gatherer groups - affected local and regional environment but did not "control" it.

Early humans survived and multiplied due to three major cultural adaptations all the product of
intelligence:

1. The use of tools for hunting, collecting and preparing food and making protective
clothing.

2. Learning to live in an often-hostile environment through effective social

organization and cooperation with other human beings.

3. The use of language to increase the efficiency of cooperation and to pass on

knowledge of previous survival experience.

With the use of advanced weapons and fire hunter-gatherer societies made some significant changes
in their environment. Because of their small numbers, however, their impact was insignificant on
even a regional scale. They were examples of humans in nature.

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2. Humans against nature

a. Agricultural societies-This society showed more control (force) over nature with increased
undesirable local and regional environmental effects.

About 10,000 to 12,000 years ago there began one of the most significant changes in human history.
People learned how to herd game instead of hunting it, and they " invented agriculture" to grow
selected wild plants close to home instead of having to go out and gather them over a large area.
Over several thousand years the importance of hunting and gathering declined as more and more
people became shepherds and farmers. The shepherds burned and cleared forests, replacing them
with savannas and grass lands containing annual plants that provided food for their flocks of grazing
animals. Some of these grasslands were in turn degraded when too many domesticated animals
were allowed to graze in one area or when grazers remained in one place for too long. As a result,
grasslands were destroyed and soils were eroded. The first type of plant cultivation, called
horticulture ("hoe-culture") began when women found that they could quite easily grow some of
their favorite food plants by digging a hole with a stick (a Primitive hoe) and placing roots and
tubers in the ground. People also learned how to plant and grow seed crops such as wheat, barley,
rice, peas, lentils, corn, and potatoes.

Another method that was developed to grow food plants is called slash-and-burn or shifting
cultivation. In this method a small patch of forest is cleared and the dried vegetation is burned
before planting. The ash left after the burning is inorganic fertilizer for the soil. A variety of crops
are grown on this forest opening until the plant nutrients in the ash are exhausted-typically after 2 to
5 years. The farmer and his family then move on and clear another patch, leaving the recently used
cropland fallow for several years. This allows wild plants to repopulate the original cleared area,
making nutrients available again for growing crops. Shifting cultivation works well in the tropical
forest environment with its ample sunshine and rain provided the human population density remains
low and abandoned areas are not replanted for 10 to 20 years.

True agriculture from agri (generally, of ager field): the science and art of cultivating, harvesting
crops and raising of livestock: Tillage, Husbandry, Farming (as opposed to horticulture) began with
the invention of the plow, pulled by domestic animals. At this point people no longer depended on
their own muscle power as the prime source of energy for growing food. Later improvements such

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as irrigation, terracing of hill sides, developing improved strains of crop plants, and using animal
manure and commercial fertilizers allowed farmers to harvest more than one crop per year and
greatly increased the amount of land under cultivation.

As people learned to cultivate plants efficiently, they had not only a constant food supply but a
regular food surplus. This surplus had three important effects:

1. Without the threat of starvation, populations began to increase;

2. People cleared more and more land and began to control and shape the surface of the
earth to suit their requirements

3. Urbanization began- villages, towns, and eventually cities slowly formed as people

developed specialties other than farming.

Agriculture is the deliberate attempt to alter and control the environment in order to grow food.

As farmers grew in numbers and spread out over much of the earth, they created a much greater

environmental impact than had hunter-gatherers.

1. Diverse forests and grasslands were replaced with large areas, typically planted with
a single food crop such as wheat and maize.

2. Poor management of many of the cleared areas allowed vital topsoil to wash away
and pollute streams, rivers, and lakes with silt.

3. Land-clearing activities destroyed and altered the habitats of plant and animal species
Endangering their existence and in some cases causing or hastening their extinction.

4. Irrigation without proper drainage led to the accumulation of salts in topsoil,

decreasing soil fertility.

5. Pests that were usually controlled naturally by the diverse array of species in forests
spread much more rapidly in areas planted with one or only a few crops. Pesticides
were used to protect food crops, but this led to a new series of problems that

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 threatened wild life, polluted the air and soil and in some cases increased the number
and size of pest populations.

The development of agriculture thus brought about a fundamental modification in humanities

relationship with the environment, as more and more people began shifting from hunter-gatherers in
nature to shepherds, farmers and urban dwellers against nature.

b. Industrial societies- much more control over nature with more and more undesirable local,
regional, and global environmental effects. Humans have learned how to find and use more and
more energy in their attempts to change and control the environment. Early societies had to rely on
the power of their own muscles to survive. Agricultural societies eventually learned to use draft
animals and later wind and water power to help them exert more control over the land and
their food supplies. During the eighteenth century, however, industrial societies made a gigantic
leap in using energy by discovering how to unlock the chemical energy stored in fossil fuels such as
coal, oil and natural gas.

The gradual rise of industrial societies, fueled by these new sources of energy, has allowed the
creation of many useful products and has raised the standard of living of many people throughout
the world. At the same time it has intensified many existing environmental problems and
created a series of new ones such as pollution from DDT, Lead, Mercury, PCBs; solid wastes,
radioactive wastes. Increased mining to provide industries with raw materials has disrupted more
and more of the earth's surface and has threatened plant and animal species.

The benefits of the industrial revolution are great. Increasingly, however, our time, energy, money,
and new forms of technology must be used to correct the ill effects of technological advances.
We are learning that in many cases the more we try to control nature the less control we have.

3. Humans and Nature: A sustainable Earth Society:

A sustainable earth society: selective control based on ecological understanding and global
cooperation with nature to reduce undesirable environmental effects. There are exciting and
important indications that we may be ready to move into a new phase of cultural evolution- the
transition from an agricultural industrial society based on humans against nature to a sustainable
earth society based on humans learning how to cooperate with nature rather than blindly attempting

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to control it. People have to begin to see themselves as belonging to a global tribe whose
cooperative efforts are necessary for the survival of everyone.

Unlike the frontier society (mentality) which sees the earth as a place of unlimited room and
resources, wherever increasing production, consumption and technology inevitably lead to a better
life forever one i.e. and attempt to dominate nature. A sustainable earth or conserver mentality
(society) sees that the earth is a place of limited room and resources and that ever increasing
production and consumption can put severe stress on the natural processes that renew and maintain
the air, water, and soil upon which we depend i.e. it calls for cooperating with nature, rather than
blindly attempting to dominate it.

