ECOLOGY

INTERACTION IN NATURE
No living organism lives on its own but they live by interacting with one another. Their lives
are also affected by non-living things. The branch of biology which studies the relationship or
interaction between living organisms in their environment is termed ecology. The term ecology
comes from the Greek word oikos which means house or place where one lives and logos
which means study. Ecology is in two parts: autecology and synecology.

Autecology is the study of a single of population of organisms in an ecosystem.

Synecology is the study of communities in a defined area.

IMPORTANCE OF ECOLOGY
To avoid the occurrence of environmental problems such as pollution and deforestation.
It ensures sustainable use of resources such as water, wildlife and forest.
Ecology informs strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the impacts
of climatic change.
Ecology highlights the importance of preserving biodiversity, essential for maintaining ecology
resilience and adaptability etc.
TERMINOLOGIES
Environment: refers to other living things as well as non-living factors which affect an
organism during a life time or is the sum total of the factors in the habitat that has direct effect
on an organism.
Biosphere: It is the part of the earth where life exists. The biosphere has three biographical
regions namely atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.
The atmosphere is the layer of air that envelops the earth and where organisms can be found.
Lithosphere is the solid part of the earth ie land where organisms can be found.
Hydrosphere is the part of the earth covered by water and which contains organisms.
A habitat is a particular locality or place within an environment where an organism can live
successfully i.e the natural home of an organism eg a pond, lake, seashore, rainforest, hedge,
under a stone, leaf litter. Often an organism has evolved special adaptation which enables it to
live successfully.There are two main types of habitats namely aquatic habitat and terrestrial
habitat.

Microhabitat is a specific area in a habitat that has conditions and features different from the
general prevailing conditions and features of the habitat eg termites live in mould on land.

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Land is the habitat whilst the mould is a microhabitat. The mould is expected to have a high
relative humidity and a low temperature than the immediate surroundings. A crab’s hole at the
intertidal zone of the sea shore to prevent desiccation. A branch of a tree in a rain forest where
an epiphyte is found.

Ecosystem is a self-supporting or stable interacting unit which is made up of living organisms

and non-living things eg. pond, lakes, forest and savannah. It is also defined as a natural stable
unit comprising of communities of different organisms interacting with each other and the
physical environment they live in. Ecosystems vary in size, they may be larger or small.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HABITAT AND ECOSYSTEM

HABITAT ECOSYSTEM

A natural area where an organism lives A wide area, a part of it can be a habitat.
successfully.

Not self supporting. Self supporting ie a unit that can regenerate

itself.

A POND AND AN AQUARIUM WHICH IS AN ECOSYSTEM

A pond is self supporting because no one goes to put water or air inside it. The plant can all be
dead because of pollution, after a short time the pond can regenerate itself. Aquarium is not an
ecosystem because its needs artificial input of air and water.

LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION OF LIVING ORGANISMS IN AN ECOSYSTEM

The smallest living unit is the individual eg one ant, one elephant, one human being.
Population: A population refers to the total number of individual members of the same species
living in a defined area. Eg. population of birds in a village or the population of Tilapia in a
lake.

A species is a group of closely related individuals that are structurally alike and capable of
interbreeding among themselves to produce fertile or viable offspring. In a habitat the species
with the highest number of individual constitute the dominant species

Community: A community is made up of population of different species living together and

interacting with each other or exhibiting varying degrees of dependence on each other in one
habitat. Example in the soil there is a community of organisms which included earthworms,

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termites and other insects, arachnids, crustacea, fungi and bacteria. A community is named
after the dominant species. Example is the community of rubber.

To appreciate the event at each community level, one must know the role individual species
play in their environment and this is called the niche.

Niche is an organism role to its physical and biological environment. The niche is different
from the habitat. An organism’s habitat can be viewed as its “address” or the physical place
where it lives. In contrast an organism’s niche is more like its “profession” or the various
things it does to “make a living”.

The niche has three important parameters.

The range of physical factors in which the organism can survive and reproduce and it includes
temperature, humidity, salinity, light etc.

The biological factors with which the organisms interact such as predators, prey, parasites,
organisms that provide shelter and organisms that compete for the same limiting resources.

The organism’s behaviour ie where, when and upon what it feeds, its social organization and
its behavioural interaction with other organisms.

For example, lions and hyenas occupy similar niches on the Savannah plains but they are able
to live side by side due to different feeling habits.

A habitat is a subset of the niche.

Biomes: They are distinctive major types of communities and ecosystem in large geographic
areas.

