Fundamentals of ecology

The fundamentals of ecology focus on the study of interactions between organisms and their
environment, including both living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components. Here’s a broad
overview of the core concepts:

1. Definition of Ecology

 Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and their physical
environment. It explores the relationships between living organisms (plants, animals,
microorganisms) and their surroundings (climate, soil, water, and other factors).

2. Levels of Ecological Organization

 Organism: An individual living being (e.g., a single fish).

 Population: A group of individuals of the same species living in a specific area (e.g., a
school of fish).
 Community: Different populations of various species interacting in a shared
environment (e.g., fish, algae, and invertebrates in a coral reef).
 Ecosystem: A community and its physical environment, including biotic and abiotic
factors (e.g., a coral reef ecosystem with fish, water, rocks, and sunlight).
 Biome: Large areas with similar climates, plants, and animals (e.g., tundra, rainforest).
 Biosphere: The global ecological system that includes all living beings and their
relationships, covering all of Earth’s ecosystems.

3. Biotic and Abiotic Components

 Biotic Factors: Living components of an ecosystem, including all organisms like plants,
animals, fungi, and microorganisms.
 Abiotic Factors: Non-living physical and chemical components like temperature,
sunlight, water, air, soil, and nutrients.

4. Energy Flow and Food Webs

 Energy Flow: Energy enters ecosystems primarily through sunlight, which is captured by
producers (plants and algae) through photosynthesis. This energy then moves through
different trophic levels:
o Producers: Convert solar energy into chemical energy.
o Consumers: Herbivores (primary consumers), carnivores (secondary and tertiary
consumers), and omnivores.
o Decomposers: Break down dead organisms, returning nutrients to the soil (e.g.,
fungi, bacteria).
 Food Webs: Complex networks of interconnected food chains that show how energy and
nutrients move through an ecosystem.

5. Nutrient Cycling
  Nutrient Cycles (Biogeochemical Cycles): Processes that recycle nutrients like carbon,
nitrogen, phosphorus, and water through the environment. Key cycles include:
o Carbon Cycle: Movement of carbon through the atmosphere, organisms, oceans,
and soil.
o Nitrogen Cycle: The conversion of nitrogen into forms usable by plants, through
processes like nitrogen fixation and decomposition.
o Water Cycle: The circulation of water through precipitation, evaporation,
transpiration, and runoff.

6. Ecosystem Dynamics

 Succession: The gradual change in community structure over time, leading to the
development of a stable ecosystem. It can be:
o Primary Succession: Occurs in lifeless areas (e.g., after a volcanic eruption).
o Secondary Succession: Occurs in areas where an ecosystem has been disturbed
but soil remains (e.g., after a forest fire).
 Stability and Resilience: Ecosystems tend to resist changes or return to a stable state
after disturbances, depending on their resilience.

7. Habitat and Niche

 Habitat: The specific environment where an organism lives, including both biotic and
abiotic factors.
 Niche: The role or function an organism plays in its environment, including its use of
resources and interactions with other species.

8. Population Ecology

 Population Dynamics: Focuses on how populations change over time due to factors like
birth rates, death rates, immigration, and emigration.
 Carrying Capacity: The maximum number of individuals an environment can
sustainably support, limited by resources.
 Population Growth: Can be exponential (rapid growth) or logistic (growth that slows as
it approaches carrying capacity).

9. Interactions in Ecosystems

 Symbiotic Relationships:
o Mutualism: Both species benefit (e.g., bees and flowers).
o Commensalism: One species benefits, the other is unaffected (e.g., barnacles on
whales).
o Parasitism: One species benefits, the other is harmed (e.g., ticks on mammals).
 Predation and Herbivory: Predators consume prey, while herbivores feed on plants.
 Competition: When two or more species or individuals compete for the same resources.

10. Human Impact on Ecosystems

 Human activities, like deforestation, pollution, climate change, and urbanization, can
greatly alter ecosystems. Understanding ecological principles helps in conservation
efforts and sustainable resource management.
These fundamentals provide the basis for understanding the complex interactions and processes
that sustain life on Earth, making ecology an essential field of study in environmental science
and biology. Let me know if you need more details on any of these points!

EXTRA
Abiotic Factors, Ecological Laws, Niche Concept, Conditions and Sources,
Modular and Unitary Organisms

 Abiotic Factors: These are the non-living components of an ecosystem, such as

temperature, sunlight, soil, water, and air. They play a significant role in shaping the
living conditions and habitats for organisms.
 Ecological Laws: These include principles like the Law of Tolerance, which states that
the survival of species is dependent on a range of environmental conditions (e.g.,
temperature range, light availability), and the Competitive Exclusion Principle, which
states that two species cannot occupy the same niche in a habitat indefinitely.
 Niche Concept: A niche is the role or function an organism plays within its environment,
including its habitat, resource use, and interactions with other species. It can be
considered as the "ecological job" of an organism.
 Conditions and Sources: Conditions are environmental factors that affect an organism’s
life (e.g., temperature), while sources (or resources) are materials that organisms need to
survive, such as food, water, and nutrients.
 Modular and Unitary Organisms:

Modular organisms are those that grow by adding repeated units or modules, like plants and
corals. They don't have a fixed size or shape but keep adding similar parts over time, like
branches or polyps.