1.2 Definition of Ecology

The word ecology (Greek Oikos= home, habitat, logos= study) was coined over a century ago.
So literally; it is the study of organisms at home or the study of the earth’s “households”
including the plants, animals, microorganisms and people that live together as interdependent
components. It appears to have been used as early as 1858 and later by the German biologist
H.Reiter in 1865. However, Ernst Haeckel, another German biologist (zoologist) defined it for
the first time in 1869 “as the body of knowledge concerning the economy of nature-the
investigation of the total relations of the animal, both to its inorganic and organic environment,
including above all its friendly and inimical relations with those animals and plants with which it
comes directly or indirectly into contact”. This definition still holds good if we simply replace
the words “relations of the animal” by “relations of the organism” to include also the plants and
man. As a recognized distinct field of biology, the science of ecology dates from about 1900 and
only in the past decade has the word become part of the general vocabulary.

Since Haeckel, ecology has been defined variously by different people placing different degree
of emphasis on the components of nature and their interrelations. British ecologist Charles
Elton (1927) in his pioneering book Animal Ecology defined ecology as “scientific natural
history concerned with sociology and economics of animals.” American ecologist Frederic
Clements (1916) considered it “as the science of community.”

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Wood bury (1954) treated it as “science which investigates organisms in relation to their
environment, and a philosophy in which the world of life is interpreted in terms of natural
process.”

More recently, renowned (famous) American ecologist because ecology is concerned not only
with organisms but with energy flows and material cycles on the lands, in the oceans, in the air,
and in fresh waters, Eugene. P. Odum defined ecology as “the study of the structure and function
of nature, it being understood that mankind is part of nature and the science of the totality of man
and environment.” R. Margalef of Spain (1968) treats ecology as “the study of ecosystems.”

Indian ecologist R. Misra (1967) defines ecology as “the study of interactions of from, function
and factors.”

Krebs (1985)- defined ecology as the scientific study of the interactions that determine the
distribution and abundance of organisms.

These definitions have much in common and simply indicate the wide scope of ecology. All are
in line with ecology although may not be complete

1.3. Level of study in Ecology

Ecology is primarily a biological science which deals with the interrelationships of organisms. It
is, however necessary to include a study of the non-living environment to understand properly
the inter-relationships. In the context of man as an organism and all other plants and animals as
part of his environment, ecology is usually referred to as “environmental science.”

Another approach to understand the scope and relevance of ecology is to consider the subject in
relation to other branches of biology. This is approached through what is known as the biology
layer cake. (Odum, 1971)

Horizontally, the biology layer cake contains basic divisions (layers) of biology because they are
concerned with fundamentals common to all life, or at least are not restricted to particular
organisms. These are morphology, physiology, genetics, ecology, evolution, molecular biology,
and developmental biology etc.

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Vertically, the biology layer cake contains taxonomic divisions (slices) which deal with
morphology, physiology, ecology, etc of specific kind of organisms.

These include Zoology, botany, and bacteriology, phycology, protozoology, mycology,

entomology, ornithology etc.

Just as the sciences of physiology, anatomy, and genetics can be applied to ferns and trees,
insects and mammals, someone can study the ecology of mosses and shrubs, bacteria and birds.
Ecology is a functional and organizational division rather than a taxonomic division of scientific
knowledge.

Ultimately however, unifying principles must be delimited and tested if the subject field is to
quality as “basic”. The best way to delimit modern ecology is to consider it in terms of the
concept of levels of organization visualized as a sort of biological spectrum.

Another approach to show the place of concern of ecology is to see the levels of organization of
matter and the systems formed as a result of these interactions. Interaction with the physical
environment (energy and matter) at each level produces “characteristic functional systems.”

*Biotic components + Abiotic components = Bio systems

Genes Energy = Gene systems

Cells and = Cell systems

Organs Matter = Organ systems

Organisms = Organismic Systems

Population = Population Systems

Communities = Ecosystems

However:-

 There is no sharp lines or breaks between the levels due to interdependence, interrelations
and survival
 No one level is any more or less important or any more or less deserving of scientific study

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 than any other level.
 No level is any more difficult or any easier to study quantitatively.
 The findings at any one level aid in the study of another level, but never completely explain
the phenomena occurring at that level  the “theory of integrative levels”
Note: - The principle of functional integration involving additional property with increasing
complexity of structure is importance to note for the ecologist:-

Almost all of the traditional subdivisions of biology are concerned with levels of organization at
or below the individual organism. Ecology on the other hand, is concerned with:

1. Individual organism in relation to other organisms and the non-living environment,

2. Groups of organisms of the same species (populations)
3. Natural assemblages of populations of different species (communities)
4. Entire natural systems composed of communities and their physical environment
(ecosystems).
In other words, ecology is concerned with levels of organization from the organism upward

1.4 Relevance and application of ecology

Ecology is a very important subject and it has an application in major areas such as:-

 Watershed management
 Soil conservation
 Agriculture
 Wildlife management
 Aqua culture
 Land utilization
 Pollution
 Forestry

Water shed management

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Water is stored in dams or reservoirs for the purpose of electricity production at the time of
construction of dams there should be ecologist to see ecological aspect. The major aspects are
soil erosion and wind because these two aspects can fill the dams (silting up).

Soil conservation

Nowadays many factors are disturbing the soil. Many cultivated lands are being disturbed by
construction of buildings or any other residential areas. With the help of ecology we can study
the topography, climatic condition, soil erosion. These are important aspects of soil erosion.

Agriculture

For agricultural crops following aspects are important; - soil mineral composition, temperature,
biotic factors of the area. All these factors are studied by an ecologist so without information of
all aspects it will be very difficult to grow plants and it can result an economic loss.

Wildlife management

For the establishment of wildlife vegetation of area have major roles for different species of
animals. There will be different types of food web and food chain, both these are equally
important. So for habitat of different species in wildlife ecology studies are important.

Aqua culture

The rearing and breeding of fish in water is called aquaculture. The ratio of predators in
aquaculture is important so for fish culturing there should be dense population of fish than other
types of animals. Other ecological studies such as temperature and soil conditions are important
in fish culturing. Heavy soils are more important fish culturing.

Land utilization

For the use of land for the purpose of construction, cultivation, ecological studies have much
importance. e.g.; if we cultivate a crop in an area soil nutrition composition, process of soil
erosion and the availability of water are important. In case of construction of buildings or houses
in topography of location is important.

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Pollution

Any physical, chemical, or biochemical undesirable changes in environment, soil, water, or

environment is called pollution. For the control of pollution we have to study causes of pollution.
These causes can be controlled by ecological studies.

Forestry

There are two types of forests, Natural and Artificial. Natural forests are present in under natural
condition and mostly have self-growing plants. Artificial forests are man-made. Forests are
important for oxygen, timber, living area, for wild life habitat of different species. Depending up
on the importance of forest people are trying trees for different purposes. Therefore the following
aspects should be studied by an ecologist to develop and manage forests; - water availability, soil
minerals, temperature, and biotic factors.

