LECTURE 5:

PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGY
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Prepared by:
DIVINE GRACE S. BATENGA, MSc., LPT
Subject Teacher
 LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon the completion of this lesson, you are

expected to:
a) Name the basic principles governing science
of ecology.
b) Apply the laws of ecology in everyday living.

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 ECOLOGY

• Systematic study of the physical and biological

factors in the environment.
• Includes:
• Interactions among living organisms and the non-living
organisms;
• The flow of energy in the different levels; and
• Various processes that affects every member organisms of
the environment.
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 The Importance of Energy
• ENERGY – the ability to move things, do work, or transfer heat
• Thermodynamics is the study of energy.
• Remember:
✓1st Law: energy may change from one form to another, but the total
amount of energy will remain constant (energy is not destroyed or
created)
✓2nd Law: disorganization, or entropy, increase in natural systems through
any spontaneous process (as energy is used it is degraded to lower forms
of energy)
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 These two laws are important to environmental
science in the following ways:
1. We live in a closed system, the
Earth’s ecosphere (a planetary
closed ecological system)
• All organisms on Earth obtain their energy
from the sun.
• Energy is neither created nor destroyed
➢ We can conclude that other than the sun’s
energy, the energy present is what we
have to work with, including the food you
live on.
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 These two laws are important to environmental
science in the following ways:
2. When humans use non-renewable
resources they are converting
them into less useful energy.
• As energy is used it is degraded to lower forms
of energy
➢ Use of these energy sources often also
releases different elements back into the
environment.
➢ When those energy sources are depleted, they
are gone.
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THE FOUR LAWS OF ECOLOGY

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 BARRY COMMONER

• Founder of modern ecology

• In the early 1970s, he wrote The Closing
Circle, in which he discussed the rapid growth
of industry and technology and their
persistent effect on all forms of life.
• He suggested that we can reduce the negative
effects by sensitizing, informing and educating
ourselves about our connection to the natural
world.
• Commoner summarized the basics of ecology
into what he termed “laws of ecology”.
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LAW 1: Everything is connected to everything else

➢All thigs are connected to

each other, sometimes in
very obvious ways, and
sometimes in very complex,
indirect ways.

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LAW 1: Everything is connected to everything else

Much like your body is an

interconnected system of small
systems, all networked together
to work in harmony. The Earth is
the same.

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LAW 1: Everything is connected to everything else

Affect the Oceans

dramatically in one place and
it could affect other parts of
the Earth.

Recall your biogeochemical cycles…

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LAW 1: Everything is connected to everything else

Deforestation in one area

could affect the water cycle
in other regions.

Recall your biogeochemical cycles…

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 LAW 2: Everything must go somewhere

➢This is one law that has become increasingly clear as we attempt to

find ways to deal with the waste that we produce each day.
NATURAL SYSTEMS
WHO CREATE WASTE???
Human waste Dead animals Fallen leaves

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LAW 2: Everything must go somewhere

We are learning about

recycling, but nature
has been doing it for a
long time!!!

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LAW 2: Everything must go somewhere

Where does your garbage go?

Imagine how much you throw
away. What happens to it? Who or
what does it affect?

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LAW 2: Everything must go somewhere

Nature has complex systems that help

break down matter into its smallest
components so that more life may use
them.
Humans, though, create a lot of non-
biodegradable items that go into the
environment.
Everything a human creates must, at
some point, go somewhere. Where?

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LAW 3: Nature knows best

➢Billions of years have

created the complex,
intricate, and amazing
ecosystem services, good,
resources, and systems
that humans rely upon for
life and food.

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LAW 3: Nature knows best

SUPPORTING SERVICES
• Primary production
• Nutrient cycling

All animals including humans

use glucose and oxygen for
aerobic respiration.

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LAW 3: Nature knows best

PROVISIONING SERVICES
• Water, food, wood and other
goods are some of the material
benefits people obtain from
ecosystems called ´ provisioning
services ´
These are all provided by
our planet at NO COST!
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LAW 3: Nature knows best
REGULATING SERVICES
• Maintaining the quality of water, air and
soil, providing flood and disease control,
and pollination are some of the
‘regulating services’ provided by
ecosystems.
• They are often invisible and therefore
mostly taken for granted.
• When they are damaged, the resulting
losses can be substantial and difficult to
restore.

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LAW 3: Nature knows best

CULTURAL SERVICES
• Recreation, mental and physical
health
• Aesthetic appreciation and
inspiration for culture, art and
design
• Spiritual experience and sense
of place
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Humankind has fashioned technology to
improve upon nature, but such change in a
natural system is, says Commoner, “likely to be
detrimental to that system.”

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 LAW 4: There is no such thing as free lunch
➢Nothing comes from nothing.
➢Everything we do on the Earth has
costs.
➢Some of our activities, such as
trash disposal and groundwater
contamination, have disrupted the
natural ability of ecological
systems to maintain themselves.
➢The costs of our changes and
alterations to the environment
need to be considered along with
the benefits.
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 Everything Has Limits

No natural resource or
energy source is
limitless!!!

