ANIMAL ECOLOGY and

POLLUTION
ZOO 571
Promy Virk , PhD
Deptt. of Zoology
King Saud University
Lecture 1 &2
• Practical = 20%
• Midterm
▪ Exam = 15%
• Presentation = 20%
• Assignments= 5%
• Final Exam = 40%
Course Outline
• Introduction to ecology
• Individuals’ ecology
– Organisms limiting factors
– Important abiotic factors
• Population ecology
– Structure and diversity
– Biomass system
– Population regulation
– Interspecific competition
• Community and ecosystem ecology
– Zoogeography
– Aquatic ecological zones and ecosystems in Saudi Arabia
– Ecological relationship between plankton and Nekton in marine, freshwater, and eustraine habitats.
– Effects of ecological factors on aquatic animals and their media
• Aquatic community stratification
– Primary productivity
• Methods and measurements of primary productivity
• Pollution and pollutants
– Ozone layer pollution
– Heavy metals
– Oxides
– Sewage and hydrocarbons pollution
– Pesticides and physical pollution
Introduction to Ecology
▪ Definition of ecology
 Ecology is the scientific study of interactions between
organisms and the environment
 Ecology (from the Greek oikos=home, and logos=to
study)
▪ Importance of studying ecology
 The study of ecology reveals the richness of the
biosphere, provides the basic understanding that helps
conserve and sustain that richness

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Levels of Biological Organization
Organism : An individual living thing.
Species:A group of the same organisms that are able to
breed and produce fertile organisms.
Population: No individual organism lives completely on its
own. It may live with other individuals of the same species
to form a population.
An aggregation of individuals of the same species in a
continuous area which contain no potential breeding barrier.
Several populations living together make up a community.
A group of interacting populations in a given habitat.
Community: Usually restricted to organisms of similar size
and life habits e.g tree community, insect community, bird
community, human community.
Biome: Several communities in a given area make up a biome.

A biome is a large geographical area with a similar climate. E.g.

Tundra, Grassland, Desert etc.

The biosphere is the region on Earth where all life exists.

Ecosystem: An interacting system that consists of groups of

organisms and their non-living environment with in a boundary.
 Two parts of an Ecosystem
Biotic and Abiotic
▪ Biotic –
 factors that are or were alive/living in an ecosystem.
▪ Examples: animals, plants, insects, bacteria,
fungi, and dead organisms.
▪ Abiotic-
▪ Factors in an environment that are not or never
were alive.
▪ Examples: rock island, gases, water, sun,
minerals and temperature.
Ecological research scale ranges from individuals to
the biosphere

a. Organismal ecology is concerned about the way in

which an individual interacts with its environment.

b. Population ecology is the study of a group of

individuals of the same species.

c. Community ecology deals with all interacting

species within a particular area.
An ecosystem consists of all abiotic factors plus all organisms
that exist in a certain area à Ecosystem ecology.
Landscape ecology- interactions among ecosystems.

e. The biosphere is the global ecosystem.

 Organism
• Ecology can be or
divided into individual
areas of study ecology

ranging from the Population

ecology
Biosphere
ecology of
individual Subfields
organisms to the of
dynamics of Ecology
ecosystems and
Landscape Community
landscapes ecology ecology

Ecosystem
ecology

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Ecology of Individuals
Organismal ecology studies how an organism’s structure, physiology, and (for
animals) behavior meet environmental challenges.

 Relationship of individual with its environment

 Strong impact on distribution and abundance of

organisms

• It is divided into:
– Physiological ecology
– Evolutionary ecology
– Behavioral ecology

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Habitat and Niche

▪ Each organism confronts the challenge of

survival in a different way.
▪ The niche an organism occupies is the sum of all
the ways it utilizes the resources of its
environment.
▪ Part of this role may be played as the predator
and part may be played as the prey.
Niche

▪ A niche may be described in terms of space

utilization, food consumption, temperature range
and mating requirements.
▪ An organism’s niche would also take into account
its behavior. You can think of an organism’s niche
as its job/role in the environment.
Niche

▪ A beaver is an ecosystem engineer. It cuts down

trees and dams up a river which will flood the forest
with a pond. Eventually the trees will die, new
species of plants and wildlife will arrive to take
advantage of the new conditions. Eventually, this
forest will become a meadow. The beaver’s NICHE
is the role it plays in shaping the environment. But…
it is also a main prey species for predators.
Habitat

▪ Niche is not synonymous with habitat. Habitat is a

place, niche is a pattern of living. Habitat is the
address and niche is the job or occupation.
▪ If two organisms have the same habitat and similar
niches, they will compete with each other over the
available resources. (food- water -shelter)
Habitat

▪ Competition is the struggle between two organisms

within their habitat.
▪ If a species can avoid competing they may co-exist.
But if they compete, one will eventually drive the
other out of the habitat, unless they have slightly
different niches.
▪ Example: times of activity
Different Niches to avoid competiton: Some animals
in the same habitat could be;
▪ Nocturnal – active at night

▪ Diurnal - active during the day

▪ Crepuscular – active at dawn and dusk

▪ Migration – moving from one area to another to
use resources

▪ Hibernation – reducing activity severely for a

period of time.
Interactions between organisms and the environment
limit the distribution of species

▪ Ecologists have long recognized global and

regional patterns of distribution of organisms
within the biosphere
▪ Biogeography is a good starting point for
understanding what limits geographic distribution
of species
▪ Ecologists recognize two kinds of factors biotic
abiotic
Fig. 52-6

Why is species X absent

from an area?