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 Chapter 2.Environmental (Ecological) factors

2.1 The nature of the Environment

The environment is composed of the abiotic /the physical environment/and the biotic component.
Therefore Environment deals with the interdependence of organism and the interaction of man
with the fore mentioned components.

2.2 The composition of the physical environment

The physical environment provides the basic necessities for autotrophic life: energy and the
nutrients needed to capture and store it. Organisms in order to be able to utilise available energy
and survive they must be adapted to the physical conditions they encounter. Much of the
diversity of life reflects the evolution of adaptations to factors of the physical environment;
adaptations that permit life forms to exist in virtually all the physical environments that can be
found on earth.
In the following sections we will try to examine solar radiation, temperature, water, wind and
fire, their effects on organisms, and some of the adaptations that have evolved in response to
these effects. It is important that renewable-resource managers understand the adaptations of
both desirable and undesirable species to these physical factors in order that desired species can
be matched with the appropriate environments and to ensure that any management-induced
change in the physical environment favors the desired structure and function of the biota.
Knowledge of such adaptations in undesirable species can be invaluable in controlling their
distribution.

2.1.1 Light
Solar radiation is the major source of energy for life, and consequently photoautotrophs are the
dominant producers in the trophic web of most ecosystems. The ecological role of solar radiation
is broader than merely the provision of energy, however. Its fate as it passes through the
atmosphere and at the earth surfaces plays a major role in determining world temperatures,
climates, and weather patterns.
Variation in the wavelength of radiation in the visible part of the solar spectrum (light) give rise
to the visual sense of colour in animals, and this has led to a wide variety of adaptations in both
plants and animals. These organisms have evolved the use of colour to provide protection against

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sunburn, for display purposes (to repel enemies or attract mates and beneficial organisms), and to
provide camouflage for security against predators.

The continuing alteration of day and night provides an environmental clock that determines
patterns of physiology and herbivore, while the seasonal variation in the relative length of day
and night provides an environmental calendar that schedules the life histories of most of the
organism on earth. Light also acts one means by which both animals and plants orient themselves
in space. Solar radiation is thus the source of most life, and major determinants of the
physiology, morphology, behaviour, and life history of most organisms.

Nature of solar radiation

Because of its high temperature, the sun is continuously emitting vast quantities of energy in the
form of electromagnetic waves of various wavelengths. These form a continuous spectrum of
wavelength from very short wavelength gamma rays to medium-wavelength infrared rays.
As solar radiation passes down through the atmosphere, it experiences change in both quantity
and spectral composition. Clouds and water vapour reflects, scatter, or absorb radiation of all
visible wavelengths more or less equally, with the result that clouds, overcast skies, and very
humid skies look white. Atmospheric dust also absorbs, reflects and scatters solar radiation, but
the longer visible wavelengths are scattered more than the other visible wavelengths, so that very
dusty atmosphere has a brownish or reddish tint. Molecules of atmospheric gases, on the other
hand, scatter the shorter wavelengths more than the other visible wavelength; with the result that
clear skies look blue.
a. Ecological Effects of Variations in the Intensity of Solar Radiation
Nowhere on earth is the intensity of solar radiation so great that it has prevented the evolution or
maintenance of life. High temperatures and the resulting moisture stress that accompany high
intensities of sunlight do have a marked effect on life processes and may greatly restrict or even
prevent the sustained existence of life. However, where these indirect effects are not
overpowering, ecological adaptation has been able to solve most of the problems of high levels
of light.
Lack of light has a more potent effect, and environments completely lacking visible radiation are
devoid of most or all forms of permanently resident organisms.

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Usually some organism adapted to darkness
 Chemoautotrophic organism
 Life in the soil, in the depth of likes and oceans
 Underground caves and rivers life
 Half in dark and half in light-plant-root and shoot
Effects on plants
A. Photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a light-dependent process in which the rate of
photosynthetic fixation of both CO2 and solar energy is largely dependent upon light
intensity. However, this relationship is not a simple linear one. It does not hold true at all
light intensities, and it can be modified by a wide variety of other factors.
Consider the rate of net photosynthesis in a plant as the intensity of light increase from Zero.
Some of the possible explanations given to this decrease in photosynthesis efficient are:
 Overheating of leaves
 Excessive respiration
 Water deficits
 Accumulation of products of photosynthesis in the leaves
 Photo oxidation of enzymes and pigments
 Closure of stomata
 The depletion of CO2 in the air surrounding the crown
The light intensity reaching the forest floor varies greatly according to the tree species, the
density of the canopy, and the local radiation levels.
B. Morphology. Most people are familiar with the fact that a plant grown in the shade looks
different from another plant of the same or similar genotype grown in full sunlight.
Some plant will grow well at high light intensities (heliophtes), whereas others grow well only in
partial shade (sciophytes).
This is a genetic adaptation to increase the fitness of these species in particular light
environment.
The importance of light in controlling plant morphology can easily be demonstrated by growing
plants in complete darkness.
The distribution of new biomass between roots and stems, within stems between height growth
and diameter growth is regulated by growth hormones that are produced at the growing tips.

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C. Shade Tolerance. For many centuries, foresters have classified plants as shade tolerant or
light demanding (shade intolerant). The emphasis of this classification has always been on
light conditions, but we now know that the reaction of plants to shade conditions in natural
situations is only partly a matter of photosynthesis/light intensity relationships.
Just as plant height growth is controlled by a large number of genes and environmental variables,
so tolerance of shade is a multiply determined characteristic.

2.1.2 Temperature

Temperature is one of the more important environmental variables. It plays a critical role in
availability and ecological effectiveness of that vital component of all life systems: water. It
influences the availability of nutrients to autotrophs and food to heterotrophs. It also slower
decomposition and reduction in nutrient uptake by plants when temperature drop results in a
significant difference in their biogeochemistry of forest growing in warm and cold environments,
and between summer and winter. Temperature influences the geographical distribution of
different organism and plays a major role in determining the life form and species composition
of plant communities.

Some Ecological Concepts of Temperature

There is great attraction to describe climates as severe, extreme, favourable, or unfavourable.

These adjectives reflect our own response to climatic conditions and are not necessarily accurate
as descriptions of the response of native organisms. The fact that we find –30 0C very cold
doesn’t mean that this is an extreme or unfavourable temperature for a tree in midwinter in
Sweden or Russia.
 The response of an organism to a particular temperature is conditioned by the adaptations of
the organism to that temperature.
 A species that has survived in a particular environment is adapted to the conditions of that
environment, and those genotypes that cannot tolerate the conditions are eliminated.
 The unfavourable of a temperature therefore depends on whether or not it is “unless” in terms
of the organisms recent evolutionary history.

