These processes are sustained by organisms with specific life-

history traits. The variety of organisms, called biodiversity, which

refer to the differing species, genes, and ecosystems, enhances
CHAPTER I: Introduction certain ecosystem services.

Ecology -Is the science that deals with the study of relationships
between the living organisms and their environment.

- Interaction between organisms and their environment

that interrelationship determines the abundance of
organisms in an environment.

The term “Ecology” was first coined by Ernst Hackel from the Greek Key Points
word:
“Oikos” meaning “house”, “ Logos” meaning “study” or “science of”
Literally, it means the study of the earth’s house. 1. In ecology, ecosystems are composed of organisms, the
communities they comprise, and the non-living aspects of their
In ecology, ecosystems are composed of dynamically-interacting environment.
parts, which include organisms, the communities they comprise, and
the non-living (abiotic) components of their environment. 2. The four main levels of study in ecology are the organism,
population, community, and ecosystem.
Ecosystem processes, such as primary production, pedogenesis
(the formation of soil), nutrient cycling, and various niche
construction activities, regulate the flux of energy and matter through
3. Ecosystem processes are those that sustain and regulate the
an environment. environment.
4. Ecological areas of study include topics ranging from the
interactions and adaptations of organisms within an ecosystem to
the abiotic processes that drive the development of those
ecosystems.
Levels of ecological study: Ecologists study within several
biological levels of organization, which include organism,
population, community, and ecosystem.
In essence, ecologists seek to explain:

A. Definitions 1. life processes

1.Ecology: the branch of biology dealing with the relationships 2. interactions, interrelationships, behaviors, and
of organisms with their environment and with each other. adaptations of organisms
2.Ecosystem: a system formed by an ecological community and
3. the movement of materials and energy through living
its environment that functions as a unit.
communities
3. Ecosphere It is the global sum of all ecosystem.
4. the successional development of ecosystems
4. Biome is a large community of plants and animals that
occupies a distinct region. 5. the abundance and distribution of organisms and
biodiversity in the context of the environment
5. Biotic components or Biotic factors describe living or once
living components of a community
Example:
Organisms , such as animals and plants.

6. Behavioral Ecology Examines the roles of behavior in

enabling an animal to adapt to its environment.

7. Sytem ecology Interdisciplinary field focusing on the study,

development and organization of ecological systems from a
holistic perspective.

8. Evolutionary ecology Studies ecology in a way that

explicitly considers the evolutionary histories of species and their
interactions.

Levels of Organization in Nature

B. Why and How to Study Ecology
1. Organism
Existence in the world is made up of living and non living
2. Population things. The two groups have to coexist in order to share the
3. Community resources that are available within the environmental ecosystem. To
4. Ecosystem understand about this mutual co relationship we need to study and
5. Biomes understand ecology.
We are all part of the ecosystem.
Ecology is defined as the scientific study of interactions of organisms
(both biotic and abiotic) with one another within the physical and
chemical environment.
Ecology involves use of scientific methodology via lab experiments
to understands how the different organisms grow, populate, how they
interact with other organisms either as parasites, predators, how the
organisms die out as well as how they evolve or adapt to changing
climatic and environmental situations.
Importance of Studying Ecology
The study of ecology is all about connections. By carefully using the
principles of ecology, we can learn to predict, extinguish, counteract
and prevent potentially adverse effect we might have on the globe
around us.
It is paramount to study Ecology because:
Environmental Conservation: By studying ecology, emphasis is put
on how each species needs the other for peaceful coexistence. Lack
of understanding ecology has led to degradation of land and
environment which is home to other species thus leading to
extinction and endangerment of species because of lack of
knowledge e.g. dinosaurs ,mammoth, white shark ,black rhinos ,
sperm whales etc.
Resource allocation: All the plants and animals need to share
limited natural resources such as air ,minerals, space and
environment .Lack of ecological know-how has led to deprivation and
looting of these natural resources leading to scarcity as well as
exploitation and competition.
Energy Conservation: All species require energy whether light
,radiation ,nutrition etc. Poor understanding of ecology is seeing the
destruction of the energy resources e.g. Non renewable sources like
oil, coal, natural gas and also pollution and destruction of the Ozone
layer.
Eco Friendliness: Ecology helps to appreciate harmonious living
among the species; this will ensure natural order of things is
followed.
Ecology is a wide field that encompasses all life forms in the earth
thus their are different types of ecology. These include:
Organism Ecology: This studies how different living organisms
respond to stimuli caused by physical environment. The organisms
adapt to the environment by either embracing or shying away from
its effect. A change in the physical environment will show a change in
behavior or physical attributes e.g. an animal physically will escape
an unfriendly environment and a plant will grow away or halt
germination in an unfriendly territory.
Population: All Organisms grow and die. How they will populate will
be influenced by factors such as size of the colony, birth and death
rate, population growth rate as well as ‘survival for the fittest. Thus
the most dominant species will always reign supreme on the weaker
species.
Community: All organisms dwell in a common ecology having both
flora and fauna. In this ecology, either a food web or food chain their
exists a strata detailing the type of species and the role it plays in the
ecosystem.
Whether a Parasite, a predator or a food source, each plays a key
role to create harmony in the ecology. Competition, mutualisms are
key to establishing and maintaining a community.
Ecosystem: Living and non living things interact with the
atmosphere, energy sources, temperature, water in a capacity to
recycle, regenerate, consumption or production.
This ensures the energy flow cycle is kept in harmony.

Global: Ecology controls how the resources are used and allocated
worldwide.
Ecology is featuring as the key talk in world forums as the world tries
to mitigate the destruction that is already rife in the ecosystem. Talks
and forums are held to push for the world to embrace ecology,
reserve and conserve the ecosystem. Kyoto protocol, green energy,
Energy star appliances, Renewable energy, animal and energy
conservation, anti poaching, equitable mineral allocation, good and
ethical mining practices have become norm in the current
ecosystem.
The Scientific Method
What is Scientific Method?
The scientific method is defined as a method of research in which a
problem is defined, relevant data is gathered, a hypothesis is
formulated from this data, and the hypothesis is empirically tested.
What in the world does that mean?
The scientific method is a way for scientist to study and learn things.
It doesn’t matter what the scientist is trying to learn, using the
scientific method can help them come up with an answer.
 The first thing to do with the scientific method is to come up
with a question. You can’t find the answer until you know the
question after all!
 Next you need to observe and gather information in
order to come up with a guess (called a hypothesis)
or a number of guesses to the answer.
 Next you run experiments to see if your guess is
right. As you run experiments you can change your
guess, or hypothesis, to fit your results. A key to
good experiments is to only change one thing, or
variable, at a time. This way you can check your
results and know that changed that changed the
answer.
 Finally, after running all the tests you can think of,
you present your final answer.
By going through this process, scientists have a way to verify their
guesses and to double check each other. Another scientist can take
a look at your tests and adds some more tests and continue to refine
your answer to the question.
Scientific Method Steps
As described above there are steps you take when using the
scientific method. Here is an example of the steps.
1. Ask a question
2. Gather information and observe (research
3. Make a hypothesis ( guess the answer)
4. Experiment and test your hypothesis
5. Analyze your tests results
6. Present a conclusion
History of the Scientific Method
The scientific method wasn’t invented by one person, but
was developed by different scientists and philosophers over the
years. For something that sounds so simple and basic, there are still
long scientific papers written about the method and scientists who
disagree on exactly the best way to implement it.
Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, and Isaac Newton all
helped contribute to the development of the scientific method as a
good way to learn about the nature and science.They wrote papers
and discussed how using experiments and changing variables can
help to determine if a guess (or hypothesis) is correct.
Why is the Scientific Method Important?
 The scientific method is the cornerstone to modern science.
Without a formal method of determining questions and their answers,
we wouldn’t have science or the knowledge we have toda
D. The Effects of Scale
Economics is the study of how people choose to use
resources.
1. Time and Talent people have available,
2. The land, building, equipment, and other tools on hand
3. The knowledge of how to combine them to create useful products
and services.
Scale: Pattern, Set, Measure, or Estimate according to some rate or
standard or the proportion between two sets of Dimensions.
Economies of scale are the cost advantages that a business obtains
due to expansion. When economists are talking about the economies
of scale, they are usually talking about internal economies of scale.
These are the advantages gained by an individual firm by increasing
its size i.e having a larger or more plants.
Diseconomies of scale are the disadvantages of being too large. A
firm that increases its scale of operations to a point where it
encounters rising long run average costs is said to be experiencing
internal diseconomies of scale.
Internal and External Economies of Scale
Internal: When a company reduces costs and increases
production. External: occur outside the firm, within an industry.
• Internal economies of scale – lower long run
average costs resulting from a firm growing in size.
• External economies of scale - lower long run
average costs resulting from an industry growing in size.
Internal and External Diseconomies of Scale
• Internal diseconomies of scale – higher long run
average costs arising from a firm growing too large.
• External diseconomies of scale – higher run
average costs resulting from an industry growing too large.
Types of Internal economies of scale
 Buying economies – large firms that buy raw
materials in bulk and place large orders for capital
equipment usually receive a discounts. Its mean they paid
less for each items that they purchased. They may receive a
better treatment because the suppliers will be anxious to
keep such a large costumers.
 Selling economies – every part of marketing has a
cost – particularly promotional methods such advertising and
running a sales force. Many of these marketing costs are
fixed costs and so as a business gets larger, it is able to
spread the costs of marketing over a wider range of products
and sales – cutting the average marketing cost per unit.
 Managerial economies – as a firms grows, there is
higher potential for managers to specialize in particular tasks
(e.g. marketing, human, resource management, finance).
Specialist managers are likely to be more efficient as they
possess higher level of expertise, experience and
qualifications
 compared to one person in a smaller firm trying to
perform all of these rules.
 Financial economies – many small businesses finds it
hard to obtained finance is often quite high. This is
because small businesses are preserve as being riskier
than larger businesses that have developed high a good
track record. Larger firms therefore find it easier to find
potentials lenders and to raise money at lower interest
rates.
 Technical economies – businesses with large scale
production can use more advanced machinery (or use
existing machinery more efficiently). This may include
using mass production techniques, which are more
efficient form of production. A larger firm can also afford
to invest more in research and development.
 Research and development economies – a large firm
can have a research and development department,
since running such a department can reduce average
costs by developing more efficient methods of
production and raise total revenue by developing new
products.
 Risk-bearing economies - a large firm produce a range
of products. This enables them to spread the risks of
 trading. If the profitability of one of the products it and reproduce in a particular environment. Behavioral,
produces falls, it can shift its resources to the production morphological or physiological.Ecology for the most part ignores
of more profitable products. evolution because organisms are treated as constants," said
David Reznick, an evolutionary biologist at the University of
Internal diseconomies of scale California.
 Growing beyond a certain output can cause a firms average
Population the basic evolutionary unit.
costs to rise. Because the firm may encounter a number of
problems including difficulties.
Genetic variation - Refers to diversity in gene frequencies. Used
 Controlling the firm.
to describe the variation in the DNA sequence in each of our
 Communication problems. genomes.
 Poor industrial relations
External economies of scale Population – a group of individuals of the same species that
live in the same area and interbreed.
 A skilled labour workforce – a firm can recruit workers who
have been trained by other firms in the industry Gene pool – Consist of all the genes in all the individuals
 A good reputation – an area can gain a reputation for high making up a population.
quality of production.
 Specialist suppliers of raw materials and capital goods –
when an industry becomes large enough, it can becomes
worthwhile for other industries, called subsidiary industries to
set up for providing for the needs of industry.
 Specialist services – universities and colleges a run
courses for workers in large industries and banks and
transport firms may provide services, specially designed to
meet the particular needs of firms in the industry.
 Specialist markets – some large industries have specialist
selling places and arrangements such as corn exchanges Sources of variation
and insurance markets.

 Improved infrastructure – the growth of an industry may
encourage a gov. and private sector firms to provide better
road links, electricity supplies, build new airports and
develop dock facilities.
E. Evolutionary Ecology
1. Mutations - A heritable change in the kind, structure, sequence or
number of the component parts of DNA. Produce new alleles and
new genes. Original source of genetic variation that serves as raw
material for evolution. Effects depends upon on how it changes the
structure, function or behavior of the individual. May be beneficial,
neutral, or harmful to the individuals that inherit them. Mutations do
not try to supply what the organism needs.

Ecology the study of interaction between an organism and its

environment and to one another.
Evolution - Change occur in the characteristics of the living
things over time. It may be change in the form and behavior of
organisms between generations. It may be genetic changes in a
population of organisms over time.
Adaptation - Evolutionary solution. A genetically determined
characteristics that improves an organism’s ability to survive
 2. Gene flow (migration) - The movement of alleles between
populations as a result of movement of individuals from one
population to another. A change in allele frequency that can
occur when mating with members from another population
occurs. Tends to reduce differences between populations over
time
1. Genetic Drift - Chance events that cause allele frequencies to
fluctuate unpredictably from one generation to the next. If there is
a drastic change (disease or natural catastrophe) in the survival of
a large population, there is little change in the frequency of that
population's alleles. In a smaller population, drastic change can
result in loss of an entire allele.
Genetic Drift: Bottleneck effect - The change in allele frequency in
a population due to chance following a sharp reduction in the
population size.
Genetic Drift: Founder effect - When a small portion of a
population migrates to another area, starting a new population. The
allele frequencies in their gene pool may be different than the original
population.
1. Natural Selection - Is the process by which individual
organisms with favorable traits are more likely to survive and
reproduce. Alleles that confer “success” are more likely to be
passed on to future generations and will increase their %
relative to other alleles over time. Technical term for
“success” is differential reproductive success. Natural
selection is the primary mechanism of adaptive evolution.
Natural selection increases the frequencies of certain
genotypes, fitting organisms to their environment over
generations.
2. Sex selection - A form of natural selection in which
individuals with certain traits are more likely than other
individuals to obtain mates. Distinction in the appearance
between male and female.
Intersexual selection - is a mode of natural selection where
members of one biological sex choose mates of the other sex to
mate with.
Intrasexual selection - when members of the same sex (within a
species) compete with each other in order to gain opportunities to
mate with others, e.g. the male against male competition for females.
Processes Involved In Evolution
 Adaptation – traits that confer an advantage to those
individuals who leave more offspring.
 Speciation – The smallest independently evolving unit.
Species - A group of individuals capable of interbreeding to produce
fertile offspring. This is the biological species concept. Like all
attempts to define a species, it has a problem.
Biological species concept
Defined as a group of individuals that actually or potentially
interbreed in nature.
 Focus on similar characteristics AND the ability of organisms
to interbreed in nature and produce viable, fertile offspring.
 ADVANTAGE: It is widely used by scientists.
 DISADVANTAGE:
 Can’t be applied for species the reproduce asexually.
 Uncertain for populations that are physically
separated and don’t have the opportunity to
breed naturally.
Morphological Species Concept
 Focus on the morphology of an organism.
 It refers to the body size, shape and other structural
features.
 ADVANTAGE:
 This can be applied to asexual organisms and
fossils.
 Does not require information on possible
interbreeding.
 DISADVANTAGE
 Too much variation within a species.
 Approach relies on subjective criteria, and
researchers may disagree on which features
distinguish a species.
Modes of speciation
 The key to speciation is the evolution of genetic differences
between incipient species.
 Reduction to gene flow plays a critical role in speciation.
Allopatric Speciation:
 The Great Divide Speciation by geographic isolation.
 A change in the environment two species of ground squirrel
are believed to have descended from a common ancestral
population that was separated by formation of the Grand
Canyon. Harris’ antelope squirrel White-tailed antelope
squirrel.
Two models of allopatric speciation
a. Dispersal model: colonization of remote islands by
mainland organism.
b. Vicariance may be due to a variety of factors: Changes in
courses of rivers, Mountain-building events, Volcanism.
Sympatric Speciation
Does not require large scale geographic distance to reduce gene
flow between parts of population. A new species arises within the
same geographic area as its parents. Occur when mating and
resulting gene flow between populations are reduced by factors such
as polyploidy, habitat differentiation, and sexual selection. Industrial
Melanism. Some key insights: The adult female selects the host
-Host selection is under genetic control.
Domestication - A sustained multi-generational relationship in which
one group of organisms assumes a significant degree of influence
over the reproduction and care of another group to secure a more
predictable supply of resources from that second group.
Extinction - The reduction of a species to such low abundance that,
although it is still present in the community, it no longer interacts
significantly with other species. Stands out because it is the
interaction ecology of a species that is important for conservation
work.
Causes of Extinction: Habitat Alteration - Large areas of land and
water are damaged by activities such as urbanization, agriculture,
and overfishing. These cause fragmentation of habitats, which
threatens those animals that need a large habitat for breeding and
survival. Many species have already become extinct, particularly in
tropical areas.
Hunting - “designed to secure the aggregate welfare of the target
species, the integrity of its ecosystem, or both”—what Varner terms
'therapeutic hunting'—is defensible, while subsistence and
sport hunting—both of which only benefit human beings—is not.
Predator control -A wildlife management policy specifically aimed at
reducing populations of predatory species either to protect livestock
or boost populations of game animals. Coyotes, bobcats, grey and
red wolves, bears, and mountain lions have been the most frequent
targets.
ALTRUISM - May be explained by the natural instinct to improve the
chances of passing on one's genes. • Behavior that benefits others
at a personal cost to the behaving individual.
1. How variation originates?
Origins of genetic variation
 Genetic variation is the difference in DNA sequences
between individuals within a population. Variation occurs in germ
cells i.e. sperm and egg, and also in somatic (all other) cells. Only
variation that arises in germ cells can be inherited from one
individual to another and so affect population dynamics, and
ultimately evolution. Mutations and recombination are major sources
of variation.
Mutations are the original source of genetic variation. A
mutation is a permanent alteration to a DNA sequence. De novo
(new) mutations occur when there is an error during DNA replication
that is not corrected by DNA repair enzymes. It is only once the error
is copied by DNA replication, and fixed in the DNA that it is
considered to be a mutation (Figure 1). Mutations may be beneficial
to the organism; deleterious (harmful) to the organism; or neutral
(have no effect on the fitness of the organism).
Somatic mutations can accumulate in our cells and are
mostly harmless. They can lead to local changes in tissues such as
moles appearing on the skin, and can also have more serious effects
- for example leading to cancer. To learn more about the role of
somatic mutations in cancer have a look at this paper by
Martincorena and Campbell 1. In this course we focus on heritable
genetic variation, i.e. variation that occurs in germ cells.
Figure 1. Mutations are the original source of genetic variation.
Image source: “The causes of mutations” Understanding Evolution.
University of California Museum of Paleontology. 22 August 2008.
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_20 2.
Recombination is another major source of genetic variation Each of
us has a mixture of genetic material from our parents. The mixing of
this genetic material occurs during recombination when homologous
DNA strands align and cross over. Recombination effectively
‘shuffles’ maternal and paternal DNA, creating new combinations of
variants in the daughter germ-cells (Figure 2).
explain some of the very rare phenotypes seen occasionally,
such as albinism in humans and other mammals.
A second factor contributing to genetic variation in natural
populations is selective neutrality. Selective neutrality describes
situations in which alternate alleles for a gene differ little in fitness.
Because small fitness differences result in only weak natural
selection, selection may be overpowered by the random force of
genetic drift. Alleles whose frequencies are governed by genetic drift
rather than by natural selection are said to be selectively neutral.
Under neutrality, allele frequencies vary over time, increasing or
decreasing randomly. Over long periods of time, random fluctuations
in the relative frequencies of different alleles may result in some
being eliminated from the population. However, genetic
polymorphisms are long-lived, and novel neutral alleles may arise
continually through mutation.
Finally, several forms of natural selection act to maintain
genetic variation rather than to eliminate it. These include balancing
selection, frequency-dependent selection, and changing patterns of
natural selection over time and space.
Balancing selection occurs when there is heterozygote
advantage at a locus, a situation in which the heterozygous genotype
(one including two different alleles) has greater fitness than either of
the two homozygous geno-types (one including two of the same
allele). Under heterozygote advantage, both alleles involved will be
maintained in a population.
 A classic example of heterozygote advantage concerns the year, when the habitat is more brown, the better-camouflaged brown
allele for sickle-cell anemia. Individuals who are homozygous for the grasshoppers enjoy greater protection from predators. Later in the
sickle-cell allele have sickle-cell anemia, which causes the red blood season, however, the environment is greener and the green
cells to become sickle-shaped when they release oxygen. These grasshoppers have higher fitness.
sickle-shaped cells become caught in narrow blood vessels, blocking
blood flow. Prior to the development of modern treatments, the
disease was associated with very low fitness, since individuals
usually died before reproductive age.

