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ECOLOGY

The document provides an overview of ecology, defining it as the study of living beings and their relationships with the environment, and detailing its branches: autecology and synecology. It discusses the interdisciplinary nature of ecology, its connections to biology, chemistry, economy, geography, and politics, as well as the concepts of abiotic and biotic factors. Additionally, it covers population dynamics, community organization, and the ecosystem, including the hydrologic cycle and the biosphere.

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3 views9 pages

ECOLOGY

The document provides an overview of ecology, defining it as the study of living beings and their relationships with the environment, and detailing its branches: autecology and synecology. It discusses the interdisciplinary nature of ecology, its connections to biology, chemistry, economy, geography, and politics, as well as the concepts of abiotic and biotic factors. Additionally, it covers population dynamics, community organization, and the ecosystem, including the hydrologic cycle and the biosphere.

Uploaded by

4mpzjk9rms
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Ernst haeckel (1834-1919)

Defined it as all animal relationships with its environment, both organic


and inorganic.

Ecology:
Science that studies living beings and their relationships with the
environment.
It comes from the Greek words oikos (house) and (logos) or the study of
our home.
Divisions or branches of ecology
Autecology: Relationships of a species of organisms and its
environment, which is done from a morphological approach (its form)
physiological (functions) of the various species that coexist in a natural
environment, that is the community.
Synecology: Relationships of the organisms of the various synecology
that coexist in a natural environment, that is the community.

Environmental education
Process that consists in recognizing values and clarifying concepts to
create necessary skills and attitudes, aimed at understanding and
appreciating the mutual relationship between man, his culture and the
surrounding biophysical environment.
Environmental education also includes the practice of make decisions
and formulate a code of behavior regarding issues that concern
environmental quality.
Interdisciplinary nature of the ecology
Ecology has a wide field of study to try to understand the varied and
complex interactions of living beings with their environment.

Biology
Ecology has a close relationship with biology, from which it derives.

Plant ecology-botany.
Animal ecology- Zoology
Physiology- nutrition,respiration, excretion and maintenanace of internal
balance (homeostasis)
Also, ecology is related to ethology to understand animal behavior,
genetics and evolution to know about the mechanisms of gene
transmission.
Ethology- to understand animal behavior.
Genetics and evolution: to know about the mechanisms of gene
transmition

Chemistry
Chemistry: Study of the molecular structure of living matter and non-
living environment.
Chemical characteristics of the gases and vapors that the gases and
vapors that form the atmosphere of that form the atmosphere of that
place and their impact in living matter.
Economy
It is related to ecology when it analyzes the activities that lead to the
production and consumption of wealth.
Geography

Study of physical events and phenomena that occur on the earths


surface, taking into account.

Politics
Environmental legal framework through which the state regulates the
sustainable use of natural resources.

Abiotic factors
Inanimate or inert physicochemical components that influence living
beings. Carbon dioxide:
• Basis of photosynthesis, primary food for photosynthetic organisms.
Soil:
• Source of raw materials for the photosynthetic process.
• AOected by temperature, rainfall, climate, etc.
Water:
• Necessary for all chemical elements to move.
• Vital for the survival of all living beings. Atmosphere:
• Gaseous layer surrounding the Earth’s crust.

• Oxygen is necessary for the survival of living things.


• Exchange of air masses.
• Rainfall.
Solar Energy:
• Energy that Earth
Biotic Factors
It is made up of living beings, that is microorganisms, fungi, plants, and
animals.
Autotrophs
• Produces their own food (plants, algae). • Producers.
Heterotrophs
• “Consumers”, as they do not have the ability to produce their own food.
Decomposers
• Destroy other organisms that were once alive and return chemical
elements to the soil (fungi and bacteria)
Levels of organization of matter

1. Atom: the smallest unit of matter


2. Molecule: a group of atoms
3. Cell: the building block of life
4. Tissue: group of similar cells with a common specific function
5. Organ: a group of tissues that does a particular job
6. System groups of organs that work together.
7. Organism: a multicellular individual living thing
8. Species: a group of organisms with similar characteristics that have the
ability to
reproduce and produce oOspring