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Other adjectives that are commonly used to describe temperature are optimum, maximum, and
minimum (referred to as cardinal /main temperature). These terms can be used correctly only if
adequately qualified. Optimum for what?
 A temperature that is optimum for survival may not be optimum for reproduction.
 Growth is not causally determined by temperature, and the optimum temperature for growth
will probably depend upon conditions of moisture, nutrition, light, competitions and so on
 In defining maximum and minimum temperatures, the length of exposure, time of year, and
stage in the organism’s life history must be defined.
To clarify the situation and render comparisons meaningful, the following terms should be
employed.
 The effective temperature range is that range of temperature over which the existing
population of genotypes can conduct all their normal life function and persists indefinitely.
The maximum and minimum effective temperatures limit it.
 The survival temperature range is maximum temperature range over which the population
can survive.
A. Excessively High Temperature
Temperature may be high for variety of reasons.
 Metabolic and respiratory increase with temperature, and for every organism there is
a temperature at which the loss of energy in respiration is greater than the rate at
which it is replaced by photosynthesis or ingestion/assimilation (leading starvation)
or by mobilisation from reserves (leading to heat exhaustion).
 Effect of high temperature is the associated loss of moisture
 Water is lost either as a cooling loss of moisture or
 Simply because of increased evaporation at higher temperatures
 Result in death of nonaquatic organism-due to dehydration
 Changes in behaviour and metabolic derangement due to loss of water-
help survival of organisms.
 High temperature-increase the susceptibility of aquatic organism
B. Excessively low Temperature
Temperature may be low for a variety of reasons.
 Result in metabolic rate slowdown

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  Cause the precipitation of proteins or
 Lead to intercellular ice crystals
 These may rupture the cells, destroy their internal organization or
 Dehydrate them by withdrawing liquid water
 Frozen tissues

2.1.3 Wind
The quantity of incident solar energy and the proportion that is absorbed either the atmosphere or
the surface of the earth varies from place to place. This results in regional variations in
atmospheric and surface temperatures, which in turn result in differences in atmospheric
pressure.
 Such differences lead to the movement of air (i.e., wind) from areas of high to areas of low
pressure.
 Wind is thus the result of the conversion of solar radiation to thermal energy, and thermal
energy to the kinetic energy of wind systems.
 Have a wide variety of ecological effects.
 Transport water vapour from lakes and oceans supply rainfall
 The friction of one turbulent air mass on another generates static electricity
 lightening causes wildfires
 supply of nitrogen
 Remove dust and organic particles from one place to another
 Remove fine particles-decrease fertility
 Reduce soil developments
 Affect evaporation and transpiration = desiccation damage and even death of plants
 Moderate temperature, by carrying warm air to cold region
 Transport pollen grains, spores and seeds of plants play essential role in
reproduction
 Also transport animals- smaller animals insects
 Disperse atmospheric pollutants
Effects of Wind on Vegetation
Wind affects plant in a variety of ways:

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  By disseminating pollen, sores, or seeds
 By influencing plant physiology
 By influencing plant morphology
A. Dissemination of Reproductive Propugles
Most plants depend upon wind at least in part for the dissemination of reproductive structures.
Dissemination of pollen by wind is common among the more primitive taxonomic groups e.g.
conifers. Most plants of cool and cold climates are wind-pollinated (produce large pollen than
animal dispersed).
 Dissemination of reproductive is even more widespread than pollen. It usually involves seeds
and spores, but can also be involved in asexual reproduction, as in the case of the distribution
of living twigs of poplar.
B. Effects on Physiological Processes
Wind has a marked effect on the exchange of gases between plants and the atmosphere. Air is
pumped in and out of the leaf air spaces through the stomata, and this accelerates the exchange of
CO2 andO2.
 Wind prevents or reduces night-time accumulation of respiratory CO2 within and below the
vegetation canopy, thereby reducing the rate of early morning photosynthesis.
 Loss of water from plant surfaces is markedly affected by wind
 Wind accelerates diffusion of water vapour out through the stomata-this increase evaporation
 However, water loss does not increase linearly with increasing wind speed; it increases with
the square root of wind velocity.
 Initially, there is a large increase in loss of water as wind speed increase from zero, but there
is little difference in the rate of loss between medium and strong.
 Bending of plants by wind influences the physiology of growth. Stem movements influence
the distribution of available growth substances between root growths, stem diameter growth,
and stem light growth.
 By increasing the evaporation of water from leaves and by removing a layer of warm air
from around the plant, wind acts to lower temperature -beneficial in tropics
C. Effects on Morphology
Wind plays an important role in determining the phenotypic appearance of plants.

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 Leaves exposed to wind become thicker and smaller and have a lower rate of water loss per
unit area than do leaves growing in no windy situation.
 The cooling effects of wind also contribute to dwarfing by reducing growth rates and the
death of buds and foliage by desiccation also acts to prevent an increase in sature of the
plants.
 The plant morphology affected by materials carried by the wind rather than the wind itself
 Salty or sandy may cause dryness, the toxic effects on leaves or other parts of the plants
 Kill foliage /buds
 Modification of stem shape is a common response of trees to wind-like bending of stem
 Compression wood (develop resistance leeward side)
 Tension wood (develop resistance wind ward side)
 The above effects are over long periods, but with short periods wind can have effect on
plants by;
 Stem breakage
 Wind thrown
 Breakage of reproductive organs
 Transport pathogens and insects lead to destruction
 Wind erosion
 Alter habitat of animals-food and shelter sources
D. Influence through the Distribution of Precipitation
 Wind affects the availability of moisture to plants by transporting moist air to a locality and
by removing it again
Effects of vegetation on Wind
 Vegetation exerts a marked effect on winds close to the ground
 The roughness of the vegetation provides a friction surface which highly reduces the overall
wind velocity but increases wind turbulence
 Forest are particularly effective at modifying winds because although they are porous,
allowing some wind movement through them, but leaves, branches and bark reduces wind
speed
 The profile of wind in a forest depends upon the tree species, the density of the stand, and the
stand structure

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 2.1.4 Soil

Soil is the “least renewable physical component” of the ecosystem. The trees are replaceable,
as long as the gene pools are not lost, and displaced animals will rapidly reinvade a denuded area
as soon as the redeveloping vegetation provides a suitable habitat. But if the soil “lost” through
fire or landslide, it may be many centuries or even millennia before new soil has developed to the
extent of that which has been lost.
Because soil formation is the function of: f (time, climate, topography, parent material,
biota (organism).
 Thus, for most forests, the soil is the resource; the trees, merely a crop. This requires that
managers have at least as good knowledge of the soil as the crop, a situation that rarely
pertains. A sound appreciation of the nature and ecological role of the soils is equally
important for those ecologists who wish to understand ecosystems.
 It is dynamic physical-chemical-biological entity
 Soil provides plants with a variety of basic necessities for life: anchorage and support,
moisture, nutrients and a supply of oxygen for the roots.