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 We are using renewable
natural resources at rates
Depleting non-renewable
faster than they can
resources.
replenish themselves

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THE SCOPE OF ECOLOGY

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Ecology provides a scientific context for
evaluating environmental issues.

• It is important to clarify the difference between:

ECOLOGY – the scientific study of the distribution

and abundance of organisms.

ENVIRONMENTALISM – advocacy for the protection

or preservation of the natural environment.

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 The interactions
between organisms
and their
environments
determine the
distribution and
abundance of
organisms.

Ecologists:
✓ Ask questions about factors
affecting the distribution and
abundance of organisms.

✓ Studied how interactions

between organisms and the
environment affect the
number of species living in
an area, the cycling of
nutrients, or the growth of
populations. 29
 Components of the Ecosystem

➢ABIOTIC COMPONENTS: nonliving

chemical and physical factors such as
temperature, light, water, and nutrients.
➢BIOTIC COMPONENTS: all living organisms
in the individual’s environment such as plants,
animals, and microbes.

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Ecology can be divided into a number of
areas of study:

❑Organismal ecology
❑Population ecology
❑Community ecology
❑Ecosystem ecology

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 ORGANISMAL ECOLOGY

• Concerned with the

behavioral, physiological,
and morphological ways
individuals interact with
the environment.

Karner blue butterfly is a rare butterfly that lives only

in open areas with few trees or shrubs, such as pine The wild lupine is the host
barrens and oak savannas. It can only lay its eggs on plant for the Karner blue
lupine plants. butterfly. 32
 POPULATION ECOLOGY
• POPULATION – is a group
of individuals of the same
species living in a particular
geographic area.
• POPULATION ECOLOGY –
examines factors that affect
population size and
Population ecologists are particularly
composition. interested in counting the Karner blue
butterfly, for example, because it is classified
as federally endangered. 33
 COMMUNITY ECOLOGY
• COMMUNITY – consists of all
the organisms of all the species
that inhabit a particular area.
• COMMUNITY ECOLOGY –
examines the interactions
between species and considers
how factors such as predation, Karner blue butterfly larvae form mutualistic
competition, disease, and relationships with ants. There is an increase in the
probability of survival when Karner blue butterfly larvae
disturbance affect community are tended by ants. Meanwhile, the Karner blue
structure and organization. butterfly larvae secrete a carbohydrate-rich substance
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that is an important energy source for the ants.
 ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY
• ECOSYSTEM – composed of all the
biotic components (living things) in an
area along with that area’s abiotic
components (non-living things)
• ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY – studies
energy flow and cycling of chemicals
among the various abiotic and biotic
components.
• Researchers interested in ecosystem
ecology could ask questions about the
importance of limited resources and The Karner blue butterflies and the wild lupine live in an
the movement of resources, such as oak-pine barren habitat. This habitat is characterized by
nutrients, though the biotic and abiotic natural disturbance and nutrient-poor soils that are low
in nitrogen. The availability of nutrients is an important
portions of the ecosystem. factor in the distribution of the plants that live in this
habitat. 35
 The interactions
between organisms
and their
environments affect
the distribution of
species.

Ecologists:
✓ Have long recognized
distinct global patterns in
the distribution of
organisms.

✓ Ask series of questions to

determine what limits the
geographical distribution
of any species.
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 BIOGEOGRAPHY

• The study of past and present distributions of individual

species and ecosystems in geographic space and through
geological time.
• Organisms and biological communities often vary in a
regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude,
elevation, isolation and habitat area.
• Biogeography is very important in understanding how
animals and plants have changed the landscape over time. 37
What limits the geographical distribution of
any species?

❑Behavior and habitat selection contribute to the

distribution of organisms.
➢Sometimes organisms do not occupy all of their potential range
but select particular habitats.
➢Habitat selection is one of the least understood ecological
processes, but it appears to play an important role in limiting the
distribution of many species.

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What limits the geographical distribution of
any species?

❑Biotic factors affect the distribution of organisms.

➢Negative interactions with other organisms in the form of
predation, parasitism, disease, or competition may limit the ability
of organisms to survive and reproduce.
▪ Predator removal experiments can provide information about
how predators limit distribution of prey species.
➢Absence of other species may also limit distribution of a species.
▪ For example, the absence of a specific pollinator or prey species
may limit distribution of an organism.
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What limits the geographical distribution of
any species?

❑Abiotic factors affect the distribution of

organisms.
➢The global distribution of organisms broadly reflects the
influence of abiotic factors such as temperature, water,
and sunlight.

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End of lecture…

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 References:

• Akre B, Brainard J, Goose H, Rogers-Estable, and Stewart R (2011).

Introduction to Environmental Science, FlexBook Platform, USA.
• Allaby M. (1996). Basics of Environmental Science, 2nd edn.
Routledge, London.
• Saravanan K, Ramachandran S, and Baskar R (2005). Principles of
Environmental Science & Technology, New Age International (P) Ltd.,
Publishers, New Delhi.
• Singh Y.K (2006). Environmental Science, New Age International (P)
Ltd., Publishers, New Delhi.

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