1. Animal Ecology (Ekologi Hewan)
3 SKS /

2. Ecology
The science of the study of the relationships between living things and their environment
The environment could be:
Biotic = other species
Nonbiological (abiotic) = physical, chemical, geographical, geological factors

3. The study of the distribution and abundance of organisms.
Ecology
The study of the distribution and abundance of organisms.
Charles Elton, Animal Ecology 1927

4. Ecology
The scientific study of the relationships between organisms and their environments.
E. Haeckel, 1865

5. Chapin, Mooney and Matson, 2002
Ecology
The study of the flows of energy and materials between abiotic and biotic components of ecosystems.
Chapin, Mooney and Matson, 2002

6. The study of the distribution and abundance of organisms,
Ecology is
The study of the distribution and abundance of organisms,
AND
the flows of energy and materials between abiotic and biotic components of ecosystems.

7. Ecosystem
Ecosystem = community (all biotic) & physical environment (all abiotic)

8. Ecological sciences General ecology
Animal ecology, plant ecology, microbial ecology
Environmental science
Environmental protection and management
Hydrobiology (water ecosystems)
Limnology (freshwater ecosystems)
Environmental geology and geography

9. Applications of Animal Ecology
Medical ecology
Preventive medicine (hygiene)
Toxicology
Medical parasitology
Medical microbiology
Veteriner

10. Basic ecological terms

11. Population
A group of individuals of the same species living in the same area or interbreeding and sharing genetic information.
Population of species A
Population of species B

12. Ecosystem Biological community and nonbiological factors
Ecosystem = community (all biotic) & physical environment (all abiotic)
Biological community and nonbiological factors
It must include:
An autotroph
A decomposer
A source of energy
All the chemical elements required by the autotroph and the decomposer

13. Ecosystem Abiotic factors Community Population of species A
Population of species B
Community
Population of species C

14. Habitat
Habitat = any part of the Earth where a species can live, temporarily or permanently
= organism’s physical surroundings
= where an organism lives

15. Ecological Niche
Ecological Niche = functional role of a species in the community, including habitat, activities & relationships
= what an organism does, its occupation

16. Food web (trophic „chain“)
Solar energy
Secodary consumers
(carnivores)
Primary consumers
(herbivores)
Producers
(green plants, algae,
autotrophic bacteria)
Decay of organic matter
Release of inorganic nutrients
Decomposers
(heterotrophic bacteria, fungi)

17. Main Structural Components of an Ecosystem
Abiotic chemicals
(carbon dioxide,
oxygen, nitrogen,
minerals)
Heat
Heat
Solar
energy
Heat
Decomposers
bacteria, fungi)
Producers
(plants)
Consumers
(herbivores,
carnivores)
Heat
Heat 17

18. Energy flow within food web
Biomass of
secondary
consumers
Loss of
energy
Loss of
energy
Biomass of
primary consumers
Biomass of producers

19. What is productivity? Productivity: growth rate of all living things
Primary productivity: growth rate of producers
Solar energy converted to organic matter (biomass)
Stored in living organisms
All organisms depend on primary producers for their energy supply
Usually measured as grams of carbon per square meter
Primary production is consumed, converted to detritus, or accumulated in biomass
Ecologists like to talk about the productivity of ecosystems, that is, the amount of solar energy that is stored in living organisms
Some ecosystems are more efficient at storing energy than others
Because primary producers make oxygen and consume carbon dioxide, we can estimate primary production by measuring the amount of oxygen that is produced (or carbon dioxide that is consumed) in a bottle or in a section of the river. Alternatively, we can add a little14-carbon, which is radioactive, to a bottle of water, and measure the amount of radioactivity that is picked up by phytoplankton. Production of bacteria is also estimated by measuring the uptake of radioactive nucleic acids or amino acids. 19

20. What controls productivity?
“Limiting factors” - Too much or too little of any abiotic factor can limit or prevent growth of a population
Predators: grazers
Every part of the food web will have different controls
What could be a limiting factor in the Limboto lake?

21. Interspecific relations
Species A
Species B
Neutralism
No relation, neither effects the other
Commensalism +
Protocooperation
Free relation
Mutualism („symbiosis“)
Closed relation
Allelopathy (inhibition)
0 (+?) –
Species A produces compounds harmful for species B.
„antibiosis“
Parasitism
Predation
Competition

22. Individual assignment on Interspecific relations!
See you next week!
Individual assignment on Interspecific relations!