2.1.5. Water
Water is the important material that makes life possible. Second, only to energy, liquid water is
the most important prerequisite for life, as we know it. Water is of enormous significance to all
plants and animals and no less so to humans. It acts as the medium in which all life processes
(i.e. chemical processes) occur.
Water acts as a transporting system permitting nutrient uptake from the soil.
- Moving metabolites around
- Supply oxygen to oxygen-demanding tissues
- Removing waste products
- Regulating the temperature of organisms
- supporting and protecting aquatic organisms
- for human, source of power, means of disposing of undesirable wastes,
heat and materials

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Lack of water may well become more important than lack of energy as a major factor limiting
our population growth; water to grow food, water to flush away our wastes and clean water to
drink.

2.1.6 Fire
Fire is a pervasive and powerful environmental factor. It is one of environmental factors with
which most people have had little firsthand experience. Fire has played a role virtually
everywhere on terrestrial earth. It has ecologically important long before it was used by humans,
as evidenced by the presence of charcoal buried deeply in ancient sedimentary deposits. Such
fires were the results of volcanic activity, spontaneous combustion, or lightening. It has been
estimated that there are about 40,000 thunderclouds active over the whole world every day
(Schonland 1950). Major force employed by humans to alter their surrounding

- swindling and cooking

- drive game to improve grazing
- to clear land for agriculture
It is generally an environmental factor of low frequency but of considerable potency. Because it
produces such radical environmental changes so rapidly.

Causes of fire: Human caused fire

Natural fire

Volcanic eruption

Lightening

Types and occurrence of fires

Types of Fire:

1. Ground fires-largely flameless, which burns slowly through thick accumulations of

organic matter
2. Surface fires-rapidly burning fires that sweep quickly over an area, consuming litter
and aboveground portions of herbs and shrubs
3. Crown fires-fires that burn through the crowns of woody vegetation, frequently
leaving most of the stem and the forest floor relatively untouched.

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Various technical terms are applied to fire, including duration, intensity and rate of spread.

Duration refers to the time over which energy release occurs at any particular location.

Intensity refers to the flux of energy (cal cm-1sec-1) released by the fire.

Rate of spread refers to the speed with which the leading edge of the fire travels downwind.

The three types of fire can occur in any combination. Fire occurs mainly in the dry season, which
occurs at different times of the year in different parts of the world. Beginning, middle or end of
the dry season; depending on fuel, litter and other dry things.

Ecological effect of fire

1. Effects on soil
Soil properties are strongly influenced by living vegetation and accumulated dead organic
matter, both of which are removed to a variable degree of fire. Consequently, fire has the
potential to induce major changes in soils.

The effect depends on

- Fire intensity

- amount of organic matter consumed

- distribution of organic matter
- moisture content
- prevailing weather conditions
A. Physical Changes
a) Organic matter-loss of organic matter is one of the most important effects of fire on soils.
Speed up mineralization of organic matter-otherwise take many years for decomposition of
dead foliage or fine rots or logs. The loss depends upon fire duration, intensity and fuel
moisture, and how much organic matter in mineral soils.
b) Structure and porosity-burning exposes soil minerals and removal soil covers. Reduce
structure and porosity of the soil.
c) Moisture- Fire reduces transpiration and interception losses in proportion to the reduction in
foliage. It increases evaporation losses and reduces infiltration.
d) Temperature-Fire affects soil temperatures in both the long and the short terms. Long term
effects generally involve an increase in soil temperatures, by darkening the soil surface. It
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 promotes absorption of solar energy by reducing the depth of the surface organic
accumulation. It transfers heat to the mineral soil and removal of shade tree increased soil
temperature

B. Chemical Changes
1. PH. When fire oxidizes organic compounds, elements that form anions (e.g. N, P, and Cl) are
lost in much greater quantities than elements such as Ca, K, and Mg, which form cations. The
ash left by the fire consists largely of soluble oxides of these alkali earths. These oxides are
rapidly changed to carbonates, which have an alkaline reaction and tend to neutralize acidity
in the soil. Consequently, soil pH generally increases following a fire. The extent and
duration of the increase will depend on the intensity of the fire, the amount of organic matter
consumed, and the buffering capacity of the soil. Viro (1974) reported an increase of 2-3 pH
units in the forest floor following burning in Finland, returning to original levels after 50
years.
2. Site nutrient capital and nutrient availability-Fire induces a variety of chemical changes
in the soil. As organic matter is burned, carbon is released as gaseous oxygen and nitrogen is
lost increasingly as temperature rise.
C. Biological Changes
Fire affects adversely soils fauna and flora. Nevertheless, it is pronounced in micro fauna and
micro flora.

2. Effects of Fire on Plants

Because fire has been such a characteristic feature of most ecosystems, a wide variety of plant
adaptations have evolved. Fire may affect any stage in a plants development (vegetative,
flowering, fruiting or dormant) and there is a corresponding variety of adaptive soils.

A. Adaptations to fire in the vegetative stage

 Fire-resistant bark is one of the more common adaptations to surface and ground fires.
Either they quickly replace the burned bark or they have very thick bark.
 Reduced flammability of tissues- will reduce the spread and intensity of a fire, reducing
the risk of fire damage; such as absence/low content of resin, gums and moisture.
 Protected buds- confers (endow/award/give) on plants the ability to continue to grow
and to recover from the loss to branches, foliage or even the entire aerial shoot.

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  Lignotubers- Plants that have lignotubers are able to produce new shoots more rapidly
than those lacking this adaptation because of the food reserves provided by the tuber.
 Rhizomes- Plants that have rhizomes (horizontal, underground stems) are also able to
sprout rapidly following fire and are highly resistant to damage by fire.
B. Adaptation to fire in the reproductive phase
 Precocious flowering-reduces the time from germination to seed production in perennial
plants, and species such as pine.
 Stimulation- fire has been shown to cause a stimulation of flowering in some plants after
fire.
 Seed dispersal- is influenced by fire in some species. For example, cones can reduce
effect of fire.
C. Effects of Fire on Germination
The seeds of many species lie dormant in the soil until the area is burned. Fire removes /destroy
chemicals that may serve to inhibit germination (allelopathy); which reduce germination,
accumulation on surface soil

2.3. Biotic environment

2.3.1 Influence of Human

Although human population have developed at different times in different parts of the world; it is
possible to make general statement about the characteristic pattern of growth of their impact on
forests. The effect of primitive humans on forests prior to 11 000 B.C. were minor. Being hunters
and gathers, there was little reason to clear the forest, with less technology. Fire was used on
some occasion to drive animals during hunting & to improve grazing. This practices affected
forest ecosystem, locally but few human numbers. The first major change in the world’s forest
attributable to humans accompanied the development of agriculture-, which is clearing of forest
manually, and fires, then agricultural crop grown for a new of years and followed by shifting
cultivation. But human population increased from place to place shifting cultivation gradually
changed in to permanent agriculture as technology well developed.