Yes Area inaccessible

or insufficient time
Yes
Does dispersal Habitat selection
limit its Yes Predation, parasitism, Chemical
Does behavior competition, disease factors
distribution? No limit its Do biotic factors Water
distribution? No (other species) Oxygen
limit its Do abiotic factors Salinity
distribution? No limit its pH
distribution? Soil nutrients, etc.

Temperature
Physical Light
factors Soil structure
Fire
Moisture, etc.

Flowchart of factors limiting geographic distribution

Dispersal and Distribution
▪ Dispersal is movement of individuals away from
centers of high population density or from their
area of origin
▪ Dispersal contributes to global distribution of
organisms
▪ Natural range expansions show the influence of
dispersal on distribution
Species Transplants
▪ Species transplants include organisms that are
intentionally or accidentally relocated from their
original distribution
▪ Species transplants can disrupt the communities or
ecosystems to which they have been introduced
▪ example: rat and mongoose in Hawaii
Behavior and Habitat Selection
▪ Some organisms do not occupy all of their potential
range
▪ Species distribution may be limited by habitat
selection behavior
Biotic factors

• If behavior does not limit distribution of a species,

then
• It is biotic factors (other species)
• Examples of biotic factors:
– Inability to survive, grow, or reproduce can be due to
• Predation (organisms that kill their prey)
• Parasitism
• Disease
• Competition
• Absence of a pollinator- in case of plants

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Abiotic Factors

▪ 1: Temperature
▪ 2: Water
▪ 3: Sunlight
▪ 4: Wind
▪ 5: Rocks and soil

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Temperature
▪ Environmental temperature is an important factor
in distribution of organisms because of its effects
on biological processes
▪ Cells may freeze and rupture below 0°C, while
most proteins denature above 45°C
▪ Mammals and birds expend energy to regulate their
internal temperature
 Endothermy vs. Ectothermy

Endotherms = generate their own heat

Ectotherms = rely on environmental sources

Water
▪ Water availability in habitats is another important
factor in species distribution
▪ Desert organisms exhibit adaptations for water
conservation
Salinity
▪ Salt concentration affects water balance of
organisms through osmosis
▪ Few terrestrial organisms are adapted to high-
salinity habitats
▪ Wind ( limiting factor)
 Wind amplifies the effect of temperature on
organisms
 by increasing heat loss in organisms due to
evaporation and convection
 Contributes to water loss in organisms by increasing
the rate of evaporative cooling in animals and
transpiration in plants
 Wind have a substantial effect on the morphology of
plants by inhibiting the growth of limbs

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Sunlight
▪ Light intensity and quality affect photosynthesis in
plants.

▪ Water absorbs light, thus in aquatic environments

most photosynthesis occurs near the surface.
– It provides energy that drives the ecosystem

– Aquatic plants photosynthesis are limited to the top only

– Light is important for the development and behavior of many organisms sensitive
to photoperiod, example
•Seasonal events such as flowering of plants

▪ In deserts, high light levels increase temperature

and can stress plants and animals
Rocks and Soil
▪ Many characteristics of soil limit distribution of
plants and thus the animals that feed upon them:
 Physical structure
 pH
 Mineral composition

Aquatic compositions affect water chemistry

and consequently organisms
Climate
▪ Four major abiotic components of climate are
temperature, water, sunlight, and wind
▪ The long-term prevailing weather conditions in an
area constitute its climate
▪ Macroclimate consists of patterns on the global,
regional, and local level
▪ Microclimate consists of very fine patterns, such
as those encountered by the community of
organisms underneath a fallen log
 Organisms Limiting Factors

▪ Every living organism has limits to the

environmental conditions it can endure

▪ Limiting factors can be:

 Biotic factors
 Abiotic factors

▪ Abiotic components are non-living chemical and

physical factors in the environment
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These factors are primarily responsible for determining the
growth and/or reproduction of an organism or population.

It may be a physical factor such as temperature or light, a

chemical factor such as particular nutrient, or a biological
factor such as a competing species. The limiting factor may
differ at different times and places.

The Law of Limiting factors states that too much or too little
of any abiotic factor can limit or prevent growth of a
population of a species in an ecosystem
Organisms’ Limiting Factors

▪ A limiting factor is a factor that controls a process, such as

organism growth or species population, size, or distribution
 The availability of food, predation pressure, or availability
of shelter are examples of factors that could be limiting for
an organism

 An example of a limiting factor is sunlight in the rainforest,

where growth is limited to all plants in the understory
unless more light becomes available (such as in the event of
a tree fall)

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Law of the Minimum

Proposed by Justus von Liebig in 1840.

It says that the success of organism determined by
crucial ingredient that is in short supply.
As abundance of one resource increases another
resource may become limiting.
Also known as Liebig's Law of Minimum - a system
maybe limited by the absence or minimum amount (in
terms of that needed) of any required factor.

What this law states is that the rarest requirement of an

organism will be the limiting factor to its performance
❖Law of Tolerance

Proposed by Victor Shelford in 1913.

It refers to the upper and lower bounds to physical environment an

organism can tolerate.
❖
These boundaries affect the ability to function, grow, and reproduce.
These changes can be broad and narrow.
❖
There are seasonal shifts in tolerance ranges, but within
physiological limits.
❖
Implication - no organism can live everywhere