Heterozygotes, however, have normal, donut-shaped blood

cells and do not suffer from sickle-cell anemia. In addition, they enjoy
a benefit of the sickle-cell allele, which offers protection from malaria.
Consequently, heterozygous individuals have greater fitness than
individuals who have two copies of the normal allele. Heterozygote
advantage in this system is believed to have played a critical role in 2. How Much Variation Exists in nature
allowing a disease as harmful as
- The majority of genetic variation in the human species exists
sickle-cell anemia to persist in human populations. Evidence for this
within local populations, and a smaller fraction (typically abut
comes from an examination of the distribution of the sickle-cell allele,
10.15 %) is found among geographic race .
which is only found in places where malaria is a danger.

Another form of natural selection that maintains genetic variation in
populations is frequency-dependent selection. Under frequency-
dependent selection, the fitness of a genotype depends on its
relative frequency within the population, with less-common
genotypes being more fit than genotypes that occur at high
frequency.
Frequency-dependent selection is believed to be fairly
common in natural populations. For example, in situations where
there is competition for resources, individuals with rare preferences
may enjoy greater fitness than those who have more common
preferences. Frequency-dependent selection may also play a role in
predation: if predators form a search image for more common prey
types, focusing on capturing those, less common phenotypes may
enjoy better survival.
Carrying capacity – Number of species that can accommodate.
the number of organisms that the environment
support .
Population growth- Is the increase of individual species or
Organisms in apopulation.
Population Size- The number of individuals within the given
Population.
Population Density- The amount or number of organisms living
In a specific environment.

Finally, changing patterns of selection over time or space

can help to maintain genetic variation in a population. If selection
patterns fluctuate over time, different alleles or genotypes may enjoy
greater fitness at different times. The overall effect may be that both
alleles persist in a population. Changing selection pressures over
time are encountered by a species of grasshopper characterized by
two color morphs, a brown morph and a green morph. Earlier in the
 Genetic variation in nature

The genetic variation describes naturally occurring genetic Migration

differences among individuals of the same species. This variation
permits flexibility and survival of population in the face of changing Migration is the movement of organism from one location to another.
environmental circumstances.

Consequently, genetic variation is often considered an The overall effect

advantage, as it is a form of preparation for the unexpected. But how
does genetic variation increase of decrease? And what How do population respond to all these forces? As relative
allele frequencies change, relative genotype frequencies may also
change. Each genotype in the population usually has a different
effect do fluctuations in genetic variation have on populations over fitness for that particular environment.
time?
In other words, some genotypes will be favored, and
 Mating patterns are important individuals with those genotypes will continue to reproduce. Other
genotypes will not be favored: individuals with those genotypes will
When a population interbreeds, non- random mating can
be less likely to reproduce, such as increased risk of predation,
sometimes occur because one organism chooses to mate decreased access to mates, or decreased access to resources that
with another based on certain traits. maintain health.Overall, the forces that cause relative allele
 Random forces lead to genetic drift frequencies to change at the population level can influence the
selection forces that shape them over successive generations.
Sometimes, there can be random fluctuations in the
numbers of alleles in a population. These changes in For example:
relative allele frequency, called genetic drift, can either
increase or decrease by chance over time. If months with genotype aa migrate into a population composed of
AA and Aa individuals , they will increase the relative allele frequency
of a. However, if the aa genotype has a lcear disadvantage to
Distribution survival (e.g) vulnerability to predation), eventually the changes
brought about by the initial migration will reversed.
How does the physical distribution of individuals affect a
population? A species with a broad distribution rarely has
the same genetic makeup over its entire range.
For example: Individuals in a population living at one end of the
range may live at a higher altitude and encounter different climatic
conditions than others living at the opposite end at a lower altitude.
What effect does this have? At this more extreme boundary, the
relative allele frequency may differ dramatically from those at the
opposite boundary. Distribution is one way that genetic variation can
be preserved in large population over wide physical ranges, as
different forces will shift relative allele frequencies in different ways at
either end.
 1. Reduction in Variation

Genetic Variation is a measure of the variation that exists in the

genetic makeup of individuals within population.

Hidden variation

Reduction It is the making something smaller in size, amount,

number, etc. The act of reducing something.

Variation increases your costs, variation affects more than

just direct costs. Variation in yield can affect order pattern and, thus,
scheduling. Variation in scheduling affects lead times, causing order
quantities and frequencies to vary.Variability in quality, yield,
scheduling and releases all cause more variability. Those in turn,
cause an increase in risk to all parties. Eliminating variability is the
key to reducing risk and reducing the complexity of all the issues.

CHAPTER II: Natural Selection and
Speciation
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of
individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of
evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a
population over generations.
Natural selection is a major, although not the only, scientific theory to
explain how the diversity of life with so many species and large
variations in characters came to exist. The concept of natural
selection was first formulated by Charles Darwin (1809–82), and it is
still considered to be of paramount importance in
evolutionary biology. Natural selection operates whenever individuals
differ in heritable traits that result in differences in their relative
contribution of offspring to the next generation. Traits that benefit an
organism to maximize its
biological fitness under the prevailing environmental conditions will
spread in a population and thus function as adaptations. A special
case of natural selection is sexual selection, referring to selection on
any characters that influence an organism's access to mating
partners. Besides resulting in morphological, physiological, or
behavioral traits that allow individuals to succeed in
competitive interactions, natural selection has also produced
highly cooperative behaviors as phenotypically altruistic behavior of
none offspring care, which nevertheless is adaptive under specific
environmental conditions.
Speciation can be driven by evolution, which is a process that
results in the accumulation of many small genetic changes called
mutations in a population over a long period of time. ... Natural
selection can result in organisms that are more likely to survive and
reproduce and may eventually lead to speciation.
Speciation: The big debate in Darwin's time was over whether there
was a fixed number of species and whether species were unchanged
throughout history. Newly discovered fossils revealed that some
modern species could not be found beyond a certain point in the
past. In other cases, the fossils looked somewhat different or
dramatically different from any modern form. Finally, there was
evidence that some species found in the fossil record, such as the
dinosaurs, had gone extinct. While the Great Flood could explain
extinctions, the fossil record was fairly conclusive evidence that
species are not fixed; they could change over time. During
his voyage as ship's naturalist aboard H.M.S. Beagle, Darwin
gradually became convinced that the various species of finches of
the Galapagos Islands, which didn't closely resemble other birds but
were very similar to each other, had originated from a common
ancestor. Darwin developed his theory of natural selection to explain
how a population of organisms could change over time, gradually
resulting in the formation of new species.
A. Phylogenetics
The new and emerging field of phylogenetic paleoecology leverages
the evolutionary relationships among species to explain temporal
and spatial changes in species diversity, abundance, and distribution
in deep time. This field is poised for rapid progress as knowledge of
the evolutionary relationships among fossil species continues to
expand. In particular, this approach will lend new insights to many of
the longstanding questions in evolutionary biology, such as: the
relationships among character change, ecology, and evolutionary
rates; the processes that determine the evolutionary relationships
among species within communities and along environmental
gradients; and the phylogenetic signal underlying ecological
selectivity in background and mass extinctions and in major
evolutionary radiations.
Trends
Phylogenetic paleoecology is a new research paradigm that
promotes the explicit incorporation of ‘tree-thinking’ in studies of
deep-time ecological processes.
Evolutionary relationships are vital to answering priority
paleoecological questions because they allow paleoecologists to
distinguish biological changes that are due to similar environmental
interactions (convergent responses) from those that are due to
shared ancestry (contingent responses).
Not only does the fossil record contain evidence of past
environmental crises and biotic recovery, it is also a huge resource of
ecological data spanning the history of life.
A better understanding of ecosystem recovery from past
environmental crises is essential for predicting responses of modern
biotas to current climate change.
A phylogenetic tree or evolutionary tree is a branching diagram or
"tree" showing the evolutionary relationships among various
biological species or other entities—their phylogeny —based upon
similarities and differences in their physical or genetic characteristics.
B. The Fossil Record
Fossil record, history of life as documented by fossils, the
remains or imprints of the organisms from earlier geological periods
preserved in sedimentary rock. In a few cases the original substance
of the hard parts of the organism is preserved, but more often the
original components have been replaced by minerals deposited from
water seeping through the rock. Occasionally the original material is
simply removed, while nothing is deposited in its place; in this case,
all that remains is a mould of the shape of the plant or animal.
In the progressive acquisition or loss of specific features),
and these changes are often interpreted as
better adaptation (through preferential selection
of beneficial mutations) to a particular environment. In some places,
such as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, it is possible to recognize a
great thickness of nearly horizontal strata representing
the deposition of sediment on the seafloor over many hundreds of
millions of years. It is often observed that each layer in such a
sequence contains fossils that are distinct from those of the layers
that are above and below it. In such sequences of layers in different
places, the same, or similar, fossil floras or faunas occur in the
identical order. By comparison of overlapping sequences it is
possible to build up a continuous record of faunas or floras that have
progressively more in common with present-day life forms as the top
of the sequence is approached.
Study of the fossil record has provided important information
for at least three different purposes. The progressive changes
observed within an animal group are used to describe
the evolution of that group. In general, but not always, successive
generations tend to change morphologically in a particular direction.
Fossil organisms, furthermore, may provide useful information
about the climate and environment of the site where they were
deposited and preserved. Certain species of coral, for example,
require warm, shallow water; certain plants require warm, swampy
conditions such as are found today in the Florida Everglades. Thus,
when rocks containing fossils of this kind are found in rocks of the
present-day polar regions, there is a strong presumption that the
crust on which they were deposited has shifted its position on the
surface of the Earth since that time.
This supports Darwin's theory of evolution, which states
that simple life forms gradually evolved into more complex
ones. Evidence for early forms of life comes from fossils. By
studying fossils, scientists can learn how much (or how little)
organisms have changed as life developed on Earth.
Fossil Record Definition. A fossil record is a group
of fossils which has been analyzed and arranged chronologically
and in taxonomic order. Fossils are created when organisms die,
are incased in dirt and rock, and are slowly replaced by minerals
over time.
Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone
imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair,
petrified wood, oil, coal, and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is
known as the fossil record.
Images of Fossil Record
C. Extinction: Causes and Patterns
Extinctions affecting one or a few species and occurring in one
locality rather than globally belong to a pattern known as
background extinction. The fossil record, however, describes
sudden, global extinctions that affect many species. These dramatic
events are known as mass extinctions.
- When a species no longer exists in an area it once inhabited but is
still found elsewhere in the wild.
When a species is found is found in such reduced numbers that its
effects on the other species in its community are negligible. Siberian
tigers are ecologically extinct
When no member of the species survives anywhere in the world.
Passenger Pigeon is globally extinct
- typically if we just use the world "extinct" we mean globally extinct.
Extinct- no individuals of a species survive
Extant - individuals of a species are still alive
Endemic- species is found only in a limited geographic area
-area could large
-more generally used to refer to species w/small geographic range.
(Komodo dragon has range restricted to a few small islands in
Indonesian archipelago; Haleakala silver sword plant only occurs
one volcanic crater on island of Hawaii.
1. Species Diversity has (Overall) been increasing since life first
originated.
2. Increase has been steady
- periods of high rates of speciation
- periods of minimal change
- extinction of species occurs throughout
- these are natural extinctions
3. Evidence comes from the fossil record.
4. Pattern based on Marine organisms
- many have
- best-studied fossil group over time
- marine animals first arose ~600 (million years before present)
- overall pattern of increase in no. of families punctuated with periods
of major extinctions.

Extinctions affecting one or a few species and occurring in

one locality rather than globally belong to a pattern known as
background extinction. The fossil record, however, describes
sudden, global extinctions that affect many species. These dramatic
events are known as mass extinctions.
Humans can cause extinction of a species through
overharvesting, pollution, habitat destruction, introduction of invasive
species (such as new predators and food competitors), overhunting,
and other influences. Explosive, unsustainable human population
growth is an essential cause of the extinction crisis.
Scientists have been concerned that human activities
could cause more plants and animals to become extinct than any
point in the past. Along with human-made changes in climate (see
above), some of these extinctions could be caused by overhunting,
overfishing, invasive species, or habitat loss.
 If an organism has a trait that provides a selective advantage (i.e.
has adaptive significance) it its environment, then natural selection
CHAPTER III: Behavioral Ecology favors it. Adaptive significance refers to the expression of trait that
affects fitness, measured by an individual’s reproductive success.
Adaptive traits are those that produce more copies of the individual’s
genes in future generations.
Maladaptive traits are those that leave fewer.

The study of Behavioral Ecology examines the ecological

(proximate) and evolutionary (ultimate) causes of animal behavior
and uses behavior to make predictions about ecological patters. A
major theme is social insects as model systems. EBE faculty explore
how complex behavior and ecological patters such as territoriality
and aggression emerge in superorganisms from individual’s action.
In addition, faculty examine reproductive behavior in diverse animals
ranging from bonobos to harbor seals. Currently, faculty are studying.
(1)How foraging and communication have evolved in social bees in
response to evolutionary pressures of competition and predation,
(2)The neuroethology of learning and memory in Honey Bee and
Bumble Bee.
(3)Factors that affect bee health.
(4)How the behavior of invasive ants wasps contributes to their
ecological success.
(5)How food-for-protection mutualism contribute to the success of
invasive ants.
(6)Reproductive plasticity in Southeast Asian anurans.
(7)The behavior of bonobos at the San Diego Zoo.

The goal of behavioral ecology is to understand how a plant or

animal’s behavior is adapted to its environment. That is, Behavior is
understood to be result of an evolutionary process, the study of
animal behavior develops, evolves, and contributes to survival and
reproductive success.
A branch of ecology concerned with the relationship between an
animals behavior and the conditions of its environment.
For example, if a bird that can call more loudly attracts more mates,
then a loud call is an adaptive trait for that species because a louder
Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioral ecology, is the study of
bird mates more frequently than less loud birds-thus sending more
the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological
loud calling genes into future generations.
pressures. Behavioral ecology emerged from ethology after Niko
Tinbergen outlined four questions to address when studying animal
behaviors that are the proximate causes, ontogeny, survival value,
and phylogeny of behavior.
Groups Selection

Group selection is a process by which collections of organism

succeed or fail as a collective ,either becoming extinct or spawning
new groups in competition with other groups.

Groups Selection is proposed mechanism of evolution in which

natural selection acts at the level of the group, instead of at the more
conventional level of the individual.

In Biology, a type of natural selection that acts collectively on all

members of a given group. Group selection may also be defined as
selection in which traits evolved according to the fitness (survival and
reproductive success) of groups or, mathematically, as selection in
which overall group fitness is higher or lower than the mean of the
individual member’ fitness values. Typically the group under selection
is a small cohesive social unit, and members interactions are of an
altruistic nature.

The study of group selection has played an important role in

informing other theories of selection and has shed light on the
significance of altruistic behaviors observed animals, including
human. However, It has been controversial since its introduction is
19th century by British naturalist Charles Darwin.