As a result, the rate of deforestation outstripped the simple growth in human numbers-
regeneration of forest prevented.

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The two processes of population growth and forest exploitation become linked in a positive
feedback system: a process in which size of A depends upon the size of B, which in turn depends
upon the size of A. Any increases in A increase B, which in turn increases A, and so on. Forest
clearing for agriculture led to increased agricultural production, which led to an increase in
population. This resulted in an increased demand for food, which led to further forest clearing for
agriculture. This positive feedback process has continued, with few interruptions throughout
most of the past 10 000 year. Only very recently has the rate slowdown with great increases in
agricultural productivity. Nevertheless, in developing countries deforestation in past 50 years is
highly significant. These, have significant effect on forest and its environment.

Roots, Foraging and Competition

Different organism plays a significant ecological role in forest ecosystem. For example, micro-
flora like Bacteria, Fungi, Actinomycetes, algae and others play in decomposition of organic
matter, nitrogen fixation, mycorrhizal association and prolong the life of higher roots and may
increase productivity.

Plant roots (Macro flora)

Roots play an important role in soil development and function. They penetrate mineral soil, into
considerable depth, organic matter contributed when root die, it increase CEC and promote the
formation of soil structure. Decayed roots improve soil aeration and facilitate the movement of
gravitational water. Increase the rate of weathering of primary mineral and rock either because of
the organic compounds they secrete or because of the activities of the micro-organisms that live
in association with roots.

Roots provide plants with a number of important requisites for life: stability, water and most of
the necessary nutrient. Their importance is reflected in the considerable investment by plants in
root biomass: as much as 20-45 % of tree biomass. Root system can take a variety of forms
[taproot, heart root, and flat root], as a result of the influence of a variety of factors. These forms
are more under environmental than genetic control. As some studies in temperate indicates. The
evolutionary relationship between certain tree species and certain types of sites certainly does
result in trees having inherent root growth forms, but these are broadly modified by the rooting
environment.

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The stability that roots confer is particularly important for tall plants such as tree. The resistance
of wind throw depends partly on rooting depth and volume and partly on the tolerance of the tree
species to soil condition. Nutrients and moisture are absorbed from the soil with efficiency that
depends to a considerable extent upon root distribution relative to the resources of moisture and
nutrients. Most nutrients up take occur in fine roots.

The following factors are important in determining the vertical distribution of roots in forest soil.

1. Physical soil properties- Root cannot penetrate into hard material such as solid rock or hard
pan.
2. Soil moisture and aeration-roots cannot grow indefinitely in dry or oxygen-deficient soils.
Fine roots may grow into such zones but will die sooner or later.
3. Soil temperature. Reduced temperatures do limit root growth surface soils warm up earlier,
so new root growth tends to be concentrated on the surface layers.
4. Nutrition. Roots that grow into more fertile soil tend to grow faster than those that grow into
less fertile soil. In fertile soil, root concentrated in surface organic horizon than poorer soil.
5. Competition or interaction with roots of other species. Roots of established lesser vegetation
(e.g. grass or shrubs) compete effectively for moisture and nutrients in the surface soil and
may effectively exclude or restrict the roots of planted trees or invading woody plants. Some
plants exude chemicals from their roots that inhibit the root growth of other species
(allelopathy). Root competition can result in the failure of regeneration on grassy and
shrubby sites.
6. Soil chemistry-toxic accumulations of chemicals such as iron or Aluminum, or toxic
chemical reduce fine root development.

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 Chapter 3. Population

3.1 .Population dynamics

A population may be defined ecologically as a group of organisms of the same species
occupying a particular space. Each species population is independent in its occurrence and can
form a part of any community subject to its interactions with other species populations.
Population Ecology: - is the study of the distribution and abundance of a population and the
factors governing the same. Study of abundance (refers to total number of individuals) and
dynamics of species population. Living organisms rarely exists for long as isolated individuals.
Most organisms exist for most of their life history as member of a population and other
individuals of the same species are often as important a component of the environment of an
individual as are the factors of the physical environment. Population dynamics: changes in the
number of individuals in a population or the vital rates of a population over time. The way in
which the number grows and shrinks as time goes on is studied by population dynamics. By
studying population dynamics we can understand ecosystem dynamics and ecological processes,
and we know about endangered species and viability of population. The number of organisms in
population results from the combined action of four major population parameters Natality,
Mortality, Immigration and Emigration.

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 Immigration Natality

Population

Increases

Population

Population

Decreases

Emigration Mortality

-There are many factors that influence these four parameters.

- Much time and energy has been spent trying to decide on their relative importance
in regulating population size.
A. Natality: refers to the process of producing new individuals, whether this is by sexual (birth,
hatching, or germination) or by asexual reproduction
 It is a rate that can refer to the actual number of new offspring produced per female per unit
time.
 Measurement of natality is complicated by the variety of breeding patterns found in
organism.
 some breed once a year
 some several times a year
 some continuously
 Sometimes the fertility rate will be reported on an annual basis
 Sometimes on a generation basis
 Sometimes on the basis of some arbitrary age class

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Natality varies during the life of an organism. There is always a pre reproductive period and
some organisms survive to a post-reproductive stage. The longer reproduction is delayed, the
slower the rate of population growth. The number of offspring’s per reproduction varies greatly
between different type of plants and animals.

 Depends on genetic / genotypes

 Depends on environmental factors
The number of offspring’s produced by an organism is believed to represent a balance between
the energy costs of more offspring and the benefits of the increased contribution of those
offspring to the genetic composition of the next generations. If a 20% increase in offspring
reared means that each offspring receives 20% less food, fewer offspring’s may survive and
contribute their genes to the next generation. In this case there would be strong selection to
reduce the number of offspring to the point at which each receives adequate food. Conversely, of
a 20% rise in the number of offspring increased the contribution of the genotype to the next
generation, selection favor more offspring’s. From this discussion above it is obvious that a
species has a “Choice” to make. It can allocate its available energy and nutrient resources to a
large number of small offspring, as is done by many tree species or it can produce fewer, larger
offspring that are better equipped for survival. Where the environment is patchy and
unpredictable, risk of mortality or where there is very little competition from other organisms,
the optimum evolutionary “ strategy “ - produce large number of offspring. Predictable uniform
events, high level of competition – fewer offspring

B. Mortality: Two populations with the same total abundance can have quite different growth
patterns because of differences in age structure and hence, mortality. One can be expanding,
if most of the individuals are young. The other can be on the point of collapse because most
of the individuals are old and it has few juveniles. Similarly, two populations, both with the
same number of individuals can have totally different temporal changes in abundance
according to when the mortality occurs; before or after the reproductive period. Mortality can
occur as the result of many different processes including- disease, predation parasitism,
antibiosis, physical conflict, starvation, malnutrition, temperature and dehydration.
C. Immigration and Emigration: For some species, the arrival of individual from, or their
departure to, remote areas constitute the major factor regulating the actual number of

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 organisms in a locality. Dispersal is also important in territorial animals. Once all the choice
territories are occupied, remaining animals’ disperse to marginal habitats, thus preventing the
population from reaching deleteriously high densities.