ECOLOGICAL FACTORS
The environment of an organism includes all the living and non-living things that surround it.
They are grouped into two:

• Abiotic factors are non-living influences experienced by each organism. They include
climatic, edaphic and topographic factors. These affect both living and non-living things.
• Biotic (biological) factors are influences or activities of living things that affect other
living things or activities of living things that affect non-living things which finally affect
living things.
ABIOTIC FACTORS
They are non-living influences experienced by each organism.
They include

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Climatic
Topographic and
Edaphic factors

CLIMATIC FACTORS
LIGHT
Light can be described as a form of energy from the sun or from other hot objects like light
bulbs and forms of energy which can be detected by the eye.
Instrument for measuring light on Land habitats: Light-meter or photometer.
Instrument for measuring light in Water habitat: Light intensity probe
EFFECT OF LIGHT ON PLANTS
Light affects the behaviour of organisms in different ways.
• Light affects phototropism in plants. Phototropism is the directional growth response of
plants towards or away from light.
For example, the tip of the stem grows towards whilst the tip of the root grows away from a
unilateral source of light.
• Light intensity also determines the height to which some stems grow. E.g. climbers like
lianes
• Light affects flowering in plants. Day lenght or photoperiodism which is the amount of
day light affects certain processes in organisms, especially flowering.

Examples Strawberry plants need shorter day light and longer night to flower.
Apples and pears on the other hand need longer day light and shorter night to flower.
• Light causes nastic movement in certain parts of some plants. Nastic movement refers
to a non – directional, non – growth movement in plants that occurs in response to
external stimuli such as light, touch, temperature etc E.g. Mimosa pudica.
• Light is needed by green plants for photosynthesis to make food.

EFFECT OF LIGHT ON TERRESTRIAL ANIMALS

• Light affect vision and movement of animals.
• Light affects the behaviour of animals. For instance
1. houseflies and most birds are active during the day when there is light.

2. Most termites swim only at night thereby avoiding day-flying birds which would feed
on them.
3. Cockroaches, earthworms and bats active during the night so avoid light.

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4. Certain mammals, example humans are able to produce vitamin D by the action of
ultra-violet light on skin cells.
EFFECT OF LIGHT ON AQUATIC ORGANISMS

• Animals tend to move down to deeper parts of the water when the light intensity is high
and move up to the surface waters when the light intensity is reduced.

• Low light intensity will reduce the rate of photosynthesis in water bodies.

• In aquatic habitats, light intensity decreases with depth and this affects plant
distribution in the water.

• Planktons tend to develop in the surface of waters where light intensity is high than in
the deep waters where light intensity is reduced.

• No plants are found in depths where there is no light.

REASONS WHY AQUATIC ORGANISMS MOVE AWAY FROM STRONG
LIGHT.
• Animals tend to avoid high light intensity at the surface of waters by going deep down
the water body.

• Strong lights turns to heat the surface of the water making the organisms move to lower
depths in order to avoid over heating since they are cold blooded (Poikilothermic)

EFFECT OF LIGHT ON ABIOTIC FACTORS

• It increases the temperature of the habitat.

TEMPERATURE
Temperature is the degree of hotness or coldness of a place or body of an organism.
INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING TEMPERATURE
• It is measured by means of a thermometer.
• Mercury thermometer for measuring the temperature of water, the air and soil.
• A maximum – minimum thermometer can be used for measuring the highest and lowest
temperature.

• The unit for measuring temperature is usually in degrees Celcius/ Fahrenheit/ Kelvin.
EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE ON ALL BIOTIC FACTORS
• With increased temperature, up to a point, there is an increase in the rate of respiration
in many living things.
• The rate of decay of organic matter increases with temperature

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 EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON ANIMALS
• Organisms behave according to the temperatures of their bodies;

• at low temperature, animals such as bears, lizards hibernate and birds migrate and
• at high temperature, some animals aestivate eg snails, salamanders etc
• Temperature affects organisms on land more drastically than organisms in water

• Most living things are killed by high temperatures. At low temperatures they become
inactive and at optimum temperatures for their metabolic activities they grow and
reproduce rapidly.

• NB

• High temperatures denature enzymes. Denaturing enzyme means high temperature

changes the shape of enzymes.
• Temperature influences the structure/morphology of organisms and the distribution of
organisms in the habitat.
• For instance mammals in cold habitat have plenty of fur to insulate their bodies against
heat loss

• Increase temperature increases the rate of growth of such animals as toad and
houseflies.
EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE ON PLANTS
• Fruits ripen slowly when the temperatures are low

• Plants in areas with high temperature experiences high transpiration rate.

• High temperature causes wilting of leaves.

• High temperature can disrupt pollination.

EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON AQUATIC ORGANISM
• In water, the temperature on the surface or near the surface of the water changes more
drastically than the deeper parts.
• Small water bodies may dry up and the habitats of young stages of some animals such
as mosquito larvae, pupae, tadpole and adult stages of fishes may be killed.
EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE ON OTHER ABIOTIC FACTORS

• Evaporation of water from the soil, rivers and lakes occurs more rapidly as the
temperature rises.
RAINFALL
Rainfall includes all forms of liquid water deposited on the ‘earth’ from the atmosphere.
INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING RAINFALL

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• The instrument that is used to measure rainfall is called the rain gauge.
DESCRIPTION OF RAIN GAUGE

• A rain gauge is made up of a metal cylinder.

• The open end is fitted with a funnel.
• The funnel is fitted into a measuring cylinder inside the metal cylinder.

EFFECTS OF RAINFALL ON LIVING THINGS

• On land the variation in the amount of rainfall can result in droughts and floods which
can destroy vegetation and affect the community at large.

Drought causes some animals to die as they do not get water to drink.
Rainfall affects distribution of plants and animals e.g. Kangaroo rat lives in a desert
environment, where water is scarce.
• Quantity of rainfall determines the type of vegetation in a habitat.
• High rainfall distributed over a long period of time in an area tends to support the
development of a rain forest, while
• low rainfall sparsely distributed tend to support savannah or desert vegetation.

• Animals which live on land visit freshwater habitats for several reasons example to
drink.
• Toads and frogs lay their eggs in water and that is why they reproduce during rainy
season.
• Termites start new colonies during the rainy season when the soil is soaked with water
• More water will be available in the soil for the use by soil organisms.

• When water bodies dry up, the breeding places or habitats of water organisms such as
fishes and mosquitoes are destroyed.
• Plants obtain more water for photosynthesis and grow better to get large biomass to
serve as habitat for arboreal animals.
• High amount of rainfall reduces the rates of transpiration from plants.
EFFECT OF RAINFALL ON ABIOTIC FACTORS
• High rainfall decreases atmospheric temperature and

• High rainfall increases the relative humidity.

• High rainfall lowers rates of evaporation from soil and water bodies.

• Flooding can cause soil erosion and silting of water bodies like rivers and lakes.
• This may cause turbidity of water bodies which in turn will reduce light intensity in the
water body.

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 APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE
• Distribution of rainfall over many years from all regions of a country can determine
which months of the year are wet season and which months are dry in the country.
Farmers could be advised on the most favourable planting periods.
THE WIND
• This is air in motion or moving air.

• There are two characteristics of wind that affect living organisms.

• These are wind speed and direction of wind.
INSTRUMENTS FOR MEASURING WIND

• Wind direction – wind vane

• Wind speed/velocity – anemometer
EFFECT OF WIND ON ABIOTIC FACTORS

• The stronger the wind speed the lower the temperature and vice versa.
• The stronger the wind speed, the greater the evaporation of water from surfaces of
water bodies and soil.

• Wind causes the formation of water currents and waves of the sea.
• Wind controls the movement of clouds and the distribution of rain.
• Wind is an agent of soil erosion.

• As soil is carried into water bodies it may cause the silting of water bodies, increase
turbidity and reduce the light intensity of water.
THE EFFECT OF WIND ON LIVING ORGANISMS

• High wind increases the rate of evaporation on surfaces of organisms.

• Small organisms are also dispersed by the wind, e.g. insects and spiders, spreading
them to new colonies.

• Wind speed and direction affect the speed and direction of most flying animals e.g. bats
and migratory birds.
• Wind is involved in pollination of some flowers e.g. maize, most grasses such as
Panicum sp. and Strobulus sp.
• It also serves as an agent of dispersal of seeds of plants such as cotton, silk cotton and
fruits such as Combretum sp. and Tridax sp.
• High wind speed increases the rate of transpiration in plants.

• Strong winds can uproot plants and cause the breakage of tree branches which serve as
habitats for some organisms.

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• Wind affects the distribution and morphology of organisms in a habitat e.g. areas
associated with strong winds have fewer plants.

PRESSURE
• Pressure is the force acting on a unit area of a surface.
Air pressure is measured with a Barometer.
THE EFFECT OF PRESSURE ON ABIOTIC AND BIOTIC LIFE

• Atmospheric pressure varies or changes from time to time, from day to day and with
changes in altitude.
When air pressure is normal i.e. pressure at sea level, it does not have much effect on
the activities of organisms as there is enough oxygen for metabolism.
• Where air pressure is very low such as at high altitudes and very high at deeper parts of
the sea only few organism can survive.
• Pressure is responsible for movement of winds.