In the early 20th century, Darwin’s observations of group behavior

were explored by others in studies that focused on the evolution of
certain physical traits and behaviors that appear to benefit social
groups. But toward the middle of that century, following the rise of
neo Darwinism, in which Darwin’s theory of natural selection was
synthesized with genetics (the modern evolutionary synthesis), the
idea that selection acted in groups was largely dismissed.

Group selection refers to the idea that natural selection sometimes

acts in whole groups of organisms, favoring some groups over
others, leading to the evolution of traits that are group advantageous.
Group selection refers to the idea that natural selection sometimes
acts on whole groups of organisms, favoring some groups over
others, leading to the evolution of traits that are group advantageous.
This contrasts with traditional ‘individualists’ view which holds that
Darwinian selection usually occurs at the individual level, favoring
some individual level, favoring some individual organisms over
others, and leading to the evolution of traits that benefit individuals
themselves. Thus, for example, the polar bear’s white coat is an
adaptation that evolved to benefit individual polar bears, not the
groups to which they belong.
Altruism
behavior of an animal that benefits another at its own expense.
Altruism in biological observations in field populations of the day
organisms is an individual performing an action which is at a cost to
themselves (e.g., pleasure and quality of life, time, probability of
survival or reproduction), but benefits, either directly or indirectly,
another third-party individual, without the expectation of reciprocity or
compensation for that action. Steinberg suggests a definition for
altruism in the clinical setting, that is "intentional and voluntary
actions that aim to enhance the welfare of another person in the
absence of any quid pro quo external rewards". [4] In one sense, the
opposite of altruism is spite; a spiteful action harms another with no
self-benefit.
Altruism can be distinguished from feelings of loyalty, in that whilst
the latter is predicated upon social relationships, altruism does not
consider relationships. Much debate exists as to
whether "true" altruism is possible in human psychology. The theory
of psychological egoism suggests that no act of sharing, helping or
sacrificing can be described as truly altruistic, as the actor may
receive an intrinsic reward in the form of personal gratification. The
validity of this argument depends on whether intrinsic rewards qualify
as "benefits".
The term altruism may also refer to an ethical doctrine that claims
that individuals are morally obliged to benefit others. Used in this
sense, it is usually contrasted with egoism, which claims individuals
are morally obligated to serve themselves first.
Types of Altruism
1. Nepotistic altruism, also known as reproductive altruism,
is where you act altruistically towards people closely related
to oneself. The main focus of nepotistic altruism is the
outcome of the act, meaning the motivation is for the kin to
survive.
2. Reciprocal altruism is a behavior whereby an organism
acts in a manner that temporarily reduces its fitness while
increasing another organism's fitness, with the expectation
that the other organism will act in a similar manner at a later
time.
3. Group Altruism. Selection among groups rather than
individuals is not a straightforward idea, especially not
ontologically. Nonetheless, the notion of group selection is
often used in evolutionary discourse, especially for
explaining the evolution of altruism or sociality (the
tendency to form social groups).
4. Moralistic altruism or Ethical altruism is an ethical
doctrine that holds that the moral value of an individual's
actions depend solely on the impact on other individuals,
regardless of the consequences on the individual itself.
Living in Groups
if groups too rigid, low immigration could result in increased
inbreeding reproductive suppression typical within groups So why
do it? Most investigations of sociality start with the ecological basis of
group formation. However, social relationships within groups –
intraspecific interactions – also are important (many mammals have
advanced cognitive abilities, allowing long-term recognition of
individuals and establishment of complex relationships). Alarm calls:
Belding’s ground squirrels •aerial preds: high-pitched whistle, single
note, everyone runs, caller not focus of attacks •terrestrial preds:
staccato trills, attra Alarm calls: Belding’s ground squirrels Family
living has its benefits: decreased aggression (most daily contacts
with kin) increased sharing of limited resources like dens and
hibernation sites, sharing is with relatives (kin selection) share
territorial defense, can better defend food and other resources
decreases infanticide (more to watch over young) increased
vigilance for predators Vampire bats as an example of reciprocal
altruism: • Can live for 12 yrs or more, typically sharing the same
roost with both related and unrelated individuals that they get to
know over time. • Bats will starve after 48 hrs or so without a blood
meal. Bats that have been unsuccessful foraging will beg from others
in the roost. • Cost of donating some blood by a successful individual
is small (but there is an energetic cost), benefits to recipient can be
large (survival!). Donors may regurgitate some blood to both related
AND unrelated roost-mates. • Bats that have been recipients more
likely to reciprocate if beg 3 general categories of factors affecting
group formation: 1. Resource distribution and abundance 2.
Predation risk 3. Intraspecific interactions Distribution of resources
can prohibit group formation, promote group formation, or permit
(allow) group formation while some other factor acts to push group
formation. Yellow-bellied marmot Meerkats Solitary, asocial species:
often something about resources needed that forces individuals to
live and forage alone. Predators that take mainly small vertebrates
may do best hunting alone, and resources may not be abundant
enough to support a group (e.g., small carnivores like mustelids,
small cats). In this case, resources prohibit group formation. A patchy
resource or habitat may force a species to aggregate, but that
doesn’t always mean sociality develops. Marmota flaviventris Patchy
habitat: Western US, open areas with perennial grasses and forbs in
forests and alpine areas, esp. with rocky outcrops, talus piles,
boulder fields. Habitat limited in area: open areas and outcrops in
discrete patches. Good burrow sites and hibernacula also limited.
Much mortality due to unsuccessful hibernation (families often
hibernate together). Dispersal between sites risky: Patches widely
spaced, marmots subject to greater predation risk when crossing
unfamiliar areas, no guarantee of finding a new place, no guarantee
of successful colonization, esp. if already densely occupied.
Matrilines: related, femalebased lineages that share burrow system
(territorial against other females). Males strongly territorial, exclude
other males, may defend 1 or more matrilines. Female philopatry,
male-biased dispersal: F yearlings often stay in natal territory, but
yearlings males disperse. Females may recruit into local population if
openings available. Reproductive interests of males and females
conflict: RS of males increases with harem size (can include >1
matriline). Number of young increases with size of matriline, but
young per females decreases due to reproductive suppression. ??
Males are happy with many females, particularly multiple matrilines.
More females helps with reproductive success per matriline to a
point, but some individuals not getting to reproduce. So why stay?
Why should females remain in groups? 1. Hibernacula limited, good
cover and food limited, time limited if going to successfully prepare
for hibernation (in poor habitat, F may fail to reproduce or have low
success weaning litters, dispersal risky). 2. Even if reprod.
suppressed, get some benefits from kin selection. 3. Matrilines
compete, groups better at obtaining and defending resources,
encroach on neighbors. 4. Groups better at care of young in burrows,
defend against infanticide by other Fs or immigrant Ms.. Woodchucks
(Marmota monax) in eastern US very different! Yellow-bellied
marmots good example of resources promoting sociality. In other
situations, resources may permit group formation, but it takes
something else to generate group formation. Classic example: herd
formation by grazing ungulates in open habitats. Antelopes: Forest
vs open; browsers vs grazers; crypsis (hiding) vs group defense;
secretive, solitary, pairs vs herdforming, polygynous. Another
example: Mongooses (refer to tables on handout) White-tailed,
Ichneumia albicauda Egyptian, Herpestes ichneumon Dwarf,
Helogale parvula Banded, Munos mungos Meerkats form large
social groups. Diurnal, mostly insectivorous. High rate of raptor
attacks (about 1 per 6 h, yng at most risk). Groups give alarm calls,
often have sentinels. Run if large pred or raptor, group and harass
smaller preds. Cost: Younger adults reprod. suppressed. Benefit:
Increased survival, some kin selection (cooperatively raise young),
older group members not totally supressed (alphas either can’t, or
allow some reprod uction to keep them around), may eventually
succeed alphas, transfer to another group if vacancy, or form a group
on their own. Wild horses: the “hired gun” hypothesis Shackleford
Banks, barrier island off coast of eastern US. No preds, abundant
fresh water, veg varies in quality. Horses exhibit a variety of
relationships: Some F form long-term bonds with other females and
closed groups, others only loose, temporary bonds and ephemeral
groups. Some M solitary or bachelor groups, some tend females,
some strongly territorial with harems. Eastern end: best habitat,
strong female groups, territorial males Western end: poor habitat, no
permanent associations among females or males Western end:
patches of good grass (marshes and swales) small and patchy,
prevents long-term associations, lots of fission-fusion of groups
Eastern end: good grass areas permit long-term group formation, but
don’t force it, and no preds here to lead to group formation… See
graphs and table in handout Benefit of group formation in this case
seems to be related to nature of male-female interactions.
Reproductive success increases where males defend territories.
Solitary, roaming, and non-territorial males tending female groups
involved in more aggressive encounters than territorial males. Most
important, females can feed better and care for young better when
not disrupted or harassed. Move to areas and form larger groups
where territorial male keeps others away. Better RS for individual
females, better RS for territorial males. Key in this case: females
responding to male distribution (and male-male interactions) rather
than vice versa.
Resource Assessment
Ecological assessment (EA) implies the monitoring of ecological
resources, to discover the current and changing conditions. EAs are
required components of most hazardous waste site investigations.
Such assessments, in conjunction with contamination and human
health risk assessments, help to evaluate the environmental
hazards posed by contaminated sites and to determine remediation
requirements.
In ecological assessment many abiotic and biotic indicators,
reflecting the pluralistic components of ecosystems, are used.
Reporting on the state of the environment requires that information
on separate indicators are integrated into comprehensive yardsticks
or indices. EA is extremely complex because of regional and
temporal variation in vulnerability of ecosystems and because of
limited understanding of ecosystem functioning and health.
Ecological indicators are able to
 assess the condition of the environment
 provide an early warning signal of changes in the
environment, or
 diagnose the cause of an environmental problem.
Ideally the suite of indicators should represent key information about
structure, function, and composition of the ecological system.
In general EA indicators can be divided into abiotic and biotic
indicators. Due to the complexity of ecosystems and environmental
processes, a set of indicators reflecting the many facets of
ecosystems is needed. Chemical, physical, and biological indicators
each have specific advantages and disadvantages for monitoring
and assessment.
Abiotic indicators, which may give information on the risks or threats
from stressors to ecosystems are comparatively well correlated with
sources of pollutants and disturbances but may not reflect ecological
end points in themselves.
Biotic indicators may reflect end points and may be used to
differentiate "healthy" from "sick" ecosystems. Correlation of biotic
indicators with sources of pollutants and other disturbances is
relatively difficult due to the complexity of environmental processes
and the multitude of potential stressors.
Critical appraisal:
 small number of indicators lead to fail considering the full
complexity of the ecological system
 choice of ecological indicators depends on management
programs that have vague long-term goals and objectives
 monitoring programs miss predominantly the scientific
demand (lack of defined protocol for identifying ecological
indicators)
Strategic ecological assessment (SEcA) is required to ensure that
proposed new developments are compatible with international
obligations to conserve protected habitats and their associated
species. In common with all forms of Environmental Impact
Assessment, the effectiveness of SEcA depends on the ability to
define the proposed action or set of actions and to characterize the
receiving environment (baseline conditions). The ability to quantify
potential impacts and to estimate their risk of occurrence is strongly
dependent on the
 availability
 accuracy
 reliability and
 resolution
of national data on the distributions of habitats, species and
development proposals.
The U.S. Nature Conservancy has developed Rapid Ecological
Assessment (REA), an integrated methodology to provide the
multiple scale, up-to-date information required to guide conservation
actions. REA relies on analysis of aerial photography, videography,
and satellite image data to identify conservation sites and to direct
field sampling and research for cost-effective biological and
ecological data acquisitions.

The goal of EA is to understand the structure and function of

ecosystems in order to develop improved management options.
Furthermore, developing models to predict the response of
ecosystems to changes contributes to finding a particular
management strategy. The results of the EA will be used to suggest
possible improvements of the pollutant´s properties to reduce the
potential environmental impacts.

Animal Communication
Great egret (Ardea alba) in a courtship display communicating the
Animal communication is the transfer of information from one or a desire to find a mate
group of animals (sender or senders) to one or more other animals
(receiver or receivers) that affects the current or future behavior of
the receivers. Information may be sent intentionally, as in a courtship
display, or unintentionally, as in the transfer of scent from predator to
prey. Information may be transferred to an "audience" of several
receivers. Animal communication is a rapidly growing area of study in
disciplines including animal behavior, sociology, neurology
and animal cognition. Many aspects of animal behavior, such as
symbolic name use, emotional expression, learning and sexual
behavior, are being understood in new ways.
When the information from the sender changes the behavior of a
receiver, the information is referred to as a "signal". Signalling A lamb investigates a rabbit, an example of interspecific
theorypredicts that for a signal to be maintained in the population, communication using body posture and olfaction.
both the sender and receiver should usually receive some benefit
from the interaction. Signal production by senders and the perception
and subsequent response of receivers are thought to coevolve.
[1]
Signals often involve multiple mechanisms, e.g. both visual and
auditory, and for a signal to be understood the coordinated behaviour
of both sender and receiver require careful study.
 A dog's visual tooth-baring threat display, accompanied by an
auditory signal, growling
Bird calls can serve as alarms or keep members of a flock in contact,
while the longer and more complex bird songs are associated
with courtship and mating.
Foraging Behavior and Optimality in
Individuals
Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an
animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's
ability to survive and reproduce.[1] Foraging theory is a branch
of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavior of animals in
response to the environment where the animal lives.
Behavioral ecologists use economic models to understand foraging;
many of these models are a type of optimal model. Thus foraging
theory is discussed in terms of optimizing a payoff from a foraging
decision. The payoff for many of these models is the amount of
energy an animal receives per unit time, more specifically, the
highest ratio of energetic gain to cost while foraging. Foraging
theory predicts that the decisions that maximize energy per unit time
and thus deliver the highest payoff will be selected for and persist.
Key words used to describe foraging behavior include resources, the
elements necessary for survival and reproduction which have a
limited supply, predator, any organism that consumes others,
and prey, an organism that is eaten in part or whole by another.
Factors influencing foraging behavior
Several factors affect an animal's ability to forage and acquire
profitable resources.
Learning
Learning is defined as an adaptive change or modification of a
behavior based on a previous experience.[3] Since an animal's
environment is constantly changing, the ability to adjust foraging
behavior is essential for maximization of fitness. Studies in social
insects have shown that there is a significant correlation between
learning and foraging performance.
Genetics
Foraging behavior can also be influenced by genetics. The genes
associated with foraging behavior have been widely studied in
honeybees with reference to the following; onset of foraging
behavior, task division between foragers and workers, and bias in
foraging for either pollen or nectar. Honey bee foraging activity
occurs both inside and outside the hive for either pollen or nectar.
Presence of predators
The presence of predators while a (prey) animal is foraging affects its
behaviour. In general, foragers balance the risk of predation with
their needs, thus deviating from the foraging behaviour that would be
expected in the absence of predators. An example of this balanced
risk can be observed in the foraging behavior of A.
Parasitism
Similarly, parasitism can affect the way in which animals forage.
Parasitism can affect foraging at several levels. Animals might simply
avoid food items that increase their risk of being parasitized, as when
the prey items are intermediate hosts of parasites. Animals might
also avoid areas that would expose them to a high risk of parasitism.
Finally, animals might effectively self-medicate, either
prophylactically or therapeutically.
Maintenance of Sex Ratio
The sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. In most
sexually reproducing species, the ratio tends to be 1:1. This
tendency is explained by Fisher's principle.[1] For various reasons,
however, many species deviate from anything like an even sex ratio,
either periodically or permanently. Examples
include parthenogenic species, periodically mating organisms such
as aphids, some eusocial wasps such as Polistes
fuscatus and Polistes exclamans, bees, ants, and termite.
The human sex ratio is of particular interest to anthropologists and
demographers. In human societies, however, sex ratios at birth may
be considerably skewed by factors such as the age of mother at
birth, and by sex-selective abortion and infanticide. Exposure to
pesticides and other environmental contaminants may be a
significant contributing factor as well.
Types of Sex Ratio
In most species, the sex ratio varies according to the age profile of
the population.
It is generally divided into four subdivisions:
 primary sex ratio — ratio at fertilization
 secondary sex ratio — ratio at birth
 tertiary sex ratio — ratio in sexually mature organisms
o Also called adult sex ratio and abbreviated to ASR.
ASR is defined as the proportion of adults in a population
that are male.
o Operational sex ratio abbreviated as OSR is the
proportion of adults in the sexually active population that are
males. 'OSR' has often been confused with 'ASR' although
these are conceptually different.
 quaternary sex ratio — ratio in post-reproductive
organisms
These definitions can be somewhat subjective since they lack clear
boundaries.
Sex Ratio Theory
The theory of sex ratio is a field of study concerned with the accurate
prediction of sex ratios in all sexual species, based on a
consideration of their natural history. The field continues to be
heavily influenced by Eric Charnov’s he defines five major questions,
both for his book and the field in general
1. For a dioecious species, what is the equilibrium sex ratio
maintained by natural selection?
2. For a sequential hermaphrodite, what is the equilibrium sex
order and time of sex change?
3. For a simultaneous hermaphrodite, what is the equilibrium
allocation of resources to male versus female function in
each breeding season?
4. Under what conditions are the various states of
hermaphroditism or dioecy evolutionarily stable? When is a
mixture of sexual types stable?
5. When does selection favour the ability of an individual to
alter its allocation to male versus female function, in
response to particular environmental or life history
situations?
Sexual Selection
Sexual selection is a mode of natural selection where
members of one biological sex choose mates of the
other sex to mate with (intersexual selection), and compete with
members of the same sex for access to members of the opposite sex
(intrasexual selection).
How Sexual Selection Came To Be Recognized