9. Population: a group of individuals of the same species that live in the


same place

10. Community: a group of populations that interact with each other and
live in the
same place.
11. Ecosystem: a group that consists of a community and the physical
medium that surrounds
Population
Group of organisms of the same species that occupy the same species
that occupy a defined area at a given time. For example, a population of
rabbits, a population of pine trees, etc.
Properties of population
Number of its individuals with respect to the area or volume they occupy
at given time.
Relative or ecological density: estimates the number of organisms of a
species per certain specific unit of space, only the areas that include its
habitat are considered.
Absolute density: number of individuals per unit of the total space.

Dispersion or spatial distribution


It is the form how organisms are organized within a population.
Uniform
It results from the competition between the individuals in the group.
Example. Carnivores fish of the genus Spinachia.
Random

Irregular distribution. It occurs when the medium has resources regularly


available throughout its areas.
Clumped
The most common form of distribution in nature, due to the
heterogeneous distribution of resources, and social tendency to group
together, advantage greater protection against predators.
Natality
Production of new organisms by birth, germination, fission, or any other
process that increases the number of individuals in the population.
Natality rate = Number of births/Total population x1000
Migration
Periodic departure of individuals from a population and his return to it.
Immigration: Individuals from outside they enter the area occupied by a
population.
Emigration: means that certain individuals move to an area located
outside the population.
Net migration rate = Immigration – emigration/Total population x1000
Growth

Change that occurs over time in the magnitude of the population,


because of birth rate, mortality, and net migration.
Population growth rate = Natality rate - Mortality rate ± Net migration rate
Community
Set of populations, that is, the totality of organisms that share the same
environment and maintain relationships.
Diversity
Variety of species that inhabit the diOerent habitats and the genetic
heritage of those species, constitutes diversity.

Mexico occupies a privileged place for its biological wealth, its


biodiversity is estimated at more that 12% of the world’s species.
Abundance

Total number of individuals of a species or species located in an area or


volume at a given time.
Abundance varies in space (from on community to another) and time (at
diOerent times of the year).
Dominance
Species that stand out and maintain a certain control over the other
species with which they cohabit, and interrelation are called ecological
dominants.
They control the greatest proportion of the synthesis and transfer of the
internal energy of the community.
Vertical organization (stratification)
Each species that makes up the community lives and develops in the
particular place according to its requirements.
Vertical organization of forests plays an important role in obtaining light
energy. In the jungle there are superficial areas where solar radiation does
not reach directly.
Horizontal organization
This organization divides the community into circular areas from its end
to its central area.
Irregular distribution of organisms where areas of grouping of species
alternate with other that are completely unpopulated.
The boundary between two communities it’s called an ecotone.
Chronological organization
Periodicity of the changes that occur in the form cyclical in the functions
of community organizations.
The daily rhythms correspond to a period of approximately 24 hours,
which is why they are also called circadian.
Lunar rhythms are very frequent in organisms in the marine environment
in the presence of high tides.
Seasonal rhythms are responses that living beings manifest in a certain
season of the year, such as the emigration of birds during winter from cold
areas to warm regions.
Ecosystem

Ecological unit where the community of organisms interacts with its


physical environment. It is claimed to be the basic in ecology.

Hydrologic cycle
Evaporation and transportation: water from rivers, lakes, seas and oceans
evaporates.
Condensation: water vapor is transported by the atmosphere and
condenses when it cools.
Precipitation: drops of water precipitate to the ground.
RunoO: movement of water flowing through rivers and streams to
estuaries.
Infiltration: vegetation promotes the penetration or infiltration of the water
on the ground.
Biosphere
Thin layer if the Earth’s crust where the diOerent species of communities
interact with the physical environment.
Conformed by:
Lithosphere: plates if the Earth’s crust.
Hydrosphere: aquatic mass.
Atmosphere: gaseous envelop the surrounds the planet.

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