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Animal Ecology
(Ekologi Hewan)
3 SKS / 4314-2-1962
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
Ecology
The study of the distribution
and abundance of organisms.
Charles Elton, Animal Ecology 1927
Ecology
The scientific study of the
relationships between
organisms and their
environments.
E. Haeckel, 1865
Ecology
The study of the flows of energy
and materials between abiotic
and biotic components of
ecosystems.
Chapin, Mooney and Matson, 2002
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.
Ecosystem

Ecosystem = community (all biotic) &
physical environment (all abiotic)
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

Applications of Animal Ecology
• Medical ecology
• Preventive medicine (hygiene)
• Toxicology
• Medical parasitology
• Medical microbiology
• Veteriner
Basic ecological terms
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
Ecosystem
 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
Ecosystem
Abiotic factors
Population
of species A
Community
Population
of species C
Population
of species B
Habitat
• Habitat = any part of the Earth where a species can live,
temporarily or permanently
•
= organism’s physical surroundings
•
= where an organism lives
Ecological Niche
• Ecological Niche = functional role of a species in the
community, including habitat, activities & relationships
•
= what an organism does, its occupation
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)
Main Structural Components of an
Ecosystem
Heat
Abiotic chemicals
(carbon dioxide,
oxygen, nitrogen,
minerals)
Heat
Heat
Producers
(plants)
Decomposers
bacteria, fungi)
Heat
Consumers
(herbivores,
carnivores)
Heat
Solar
energy
Energy flow within food web
Loss
of
energy
Biomass of
secondary
consumers
Biomass of
primary consumers
Biomass of producers
Loss
of
energy
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
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?
Interspecific relations
Relation
Neutralism
Commensalism
Protocooperation
Mutualism
(„symbiosis“)
Allelopathy
(inhibition)
Species A
0
+
+
+
Species B
0
0
+
+
0 (+?)
–
Parasitism
Predation
Competition
+
+
+
–
–
–
No relation, neither
effects the other
Free relation
Closed relation
Species A produces
compounds harmful
for species B.
„antibiosis“
See you next week!
Individual assignment on
Interspecific relations!