• Rain is brought by low atmospheric pressure.

ABIOTIC FACTORS AFFECTING AQUATIC HABITATS
• TURBIDITY

• Turbidity is the cloudiness or muddiness of water.

INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING TURBIDITY
• It can be measured with an instrument called Secchi disc.

DESCRIPTION OF SEECHI DISC

• The surface of the disc is painted white with black stripes and is tied with a rope.
• By lowering the seechi disc into the water and noting the depth at which the disc is no
longer visible, the turbidity can be estimated.
CAUSES OF TURBIDITY
• Turbidity is caused by the presence of suspended matter in water.
• In freshwater ecosystem, turbidity increase during the rainy season as a lot of debris is
washed from the soil into water bodies.
Clear water has low turbidity.
EFFECTS OF TURBIDITY ON BIOTIC FACTOR
• It affects the types of animals and plants that live in a particular area.

• Light can penetrate to a greater depth below the water surface in less turbid waters.

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• This is important as it affects the distribution of photosynthetic organism in an aquatic
ecosystem.

SALINITY
• Salinity is the concentration of dissolved salt in water.
• it is low in freshwater and high in sea water.

• In brackish water (at river mouths and swamps) the salinity changes rapidly with the
tides.
EFFECTS OF SALINITY ON AQUATIC ORGANISMS
Aquatic organisms have to maintain the osmotic balance between their body fluids and
their aquatic surroundings.
ADAPTATIONS OF ORGANISMS TO SALINITY
• Those living in freshwater have adaptations for getting rid of the excess water that
enters their bodies.

• those living in sea water have no problem as the salt concentration of sea water and the
body fluids of organism are nearly the same, and
• those living in brackish water have body tissues that can tolerate large change in the
concentration of salt in their body fluids.
DENSITY
• It is easier for us to move through air than through water.
• This is because air is less dense than water. organism living in water generally have a
streamlined shape to help them move easily through water.
• Some organisms that float on the water surface are sensitive to change in density.
• Eggs of aquatic organisms sink to different depths according to the density of the water.

CURRENTS OR WATER FLOW

• In rivers and streams, fast current occurs during the rainy season.
• In ponds, lakes and seas, water currents are due mainly to difference in temperature
between the upper and lower parts of a water body.
• Water current increase aeration and the turbidity of water, they also carry warm waters
to colder regions.

• The effects of currents affect the distribution of aquatic organism.

• The types of organisms that are found in an aquatic habitat is affected by the speed of
the water flow.

• For examples animals living in fast moving waters usually have structures for attaching
themselves to rocks or the substratum so that they cannot be swept away.

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 TIDAL MOVEMENTS AND WAVES
• Tidal movements and waves affect the biotic community found in the intertidal zones
of the seashore and river mouths.
• The intertidal zone is exposed twice daily, due to regular tidal cycle.
• Wave action is important both in the intertidal and splash zones of the sea shores.

• Most organisms in these regions are attached to the substratum or live in burrow.
• They also have hard body coverings to prevent evaporation of water from their bodies.
In the open sea, waves causes the aeration of the surface waters, enabling aquatic
organisms to have sufficient supply of dissolved gases for their needs.
DISSOLVED GASES
• All aquatic organisms need dissolved oxygen to carry out cellular respiration.
• The oxygen concentration of water decreases with the depths of the water body.
• Salinity, presence of organic matter and high temperature does lower the oxygen
contents of water.
• These factors therefore, affect the distribution of aquatic organisms.

• Organisms that live in deep waters and bottom dwellers are specially adapted for living
in water that has a low oxygen concentration.
NATURE OF THE SUBSTRATUM

• The substratum or floor of a water body may be rocky, sandy or muddy. It may also be
flat, slopping, undulating, winding or weedy.
• Such water body may be river, stream, spring, pond, lakes, sea or ocean.

• The nature of the substratum affects both the distribution and the types of organism
found in the aquatic habitats.
• In general, a muddy floor has more organic contents than a sandy or rocky floor.
• As a result, more organism live in muddy substratum than in sand or rock one, provided
that the oxygen supply is sufficient in the former.
• Burrowing animals such as mudskippers, crabs, worms and microorganisms are found
in muddy and sandy substrata.
• Speed of flow of water is more in sloping and rocky floors.
• Hydrophytes (water plants) possess roots for attaching to rocks or water weeds.

• Sponges and eggs of amphibians are held in a chain of jelly.

• Depressions on undulating floors provide hideout either for breeding or for escape from
predators among some aquatic animals such as fishes.

