Biology 12 Laboratory

R.S. Gonzales, Ph.D.

Institute of Biology, UP Diliman

Levels of Ecological Study

Ecology of Individuals

Foraging involves decisions regarding the

allocation of time and energy
Principle of Allocation If energy supply is limited,
organism must compromise between competing demands
for energy (growth and reproduction vs. defense)
Optimal foraging theory
Hypothesis: natural selection should favor efficient
foragers, those individuals that maximize their energy
or nutrient intake per unit of effort.
Foraging: what food to eat; where and how long to
search; how to search.
Costs and benefits
Cost: time and efforts on foraging
Benefit: survive and reproduce more, fitness

Optimal foraging by ants

Rockwood & Hubbell 1987

Using Optimal Foraging

Theory to predict composition
of animal diet
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis
macrochirus)
Studied by Werner &
Mittelbach (1981)
Medium-sized freshwater fish
native to eastern and central
North America
Feed mainly on benthic and
planktonic crustaceans and
aquatic insects
Choose prey by size

Population Ecology

Morisitas Index of Population Dispersion

~ 1 = random
~ 0 = uniform
> 1 = aggregate/clumped

Patterns of dispersion

Random
Neutral interactions
among individuals
and between
individuals and the
environment

Uniform
Antagonistic interactions
among individuals or
local depletion of
resources

Clumped
Attraction among
individuals or
attraction of
individuals to a
common resource

Population Growth Models

Per capita population growth rate (r) per capita

birth rate minus per capita death rate
Intrinsic rate of increase of a population (rmax)
maximum population growth rate under ideal
conditions
Carrying Capacity (K) The maximum population
size that an environment can support indefinitely.

r-strategists vs. K-strategists

Aspect

r-strategist

K-strategist

Maturation time

Fast

Slow

Life span

Short

Long

Mortality

High

Low

No. of offspring per

reproductive episode

Many

Few

No. of reproduction per lifetime Once or few

Often several

Timing of 1st reproduction

Early

Later in life

Size of offspring

Small

Large

Parental Care

Absent or little

Present

Environment

Harsh, unstable Stable

Example

Fruit fly, grass

Man, trees

Ecology of Interactions

Intraspecific and Interspecific

Competition
What is competition?
Negative interaction between 2 organisms that
utilize the same resources

Intraspecific vs. Interspecific

competition
Interspecific
between different
species
Intraspecific
between the same
species

Ecological Niche

The ecological niche of a species

includes its habitat, role in the
community, and its position in
environmental gradients of temperature,
moisture, pH, soil and other conditions
of existence.

Competitive Exclusion Principle

complete competitors cannot co-exist

Competition and the

Ecological Niche
1. Niche separation
2. Habitat shift
3. Character
displacement
4. Competitive
exclusion
5. Competitive release

Spatial and Temporal Partitioning

Allelopathy other suffering

Plants secrete substances that are harmful to
other species to avoid interspecific competition

Stand of Mahogany
trees, which are
exotic species
introduced in the
Philippines (note the
absence of other
species that coexist
in the same area)

Community Ecology

Vegetation Analysis
What is species diversity?
The number and distribution of species in
a community
species richness total number of species
per unit area or in a population
evenness number of individuals of each
species per unit area or in a population

Which is more diverse?

Sp. Richness

Community
1

Sp. A
5

Sp. B
5

Sp. C
5

Sp. D
5

17

Diversity Index

Simpsons index

= 1

( 1)
( 1)

Where n = total no. of indivs in each species

N = total no. of indivs in all spp

Similarity Indices
2
=
1 + 2
Where c = no. spp. common to both communities
s1 & s2 = no. spp. found in community 1 and 2, respectively

= 1

100
2

Where pi = proportion of different species in community 1

qi = proportion of different species in community 2

Ecosystem Ecology

Primary
Productivity
Gross primary production
total amount of biomass
produced by all the
autotrophs in the ecosystem
Net primary production
amount of biomass left
over after the autotrophs
have met their own
energetic needs

Plants as the Base of the Food

Pyramid

Herbivores remove between 15 and 18% of

terrestrial plant biomass and over 50% in
aquatic systems

Kinds of Food Pyramids

1.
2.
3.