Charles Darwin proposed that all living species were derived
from common ancestors. The primary mechanism he proposed to
explain this fact was natural selection: that is, that organisms better
adapted to their environment would benefit from higher rates of
survival than those less well equipped to do so. However he noted
that there were many examples of elaborate, and apparently non-
adaptive, sexual traits that would clearly not aid in the survival of
their bearers. He suggested that such traits might evolve if they are
sexually selected, that is if they increase the individual's reproductive
success, even at the expense of their survival (Darwin 1871).
Darwin noted that sexual selection depends on the struggle
between males to access females. He recognized two mechanisms
of sexual selection: intrasexual selection, or competition between
members of the same sex (usually males) for access to mates, and
intersexual selection, where members of one sex (usually females)
choose members of the opposite sex. The idea of cumbersome traits
evolving to aid males in competition during aggressive encounters
was readily accepted by scientists shortly after Darwin's publication.
However, the idea of female mate choice was received with ridicule,
and was not seriously reconsidered until nearly 80 years later
(Cronin 1991). In the 40 years since, there has been much progress
in our understanding of how sexual selection operates.
Which Sex is Under Stronger Selection?
Sex roles are defined by differences in gametes: females
produce relatively few, highly nutritious (usually non-motile) gametes,
whereas males produce comparatively abundant, smaller, motile
gametes. Because only a single gamete of each type is required to
produce an offspring, there will be an excess of male gametes that
will not fertilize any eggs. This asymmetry leads to Bateman's
principle, whereby female reproduction is primarily limited by their
access to resources to nourish and produce these large gametes,
whereas male reproduction is mainly limited by access to females
(Bateman 1948). Therefore males typically compete among
themselves for access to females, whereas females tend to be
choosy and mate only with preferred males.
In sexually reproducing species, every offspring has one father and
one mother, so the average reproductive success is equal for both
males and females. A successful male can potentially sire many
offspring. If a male gains a disproportionate share of reproduction, he
will take away reproductive opportunities from other males, leading
to a high reproductive variance among males. A successful female,
on the other hand, will not take away reproductive opportunities from
other females, leading to a smaller variance in reproductive success.
The higher the reproductive variance, the stronger the effects of
sexual selection (Figure 1). Strong sexual selection typically results
in sexually dimorphic traits that are exaggerated, or more elaborate,
in the sex with highest reproductive variance (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Variance in reproductive success explains which sex is subject to stronger sexual selection
Males and females in a population have the same average
reproductive success (R. S., black bars) but they may differ in the
reproductive variance among members of each sex (shown in red).
Differences in the selection gradient will result in sexual dimorphism.
(A) When males are subject to stronger sexual selection than
females, males will evolve secondary sexual characters that result in
marked differences between the sexes. Peacocks do not provide any
parental care, and some males are more successful than others who
may never reproduce, leading to marked dimorphism. (B) When
males contribute to offspring care, the selection gradient is lower and
the sexes will be monomorphic. Many seabirds are monogamous
and raise offspring together and the sexes are indistinguishable. (C)
When males provide all the parental care, the selection gradient can
be reversed and females may have to compete for access to males,
leading to reverse sexual dimorphism. Red-necked phalaropes Sexual selection episodes can occur before mating takes place (pre-
compete for access to males who provide all the parental care. copulatory), or during and after mating (post-copulatory), and they
Females are larger and more aggressive than males. (Courtesty of can occur within a sex (intrasexual) and between the sexes
Arthur Grosset) (intersexual).

How Does Sexual Selection Operate?

Choosing a Mate
Sexual selection can operate both intra- and inter-sexually,
either sequentially or simultaneously (Table 1). During intrasexual Why do females choose between males rather than mate at
random, or with the first male they encounter? Females can directly
selection, members of the same sex attempt to outcompete rivals,
increase their reproductive success by mating with certain, select
often during direct encounters. Intrasexual selection is typically
males and acquiring direct benefits. For example, females can gain
responsible for the evolution of male armaments such as deer
increased access to food, protection from harassing males, or help in
antlers, beetle horns, and large body size, that provide individuals
raising offspring, and avoid being infected with parasites or other
with an advantage when fighting off potential competitors. Individuals
diseases by choosing healthy males. However there are instances
who are better able to exclude competitors, have a greater chance to
where females do not appear to gain any direct benefit from males,
acquire mates and father offspring. For example, dominant male red
yet they still discriminate among them. Under these conditions,
deer monopolize a group of females (also known as harem) by
females likely gain indirect benefits via their offspring. These indirect
constantly fighting off competitors, and they father most of the
benefits are usually genetic rather than resource based. By choosing
offspring produced by the females. By contrast, intersexual selection
certain males, their offspring will likely inherit genes that tend to
results from interactions between the sexes, typically involving mate
increase their fitness. Males often evolve traits and displays that
choice. The evolution of elaborate behavioral displays and
advertise their ability to provide direct and indirect benefits, and
morphological traits can often be explained as the result of
females evolve preferences for these traits. Two major mechanisms
intersexual selection. Usually, females tend to be more choosy,
to account for female mate choice have been proposed: good genes,
evaluating morphological and behavioral traits from potential mates
and Fisherian arbitrary processes.
to determine which will maximize their fitness. Males tend to
compete with one another to gain the female's attention. An extreme
example of intersexual selection can be found in species where
males form leks where multiple males gather to display to females.
Good Genes

Under the ‘good genes’ scenario, differences among males

provide females with information about the genetic qualities of the
different males that can be inherited by the offspring. Under the
‘good genes,’ just as in the ‘direct benefits’ models, there is
correspondence between the putative roles of natural versus sexual
selection, since preferring certain males can result in a female
gaining higher viability, fecundity, and reproductive success, for her
offspring.

Good genes can be those that allow males to carry a

‘handicap,’ yet survive despite having a cumbersome trait (Zahavi
1975), genes that signal resistance to disease (Hamilton &Zuk
1982), or genes that are more compatible with those of the female
Table 1: Some examples of when and how sexual selection operates (Trivers 1972). Evidence of female choice for good genes remains
scarce despite decades of studies of female mate choice in many
taxa. This apparent lack of success continues to create debate as to
the importance of the good genes model in the field.
When Does Sexual Selection Act?
result in evolution of a counter-trait to mitigate the harm on the
affected sex, with subsequent escalation in both (Chapman et al.
2003). Examples of sexual conflict include traumatic insemination in
bed bugs, copulatory grasping and anti-grasping structures in
waterstriders, and genital coevolution in waterfowl.

Sexual selection can affect reproductive success at multiple

reproductive stages. First, it acts during all the processes that lead to
acquiring mating opportunities (i.e., excluding competitors, attracting, 1. Polygyny
selecting and/or retaining mates). Darwin referred exclusively to pre-
copulatory sexual selection in his discussions, erroneously assuming
that mating would inevitably result in reproductive success. In recent It is a mating system in which one male lives and mates with multiple
years, evidence that copulatory and post-copulatory events play an females, but each female only mates with a single male. Systems
important role in determining the outcome of fertilization and where several females mate with several males are defined either as
reproduction has been increasing. Post-copulatory selection refers to promiscuity or polygynandry. Lek mating is frequently regarded as a
the events that occur during and after mating. Post-copulatory male- form of polygyny because one male mates with many females, but
male competition is known as sperm competition a term coined by lek-based mating systems differ in that the male has no attachment
Parker (1970) who recognized that when females mate with multiple to the females with whom he mates, and that mating females lack
males, their ejaculates compete inside the female reproductive tract attachment to one another.
for access to eggs. Sperm competition has resulted in the evolution
of morphologically modified sperm that increase the likelihood of
fertilization in many taxa (Birkhead& Moller 1998). Post-copulatory Types of Polygyny
female choice refers to the ability of females to affect the likelihood
that sperm from a particular male fertilizes their eggs, and their
Harems Multimale Sequenced Scramble
decision to invest in offspring based on the identity of the male with
Polygyny Polygyny competitio
whom they mate. Females exert this choice via morphological,
n polygyny
chemical and behavioral adaptations. This type of selection is called
cryptic choice because it occurs inside the female reproductive tract Small or Small Large Small Large
and cannot be detected from behavioral studies alone (Eberhard large
1996). Stable or Stable Stable Unstable Unstable
unstable
Conflict Between the Sexes Species Human, Savanna Humans, Thirteen-
examples elephant, baboons, Woodcocks, lined ground
Although both sexes are seeking to optimize their seals Cape elephants squirrels,
reproductive success, their genetic interests are not aligned, buffalo Coquerel’s
resulting in sexual conflict (Parker 1979). Traits that allow a male to dwarf
increase his reproductive success at the expense of the female will lemurs
be positively selected if the female mates with multiple males. These
traits will be genetically transmitted and spread in the population,
despite their negative effects on female reproductive success, if the 2.Polyandry is defined as “the mating of one female with more
reproductive success of these males is higher than that of males than one male while each male mates with only one female.”
lacking such traits (Parker 1979). Exclusive polyandry (as opposed to polyandry in concert with
polygyny) is very rare, occurring in only about 1% of animal
Sexual conflict can often result in an evolutionary arms race, populations, most being shorebirds like the sandpiper.
whereby the evolution of a trait that imposes harm on one sex will
 The basis of polyandry is a sex role reversal. The females
compete for the males and are larger and more colorful, while the
males take on the parental role. With the sex role reversal, a natural
selection against older males evolves. This is accomplished by the
females tending to select the males with the best sperm in order to
give the female the most offspring possible. Younger males will more
likely have fertile sperm; therefore impregnating the female on more
instances than an older male with less fertile sperm.
The queen bee is usually the only female bee within a hive
reproducing with drones, which often come from various hives.
She mothers most or all offspring within a given hive.
Types of polyandry:
Polyandry comes in various forms with self-explanatory names:
 Convenience polyandry: Instead of expending energy to
resist fighting unwanted matings, the females just lay down
and take it.
 Fraternal polyandry: Male brothers mate with one female.
 Genetic-benefit polyandry: In female arthropods that can
store sperm, the female will mate with multiple males in
order to have a diverse sperm pool, and thus more genetic
diversity, to fertilise her eggs with.
 Mate-defence polyandry: As in the phalarope, where the
female guards her multiple male mates.
 Maternal-benefit polyandry: In which females mate with
multiple males due to benefits given by sexually-active
males, usually nutrition or protection.
 Serial (sequential) polyandry: In which females form
monogamous pairs with multiple males in succession.
 Simultaneous polyandry: Similar to serial polyandry, but
forms the pairs at the same time.
 Sperm-replenishment polyandry: In which females mate
with multiple males to refill their sperm banks (see genetic-
benefit polyandry).
 A population is a subset of individuals of one species that occupies
a particular geographic area and, in sexually reproducing species,
interbreeds. The geographic boundaries of a population are easy to
establish for some species but more difficult for others.

For example:

Plants or animals occupying islands have a geographic range

defined by the perimeter of the island.

In contrast, some species are dispersed across vast

expanses, and the boundaries of local populations are more difficult
to determine. A continuum exists from closed populations that are
geographically isolated from, and lack exchange with, other
populations of the same species to open populations that shows
varying degrees of connectedness.

What is a population ecology recombination?

CHAPTER IV: Population Ecology
- Recombination, the process by which DNA strands are
Recombination
Broken and repaired, producing new combinations of alleles,
occurs
in nearly all multicellular organisms and has important implications
for many evolutionary processes. The effects of recombination can
be good, as it can facilitate adaptation, but also bad when it breaks
apart beneficial combinations of alleles, and recombination is highly
variable between taxa, species, individuals and across the genome.
Understanding how and why recombination rate varies is a major
Challenge in biology and ecology.
Most theoretical and empirical work has been devoted to
understanding the role recombination in the evolution of sex-
comparing between sexual and asexual species
or populations. How recombination rate evolves and what impact this
has on evolutionary processes within sexually reproducing
organisms has received much less attention.
The combination of the genes on the genome may change due to
such DNA rearrangements. In a population, this sort of genetic
variation is important to allow organisms to evolve in response to a
changing environment. These DNA rearrangements are caused by a
class of mechanisms called genetic recombination.
Ecological aspects of the recombination problem
Some consequences of the effect of environmental factors
on the recombination system are dealt within this paper. There are
two components involved----- the system of individual adaptation (F-
system) and the genetic system of population adaptation (R-
system). Their interaction offers an optimum interrelation of
immediate adaptivity and genetic felxibilty within the population.
Familiar data on the evolution of recombination control
systems are considered in connection with the problems of induced
broadening of genotypic variation spectrum with a view to selection.
A notion of combined recombination rete and spectrum
control is introduced here : disturbance control- due to direct
influence of environmental factors on R-system ( including meiotic
processes),
Negative feedback control ---due to dominance-
recessiveness relationship between rec- loci alleles of the “fine”
control system, and to the dependence of the R- system on the F-
system norms of reaction to environment variation.
The problem of dependence of the recombination
spectrum on environmental factors has been considered and the
hypothesis of a possible mechanism of such a dependence
suggested.
A. Physiological Ecology
Introduction to physiological ecological ecology
 Level of organization- Individual organism
 Define physiological ecology. The study of the
interaction of the organism with its physical environment,
and its adaptations to that environment
 Physical environment not only necessitates adaptations
for organisms to exist in particular environments, but it
also constrains the distribution of organisms
 E.g. vampire bat, desmodus rotundus
 Its northern distribution= 10 degree Celsius Jan.
minimum isothern
Physiological ecology
 - Is the study of these and other questions about the short
and long-term behavioral and physiological adjustments organisms
make in order to survive and reproduce successfully in their ever-
changing environments.
 Air- It helps to respiration in living organism. It supports to
photosynthesis in plants.
 Water- Is the most important factors influencing the life of
organisms. It is need for all living organisms such as plants
animals.
 Light- It is essential for photo synthesis
 Temperature- Proper temperature is essential for all living
things to do the metabolic activities.

Needs of Abiotic factors in an ecosystem

B. Biotic Factors
Abiotic factors are non-living factors in an ecosystem. As part of
ecosystem, these factors do affect the living things in it, but they are
non- living themselves. The term “abiotic” comes from the root parts
“a” meaning “without” and “bio” meaning “life”. The living parts of an
ecosystem are called “biotic factors”.

C. Population Growth

What is a population?

 A group of organisms of the same species

 Living in the same habitat
 At the same time
 Where they can freely interbreed.

What is a population?
 A group of organisms of the same species
Major Abiotic Factors are  Living in the same habitat
 At the same time
 Soil- It gives nourishment to plants  Where they can freely interbreed.
What is a population?
 A group of organisms of the same species
 Living in the same habitat
 At the same time

Where they can freely interbreed.

Mortality
 Mortality reduces population growth
 It operates more when conditions are not ideal
 Overcrowding leading to competition, spread of
infectious disease.

Immigration
 It increase population growth
 It operates when populations are not completely isolated.

Emigration
 It decrease population growth
 It operates when populations are not completely isolated.

Interactions
 Population= (Natality + Immigration) – ( Morality +
Emigration)
 Case study: the red panda D. Mutualism and Commensalism

Symbiosis

 Symbiosis is a close
ecological relationship
between the individuals of
two or more species.
 Sometimes a symbiotic
relationship benefits both
species
 Mutualism,
commensalism,
parasitism, cooperation
 Bees (Hymenoptera) and
Plants
Mutuali

Let's apply the idea of biotic and abiotic factors to another

organism, one that a field ecologist might be likely to study. Red
pandas are distant relatives of raccoons and are found only in the
eastern Himalayas.

They spend most of their time in trees and eat a primarily

vegetarian diet. In recent years, the red panda population has
dropped significantly, leading conservation groups to classify it as a
vulnerable or endangered species.

Red panda hanging from a tree branch. It's a cute animal that looks
roughly similar to a raccoon with reddish fur.

What are the main factors behind this change in abundance?

 Ecologists have found that biotic factors, such as logging of

trees and introduction of diseases from domestic dogs,
played a major role in the decline of red panda populations. sm
Abiotic factors have been less important to date, but
changing temperatures could cause further habitat loss in Is an association in which each member benefits.
the future.Understanding the main factors responsible for the Ants (Hymenoptera) protect the aphids (Aphididae) and the aphids
decline in red panda numbers helps ecologists form provide honeydew for the ants
conservation plans to protect the species.
 predation, but acts more slowly than predators and may not
always kill the host.

 Parasitized caterpillar (Lepidoptera), covered with wasp

(Hymenoptera) pupae which have consumed all internal
tissue except vital organs.

Commensalism
Organism Interaction

E. Competition
 Competition occurs when two or more individuals seek to
utilize the same resource

 Siafu or Driver Ants (Hymenoptera) of Africa out compete

 Commensalism is a symbiotic relationship between two and consume everything that crosses its path, even cows!!!
organisms of different species in which one derives some
benefit while the other is unaffected.