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• Ponds or lakes may have water weeds on their floors, having a lot of organic matter.
• Such substrata provides good habitat for microorganisms, algae, amphibians and
fishes.
ABIOTIC FACTORS AFFECTING TERRESTRIAL HABITATS
• In terrestrial habitats, the land is the main dwelling place of the biotic community.

• The main factors here are land surface (topographic) and the soil (edaphic).
• Relative humidity is the additional climatic factor that affects terrestrial habitats.
HUMIDITY

• It is a measure of the amount of water vapour or moisture content in the atmosphere.

• It varies with other climatic factors such as temperature, rainfall and wind.
• There are different ways by which humidity may be expressed.

• They include:
• Absolute humidity

• Relative humidity
• Saturation deficit.
ABSOLUTE HUMIDITY

• It is the mass of vapour per unit volume of air.

• It is expresses in kgm-3
RELATIVE HUMIDITY

• It is the quantity of water vapour or moisture present in a given volume of air in relation
to the maximum quantity of water vapour or moisture the air can contain or hold at the
same temperature and pressure.
• It is expressed as a percentage.
INSTRUMENT
• The wet and dry bulb hygrometer is used to measure the relative humidity of the
atmosphere.

EFFECT OF HUMIDITY ON LIVING THINGS

• Relative humidity affects distribution of living organisms.
• Some invertebrates such as wood-louse and earthworms would soon die when exposed
to low humidity surrounding as they cannot tolerate high rates of water loss.
• They are thus restricted to humid places.

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• Terrestrial or land living organisms which have protective coverings to reduce the rate
of water loss can be found in many places i.e. they enjoy a wide distribution of
humidity.
• Reptiles have scales on the dry skins; birds have feathers while mammals have hairs.
Plants have waxy cuticle on the epidermis of leaves and corky barks on stems.
• Relative humidity affects the rate of evaporation from organisms.

• it affects the rate of transpiration in plants.

• High rate of transpiration may cause wilting and eventual death of seedlings.

• Since the air is moist, it promotes germination of spores of fungi hence it leads to the
spread of fungal diseases such as black pod disease in cocoa caused by Phythophthora
palmivora.
Small water bodies may dry up, destroying the habitat and breeding places of aquatic
organisms; such as mosquito larvae, pupae and tadpoles.
• High relative humidity increases the rate of decomposition or decay of organic matter,
hence the release of mineral salts into the soil for plants to absorb.
• High relative humidity also reduces the rate of photosynthesis in plants.

EFFECT OF HUMIDITY ON ABIOTIC FACTORS

• When relative humidity is low, the rate of evaporation increases.
• Water levels in streams and ponds decrease and salinity increase.

• When relative humidity is low, it increases soil water evaporation. The soil becomes
dry and is prone to soil erosion by wind.
• When evaporation of water increases, it improves the amount of moisture in the air and
that would help in cloud formation and rainfall.
APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE
• Drivers should be careful when driving in humid or foggy environments since visibility
is poor as a result of low light intensity.
TOPOGRAPHIC OR PHYSIOGRAPHIC FACTORS
These deal with altitude and slope of land relative to sea level.
SLOPE OF LAND
• It refers to the gentleness or steepness of the land.

EFFECT OF SLOPE OF LAND ON LIVING THINGS

• Steep slopes:
• Water runs down faster on steep slopes so the soil does not soak much water.

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• The fertile top soil is also carried away often.
• So steep slopes are often not fertile.

• Steep slopes therefore support only perennial plants that withstand drier conditions like
grasses and shrubs.
• perennials are deep rooted trees and shrubs.

• Animals that live on such steep slopes are those that can withstand dry conditions like
insects, reptiles, birds etc.
GENTLE SLOPES

• They tend to have soils that soak and retain more water and again more nutrients or
minerals are available for the growth of plants so they are more fertile.

• More gentle slopes are inhabited by several species of plants and animals since soil
erosion is less serious;

INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING SLOPE OF LAND

The slope of the land is measured using simple slope gauge
ALTITUDE

• It is the height of the land above sea level.

• Temperature and pressure decrease with height (altitude) while wind speed and
intensity of radiation (light) increase with altitude.

• It is measured with altimeter.

EFFECT OF ALTITUDE ON BIOTIC FACTORS

• Altitude affects climate conditions and also growth and distribution of plants and
animals

• At higher altitudes, temperature is low and rainfall is high. Few numbers of trees that
can support few organisms are found on mountain tops than the foot of the mountain.

• More aboreal animals like monkey are found at the foot of mountains than at the top.

• Higher altitudes have low amount of oxygen and therefore few organisms can survive
at higher altitudes. Organisms can acclimatize in these higher altitudes for just a short
time.

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