Pyramid of Numbers
Pyramid of Biomass
Pyramid of Energy

Kinds of Food Pyramids

1. Pyramid of Numbers based on total count
of individuals

Kinds of Food Pyramids

2. Pyramid of Biomass based on total weight of
individuals

Kinds of Food Pyramids

3. Pyramid of Energy based on total productivity of
individuals

2o productivity
1o productivity

Ecosystem Ecology

Microclimate: Aquatic
Temperatures

Relative Humidity (in %)

Absolute Humidity water content of air
Relative Humidity = Actual vapor pressure
Saturation vapor pressure
AVP amount of water vapor in air
SVP maximum water vapor air can hold
inversely proportional to temperature

Indicator of the chance of rains. In hot summer weather, a

rise in relative humidity increases the perceived temperature

Salinity
Oceans have average of 36.5 ppt
Rivers have < 0.1%

Dissolved Oxygen
> 9.0 ppm supports abundant fish
< 5 ppm is stressful for most fish
< 3 ppm is too low, even hardy fish die

Plants produce oxygen during

daytime, but use it up during nighttime

Relationship between Abiotic

Factors in Freshwater Ecosystem

Velocity of water flow DO

Light intensity DO (up to a certain point)
Water temperature 1/ DO
Light intensity pH (up to a certain point)
DO pH

Evolution

EVOLUTION

Evolution is the change in genetic composition of

all life forms over generations.
It is commonly described as descent with
modification.

The central idea

of biological
evolution is that
all life on earth
share a common
ancestor.

Mechanisms of Evolution
Mutation
Migration
Genetic Drift
Natural Selection

MECHANISMS

MUTATION
At conception, permanent changes in the
DNA sequences of genes may occur.
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/archive/mutations/index.html

MECHANISMS

MIGRATION
Two populations having different gene
frequences can interact. This interaction will
cause the gene frequencies to unify.
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ridley/a-z/Migration.asp

MECHANISMS

GENETIC DRIFT
Changes in the frequencies of an allele in a
population due to random sampling.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/g/genetic_drift.htm

MECHANISMS

NATURAL SELECTION
Individuals with certain heritable traits survive and reproduce
better than the others. Over time, natural selection can increase
the match between organisms and their environment.

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_25

DARWINS OBSERVATIONS
1.
2.

3.

Organisms beget like organisms 4.

There are chance variations
between individuals in a species.
Some variations are heritable
More offspring are produced each
generation than can be supported
by the environment

Some individuals, because of

their physical or behavioral traits,
have a higher chance of surviving
and reproducing than other
individuals in the same population

TYPES OF
EVOLUTION
MACROEVOLUTION
Development of new species due to accumulation
of changes over a very long period of time.
MICROEVOLUTION
Changes obseved in every generation of organisms.

EVIDENCES OF
EVOLUTION

FOSSIL RECORDS

EVIDENCES OF
EVOLUTION

HOMOLOGOUS STRUCTURES AMONG

ORGANISMS OF DIFFERENT SPECIES

EVIDENCES OF
EVOLUTION

MOLECULAR HOMOLOGIES

EVIDENCES OF
EVOLUTION

ORGANISMS THAT ARE ADAPTED TO

THEIR ENVIRONMENT

Types of evolution
1. Divergent organisms having a single ancestor
take separate pathways of evolution, resulting in
different groups

Homologous structures

Types of evolution
2. Convergent different groups of
organisms that do not share common
ancestry take similar pathway of
evolution due to similarity in the
environment they live in

Analogous structures

Comparing primate skeletons

Gorilla

Australopithecus

Homo sapiens

Brain case, temporal area, and brain sizes

Crest prominence
Brow ridge
Degree of facial protrusion
Size of pelvic opening

Brain size

Humans have much

larger brain; capable
of language,
symbolic thought,
and the manufacture
and use of complex
tools

Sagittal crest
ridge of bone running
lengthwise along the
midline of the top of the
skull of many
mammalian and reptilian
skulls, among others.
presence indicates that
there are exceptionally
strong jaw muscles

Supraorbital ridge
brow ridge functions
to reinforce the
weaker bones of
the face
necessary when
there is tremendous
strain put on the
cranium by powerful
chewing
apparatuses

Facial Protrusion

More protruded lower facial

area indicates greater
dependence on sense of
smell

More flattened face

indicates greater
dependence on sense
of sight

Pelvic opening and the

Obstetrical dilemma

Two conflicting trends:

Upright, bipedal locomotion required
decreased size of bony birth canal
2. Increased intelligence required larger cranium,
which needs a wider obstetrical pelvic area
1.

Humans have more difficult time giving

birth
Shorter gestation length, babies with
malleable skull and underdeveloped brain

Humans: Mammals with a Large

Brain and Bipedal Locomotion
Our species Homo sapiens is only 200,000
years old
Derived Characters of Humans

bipedal locomotion
much larger brain;

capable of language,
symbolic thought, and the manufacture and use
of complex tools
reduced jawbones and jaw muscles
shorter digestive tract
*Humans & chimpanzees have genomes that are
99% identical (but they differ in the expression
of 19 regulatory genes)