 Pseudoscorpions hitching ride on a fly’s (Diptera) leg Cooperation

Parasitism

 Parasitism is a form of symbiosis in which one species

benefits at the expense of another species; similar to Cooperation is the act of working or acting together Ants and bees
colonies work together Polyergus samurai (left) raid and capture
pupae of Formica japonica (right) and use them as workers when
they emerge.
F. Predation
Predator and Prey
 Predation describes an interaction where a predator species
kills and eats other organisms, known as prey.
 Sometimes, predators themselves become prey.
Praying mantis captures grasshopper.
Anole captures and eats praying mantis.
G. Herbivory, and Parasitism
Individual organisms in a community interact in many different ways.
An interaction may benefit both individuals, or the interaction may
benefit one organism to the detriment of the other. An interaction
between two organisms that benefits one to the detriment of the
other is an antagonistic interaction. Predation, herbivory, and
parasitism are specific types of antagonistic interactions.
Predation
In predation, one organism kills and consumes another.
Predation provides energy to prolong the life and promote the
reproduction of the organism that does the killing, the predator, to the
detriment of the organism being consumed, the prey. Predation
influences organisms at two ecological levels. At the level of the
individual, the prey organism has an abrupt decline in fitness, as
measured by its lifetime reproductive success, because it will never
reproduce again. At the level of the community, predation reduces
the number of individuals in the prey population.
The best-known examples of predation involve carnivorous
interactions, in which one animal consumes another. Think of wolves
hunting moose, owls hunting mice, or shrews hunting worms and
insects. Less obvious carnivorous interactions involve many small
individuals consuming a larger one. Such group predation is
common among social carnivores such as lions, hyenas, and wolves.
Group predation also occurs with ants and social spiders. This is,
however, only part of the picture. Seed consumption can sometimes
constitute predation. Seeds are considered organisms. Under ideal
circumstances, seeds grow to become plants. However,
consumption
of a seed kills the plant before it can grow, making seed
consumption an example of predation.
Not all predators are animals. Carnivorous plants, such as the Venus
fly trap and the pitcher plant, consume insects. Pitcher plants catch
their prey in a pool of water containing digestive enzymes, whereas
the Venus fly trap captures an insect between the two lobes of a leaf
and seals the insect inside with digestive enzymes. These plants
absorb nutrients from the insects as they become available during
digestion. On a microscopic scale, protozoa and bacteria also
consume prey organisms. They play an important role in maintaining
population sizes in microbial communities, which promotes the
diversity of microorganisms and contributes to a stable community
structure.
Predation and Adaptation
Predation influences the fitness of both predators and prey.
Individuals must both feed and avoid being eaten to survive and
reproduce. Genetically-determined traits that improve an organism’s
ability to survive and reproduce will be passed on to its offspring.
Traits associated with improved predation for predators and escaping
predation for prey tend to be positively selected by natural selection.
Predators exhibit traits such as sharp teeth, claws, and
venom that enhance their ability to catch food. They also possess
extremely acute sensory organs that help them to find potential prey.
Consider the ability of raptors to spot potential prey from over a
kilometer away, the acute sense of smell of moles, the ability of owls
to locate mice by sound, the ability of pit vipers to sense body heat
when tracking prey, and the ability of bats and dolphins to
echolocate. Predators catch their prey either by pursuing potential
prey or by ambushing them. Organisms that give chase are capable
of short bursts of speed. Those that lie in wait tend to be
camouflaged to avoid detection (Figure 1).
Adaptations to predation
Figure 1: Adaptations to predation
(A) Cheetahs can sustain bursts of speed while chasing prey. (B)
Species that lie in wait for their prey, such as the orchid mantis, are
cryptically colored to avoid detection.
In a similar manner, prey species exhibit traits that help them
avoid detection or capture. Many, such as leaf insects, moths, a
variety of frogs and small lizards, and herbivorous mammals, are
cryptically colored to make them more difficult to see. Behaviorally,
they freeze after detecting the presence of a predator. This lack of
movement helps them better blend in with their background and
inhibits the ability of the predator to find them.
But when predators venture too close, prey will take flight,
running or flying to escape. When a chase ensues, prey will typically
survive if they stay out of reach until the predator tires. Some species
buy extra time by distracting the predator. Examples include moths
that flash brightly colored hindwings, lizards that drop their tails, and
insect larvae that discharge slime. Such actions surprise the predator
and give the prey time a few extra moments to escape.
When a predator chases after potential prey, the predator is
running for its dinner. The prey is running for its life. If the predator
fails to capture the prey, it goes hungry, but it will not experience a
large decline in fitness as a result of the interaction. In contrast, if the
predator catches the prey, the captured individual loses any future
opportunities to reproduce. This “life-dinner principle” sets up an
evolutionary arms race between the two species (Dawkins & Krebs
1979). In this race, the prey experience strong selective pressure to
evolve better adaptations to avoid being eaten.
At the same time, predators must capture sufficient food to
survive and reproduce, and they too are subjected to selective
pressure for traits that allow them to hunt successfully. Over time,
this arms race leads to traits that enable prey to better avoid capture,
whereas predators become better able to capture prey.
Aposematic coloration
Figure 2: Aposematic coloration
Brightly colored animals, such as the red-spotted newt (a) and
monarch butterfly (b), warn potential predators against consumption.
Such organisms contain toxins.
In contrast to the examples provided thus far, some prey exhibit
bright coloration. Such aposematic coloration helps prevent
predation by signaling to potential predators that the vividly-colored
individual is toxic. Toxins may be manufactured within the body, as
with the red-spotted newt, or they may be acquired passively via
consumption of toxic plants, as with the monarch butterfly (Figure 2).
Batesian mimicry
Figure 3: Batesian mimicry
Non-toxic Papilio dardanus swallowtail butterfly females occur in a
variety of forms, each of which mimics the physical appearance of
toxic species.
Not all species that exhibit vivid coloration are truly toxic.
Some have evolved patterns and colors that mimic those of toxic
species. Examples of such Batesian mimicry include the
extraordinarily polymorphic Papilio dardanus swallowtail butterfly in
southern Africa and Madagascar (Salvato 1997). Females of this
species occur in a wide variety of physical appearances, nearly all of
which mimic distasteful species of the Danaeus and Amauris genera
with which they co-occur (Figure 3).
Herbivory
Herbivory is the consumption of plant material by animals, and
herbivores are animals adapted to eat plants. As in predator-prey
interactions, this interaction drives adaptations in both the herbivore
and the plant species it eats. For example, to reduce the damage
done by herbivores, plants have evolved defenses, including thorns
and chemicals. Scientists have identified thousands of plant
chemical defense compounds, including familiar compounds such as
nicotine and cocaine (Coley & Barone 1996).
To maximize nutrient intake, many herbivores have evolved
adaptations that allow them to determine which plants contain fewer
defensive compounds and more high-quality nutrients. Some insects,
such as butterflies, have chemical sensors on their feet that allow
them to taste the plant before they consume any part of it.
Mammalian herbivores often use their keen sense of smell to detect
bitter compounds, and they preferentially eat younger leaves that
contain fewer chemicals.
Parasitism
In parasitism, an individual organism, the parasite, consumes
nutrients from another organism, its host, resulting in a decrease in
fitness to the host. In extreme cases, parasites can cause disease in
the host organism; in these situations, we refer to them as
pathogens. We divide parasites into two categories: endoparasites,
which live inside the body of their hosts, and ectoparasites, which
live and feed on the outside of the body of their host. Examples of
endoparasites include flukes, tapeworms, fungi, bacteria, and
protozoa. Ectoparasites include ticks and lice, plants, protozoa,
bacteria, and fungi. Plants and animals typically act as hosts.
In most situations, parasites do not kill their hosts. An exception,
however, occurs with parasitoids, which blur the line between
parasitism and predation. The best-known parasitoids include
several species of wasp, which immobilize — but do not kill — a host
by stinging it. The female then carries the host to a burrow, where
she lays eggs within the host’s body. After the larvae hatch, they
consume the living tissues of the host, eventually killing it (Figure
4a).
Parasitoidism
Figure 4: Parasitoidism
A parastic wasp stings its prey before laying eggs on or in it (a). The
larvae will consume the insect after hatching. The fruiting bodies of
entomogenous fungi extend from the insect it consumed (b).
Entomogenous fungi also act as parasitoids; they infect the
bodies of insects, either through the mouth while foraging or by
penetrating the outer cuticle of the insect’s body (Ferron 1978, Roy
et al. 2006). Spores circulate inside the host, whose body provides
the nutrients needed for fungal growth. Eventually, the fungal load
becomes too great for the host, and the insect dies (Figure 4b).
The major distinguishing difference between parasitoids and
predators is that parasitoids feed on living tissue, whereas the
predator kills its prey before, or in the process of, consuming it.
Parasite Transmission
For all parasites, the host exists as an island of habitat. But the
island lives for a finite period of time, and the parasites must find a
new host before the existing one dies. Transmission to a new host
can happen either directly, or through a vector. In direct transmission,
the parasite moves from one host to another of the same species
without an intermediate organism. In vector transmission, an
intermediate organism, the vector, transfers the parasite from one
host to the next.
Complex life cycle of the Plasmodium parasite
Figure 5: Complex life cycle of the Plasmodium parasite
The life cycle requires both the primary human host and the
intermediate Anopheles mosquito host for completion.
Many endoparasites have a complex life cycle that involves
two hosts, and the parasite must spend time in both to complete its
life cycle. Take, for example, the protozoan parasite Plasmodium,
which causes malaria. Plasmodium must spend time in humans and
in an Anopheles mosquito to complete its life cycle.
The mosquito acts as a vector, transferring Plasmodium from
infected humans to uninfected individuals. Additionally, the mosquito
acts as an intermediate host. When a female mosquito ingests blood
containing Plasmodium, some of the red blood cells contain gametes
(eggs and sperm). In the mosquito’s gut, the gametes come together
to form a zygote, the development of which results in sporozoites. It
is this life stage that can then go on to infect a new human when the
mosquito feeds (Figure 5).
H. Causes of Population Change
The change in total population over a period is equal to the
number of births, minus the number of deaths, plus or minus the net
amount of migration in a population. The number of births can be
projected as the number of females at each relevant age multiplied
by the assumed fertility rate. The number of deaths can be projected
as the sum of the numbers of each age and sex in the population
multiplied by their respective mortality rates. For many centuries, the
overall population of the world changed relatively slowly: very
broadly, the numbers of births were balanced by numbers of deaths
(including high rates of infant mortality).
Infant mortality was high for various reasons such as
ignorance, insufficient health facilities, and sometimes lack of food.
Occasionally, farmers were unable to produce enough food for the
population, resulting in death from starvation. However more
recently, and especially in the 20th and 21st centuries, due to growth
in technology, education, and medical care, the world population has
increased rapidly, as many more people have survived to child-
bearing age.

Natural resources that were once scarce are now being

mass-produced. Because of this increase, some countries have
adopted policies to try to control population growth. These policies
include active measures to reduce the numbers of births (e.g. "one
child policy") as well as education.[4] In many countries, fertility rates
have declined, due to better education, better available birth control,
better pension provision reducing economic dependence on one's
children in old age, and in response to lower infant mortality.

Those who wait until they are older before starting a family
may find it more difficult to do so as fertility declines with age. One of
the biological reasons for this is abnormal chromosome segregation
during cell division in older eggs.[5] In some parts of society there
are also now more women formally employed in the workforce.

CHAPTER V: Community Ecology

Community Ecology
 - A community is a group or association of populations of two
or more different species occupying the same geographical area and
in a particular time, also known as a biocoenosis.

Relationship Between Community Diversity and Stability

• Stability components
– Resistance A. Pecies Diversity and Community
– Resilience
– Recovery speed

• Biodiversity has been thought to influence Stability

– Croplands – Unstable
– Tropics – Stable

• Jury still out

– preliminary work seems to support this

• Community

– Species that occur at any particular locality • Two views of structure and functioning of communities
– Characterized by
– Individualistic concept: a community is nothing more
• Species richness than an aggregation of species that happen to occur
together at one place
• Number of species present – Holistic concept: a community is an integrated unit;
superorganism – more than the sum of its parts
• Primary productivity
Biological Communities
• Amount of energy produced
• Most ecologists today favor the individualistic concept
– Interactions among members govern many • In communities, species respond independently to changing
ecological and evolutionary processes environmental conditions
• Community composition changes gradually across
landscapes

Biological Communities
the abundance of species in a community does change
geographically in a synchronous pattern
• Ecotones: places where the environment changes abruptly

Ecological Niche
• Niche: the total of all the ways an organism uses the
resources of its environment
– Space utilization
– Food consumption
– Temperature range
– Appropriate conditions for mating
– Requirements for moisture and more

