Ecological factors affecting species' distributions Part 1

ecology

a subdiscipline of biology that studies how organisms interact with each other and with their environment

• how organisms interact with other organisms, either same or different or nonliving

abiotic factors

nonliving physicochemical components of an ecosystem (e.g. climatic, edaphic)

biotic factors

living organisms and their direct/indirect interrelationships with other organisms

food webs

• these can vary in their structural complexity

• complexish of one organism that shares common ground (kindle)

• has interactions with species

ecology is a multidisciplinary approach due to

• it relates to various subdisciplines in biological species

• it also relates to subdisciplines of the environmental sciences

what are applied ecology (issues with conservation of biology)

• climate change

• deforestation

• desertification

• pollution

• urbanization

• intense agriculture

• biodiversity erosion

• invasive species

what are the scales of ecology

• biosphere

• ecosystem

• community

• population

• organism

ecosystem

• all living and nonliving things in an area

• the biological community, as well as all abiotic factors present in a particular area

ecosystem ecology

this describes the structure and functioning of ecosystems (interaction with one another and how energy transfers) of ecosystems in temrs of energy flow and chemical cycling

community

the array of living organisms occupying an ecosystem; a ____ is compromised of multiple pops

community ecology

this investigates interrelationships among species and how these influence community structure and organization over time

population

all individuals of a single species living within the bounds of specified area that interbreed with each other

population ecology

this investigates how ecological factors affect pop dynamics in terms of spatial and temporal structure which sets the sex ration of the pop and terriotory that it occupies

organisms

individual living things (each plant or animal in the pop)

• parts of behavior of species of how they will find them

  • detailed knowledge of species

organismal ecology

studies relationships between organisms and their environment snf hoe morphological, behavioral and/or physiological traits that explain the spatial and temporal distribution of individual organisms

dispersal

the movement of individuals away from their place of birth, allowing species to expand their range

active dispersal

organisms move to new locations by their own inherent capabilities

passive dispersal

organisms can’t move on their own. instead they take advantage of kinetic energy available in their envirnment

• disperal through wind, water, or other organisms

biotic factors

the distribution of species can also be limited by interactions with other species

what are the different types of biotic factors

• competiton

• predation/herbivory

• parasitism

• and other interspecific interactions

neutralism

• they don’t interact in any way

• two organisms coexist in an area, but they don’t benefit or harm each other physically or through resources or services

• no change in fitness for both organisms

competition

• two species are competing for the same resource that is in limited supply (e.g. food, water, territory)

• the fitness of one (or both) species is lowered by the presence of the other

predation

• one species, the predator, typically kills and consumes another organism, its prey

• includes all the various forms of carnivory and overlaps with herbivory

• the fitness of the predator increases, while that of the prey decreases

cannibalism

• one organism feeds on prey of the same species

• not uncommon in nature

parasitism

• one organism, the parasite, lives on or in another organism, causing it some harm

• the parasite depends on the host to complete its life cycle

• the parasite feeds on the host without necessarily killing it

parasitoids

• an organism that lives in close association with its host, at the host’s expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host

commensalism

• interrelationship that is benefical from one organism, while the other organism (host) is neither benefited nor harmed

mutualism

• an interaction between two or more species, where species derive a mutual benefit

• the relationship is however not mandatory; both species can survive without the presence of other

amensalim

interrelationship where an organism inflicts harm to another organism without the costs or benefits received by itself

symbiosis

• the living together in more or less intimate association or close union of two dissimilasr organisms

• this can be obligatory, which means that one, or both of the sybionts depend on each other