Addu High School DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE Population: is a group or organism of the same species living and breeding
Hithadhoo/ Addu BIOLOGY
Topic: 5.2: Ecology-interdependence of organism & environment
Objectives
Calculate the efficiency of energy transfers between trophic levels.
Discuss how understanding the carbon cycle can lead to methods to
reduce atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (including the use of
biofuels and reforestation).
Explain that the numbers and distribution of organisms in a habitat are
controlled by biotic and abiotic factors.
Describe how to carry out a study on the ecology of a habitat to produce
valid and reliable data (including the use of quadrats and transects to
assess abundance and distribution of organisms and the measurement of
abiotic factors, eg solar energy input, climate, topography, oxygen
availability and edaphic factors).
Explain how the concept of niche accounts for distribution and
abundance of organisms in a habitat.
Describe the concept of succession to a climax community.
Terminologies and their meaning
Ecology: the study of the relationships of living organisms with each other
and their non-living or physical surroundings.
Ecosystem: Ecosystem is a community of organisms in a habitat and their
physical environment interacting as an ecological unit.
Community: all the populations of the different species of organism living in
a habitat at one time.
Department of Science- Biology- Notes-Ecology, Semester 3, Grade 12 2012
together in a habitat.
Habitat: is the place where an organism lives such as a tropical rainforest.
Niche: the role of an organism in a community
Abiotic factors: are the non- living elements of the habitat of the organism.
E.g. sunlight, temperature, rainfall, pH of soil.
Biotic factors: the living elements of a habitat which affect the ability of a
group organism to survive there. E.g. The presence of suitable prey
species will affect the numbers of predator in a habitat.
Energy flow through ecosystem
All organisms in an ecosystem depend on an adequate supply of energy
for their survival. Energy from the sun trapped by photosynthesis provides
the source of energy for all living organisms.
Food chains
A food chain is a sequence of organisms, starting with a
photosynthesizing organism (usually a green plant), through which
energy is passed as one organism is eaten by the next in the
sequence.
In a food chain the direction of the arrow indicates the direction of
energy transfer.
The level at which an organism feeds in a food chain is called its
trophic level.
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A food chain Energy transfer within and between trophic levels

Green plants transfer light energy to the chemical energy of sugars,

in photosynthesis. Of this, while some is transferred in the reactions
of respiration that drive metabolism (and is then lost as heat
energy), much is transferred to essential metabolites used in the
growth and development of the plant. In these reactions, energy is
locked up in the organic molecules of the plant body.

When parts of the plant are consumed by herbivores (or parasites),

energy is transferred to other organisms. Finally, on death of the
plant, the remaining energy passes to detritivores and saprotrophs
when dead plant matter is broken down and decayed.

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 Similarly, energy is transferred in the consumer when it eats, Efficiency of energy transfer
digests and then absorbs nutrients.
The consumer transfers energy in muscular movements by which it
hunts and feeds, and as it seeks to escape from predators (and is
then lost as heat energy).
Some of the food eaten remains undigested, and is lost in the
faeces. Also, heat energy a waste product of the reactions of
respiration and of the animals metabolism is continuously lost as
the consumer grows and develops, and forms body tissues. If the
consumer itself is caught and consumed by another, larger
consumer, energy is again transferred.
Finally, on death of the consumer, the remaining energy passes to
detritivores and saprotrophs when dead matter is broken down and
decayed.

Calculate the percentage energy transfer between

(a) Producer and primary consumer

First we have to find out how much energy is available to primary

consumers:
Energy trapped (GPP) energy plant use in respiration (R)= NPP
87402 50303 = 37099KJm-2 year-1.

The transfer efficiency from producer to primary consumer is the amount

transferred to the primary consumers. 37099KJm-2 year-1 divided by the
amount potentially available to them

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(b) Primary consumer and secondary consumer
(c) Secondary consumer and tertiary consumer.
Pyramid of energy
Only energy taken in at one trophic level and then built in as chemical
energy in the molecules making up the cells and tissues is available to the
next trophic level. This is about 10% of the energy.
The reasons are as follows.
Much energy is used for cell respiration to provide energy for growth,
movement, feeding, and all other essential life processes.
Not all food eaten can be digested. Some passes out with the faeces.
Indigestible matter includes bones, hair, feathers, and lignified fibres in
plants.
Department of Science- Biology- Notes-Ecology, Semester 3, Grade 12 2012
Not all organisms at each trophic level are eaten. Some escape
predation.
Distribution and abundance
In any habitat a species occupies a specific niche determined by
environmental conditions (biotic and abiotic factors) and the way that the
species uses the habitat (food, shelter, sites, feeding times, etc). The
distribution (where they are) and abundance (how many) are determined
by these conditions. Changes in these conditions can therefore lead to
changes in distribution and abundance.
Abiotic factors
The physical and chemical components of an ecosystem more-or-less
decide the physical conditions in which populations live. Abiotic factors of a
terrestrial habitat are of three types, relating to:
_ climate factors such as solar radiation, temperature, rainfall and wind
_ soil factors such as the parent rock, soil water and soil chemistry, and
the mineral nutrients available (edaphic factors)
_ topography factors such as slope and aspect of the land, and altitude.
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Abiotic factors and their measurements

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