Summary: Generally, population size is determined by a number of factors and there are a
number of different schools of thought about the topics.

 Balance of nature
 Intraspecific competition
 Genetic and phenotypic variation Vs environmental factors
 Abiotic and biotic factors
 Predation factors

3.2 . Populations and population changes

Populations are groups of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the same time.
They are described by characteristics that include:

1. population size: the number of individuals in the population

Population size is defined as the number of individuals present in a subjectively designated

geographic range. Despite the simplicity in its concept, locating all individuals during a census
(a full count of every individual) is nearly impossible, so ecologists usually estimate population
size by counting individuals within a small sample area and extrapolating that sample to the
larger population. Regardless of the challenges in measuring population size, it is an important
characteristic of a population with significant implications for the dynamics of the population as
a whole (Lebreton et al., 1992). Populations display distinctive behaviors based on their size.
Small populations face a greater risk of extinction (Caughley, 1994). Individuals in these
populations can have a hard time finding quality mates so, fewer individuals mate and those that
do risk inbreeding (Hamilton 1967). Additionally, individuals in small population are more
susceptible to random deaths. Events like fire, floods, and disease have a greater chance of
killing all individuals in the population.

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Large populations experience their own problems. As they approach the maximum sustainable
population size, known as carrying capacity, large populations show characteristic behavior.
Populations nearing their carrying capacity experience greater competition for resources, shifts in
predator-prey relationships, and lowered fecundity. If the population grows too large, it may
begin to exceed the carrying capacity of the environment and degrade available habitat.

2. population density: how many individuals are in a particular area

Density- is population size in relation to some unit of space. It is the number of individuals or the
population biomass per unit area or volume.
e g. 200 trees per acre

5 million diatoms per cubic meter of water

200 tons of fish per acre of water surface

The density of a population varies with time and space. The population density may be expressed
as crude density i.e. the density measured at a place at a particular time. However, the
population may occupy only certain favorable parts of the total area. The density expressed on
the basis of measurements in such favorable area alone is called specific or ecological density.

Density is measured by actual count of organisms in a known area or volume (as e g.

phytoplankton in water). In the case of animals actual count is usually (difficult) and hence, it is
determined by the capture and recapture method involving marked individuals whose proportion
in the total catch gives the estimate of the population density.

It may also be useful in certain cases to estimate densities from observations like:-

1. on foot prints
2. damage done to the habitat or other organisms
3. Excreta

There are definite upper and lower limits to species (density) population -sizes that are observed
in nature or that theoretically could exist for any length of time.

3. Population growth: how the size of the population is changing over time.

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Population change, defined generally, is the difference in the size of a population between the
end and the beginning of a given time period (usually one year).

Population change has two components:

 Natural population change (the number of live births minus the number of deaths);

 Net migration (the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants, plus statistical
adjustment – it should be noted that net migration as referred to in the context of
population change statistics includes the statistical adjustments occurring in the annual
balance of the population and that it serves the purpose of closing this balance).

A positive population change, when the result of net migration plus live births minus deaths is
positive, is referred to as population growth, a negative one is called a population decrease.
Population change provides an important context for significant social policy choices. The
various processes at play in the life courses of individuals are, in the aggregate, the causes of
population change.

3.3 . Population demography

Demography can be defined as the "scientific study of human populations, primarily with respect
to their size, their structure and their development. It is inherently multidisciplinary and it is
often referred to as "population studies", a term which also includes the treatment of relation
between demographic phenomena and social, economic or political phenomena. As a tool for
objectively studying populations, population ecologists rely on a series of statistical measures,
known as demographic parameters, to describe that population (Lebreton et al. 1992).

The field of science interested in collecting and analyzing these numbers is termed population
demographics, also known as demography.

Broadly defined, demography is the study of the characteristics of populations. It provides a

mathematical description of how those characteristics change over time. Demographics can
include any statistical factors that influence population growth or decline, but several parameters
are particularly important: population size, density, age structure, fecundity (birth rates),

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mortality (death rates), and sex ratio (Dodge 2006). The most fundamental demographic
parameter is the number of individuals within a population (Lebreton et al. 1992).

The health and behavior of a population is determined by the way those individuals interact with
each other and with their surrounding environment. We can determine the status of a population
by measuring and calculating elements common to all populations, such as size, density,
fecundity, mortality, sex ratio, and age structure. These demographic statistics provide
researchers with standardized metrics for comparing populations and assessing extinction risk.
Just as a doctor can't diagnose an illness with only a blood pressure measurement, we can't
manage populations based on demographic parameters alone. However, demographics provide a
baseline for monitoring population health and offer insight into the mechanisms driving
population declines.

3.4 population growth model

When a few organism of a given species invade a new habitat that is favorable to their existence,
their numbers eventually increase until the population saturates the environment. Analysis of
total population number and of age and sex composition during the various stages of population
growth provides much insight into the factors, which operate to determine density and size
throughout the growth period.

Idealized population growth curve have been obtained such as that shown in Fig. 1. This curve
belongs to a family of curves often referred to as S-shaped or sigmoid cruves. In describing such
curves; several features are of interest.

1. Lag phase:

The population does not show an immediate increase. This initial lag may be due to the time
necessary for acclamatory adjustment, time for individuals to locate mating partners in a low-
density environment, time required to produce offspring, etc. In general, it may be assumed that
this initial population is suffering from the adverse effects of “under –crowding.

2. Accelerating growth phase

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Gradually with the addition of new organisms, the population begins to increase. During the
early stages of this period the rate of increase may closely approximate a logarithmic (or e x
curve). By and large, the unsaturated environment places few restrictions upon the organisms at
this time so that the rate of increase is limited primarily by their physiological capacity to survive
and produce offspring. This period reaches an end at the time when the population as a whole
has achieved its maximum rate of increase.