Chapter VI: Applied Ecology


What Is Applied Ecology?
Picture going on vacation to Yellowstone National Park
in Wyoming. The natural beauty of the park is stunning, with
steaming hot geysers, herds of bison and even the occasional
wolf. You know the government protects this land, but who
manages it?
Who studies the animals and makes sure this
ecosystem stays in balance? Who helped fence off this land
as a national park in the first place? The answer is applied
ecologists.
Applied ecologists are scientists in a subfield of
ecology. They apply principles in ecology, genetics, biology,
and biotechnology to conserve our ecosystems, protect unique
species, and study how humans impact our environment.
Today, we're going to look at some important jobs they do,
such as conservation biology, restoration ecology, and
studying climate change.
Conservation Biology
Picture a tropical rainforest. Orangutans raise their
offspring high in the trees, away from the prying eyes of the
jaguar. Smaller animals dot the forest floor, such as the
beautiful, but poisonous, blue dart frog. Apart from their
habitat, what do all these species have in common?
Unfortunately, they are all endangered species, or
species that are in danger of going extinct. Conservation
biologists apply ecological studies to protect these species.
They study the reproduction, migration, behavior, and genetics
of species in hopes of restoring their populations with proper
management.
Conservation biologists also focus on how human
interactions with the environment and organisms cause
problems. Unfortunately, human poaching, deforestation, and
pollution are often key causes. Conservation biologists usually
focus their efforts around keystone species, or species that
are essential for an ecosystem. These important species
control the population of other species in the ecosystem,
preventing them from overpopulating and
disrupting homeostasis, or a balance in the ecosystem.
For example, tigers are an endangered species, as
well as a top predator that acts as a keystone species in their
Asian habitat. Scientists have focused their conservation
efforts on strengthening policies against poaching in countries
with native tigers, protecting their habitat from logging, and
monitoring tiger migration and population numbers.
Restoration Ecology
 In order for any species to live, they have to have a
home. Unfortunately, humans have been destroying natural
ecosystems for thousands of years. Humans cut down trees,
create farmland where there were once forests, pollute marine
and terrestrial environments alike, and fragment animal
habitats to build roads, cities, oil pipelines and more.
Once an environment has been disrupted by human
interaction, restoration ecologists come to the rescue. The
job of restoration ecologists is to restore, or build back up,
environments that have been damaged by human activity.
Restoration ecologists want to find a balance between culture
and human interactions with nature and meeting the ecological
needs of an environment. Their goal is to balance humans and
the ecosystem so they can exist in harmony.
For example, in Yosemite National Park, several restoration
efforts have been successfully completed while still allowing
visitors to access the park. The Lukens Meadow Ecological
Restoration Project was completed in 2008, restoring a wet
meadow in the park to its natural biodiversity, or variety of
species.
Restoration ecologists first surveyed what natural plants
should be in the area, and salvaged any that were struggling
near trail junctions. They removed rutted trails and filled in
gaps with mulch and reseeded these areas, allowing natural
plants to grow back as well. Trails traversing the meadow were
redirected to other existing trails to prevent foot traffic in the
meadow, helping to restore it to its former levels of biodiversity.
A. The Effects of Human
Human impact on the environment or anthropogenic
impact on the environment includes changes to biophysical
environments[1] and ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural
resources[2][3] caused directly or indirectly by humans,
including global warming,[1][4]environmental degradation[1] (such
as ocean acidification[1][5]), mass extinction and biodiversity
loss,[6][7][8][9] ecological crisis, and ecological collapse. Modifying
the environment to fit the needs of society is causing severe
effects, which become worse as the problem of human
overpopulation continues.[10] Some human activities that cause
damage (either directly or indirectly) to the environment on a
global scale include human reproduction,
[11]
overconsumption, overexploitation, pollution,
and deforestation, to name but a few. Some of the problems,
including global warming and biodiversity loss pose
an existential risk to the human race,[12]
[13]
and overpopulation causes those problems.[14][15]
The term anthropogenic designates an effect or object
resulting from human activity. The term was first used in the
technical sense by Russian geologist Alexey Pavlov, and it
was first used in English by British ecologist Arthur Tansley in
reference to human influences on climax plant communities.
[16]
The atmospheric scientist Paul Crutzen introduced the term
"Anthropocene" in the mid-1970s.[17] The term is sometimes
used in the context of pollutionemissions that are produced
from human activity but also applies broadly to all major
human impacts on the environment.[18]
Causes
Rapid Growth of Human Population
Human population from 10000 BCE to 2000 CE, with its
exponential rise since the eighteenth century.[19]
Main article: Human overpopulation § Effects of human
overpopulation
David Attenborough described the level of human population
on the planet as a multiplier of all other environmental
problems. In 2013, he described humanity as "a plague on the
Earth" that needs to be controlled by limiting population
growth.
Some deep ecologists, such as the radical thinker and
polemicist Pentti Linkola, see human overpopulation as a
threat to the entire biosphere. In 2017, over 15,000 scientists
around the world issued a second warning to humanity which
asserted that rapid human population growth is the "primary
driver behind many ecological and even societal threats."
Overconsumption
Main article: Overconsumption
Chart published by NASA depicting CO2 levels from the past
400,000 years.
Overconsumption is a situation where resource use has
outpaced the sustainable capacity of the ecosystem. It can be
measured by the ecological footprint, a resource accounting
approach which compares human demand on ecosystems
with the amount of planet matter ecosystems can renew.
Estimates indicate that humanity's current demand is
70% higher than the regeneration rate of all of the planet's
ecosystems combined. A prolonged pattern of
overconsumption leads to environmental degradation and the
eventual loss of resource bases.
Humanity's overall impact on the planet is affected by many
factors, not just the raw number of people. Their lifestyle
(including overall affluence and resource utilization) and the
pollution they generate (including carbon footprint) are equally
important. In 2008, The New York Times stated that the
inhabitants of the developed nations of the world consume
resources like oil and metals at a rate almost 32 times greater
than those of the developing world, who make up the majority
of the human population.[26]
The effects of overpopulation are compounded
by overconsumption. According to Paul R. Ehrlich:
Rich western countries are now siphoning up the planet’s
resources and destroying its ecosystems at an unprecedented
rate. We want to build highways across the Serengeti to get
more rare earth minerals for our cellphones. We grab all the
fish from the sea, wreck the coral reefs and put carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere. We have triggered a major extinction
event [...] A world population of around a billion would have an
overall pro-life effect. This could be supported for many
millennia and sustain many more human lives in the long term
compared with our current uncontrolled growth and prospect of
sudden collapse [...] If everyone consumed resources at the
US level – which is what the world aspires to – you will need
another four or five Earths. We are wrecking our planet’s life
support systems.[27]
Humanity has caused the loss of 83% of all wild mammals and
half of plants [28] The world’s chickens are triple the weight of
all the wild birds, while domesticated cattle and pigs outweigh
all wild mammals by 14 to 1
Technology
The applications of technology often result in unavoidable and
unexpected environmental impacts, which according to the I =
PATequation is measured as resource use or pollution
generated per unit GDP. Environmental impacts caused by the
application of technology are often perceived as unavoidable
for several reasons. First, given that the purpose of many
technologies is to exploit, control, or otherwise “improve” upon
nature for the perceived benefit of humanity while at the same
time the myriad of processes in nature have been optimized
and are continually adjusted by evolution, any disturbance of
these natural processes by technology is likely to result in
negative environmental consequences.[31] Second, the
conservation of mass principle and the first law of
thermodynamics(i.e., conservation of energy) dictate that
whenever material resources or energy are moved around or
manipulated by technology, environmental consequences are
inescapable. Third, according to the second law of
thermodynamics, order can be increased within a system
(such as the human economy) only by increasing disorder
or entropy outside the system (i.e., the environment). Thus,
technologies can create “order” in the human economy (i.e.,
order as manifested in buildings, factories, transportation
networks, communication systems, etc.) only at the expense of
increasing “disorder” in the environment. According to a
number of studies, increased entropy is likely to be correlated
to negative environmental impacts.[32][33][34][35]
Agriculture
Main article: Environmental impact of agriculture
The environmental impact of agriculture varies based on the
wide variety of agricultural practices employed around the
world. Ultimately, the environmental impact depends on the
production practices of the system used by farmers. The
connection between emissions into the environment and the
farming system is indirect, as it also depends on other climate
variables such as rainfall and temperature.
There are two types of indicators of environmental impact:
"means-based", which is based on the farmer's production
methods, and "effect-based", which is the impact that farming
methods have on the farming system or on emissions to the
environment. An example of a means-based indicator would
be the quality of groundwater that is affected by the amount
of nitrogen applied to the soil. An indicator reflecting the loss of
nitrate to groundwater would be effect-based.[36]
The environmental impact of agriculture involves a variety of
factors from the soil, to water, the air, animal and soil diversity,
plants, and the food itself. Some of the environmental issues
that are related to agriculture are climate
change, deforestation, genetic engineering, irrigation
problems, pollutants, soil degradation, and waste.
Fishing
Main article: Environmental impact of fishing
 scientists challenge the findings, although the debate
continues. Many countries, such as Tonga, the United
States, Australia and New Zealand, and international
management bodies have taken steps to appropriately
manage marine resources.[39][40]
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released
their biennial State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture in
2018[41] noting that capture fishery production has remained
constant for the last two decades but unsustainable
overfishing has increased to 33% of the world's fisheries. They
also noted that aquaculture, the production of farmed fish, has
increased from 120 million tonnes per year in 1990 to over 170
million tonnes in 2018. [42]
Fishing down the foodweb
Irrigation
The environmental impact of fishing can be divided into issues
that involve the availability of fish to be caught, such Main article: Environmental impact of irrigation
as overfishing, sustainable fisheries, and fisheries
management; and issues that involve the impact of fishing on
other elements of the environment, such as by-catch and
destruction of habitat such as coral reefs.[37]
These conservation issues are part of marine conservation,
and are addressed in fisheries science programs. There is a
growing gap between how many fish are available to be
caught and humanity’s desire to catch them, a problem that
gets worse as the world population grows.
Similar to other environmental issues, there can be conflict
between the fishermenwho depend on fishing for their
The environmental impact of irrigation includes the changes in
livelihoods and fishery scientists who realize that if future fish
quantity and quality of soil and water as a result
populations are to be sustainable then some fisheries must
of irrigation and the ensuing effects on natural and social
reduce or even close.[38]
conditions at the tail-end and downstream of the irrigation
The journal Science published a four-year study in November scheme.
2006, which predicted that, at prevailing trends, the world
The impacts stem from the changed hydrological
would run out of wild-caught seafood in 2048. The scientists
conditions owing to the installation and operation of the
stated that the decline was a result
scheme.
of overfishing, pollution and other environmental factors that
were reducing the population of fisheries at the same time as An irrigation scheme often draws water from the river and
their ecosystems were being degraded. Yet again the analysis distributes it over the irrigated area. As a hydrological result it
has met criticism as being fundamentally flawed, and many is found that:
fishery management officials, industry representatives and
 the downstream river discharge is reduced
 the evaporation in the scheme is increased
 the groundwater recharge in the scheme is increased
 the level of the water table rises
 the drainage flow is increased.
These may be called direct effects.
Effects on soil and water quality are indirect and complex, and
subsequent impacts on natural, ecological and socio-
economic conditions are intricate. In some, but not all
instances, water logging and soil salinization can result.
However, irrigation can also be used, together with soil
drainage, to overcome soil salinization by leaching excess
salts from the vicinity of the root zone.[43][44]
Irrigation can also be done extracting groundwater
by (tube)wells. As a hydrological result it is found that the level
of the water descends. The effects may be water mining,
land/soil subsidence, and, along the coast, saltwater intrusion.
Irrigation projects can have large benefits, but the negative
side effects are often overlooked.[45][46] Agricultural irrigation
technologies such as high powered water pumps, dams, and
pipelines are responsible for the large-scale depletion of fresh
water resources such as aquifers, lakes, and rivers. As a result
of this massive diversion of freshwater, lakes, rivers, and
creeks are running dry, severely altering or stressing
surrounding ecosystems, and contributing to the extinction of
many aquatic species.[47]
Agricultural land loss and soil erosion
Further information: land loss and agricultural expansion
Lal and Stewart estimated global loss of agricultural land by
degradation and abandonment at 12 million hectares per year.
[48]
In contrast, according to Scherr, GLASOD (Global
Assessment of Human-Induced Soil Degradation, under the
UN Environment Programme) estimated that 6 million hectares
of agricultural land per year had been lost to soil degradation
since the mid-1940s, and she noted that this magnitude is
similar to earlier estimates by Dudal and by Rozanov et al.
[49]
Such losses are attributable not only to soil erosion, but
also to salinization, loss of nutrients and organic matter,
acidification, compaction, water logging and subsidence.
[50]
Human-induced land degradation tends to be particularly
serious in dry regions. Focusing on soil properties, Oldeman
estimated that about 19 million square kilometers of global
land area had been degraded; Dregne and Chou, who
included degradation of vegetation cover as well as soil,
estimated about 36 million square kilometers degraded in the
world’s dry regions.[51] Despite estimated losses of agricultural
land, the amount of arable land used in crop production
globally increased by about 9% from 1961 to 2012, and is
estimated to have been 1.396 billion hectares in 2012.[52]
Global average soil erosion rates are thought to be high, and
erosion rates on conventional cropland generally exceed
estimates of soil production rates, usually by more than an
order of magnitude.[53] In the US, sampling for erosion
estimates by the US NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation
Service) is statistically based, and estimation uses the
Universal Soil Loss Equation and Wind Erosion Equation. For
2010, annual average soil loss by sheet, rill and wind erosion
on non-federal US land was estimated to be 10.7 t/ha on
cropland and 1.9 t/ha on pasture land; the average soil erosion
rate on US cropland had been reduced by about 34% since
1982.[54] No-till and low-till practices have become increasingly
common on North American cropland used for production of
grains such as wheat and barley. On uncultivated cropland,
the recent average total soil loss has been 2.2 t/ha per year.
[54]
In comparison with agriculture using conventional
cultivation, it has been suggested that, because no-till
agriculture produces erosion rates much closer to soil
production rates, it could provide a foundation for sustainable
agriculture.[53]
Meat production
Main article: Environmental impact of meat production
Worldwide, the animal industry provides only 18% of calories,
but uses 83% of agricultural land.[55]
Environmental impacts associated with meat production
include use of fossil energy, water and land resources,
greenhouse gas emissions, and in some instances, rainforest
clearing, water pollution and species endangerment, among
other adverse effects.[56][57] Steinfeld et al. of the FAO estimated
that 18% of global anthropogenic GHG (greenhouse gas)
emissions (estimated as 100-year carbon dioxide equivalents)
are associated in some way with livestock production. [56] FAO
data indicate that meat accounted for 26% of global livestock
product tonnage in 2011. [58]
Globally, enteric fermentation (mostly in ruminant livestock)
accounts for about 27% of anthropogenic methane emissions,
[59]
Despite methane’s 100-year global warming potential,
recently estimated at 28 without and 34 with climate carbon
feedbacks,[59] methane emission is currently contributing
relatively little to global warming. Although reduction of
methane emissions would have a rapid effect on warming, the
expected effect would be small.[60] Other anthropogenic GHG
emissions associated with livestock production include carbon
dioxide from fossil fuel consumption (mostly for production,
harvesting and transport of feed), and nitrous oxide emissions
associated with use of nitrogenous fertilizers, growing of
nitrogen-fixing legume vegetation and manure management.
Management practices that can mitigate GHG emissions from
production of livestock and feed have been identified.[61][62][63][64]
[65]
Considerable water use is associated with meat production,
mostly because of water used in production of vegetation that
provides feed. There are several published estimates of water
use associated with livestock and meat production, but the
amount of water use assignable to such production is seldom
estimated. For example, “green water” use is
evapotranspirational use of soil water that has been provided
directly by precipitation; and “green water” has been estimated
to account for 94% of global beef cattle production’s “water
footprint”,[66] and on rangeland, as much as 99.5% of the water
use associated with beef production is “green water”.
Biomass of mammals on Earth[67]
Livestock, mostly cattle and pigs (60%)
Humans (36%)
Wild animals (4%)
Impairment of water quality by manure and other substances
in runoff and infiltrating water is a concern, especially where
intensive livestock production is carried out. In the US, in a
comparison of 32 industries, the livestock industry was found
to have a relatively good record of compliance with
environmental regulations pursuant to the Clean Water Act and
Clean Air Act,[68] but pollution issues from large livestock
operations can sometimes be serious where violations occur.
Various measures have been suggested by the US
Environmental Protection Agency, among others, which can
help reduce livestock damage to stream water quality and
riparian environments.[69]
Changes in livestock production practices influence the
environmental impact of meat production, as illustrated by
some beef data. In the US beef production system, practices
prevailing in 2007 are estimated to have involved 8.6% less
fossil fuel use, 16% less greenhouse gas emissions (estimated
as 100-year carbon dioxide equivalents), 12% less withdrawn
water use and 33% less land use, per unit mass of beef
produced, than in 1977.[70] From 1980 to 2012 in the US, while
population increased by 38%, the small ruminant inventory
decreased by 42%, the cattle-and-calves inventory decreased
by 17%, and methane emissions from livestock decreased by
18%;[52] yet despite the reduction in cattle numbers, US beef
production increased over that period.[71]
Some impacts of meat-producing livestock may be considered
environmentally beneficial. These include waste reduction by
conversion of human-inedible crop residues to food, use of
livestock as an alternative to herbicides for control of invasive
and noxious weeds and other vegetation management,[72] use
of animal manure as fertilizer as a substitute for those
synthetic fertilizers that require considerable fossil fuel use for
manufacture, grazing use for wildlife habitat enhancement,
[73]
and carbon sequestration in response to grazing practices,
[74][75]
among others. Conversely, according to some studies
appearing in peer-reviewed journals, the growing demand for
meat is contributing to significant biodiversity loss as it is a
significant driver of deforestation and habitat destruction.[76][77]
[78][79]
Palm Oil
Main article: Social and environmental impact of palm oil
A village palm oil press "malaxeur" in Bandundu, Democratic
Republic of the Congo
Introductions and Invasive Species
Introductions of species, particularly plants into new areas, by
whatever means and for whatever reasons have brought about
major and permanent changes to the environment over large
areas. Examples include the introduction of Caulerpa
taxifolia into the Mediterranean, the introduction of oat species
into the California grasslands, and the introduction of privet,
kudzu, and purple loosestrife to North America. Rats, cats, and
goats have radically altered biodiversity in many islands.
Additionally, introductions have resulted in genetic changes to
native fauna where interbreeding has taken place, as
with buffalo with domestic cattle, and wolves with domestic
dogs.
Energy Industry
Main article: Environmental impact of the energy industry
The environmental impact of energy
harvesting and consumption is diverse. In recent years there
has been a trend towards the increased commercialization of
various renewable energy sources.
In the real world, consumption of fossil fuel resources leads
to global warming and climate change. However, little change
is being made in many parts of the world. If the peak oil theory
proves true, more explorations of viable alternative energy
sources, could be more friendly to the environment.
Rapidly advancing technologies can achieve a transition of
energy generation, water and waste management, and food
production towards better environmental and energy usage
practices using methods of systems ecology and industrial
ecology.[80][81]

Biodiesel
Main article: Environmental impact of biodiesel
The environmental impact of biodiesel includes energy use,
greenhouse gas emissions and some other kinds of pollution.
A joint life cycle analysis by the US Department of Agriculture
and the US Department of Energy found that substituting
100% biodiesel for petroleum diesel in buses reduced life
cycle consumption of petroleum by 95%. Biodiesel reduced
net emissions of carbon dioxide by 78.45%, compared with
petroleum diesel. In urban buses, biodiesel reduced particulate
emissions 32 percent, carbon monoxide emissions 35 percent,
and emissions of sulfur oxides 8%, relative to life cycle
emissions associated with use of petroleum diesel. Life cycle
emissions of hydrocarbons were 35% higher and emission of
various nitrogen oxides (NOx) were 13.5% higher with
biodiesel.[82]Life cycle analyses by the Argonne National
Laboratory have indicated reduced fossil energy use and
reduced greenhouse gas emissions with biodiesel, compared
with petroleum diesel use.[83] Biodiesel derived from various
vegetable oils (e.g. canola or soybean oil), is readily
biodegradable in the environment compared with petroleum
diesel.[84]
Coal Mining and Burning
Main article: Environmental impact of coal mining and burning
The environmental impact of coal mining and -burning is
diverse.[85] Legislation passed by the US Congress in 1990
required the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) to issue a plan to alleviate toxic air
pollution from coal-fired power plants. After delay and litigation,
the EPA now has a court-imposed deadline of March 16, 2011,
to issue its report.
Electricity Generation
Main article: Environmental impact of electricity generation
The environmental impact of electricity generation is significant
because modern society uses large amounts of electrical
power. This power is normally generated at power plants that
convert some other kind of energy into electricity. Each such
system has advantages and disadvantages, but many of them
pose environmental concerns.
Nuclear Power
Main article: Environmental impact of nuclear power
The environmental impact of nuclear power results from
the nuclear fuel cycle processes including mining, processing,
transporting and storing fuel and radioactive fuel waste.
Released radioisotopes pose a health danger to human
populations, animals and plants as radioactive particles enter
organisms through various transmission routes.
Radiation is a carcinogen and causes numerous effects on
living organisms and systems. The environmental impacts of
nuclear power plant disasters such as the Chernobyl disaster,
the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the Three Mile
Island accident, among others, persist indefinitely, though
several other factors contributed to these events including
improper management of fail safe systems and natural
disasters putting uncommon stress on the generators. The
radioactive decay rate of particles varies greatly, dependent
upon the nuclear properties of a particular isotope.
Radioactive Plutonium-244 has a half-life of 80.8 million years,
which indicates the time duration required for half of a given
sample to decay, though very little plutonium-244 is produced
in the nuclear fuel cycle and lower half-life materials have
lower activity thus giving off less dangerous radiation.[86]
Oil Shale Industry
Main article: Environmental impact of the oil shale industry Reservoirs
Main article: Environmental impact of reservoirs