Unitary organisms, on the other hand, have a fixed body plan that is set from the moment they
start developing, like most animals. They grow in size but don’t add new repeated structures;
instead, they grow as a whole.

Species Concept, Adaptations, Natural Selection, Speciation, Extinction,

Evolution

 Species Concept: A species is a group of organisms that can interbreed and produce
fertile offspring under natural conditions. Different concepts (e.g., biological,
morphological, phylogenetic) offer different criteria for defining a species.
 Adaptations: These are traits or behaviors that have evolved over time, allowing
organisms to survive and reproduce in their environments. They can be structural (e.g., a
bird’s beak shape), behavioral (e.g., migration), or physiological (e.g., ability to tolerate
temperature changes).
 Natural Selection: A process where individuals with certain favorable traits are more
likely to survive and reproduce, passing those traits to the next generation. This is a
driving force of evolution.
 Speciation: The process by which new species are formed. It can happen through
allopatric speciation (geographic isolation) or sympatric speciation (genetic divergence
within the same area).
  Extinction: The end of a species, occurring when the last individual dies. Extinction can
be caused by environmental changes, habitat loss, or competition.
 Evolution: The change in the inherited traits of a population over generations through
processes like natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow.

Population and Population Characteristics

 Population: A group of individuals of the same species living in a specific area at a

specific time. Populations have characteristics like size, density, and distribution.
 Population Characteristics:
o Size: The total number of individuals in a population.
o Density: The number of individuals per unit area or volume.
o Distribution: How individuals are spaced in their environment (e.g., clumped,
uniform, random).
o Age Structure: The distribution of individuals among different age groups, which
can affect population growth.
o Growth Rate: The change in the number of individuals over time, influenced by
birth rates, death rates, immigration, and emigration.

These concepts are foundational to understanding ecology, biology, and how living organisms
interact with their environment. If you need more detail on any of these, let me know!

How many species?

Estimating the number of species on Earth is challenging due to the vast diversity of life,
especially in ecosystems like the deep oceans and tropical rainforests, which remain
underexplored. Current estimates suggest that there are around 8.7 million species of plants,
animals, fungi, and microorganisms.

Of these, only about 1.2 million species have been formally identified and described by
scientists. This means that a large portion of species, particularly those involving smaller
organisms like insects, fungi, and bacteria, remain undiscovered. Some estimates even go as high
as 10 to 100 million species when accounting for microorganisms.

1. Animals

 Insects:
o Estimated at about 5.5 million species.
o Of these, around 1 million species have been described so far, making insects the
most diverse group on Earth.
o Beetles alone account for about 400,000 described species.
 Non-insect Arthropods (e.g., spiders, crustaceans):
o Estimated at 1.5 million species.
o Around 100,000 species have been described.
 Fish:
o About 34,000 species have been identified.
 Birds:
o Approximately 10,000 species.
  Mammals:
o Around 6,500 species.
 Reptiles:
o Roughly 11,000 species.
 Amphibians:
o About 8,000 species.

2. Plants

 Flowering Plants (Angiosperms):

o Estimated 300,000 to 400,000 species.
o Around 275,000 have been scientifically described.
 Non-flowering Plants (e.g., mosses, ferns, gymnosperms):
o Around 28,000 species.
 Algae:
o Estimated 72,500 species, though many remain unclassified.

3. Fungi

 Estimated to be around 2.2 to 3.8 million species.

 Only about 150,000 species have been described so far, indicating that the majority
remain unknown.

4. Bacteria and Archaea

 Estimates range widely, but potentially tens of millions of species.

 Most bacterial and archaeal species are yet to be described, with only a small fraction
identified.

5. Protists (single-celled eukaryotes like amoebas)

 Estimates vary from 200,000 to 1 million species.

 The diversity of this group is still not well understood.

6. Viruses

 Harder to classify as "species" in the traditional sense, but estimates suggest millions of
distinct types, with only about 10,000 described.

The total estimated number of animal species on Earth is around 7.7 million. Here’s a
breakdown of this estimate:

 Insects: Approximately 5.5 million species.

 Other Arthropods (like spiders, crustaceans): Around 1.5 million species.
 Fish: About 34,000 species.
 Birds: Around 10,000 species.
 Mammals: Approximately 6,500 species.
 Reptiles: Roughly 11,000 species.
 Amphibians: About 8,000 species.
 Other Animal Groups (e.g., mollusks, worms, corals, sponges): Around 600,000
species combined.