3. Point of inflection

The point of inflection is that position on the curve where its slope is steepest. This also marks
the point at which population growth rate is maximal. Up until this moment the population has
been gaining at an increasing rate and the curve is, therefore, concave upward. Beyond this
point, although the population continues to grow, it does so at a steadily decreasing rate, and the
curve is concave down ward.

4. Decelerating growth phase

Beyond the point of inflection the rate of population increase steadily decreases until the
population ceases to grow at all. New individuals are constantly being added, but the birth rate
and life expectancy are decreasing to the point where eventually a balance is achieved. During
this phase, direct density dependent factors exert progressively more severe restrictions upon the
population

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Fig. 1 Idealized population growth curve

5. Equilibrium period

Finally the population tends to stabilize at some equilibrium level which may be thought of as
the “carrying capacity” or number of organisms which can be supported in the long run by the
particular environment. Although some laboratory culture populations approach and maintain a
rather constant population level, it is not uncommon to find that some initially over short the
carrying capacity and achieve stability only after some up and down adjustment.

From the foregoing considerations, it is clear that in confined laboratory cultures the population
level at any one time is influenced by two sets of factors: the internal or physiological tolerance
and reproductive performance capabilities of the organisms themselves, and the environmental
complex within which the population operates. Internal factors may be thought of as including
the ability to reproduce; ability to survive in a self-contaminated environment; length of pre-
reproductive and post-reproductive periods of life; acceptance and tolerance of diverse habitat
types; and tolerance or destructive tendencies toward other members of the same species
(fighting, cannibalism etc). External factors include the extent and diversity of the environment,
general physical and chemical conditions, availability of food and shelter, etc.

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Population growth is a dynamic process that can be effectively described using differential
equations. We consider here a few models of population growth proposed by economists and
physicists.

3.5 The Geometric and exponential growth

Thomas, Malthus an 18th century English scholar, observed in an essay written in 1798 that the
growth of the human population is fundamentally different from the growth of the food supply to
feed that population. He wrote that the human population was growing geometrically [i.e.
exponentially] while the food supply was growing arithmetically [i.e. linearly]. He concluded
that left unchecked, it would only be a matter of time before the world's population would be too
large to feed itself

Geometric growth of any given population can be calculated using the equation N(t) = N(0)lt. In
this equation the l represents the fixed growth rate, N(0) represents the initial population size and
the t is the number of years for which the population has been calculated. Take for example a
population of 10 that increases at a rate of 2 each year for 2 years. This situation can be modeled
with the equation N(2) = 10(2)2. In such a situation, the final population will be 40 after a time
period of 2 years

Exponential Growth models show the growth of a population exponentially given a specific
growth rate. For example exponential growth is given by the equation P=P0(g)t where P = the
final population, P0 = the original population, g = the growth rate and t = time. A population of 4
that doubles every month for 5 months is given by the equation P=4(2)5. The final population
then, is 128.

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 Figure 2 exponential growth models

3.6 The logistic growth

Logistic growth population models imply density dependent population regulation. Such a model
assumes that when populations increase in size (1) the per capita birth rate decreases (as a result
of competition for resources) and/or (2) the per capita death rate increases (as a result of
competition for resources, predation, or the increased spread of disease). Thus, there is a
population size at which the per capita birth rate equals the per capita death rate. At this
population size, known as the carrying capacity, the population growth rate is equal to zero.

The logistic growth equation can be written as

DN/dt = rmaxN ((K - N)/ (K)) or dN/dt = rmaxN (1 - (N/K))

Where dN/dt is the population growth rate, rmax is the maximum value that the per capita growth
rate can be for a particular species in a particular environment, K is the carrying capacity, and N
is the population size.

Thus, in logistic growth, the per capita growth rate decreases as population sizes increase.

r = rmax ((K-N)/K)

If N < k then r > 0, if N = k then r = 0, and if N > k then r < 0. Thus, populations increase in size
when the population is smaller than the carrying capacity, decrease in size when populations are

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larger than the carrying capacity, and do not change in size when the population is at the carrying
capacity.

The geometric or exponential growth of all populations is eventually curtailed by food

availability, competition for other resources, predation, disease, or some other ecological factor.
If growth is limited by resources such as food, the exponential growth of the population begins to
slow as competition for those resources increases. The growth of the population eventually slows
nearly to zero as the population reaches the carrying capacity (K) for the environment. The result
is an S-shaped curve of population growth known as the logistic curve. It is determined by the
equation

Population fluctuation

3.7 Populations size regulation factors

In population ecology, a regulating factor is something that keeps a population at equilibrium

(neither increasing nor decreasing in size over time).

An example of a regulating factor would be food supply. If the population increases to a certain
size, there will be less food for each organism. This will lead to fewer births (a decrease in
fecundity) and more deaths, making a negative growth rate. As there are now fewer animals, the
amount of food for each organism will increase, meaning the growth rate will become positive.
This would lead to a large population size again, and the cycle would start over. Therefore, food
is a regulating factor in this scenario, as food supply keeps the population at relative equilibrium.

All regulating factors are density-dependent, meaning they keep populations at equilibrium by
counteracting fluctuations in population size. Other regulating factors of the human population at
present are drinking water supply, amount of arable land (obviously a more fundamental term for
food), air pollution and prevalence of communicable disease. The major regulating factor for the
human population in current times is inadequacy of safe drinking water, since waterborne disease
is the principal environmental cause of mortality.

Factors affecting population size, growth can be classified in to two groups;-

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– Density dependent factors
– Density independent factors

Density-dependent factor - one whose influence on population dynamics is proportional to

population density, eg., competition for food .

Density dependence requires change in demographic variables with density for regulation to
occur such as reproduction and survival.

Density-independent factor - one whose influence on population dynamics is not related to

population density, eg., prolonged drought, late frost. Natural or anthropogenic process affecting
rate of population change such as Weather and predation.

Density legislative factor - one that exerts its influence indirectly, by affecting the supply of
food or some other resource, eg., drought decreases food, wind storm increases supply of fallen
trees

Density-governing factor - a factor that regulates a population, that is, that acts as a negative
feedback to keep the population at or close to a particular density

Factors which influence population size

 Weather
1. Weather directly influences growth rates and survival

2. Weather affects supply of food and shelter

3. Weather catastrophes increase mortality

 Space
1. Shelter, refuge, and nesting/denning sites

2. Sessile organisms often space-limited

 Food (energy/nutrients) Quantity ,Quality

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 Predation may keep populations below the carrying capacity (K). In many cases though,
predation is not sufficiently responsive to prevent drastic fluctuations.
 Interspecific competition will ultimately lead to a shortage of resources which will limit
growth (the Malthusian principle). Contest competition or dispersal or both stop local
population growth before resource exhaustion.

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