Kiviõli Oil Shale Processing & Chemicals Plant in ida-Virumaa,

Estonia
The environmental impact of the oil shale industry includes the The Wachusett Dam in Clinton, Massachusetts
consideration of issues such as land use, waste management,
and water and air pollution caused by the extraction and The environmental impact of reservoirs is coming under ever
processing of oil shale. Surface mining of oil shale increasing scrutiny as the world demand for water and energy
deposits causes the usual environmental impacts of open-pit increases and the number and size of reservoirs increases.
mining. In addition, the combustion and thermal Dams and the reservoirs can be used to supply drinking water,
processing generate waste material, which must be disposed generate hydroelectric power, increasing the water supply
of, and harmful atmospheric emissions, including carbon for irrigation, provide recreational opportunities and flood
dioxide, a major greenhouse gas. Experimental in-situ control. However, adverse environmental and sociological
conversion processes and carbon capture and impacts have also been identified during and after many
storage technologies may reduce some of these concerns in reservoir constructions. Although the impact varies greatly
future, but may raise others, such as the pollution of between different dams and reservoirs, common criticisms
groundwater.[87] include preventing sea-run fish from reaching their historical
mating grounds, less access to water downstream, and a
smaller catch for fishing communities in the area. Advances in
Petroleum technology have provided solutions to many negative impacts
of dams but these advances are often not viewed as worth
Main article: Environmental impact of petroleum investing in if not required by law or under the threat of fines.
Whether reservoir projects are ultimately beneficial or
The environmental impact of petroleum is often negative detrimental—to both the environment and surrounding human
because it is toxic to almost all forms of life. Petroleum, a populations— has been debated since the 1960s and probably
common word for oil or natural gas, is closely linked to virtually long before that. In 1960 the construction of Llyn Celyn and
all aspects of present society, especially for transportation and the flooding of Capel Celyn provoked political uproar which
heating for both homes and for commercial activities. continues to this day. More recently, the construction of Three
Gorges Dam and other similar projects
throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America have generated
considerable environmental and political debate.
Wind Power
Main article: Environmental impact of wind power
Wind turbines in an agricultural setting
Compared to the environmental impact of traditional energy
sources, the environmental impact of wind power is relatively
minor. Wind powered electricity generation consumes no fuel,
and emits no air pollution, unlike fossil fuel power sources. The
energy consumed to manufacture and transport the materials
used to build a wind power plant is equal to the new energy
produced by the plant within a few months. While a wind farm
may cover a large area of land, many land uses such as
agriculture are compatible, with only small areas of turbine
foundations and infrastructure made unavailable for use.[88]
There are reports of bird and bat mortality at wind turbines, as
there are around other artificial structures. The scale of the
ecological impact may[89] or may not[90] be significant,
depending on specific circumstances. Prevention and
mitigation of wildlife fatalities, and protection of peat bogs,
[91]
affect the siting and operation of wind turbines.
There are conflicting reports about the effects of noise on
people who live very close to a wind turbine.
Light Pollution
Main article: Ecological light pollution
A composite image of artificial light emissions from Earth at
night
Artificial light at night is one of the most obvious physical
changes that humans have made to the biosphere, and is the
easiest form of pollution to observe from space.[92] The main
environmental impacts of artificial light are due to light's use as
an information source (rather than an energy source). The
hunting efficiency of visual predators generally increases
under artificial light, changing predator prey interactions.
Artificial light also affects dispersal, orientation, migration,
and hormone levels, resulting in disrupted circadian rhythms.
[93]
Manufactured Products
Cleaning agents
Main article: Environmental impact of cleaning agents
The environmental impact of cleaning agents is diverse. In
recent years, measures have been taken to reduce these
effects.
Nanotechnology
Main article: Environmental impact of nanotechnology
Nanotechnology's environmental impact can be split into two
aspects: the potential for nanotechnological innovations to
help improve the environment, and the possibly novel type of
pollution that nanotechnological materials might cause if
released into the environment. As nanotechnology is an
emerging field, there is great debate regarding to what extent
industrial and commercial use of nanomaterials will affect
organisms and ecosystems. A pulp and paper mill in New Brunswick, Canada. Although
pulp and paper manufacturing requires large amounts of
energy, a portion of it comes from burning wood waste.
Paint
The environmental impact of paper is significant, which has led
Main article: Environmental impact of paint to changes in industry and behaviour at both business and
personal levels. With the use of modern technology such as
The environmental impact of paint is diverse. the printing press and the highly mechanised harvesting of
Traditional painting materials and processes can have harmful wood, paper has become a cheap commodity. This has led to
effects on the environment, including those from the use a high level of consumption and waste. With the rise in
of lead and other additives. Measures can be taken to reduce environmental awareness due to the lobbying
environmental impact, including accurately estimating paint by environmental organizations and with increased
quantities so that wastage is minimized, use of paints, government regulation there is now a trend
coatings, painting accessories and techniques that are towards sustainability in the pulp and paper industry.
environmentally preferred. The United States Environmental
Protection Agency guidelines and Green Star ratings are some Plastics
of the standards that can be applied.
Further information: Plastic § Environmental effects
Some scientists suggest that by 2050 there could be more
Paper plastic than fish in the oceans.[94]

Main article: Environmental impact of paper Pesticides

Main article: Environmental impact of pesticides
The environmental impact of pesticides is often greater than
what is intended by those who use them. Over 98% of sprayed
insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other
than their target species, including nontarget species, air,
water, bottom sediments, and food.[95] Pesticide contaminates
land and water when it escapes from production sites and
storage tanks, when it runs off from fields, when it is Acid mine drainage in the Rio Tinto River
discarded, when it is sprayed aerially, and when it is sprayed
into water to kill algae.[96] The environmental impact of mining includes erosion,
formation of sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, and contamination
The amount of pesticide that migrates from the intended
of soil, groundwater and surface water by chemicals from
application area is influenced by the particular chemical's
mining processes. In some cases, additional forest logging is
properties: its propensity for binding to soil, its vapor pressure,
done in the vicinity of mines to increase the available room for
its water solubility, and its resistance to being broken down
the storage of the created debris and soil. [100] Besides creating
over time.[97] Factors in the soil, such as its texture, its ability to
environmental damage, the contamination resulting from
retain water, and the amount of organic matter contained in it,
leakage of chemicals also affect the health of the local
also affect the amount of pesticide that will leave the area.
[97] population.[101] Mining companies in some countries are
Some pesticides contribute to global warming and the
required to follow environmental and rehabilitation codes,
depletion of the ozone layer.[98]
ensuring the area mined is returned to close to its original
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products[edit] state. Some mining methods may have significant
environmental and public health effects.
Main article: Environmental impact of pharmaceuticals and
personal care products Transport
The environmental impact of pharmaceuticals and personal Main article: Environmental impact of transport
care products (PPCPs) is largely speculative. PPCPs are
substances used by individuals for personal health
or cosmetic reasons and the products used by agribusiness to
boost growth or health of livestock. PPCPs have been
detected in water bodies throughout the world. The effects of
these chemicals on humans and the environment are not yet
known, but to date there is no scientific evidence that they
affect human health.[99]
Mining
Main article: Environmental impact of mining
Interstate 10 and Interstate 45 near
downtown Houston, Texas in the United States
The environmental impact of transport is significant because it
is a major user of energy, and burns most of the
world's petroleum. This creates air pollution, including nitrous
oxides and particulates, and is a significant contributor
to global warming through emission of carbon dioxide,[102] for
which transport is the fastest-growing emission sector. [103] By
subsector, road transport is the largest contributor to global
warming.[102]
Environmental regulations in developed countries have Roads
reduced the individual vehicles emission; however, this has
been offset by an increase in the number of vehicles, and Main article: Environmental impact of roads
more use of each vehicle.[102] Some pathways to reduce the
carbon emissions of road vehicles considerably have been The environmental impact of roads includes the local effects
studied.[104] Energy use and emissions vary largely between of highways (public roads) such as on noise, light
modes, causing environmentalists to call for a transition from pollution, water pollution, habitat destruction/disturbance and
air and road to rail and human-powered transport, and local air quality; and the wider effects including climate
increase transport electrification and energy efficiency. change from vehicle emissions. The design, construction and
management of roads, parking and other related facilities as
Other environmental impacts of transport systems well as the design and regulation of vehicles can change the
include traffic congestion and automobile-oriented urban impacts to varying degrees.
sprawl, which can consume natural habitat and agricultural
lands. By reducing transportation emissions globally, it is Shipping
predicted that there will be significant positive effects on
Earth's air quality, acid rain, smog and climate change.[105] Main article: Environmental impact of shipping

The health impact of transport emissions is also of concern. A

recent survey of the studies on the effect of traffic emissions
on pregnancy outcomes has linked exposure to emissions to
adverse effects on gestational duration and possibly also
intrauterine growth.[106]
Aviation
Main article: Environmental impact of aviation
The environmental impact of aviation occurs because aircraft
engines emit noise, particulates, and gases which contribute An Agent Orange spray run by aircraft, part of Operation
to climate change[107][108] and global dimming.[109] Despite
Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War.
emission reductions from automobiles and more fuel-efficient
and less polluting turbofanand turboprop engines, the rapid The environmental impact of shipping includes greenhouse
growth of air travel in recent years contributes to an increase gas emissions and oil pollution. In 2007, carbon
in total pollution attributable to aviation. In the EU, greenhouse dioxide emissions from shipping were estimated at 4 to 5% of
gas emissions from aviation increased by 87% between 1990 the global total, and estimated by the International Maritime
and 2006.[110] Among other factors leading to this phenomenon Organization (IMO) to rise by up to 72% by 2020 if no action is
are the increasing number of hypermobile travellers[111] and taken.[113] There is also a potential for introducing invasive
social factors that are making air travel commonplace, such species into new areas through shipping, usually by attaching
as frequent flyer programs.[111] themselves to the ship's hull.
There is an ongoing debate about possible taxation of air The First Intersessional Meeting of the IMO Working Group on
travel and the inclusion of aviation in an emissions Greenhouse Gas Emissions[114]from Ships took place
trading scheme, with a view to ensuring that the total external in Oslo, Norway on 23–27 June 2008. It was tasked with
costs of aviation are taken into account.
developing the technical basis for the reduction mechanisms
that may form part of a future IMO regime to control
greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping, and a
draft of the actual reduction mechanisms themselves, for
further consideration by IMO’s Marine Environment Protection
Committee (MEPC).[115]

Military
General military spending and military activities have marked
environmental effects.[116] The United States military is
considered one of the worst polluters in the world, responsible
for over 39,000 sites contaminated with hazardous materials.
[117]
Several studies have also found a strong positive
correlation between higher military spending and
higher carbon emissions where increased military spending
has a larger effect on increasing carbon emissions in the
Global North than in the Global South. [118][116] Military activities
also affect land use and are extremely resource-intensive.[119]
The military does not solely have negative effects on the
environment.[120] There are several examples of militaries
aiding in land management, conservation, and greening of an Environmental degradation effects
area.[121] Additionally, certain military technologies have proven
extremely helpful for conservationists and environmental Main article: Environmental degradation
scientists.[122]
War
Child demonstrating for actions to protect the environment
Main article: Environmental impact of war (2018).
As well as the cost to human life and society, there is a Human activity is causing environmental degradation, which is
significant environmental impact of war. Scorched the deterioration of the environmentthrough depletion of
earth methods during, or after war have been in use for much resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of
of recorded history but with modern technology war can cause ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife;
a far greater devastation on the environment. Unexploded and pollution. It is defined as any change or disturbance to the
ordnance can render land unusable for further use or make environment perceived to be deleterious or undesirable.[124] As
access across it dangerous or fatal.[123] indicated by the I=PAT equation, environmental impact (I) or
degradation is caused by the combination of an already very
large and increasing human population (P), continually
increasing economic growth or per capita affluence (A), and
the application of resource-depleting and polluting technology
(T).[125][126]
Mass extinction, defaunation and decline in
biodiversity
Main articles: Holocene extinction, Defaunation,
and Biodiversity loss
Further information: Ecological collapse and Ecological
extinction
Biodiversity generally refers to the variety and variability of life
on Earth, and is represented by the number of different
species there are on the planet. Since its introduction, Homo
sapiens (the human species) has been killing off entire species
either directly (such as through hunting) or indirectly (such as
by destroying habitats), causing the extinction of species at an
alarming rate. Humans are the cause of the current mass
extinction, called the Holocene extinction, driving extinctions to
100 to 1000 times the normal background rate. [127][128] Though
most experts agree that human beings have accelerated the
rate of species extinction, some scholars have postulated
without humans, the biodiversity of the Earth would grow at an
exponential rate rather than decline.[2] The Holocene extinction
continues, with meat consumption, overfishing, ocean
acidification and the amphibian crisis being a few broader
examples of an almost universal, cosmopolitan decline in
biodiversity. Human overpopulation (and continued population
growth) along with profligate consumption are considered to
be the primary drivers of this rapid decline. [129][130] The
2017 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity stated that,
among other things, this sixth extinction event unleashed by
humanity could annihilate many current life forms and consign
them to extinction by the end of this century.[23]
High-level political attention on the environment has been
focused largely on climate change because energy policy is
central to economic growth. But biodiversity is just as
important for the future of earth as climate change.
—Robert Watson, 2019.[131]
Defaunation is the loss of animals from ecological
communities.[132]
It is estimated that more than 50 percent of all wildlife has
been lost in the last 40 years.[133] It is estimated that by 2020,
68% of the world's wildlife will be lost. [134] In South America,
there is believed to be a 70 percent loss.[135] A May 2018 study
published in PNAS found that 83% of wild mammals, 80% of
marine mammals, 50% of plants and 15% of fish have been
lost since the dawn of human civilization. Currently, livestock
make up 60% of the biomass of all mammals on earth,
followed by humans (36%) and wild mammals (4%).
[28]
According to the 2019 global biodiversity
assessment by IPBES, human civilization has pushed one
million species of plants and animals to the brink of extinction,
with many of these projected to vanish over the next few
decades.[136][137][138]
Death of coral reefs
Main article: Human impact on coral reefs
Because of human overpopulation, coral reefs are dying
around the world.[139] In particular, coral
mining, pollution (organic and non-organic), overfishing, blast
fishing and the digging of canals and access into islands and
bays are serious threats to these ecosystems. Coral reefs also
face high dangers from pollution, diseases, destructive fishing
practices and warming oceans.[140] In order to find answers for
these problems, researchers study the various factors that
impact reefs. The list of factors is long, including the ocean's
role as a carbon dioxide sink, atmospheric changes, ultraviolet
light, ocean acidification, biological virus, impacts of dust
storms carrying agents to far flung reefs, pollutants, algal
blooms and others. Reefs are threatened well beyond coastal
areas.
General estimates show approximately 10% world's coral reefs
are already dead.[141][142][143] It is estimated that about 60% of
the world's reefs are at risk due to destructive, human-related
activities. The threat to the health of reefs is particularly strong
in Southeast Asia, where 80% of reefs are endangered.
Decline in amphibian populations[edit]
Main article: Decline in amphibian populations
Wastewater
Domestic, industrial and agricultural wastewater makes its way
to wastewater plants for treatment before being released into
aquatic ecosystems. Wastewater at these treatment plants
contains a cocktail of different chemical and biological
contaminants which may influence surrounding ecosystems.
For example, the nutrient rich water supports large populations
of pollutant-tolerant Chironomidae, which in-turn
attract insectivorous bats.[144] These insects accumulate toxins
in their exoskeletons and pass them on to insectivorous birds
and bats. As a result, metals may accumulate in the tissues
and organs of these animals,[145] resulting in DNA damage,
[144]
and histopathological lesions.[146] Furthermore, this altered
diet of fat-rich prey may cause changes in energy
storage[147] and hormone production,[148] which may have
significant impacts on torpor, reproduction, metabolism and
survival.
Biological contaminants such as bacteria, viruses and fungi in
wastewater can also be transferred to the surrounding
ecosystem. Insects emerging from this wastewater may
spread pathogens to nearby water sources. Pathogens, shed
from humans, can be passed from this wastewater to
organisms foraging at these treatment plants. This may lead to
bacterial and viral infections or microbiome dysbiosis.
Global warming
Main article: Global warming
Further information: Runaway climate change
Global warming is the result of increasing atmospheric carbon
dioxide concentrations which is caused primarily by the
combustion of fossil energy sources such as petroleum, coal,
and natural gas, and to an unknown extent by destruction of
forests, increased methane, volcanic activity and cement
production. Such massive alteration of the global carbon
cycle has only been possible because of the availability and
deployment of advanced technologies, ranging in application
from fossil fuel exploration, extraction, distribution, refining,
and combustion in power plants and automobile engines and
advanced farming practices. Livestock contributes to climate
change both through the production of greenhouse gases and
through destruction of carbon sinks such as rain-forests.
According to the 2006 United Nations/FAO report, 18% of all
greenhouse gas emissions found in the atmosphere are due to
livestock. The raising of livestock and the land needed to feed
them has resulted in the destruction of millions of acres of
rainforest and as global demand for meat rises, so too will the
demand for land. Ninety-one percent of all rainforest land
deforested since 1970 is now used for livestock.[149] Potential
negative environmental impacts caused by increasing
atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are rising global air
temperatures, altered hydrogeological cycles resulting in more
frequent and severe droughts, storms, and floods, as well as
sea level rise and ecosystem
B. Human Population Growth:
The size of a population for any species is not a static
parameter. It keeps changing in time, depending on various
factors including food availability, predation pressure and
reduced weather. In fact, it is these changes in population
density that give us some idea of what is happening to the
population, whether it is flourishing or declining.
Whatever might be the ultimate reasons, the density of a
population in a given habitat during a given period, fluctuates
due to changes in four basic processes, two of which (natality
and immigration) contribute an increase in population density
and two (mortality and emigration) to a decrease.
(i) Natality refers to the number of births during a given period
in the population that are added to the initial density.
(ii) Mortality is the number of deaths in the population during a
given period.
(iii) Immigration is the number of individuals of the same
species that have come into the habitat from elsewhere during
the time period under consideration.
(iv) Emigration is the number of individuals of the population
who left the habitat and gone elsewhere during the time period
under consideration.
Under normal conditions, births and deaths are the most
important factors influencing population density, the other two
factors assuming importance only under special conditions.
For instance, if a new habitat is just being colonised,
immigration may contribute more significantly to population
growth than birth rates.
Characteristics of population growth:
(i) Exponential growth
(ii) Doubling time
(iii) Infant mortality rate
(iv) Total fertility rate
(v) Replacement level
(vi) Male / female ratio
(vii) Demographic transition
Growth Models:
We have been concerned about unbridled human population
growth and problems created by it in our country and it is
therefore natural for us to be curious if different animal
populations in nature behave the same way or show some
restraints on growth. Perhaps we can learn a lesson or two
from nature on how to control population growth.
Exponential Growth:
Resource (food and space) availability is obviously essential
for the unimpeded growth of a population. Ideally, when
resources in the habitat are unlimited, each species has the
ability to realise fully its innate potential to grow in number, as
Darwin observed while developing his theory of natural
selection.
Then the population grows in an exponential or geometric
fashion. If in a population of size N, the birth rates are
represented as b and death rates as d, then the increase or
decrease in N during a unit time period t (dN/dt) will be:
dN/dt = (b – d) × N
Let (b – d) = r, then
dN/dt = rN
dN/dt = rN
The r in this equation is called the ‘intrinsic rate of natural
increase’ and is a very important parameter chosen for
assessing impacts of any biotic or abiotic factor on population
growth. Any species growing exponentially under unlimited
resource conditions can reach enormous population densities
in a short time.

