1. Ecology
The scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and the interactions that determine distribution and abundance
Begon, Harper, Townsend, 2006, Ecology, Blackwell

2. Ecology is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and the interactions that determine distribution and abundance
Lecture outline
The evolution of life and life histories
The flux of energy and matter
Individuals and populations
Ecological communities
Positive and negative species interactions
Trophic networks
Distributions in time
Distributions in space
Function and diversity
The human impact

3. Literature

4. Literature

5. Ecological slideshows
Ecological e-books

6. The manifold of genes or species is called diversity.
The scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and the interactions that determine distribution and abundance
Distribution and abundance might relate to genes, individuals, populations, or species
The manifold of genes or species is called diversity.
Applied to all living beings we speak of biodiversity
Charles Robert Darwin ( )
Alfred Russel Wallace ( )
Number of marine families

7. Allopatric , peripatric, and sympatric speciation
Allopatric speciation is generally slow
Species home range
Spatial breeding barrier
Peripatric speciation might be fast
Time
Allopatric and peripatric speciation: New species emerge by genetic divergence in geographically isolated regions
Sympatric speciation: New species emerge within the same habitat by any other breeding barrier. The include behavioural, resource use, or morphological barriers.

8. The diversification of species
Tinamou
South Amercia / Africa
Ostrich
Tinamou
Rhea
New Zealand
Spotted Kiwi
Great Kiwi
North Island Kiwi
Rhea
South Island Kiwi
Australia
Cassowary
Emu 80
Time
Cassowary
Low diversity of nine species
Comparably high genetic diversity
Today’s biodiversity is largely caused by evolutionary history and plate tectonics

9. Zosterops poliogaster
Zosterops abyssinicus

10. Postglacial colonization of Europe
We reconstruct colonisation routs by the analysis of genetic diversity across Europe.
Because colonising populations are often small they are generically impoverished (founder effect).
During the last 10,000 years Central and Northern Europe was recolonised from multiple glacvial refuges where species survived the ice age.
The refuges are centres of gentic diversification.
Major refuges where: The Maghreb
Spain
Turkey
Sicily Cyrpus
Crete
Hewitt G.M Postglacial recolonisation of European biota. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 68:

11. Postglacial colonization of Europe
Carabus auronitens
Colonisation gradient
Founder effects
Ordered genetic loss
Popu-lations
Relict populations
Vicariant (scattered) genetic loss
Colonisation gradient
The allele - sites matrix is sorted according to allele richness

12. Postglacial colonisation of European Tenebrionidae (Coleoptera)
Reconstruction of postglacial colonisation using phylogenetic relatedness of species
Three major colonisation routes
Three major postglacial refuges with high numbers of endemics and high rates of glacial speciation

13. Two niche dimensions of a plant Performance of a species
Ecological niches
Charles Elton,
Joseph Grinnell,
G Evelyn Hutchinson,
The niche is the role a species plays in a community, rather than a habitat.
The niche is the sum of the habitat requirements that allow a species to persist and produce offspring.
The niche is an n-dimensional hypervolume, where the dimensions are environmental conditions and the resources that define the requirements of an individual or a species to practise
Profession
Place
Two niche dimensions of a plant
Performance of a species
Light
Suboptimum
Optimum
Performance
Repro-duction
Condition
Water
Growth
A given habitat filters species according to the abiotic conditions
Survival

14. A habitat is the place where a species occurs.
Specialist
species
Generalist species
Performance
Condition
Ecological niches emerge from differences in performance along the gradient of habitat conditions
Formally a niche is the place of a species within a multidimensional hypervolume spanned by all resources used by this species.
Generalist species have relatively broad niches in comparison to specialist species.
A habitat is the place where a species occurs.
Do not mismatch habitat and niche!
Fundamental niche
Performance
Realized niche
Condition

15. Ground beetles (Carabidae) on Mazurian lake islands
The carbon isotope ratio of body tissues (13C ⁄ 12C = δ13C) depends on resource width, while the nitrogen isotope ratio (15N ⁄ 14N = δ15N) increases in insects with trophic level.
Ground beetles (Carabidae) on Mazurian lake islands
top
Trophic position
Error bars denote a standard error
basal
Zalewski et al. 2013, Ann.Zool.Fenn
Number of resources
Parts of the species are well segregated in trophic niche space, while another part of species highly overlaps in resource use.
The plot shows also three different guilds of species with similar resourse use.

16. Trophic niche spaces in eukaryotes
The specific trophic needs of organisms define their trophic niche.
Trophic niches are generally not species specific. They are highly variable in time and space.
Animals
Consumers
Carnivores
Green plants
Herbivores
Parasites
Producers
Fungivores
Omnivores
Omnivores are animals that feed on other animals and plants
Latin Greek
Herbivore Phytophage
Carnivore Zoophage
Fungivore Mycetophage
Omnivore Pantophage
Saprovore Saprophage
Microvore Microphage
Bacteriovore Bacteriophage
Mineralisers
Saprovores
Reducers
Fungi, slime moulds, animals