Ecology —An Overview

What is Ecology? Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their environment. It is the science that seeks to describe and explain the relationship between living organisms and their environment.

What is Ecology? (Cont…) Ecology is describing the relationships between living organisms and their environment. Ecology comes from the Greek words Oîkos= House -λογία, -logia= Study of Life Study of the “house/environment” in which we live.

Factors of Ecology There is two factors that Ecology study: The Abiotic Factors (non-living components) are those inert factors of the ecosystem, as the light, the temperature, the chemical products, the water and the atmosphere. Biotic Factors (living organisms) are all the living beings in an environment.

Ecology is study of interactions between non-living components in the environment… light water wind nutrients in soil heat solar radiation atmosphere, etc. AND…

Living organisms… Plants Animals microorganisms in soil, etc.

Ernst Haeckel, a German zoologist coined the term Ecology in After that…. Danish botanist, Eugenius Warming elaborate the idea of Ecology.

Classification of Ecology Ecology is a broad discipline comprising many sub-disciplines. Under this system the subjects studies: Ecophysiology examines how the physiological functions of organisms influence the way they interact with the environment, both biotic and abiotic. Behavioral ecology examines the roles of behavior in enabling an animal to adapt to its environment.

Classification of Ecology (cont…) Population ecology studies the dynamics of populations of a single species. Community ecology (or synecology) focuses on the interactions between species within an ecological community. Ecosystem ecology studies the flows of energy and matter through the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems.

Classification of Ecology (cont…) Systems ecology is an interdisciplinary field focusing on the study, development, and organization of ecological systems from a holistic perspective Landscape ecology examines processes and relationship in a spatially explicit manner, often across multiple ecosystems or very large geographic areas.

Classification of Ecology (cont…) Evolutionary ecology studies ecology in a way that explicitly considers the evolutionary histories of species and their interactions. Political ecology connects politics and economy to problems of environmental control and ecological change.

Individual Population Population interactions Community Ecosystem Landscape Region = Biome Biosphere “Levels” of Ecology

Levels of Ecology Biosphere Surface of the earth It is the whole portion of Earth colonized by living beings

Levels of Ecology (cont…) Region Group of ecosystems with the same climate and dominant communities. Tropical rain forest Tropical dry forest Tropical savanna Temperate woodland and shrubland Desert Temperate grassland Boreal forest (Taiga) Northwestern coniferous forest Temperate forest Mountains and ice caps Tundra

Levels of Ecology (cont…) Ecosystem A group of communities and the populations within them embedded in a common physical environment and tied together by physical processes. It refers to all the abiotic factors (physical and chemical constituents) and all the communities that established in a specific area. It is a collection of organisms that live in a place with the nonliving environment.

Levels of Ecology (cont…) Community A group of populations of different species occurring in one place; individuals of different species may interact with each other And all the living beings distributed into a specific geographical area. A community includes organisms of different species.

Levels of Ecology (cont…) Population A group of individuals of a given species that live in a specific geographic area. A group of organisms, all of the same species, which interbreed and live in the same area. A group of individuals that collectively interact to give birth to new individuals and eventually die

Levels of Ecology (cont…) Individual Group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring

Ecosystem Ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment, interacting as a functional unit. Every element of the environment have their own ecosystem. A dynamic ecosystem makes the balance of nature.

Ecosystem (cont…) Example of Ecosystem:

Hydrologic (Water) Cycle

Status of Ecology Past Status Calm and Quite Human don’t disturb the nature Ecosystem had been going on its natural cycle

Status of Ecology (cont…) Present Status Population increasing Negative Effect Ecological Crisis

The main causes of Ecological Crisis are: Over Population Environment Pollution Deforestation

Over Population Over population is a depletion of resources that occurs when too many of at least one kind of living thing inhabits an ecosystem.

Ecological Crisis Major Ecological Crisis which are facing the World: Greenhouse Effect Global Warming Climate Changes

Green House Effect Greenhouse effect means the change in the thermal equilibrium temperature of a planet by the presence of an atmosphere containing gas that absorbs infrared radiation.

Green House Effect (cont…)

Global Warming Global warming is an increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere.

Climate Changes Climate change means a long-term significant change in the “average weather” that a given region experiences. Average weather may include average temperature, precipitation and wind patterns. It causes natural disasters.

Natural Disasters

Conclusion Ecosystem is a natural cycle. Ecosystem makes the balance of nature. Human beings are an integral part of ecological systems and depend on nature for survival and quality of life. Save Nature, survive ecosystem, safe ourselves.

The End