Logistic Growth:
No population of any species in nature has its disposal
unlimited resources to permit exponential growth. This leads to
competition between individuals for limited resources.
Eventually, the ‘fittest’ individual will survive and reproduce.
The governments of many countries have also realised this
fact and introduced various restraints with a view to limit
human population growth.
In nature, a given habitat has enough resources to support a
maximum possible number, beyond which no further growth is
possible. Let us call this limit as nature’s carrying capacity for
that species in that habitat. A population growing in a habitat
with limited resources show initially a lag phase, followed by
phases of acceleration and deceleration and finally an
asymptote, when the population density reaches the carrying
capacity. A plot of N in relation to time results in a sigmoid
curve.
C. Loss of Wildlife Through Human Activity
By Bashir Hangi
Conflict between people and animals is one of the main
threats to the continued survival of many species in different
parts of the world, and is also a significant threat to local
human populations.
As human populations expand and natural habitats shrink,
people and animals are increasingly coming into conflict over
living space and food. (Habitat is the minimum area necessary
for a wildlife species to naturally survive. The area in which an
animal moves is its range and the size of the range depends
on the animal and its requirements.)
The impacts are often huge - people lose their crops and
livestock (and therefore a source of income and food security),
property, and sometimes their lives - even a severe injury
caused by wildlife can result in a loss of livelihood. The
animals, some of which are already threatened or even
endangered, are sometimes killed in retaliation or to prevent
future conflicts.
However, humans are largely responsible for human-wildlife
conflicts through causing changes in the environment that hurt
animals and plant species. We take up more space on Earth
for our homes and cities. Because human populations are
growing so fast, animals and plants are disappearing 1,000
times faster than they have in the past 65 million years.
Habitat destruction by human activity is mainly for the purpose
of harvesting natural resources for industrial production and
urbanisation. Clearing habitats for agriculture is the major
cause of habitat destruction. Other causes are mining, logging,
and urban sprawl. Therefore, human activity is by far the
biggest cause of habitat loss.
The loss of wetlands, lakes, and other natural environments all
destroy or degrade habitat, as do other human activities such
as introducing invasive species, polluting, trading in wildlife,
and engaging in wars. Globally, tens of thousands of species,
including 25 per cent of all mammals and 13 per cent of birds
– are now threatened with extinction because of human-
caused problems. In different parts of earth, people are
encroaching on protected areas for settlement, crop cultivation
and animal grazing, while in other parts, they are clamouring
for de-gazetting of protected areas.
 Oftentimes, environmental problems are caused by our
carelessness, disregard for the laws of nature and
misinformation as to the cause effect of interaction of living
things on earth.

In this regard, how can we develop further our people's

D. How to Solve Ecological Problems awareness of ecological problems? How can we enhance our
so-called "Environmental Cognition"?

Ecology is the study of the interrelationship of living things

with their environment.This branch of knowledge also includes
the study of nonliving things. In recent years, ecology has
become a source of great interest to many people especially
those who live near the Pacific Ocean.
Some of the environmental problems are caused by industry:
wastes pollute the waters, gases and fumes poison the air.
When the air and water are polluted, then fish, birds and other
living creatures die. Human life is also affected by industrial The Nature of Pollution. As soon as the product comes to the
neglect. People become poisoned in many ways while working end of its useful life, it is often thrown away, creating two main
in and around unsafe plants and factories. Nuclear power problems.
plants have caused great controversy. First, large amounts of long-lasting rubbish and garbage need
People also cause some of the problems. Cars that people to be disposed of safely.
drive release fumes into the air we breathe. Garbage is Second, there is a continuous and growing demand for the raw
sometimes dumped into streams that supply drinking water. materials of which these products are made.
Forest fires are often caused by careless campers. Beaches
The Earth does not have an everlasting supply of materials
and city streets are littered with debris.
and if a change in use does not take place, many resources
One effective way to use materials and help solve will disappear.
environmental pollution is recycling. We can save and use our
Solving the Problem: How We Can Solve the Problem?
discarded materials again.
Today, some governments and organizations arrange the
Recycling is the term used to refer to the ways of reusing
collection of waste paper so that it can be treated and made
existing materials. It refers to the ways in which materials can
into other products. Many newspaper use between 25 percent
be saved and preserved after they have been used so that
and 50 percent of recycled paper.
they can be of value again to people.
Many people can now recycle their glass and cans. In the
Recycle and Reuse. People today make use of large
packaging industries, nearly 80 percent of all cardboard boxes
quantities of junk materials such as paper, glass, steel and
are recycled. The metal with the best record is the aluminum
aluminum to make books, packages, newspaper, bottles, jars,
from soft drink cans and beer cans, nearly half of which are
vehicles, can, toys and many more.
recycled.
Recycling enable us to use smaller amounts of those
In the future, it seems likely that more products will be
resources and materials which do not renew themselves
recycled.
naturally.
E. Pattern of Resource Use
Global disparities in ecological footprint.
Patterns of resource consumption evaluate the ecological
footprint as a measure of the relationship between population
size and resource consumption. Identify international
variations in its size.
Changing patterns of energy consumption examine the
global patterns and trends in the production and consumption
of oil. Examine the geopolitical and environmental impacts of
these changes in patterns and trends. Examine the changing
importance of other energy sources.
Conservation strategies discuss the reduction of resource
consumption by conservation, waste reduction, recycling and
substitution. Evaluate a strategy at a local or national scale
aimed at reducing the consumption of one resource.
Patterns in resource consumption
Ecological footprint. A measure of human demand on the
earth’s ecosystems. It represents the amount of biologically
productive land and sea needed to regenerate the resources
human population and to absorb and render harmless the
corresponding waste. The concept of ecological footprint has
been used to measure natural resource consumption, how it
varies from country to country, and how it has changed over
time. The ecological footprint for a country has been defined
as the sum of all the crop land, grazing land, forests and
fishing grounds required to produce the food, fibre and timber
it consumes, to absorb the wastes emitted when it uses
energy, and to provide space for its infrastructure.
Biocapacity. The ability of an area to provide resources and
absorb waste. It is the capacity of an area to provide resources
and absorb wastes. When the area’s ecological footprint
exceeds its biocapacity, an ecological deficit occurs.Biological
capacity available per person (or per capita): There were 12
billion hectares of biologically productive land and water on
this planet in 2008. Dividing by the number of people alive in
that year, 6.7 billion, gives 1.8 global hectares per person. This
assumes that no land is set aside for other species that
consume the same biological material as humans
Global Hecate. The measurement of biocapacity and
ecological footprint. There were 13.4billion hectares of
biologically productive land and water on this planet in 2005.
Dividing by the number of people alive in that year, 6.5 billion,
gives 2.1 global hectares per person.
Ecological Creditor. Country’s whose ecological footprint is
lower than there biocapacity.
Ecological Debetor.: Country’s whole ecological footprint is
higher than there biocapacity.
Carbon footprint. The total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions caused by an organization, event, product or
person.
Ecological footprints can be looked at on an individual level, a
household level, a city level, a country level or a global level.
Calculations are complicated but basically look at carbon footprint
and then people’s impact on resources and the environment in terms
of agriculture, fisheries, energy, forestries and settlements.
  opportunities for sustainable agriculture and industry

Development in a Drinking Water Catchment

Hunter Water participates in the planning and assessment
process for development proposals that may impact on
drinking water supplies within any of the drinking water
catchments (known as 'Special Areas').
E.1 Water Catchment Areas
Catchment Management Plan
What is a Catchment?
Hunter Water has developed a long term Catchment
A catchment is an area where water is collected by the natural Management Plan for protecting and improving water quality in
landscape. In a catchment, rainwater run-off will eventually our drinking water catchments.
flow to a creek, river, dam, lake, ocean, or into a groundwater
system.
The region's drinking water catchments deliver water to Hunter
Water's surface water and groundwater storages.
Why Protect Our Catchments?
Hunter Water is responsible for providing over half a million
people with safe, high quality drinking water. This responsibility
begins with healthy drinking water catchments.
Human activities such as urban development, agriculture,
septic systems and land clearing have the potential to impact
the health of our catchments.
Healthy catchments help to protect our rivers, dams and
E.2 Forestry
groundwater environments and provides our community with: Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, using,
conserving, and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated
 clean drinking water
resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is
practiced in plantations and natural stands. The science of
 natural areas for recreation
forestry has elements that belong to the biological, physical,
 habitat for plants and animals social, political and managerial sciences.
Modern forestry generally embraces a broad range of
 healthy vegetation and waterways concerns, in what is known as multiple-use management,
including the provision of timber, fuel wood, wildlife habitat,
 reliable and clean water for stock and irrigation natural water quality management, recreation, landscape and
community protection, employment, aesthetically
appealing landscapes, biodiversity management, watershed
management, erosion control, and preserving forests as
"sinks" for atmospheric carbon dioxide. A practitioner of
forestry is known as a forester. Other common terms are:
a verderer, or a silviculturalist. Silviculture is narrower than
forestry, being concerned only with forest plants, but is often
used synonymously with forestry.
Forest ecosystems have come to be seen as the most
important component of the biosphere, and forestry has
emerged as a vital applied science, craft, and technology.
Forestry is an important economic segment in various
industrial countries. For example, in Germany, forests cover
nearly a third of the land area, wood is the most
important renewable resource, and forestry supports more
than a million jobs and about €181 billion of value to the
German economy each year.
Forestry in the 21st century
Today a strong body of research exists regarding the
management of forest ecosystems and the genetic
improvement of tree species and varieties. Forestry studies
also include the development of better methods for the
planting, protecting, thinning, controlled burning, felling,
extracting, and processing of timber. One of the applications of
modern forestry is reforestation, in which trees are planted and
tended in a given area.
Trees provide numerous environmental, social and economic
benefits for people. In many regions the forest industry is of
major ecological, economic, and social importance, with
the United States producing more timber than any other
country in the world. Third-party certification systems that
provide independent verification of sound
forest stewardship and sustainable forestry have become
commonplace in many areas since the 1990s. These
certification systems developed as a response to criticism of
some forestry practices, particularly deforestation in less-
developed regions along with concerns over resource
management in the developed world. Some certification
systems are criticized for primarily acting as marketing tools
and for lacking in their claimed independence.
In topographically severe forested terrain, proper forestry is
important for the prevention or minimization of serious
soil erosion or even landslides. In areas with a high potential
for landslides, forests can stabilize soils and prevent property
damage or loss, human injury, or loss of life.
Public perception of forest management has become
controversial, with growing public concern over perceived
mismanagement of the forest and increasing demands that
forest land be managed for uses other than for pure timber
production, for example: indigenous
rights, recreation, watershed management, and preservation
of wilderness, waterways and wildlife habitat. Some of the
advantages and disadvantages accruing to monoculture in
farming also apply to monoculture in forestry. Sharp
disagreements over the role of forest fires, logging, motorized
recreation and other issues drive debate while the public
demand for wood products continues to increase.
History of Forestry Education
The first dedicated forestry school was established by Georg
Ludwig Hartig at Hungen in the Wetterau, Hesse, in 1787,
though forestry had been taught earlier in central Europe,
including at the University of Giessen, in Hesse-Darmstadt.
In Spain, the first forestry school was the Forest Engineering
School of Madrid (Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de
Montes), founded in 1844.
The first in North America, the Biltmore Forest School was
established near Asheville, North Carolina, by Carl A.
Schenck on September 1, 1898, on the grounds of George W.
Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate. Another early school was the New
York State College of Forestry, established at Cornell
University just a few weeks later, in September 1898. Early
19th century North American foresters went to Germany to
study forestry. Some early German foresters also emigrated to
North America.
E.3 Agricultural Land
Agricultural land is defined as the land area that is either
arable, under permanent crops, or under permanent pastures.
Arable land includes land under temporary crops such as
cereals, temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land
under market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow.
Land abandoned as a result of shifting cultivation is excluded.
Land under permanent crops is cultivated with crops that
occupy the land for long periods and need not be replanted
after each harvest, such as orchards and vineyards. This
category excludes land under trees grown for wood or timber.
Permanent pasture is land used for five or more years for
forage, including natural and cultivated crops. This indicator is
presented as a total and per type of agricultural land and is
measured in hectares and in percentage. Other agro-
environmental indicators include Organic farmland and
Transgenic cropland.
Types of Agriculture
 Industrialized Agriculture
Industrialized
agriculture is the type
of agriculture where
large quantities of crops
and livestock are produced through industrialized techniques
for the purpose of sale. The goal of industrialized agriculture is
to increase crop yield, which is the amount of food that is
produced for each unit of land. Crops and livestock made
through this type of agriculture are produced to feed the
masses and the products are sold worldwide.
Industrialized agriculture is able to produce large quantities of
food due to the farming methods used. Instead of using animal
and manpower to work the fields, industrialized agriculture
utilizes large machines, which are more powerful and can work
faster and harder. The shift towards machines has increased
the use of fossil fuels on industrial farms, and, therefore, the
price of food can fluctuate as the price of oil changes.
Industrialized agriculture also increases crop yield by investing
in large irrigation systems and by using chemical fertilizers and
pesticides.
The chemical fertilizers that are used in industrialized
agriculture often add inorganic nutrients to the soil to increase
yield and plant size. The use of pesticides is also common in
industrialized agriculture, and most pesticides help increase
yield by killing pests that are harming or consuming the crops.
Another farming technique that is used in industrialized
agriculture is the method of growing monocultures, which is
when a single crop is planted on a large scale. Although
planting monocultures can increase overall yield, this method
of farming is also more susceptible to disease and causes a
reduction in the dietary variation of consumers.
 Subsistence Agriculture

Although industrialized agriculture is necessary to feed the
growing human population, there is another type of agriculture
that is regularly practiced today. Subsistence agriculture is
when a farmer lives on a small amount of land and produces
enough food to feed his or her household and have a small
cash crop. The goal of subsistence agriculture is to produce
enough food to ensure the survival of the individual family. If
there is excess food produced, it is sold locally to other
families or individuals.
Subsistence agriculture varies a great deal from industrialized
agriculture in terms of the farming methods used. This type of
agriculture is very labor-intensive because all of the work is
done by humans and animals and only hand tools and simple
machines are used to work the land.
Subsistence agriculture does not rely on chemical fertilizers or
pesticides and instead utilizes more natural techniques. Most
farmers have animals, including chickens, goats and cows,
and the manure from these animals is used to fertilize the
plants. The crops produced are then consumed or sold, and
the inedible parts of the plants are used to feed the livestock.
This creates a closed circuit within the farm where nothing
goes to waste.
Instead of using chemical pesticides, subsistence farmers rely
on natural predators of pests to control the pest population.
Another major difference between industrialized and
subsistence agriculture is what is being planted. Unlike
industrialized agriculture that utilizes monocultures,
subsistence agriculture relies on polycultures, which is when
different types of crops are planted in one area. Planting
polycultures is a method used to get the most crop yield out of
a small area of land.
E.4 The Sea
the world ocean or simply the ocean is the
connected body of salty water that covers over 70 percent of
the Earth's surface. It moderates the Earth's climate and has
important roles in the water cycle, carbon cycle, and nitrogen
cycle. It has been travelled and explored since ancient times,
while the scientific study of the sea—oceanography—dates
broadly from the voyages of Captain James Cook to explore
the Pacific Ocean between 1768 and 1779. The word "sea" is
also used to denote smaller, partly landlocked sections of the
ocean and certain large, entirely landlocked, saltwater
lakes such as the Caspian Sea and the Dead Sea.
The most abundant solid dissolved in sea water is sodium
chloride. The water also contains salts of magnesium, calcium,
and potassium, amongst many other elements, some in
minute concentrations. Salinity varies widely, being lower near
the surface and the mouths of large rivers and higher in the
depths of the ocean; however the relative proportions of
dissolved salts varies little across the oceans. Winds blowing
over the surface of the sea produce waves, which break when
they enter shallow water. Winds also create surface currents
through friction, setting up slow but stable circulations of water
throughout the oceans. The directions of the circulation are
governed by factors including the shapes of the continents and
the rotation of the earth (the Coriolis effect). Deep-sea
currents, known as the global conveyor belt, carry cold water
from near the poles to every ocean. Tides, the generally twice-
daily rise and fall of sea levels, are caused by the rotation of
the Earth and the gravitational effects of the orbiting Moon,
and to a lesser extent of the Sun. Tides may have a very high
range in bays or estuaries. Submarine earthquakes arising
 from tectonic plate movements under the oceans can lead to
destructive tsunamis, as can volcanoes, huge landslides or the
impact of large meteorites.
A wide variety of organisms, including bacteria, protists, algae,
plants, fungi and animals, live in the sea, which offers a wide
range of marine habitats and ecosystems, ranging vertically
from the sunlit surface waters and the shoreline to the
enormous depths and pressures of the cold, dark abyssal
zone, and in latitude from the cold waters under the Arctic ice
to the colourful diversity of coral reefs in tropical regions. Many
of the major groups of organisms evolved in the sea and life
may have started there.

The "Seven Seas" (as in the idiom "sail the Seven Seas") is an
ancient phrase for all of the world's ocean Since the 19th
century, the term has been taken to include seven oceanic
bodies of water: the Arctic Ocean.

 the North Atlantic Ocean

 the South Atlantic Ocean
 the Indian Ocean
 the North Pacific Ocean
 the South Pacific Ocean
 the Southern (or Antarctic) Ocean

CHAPTERVII: Waste and Pollution
Pollution is defined as anything that makes an environment harmful
or unpleasant for living organisms.
Waste is created by all lifeforms. However humans, due to shear
numbers and our modern, industrialized lifestyles, have created
more waste than nature can cope with and in some cases we have
completely devastated whole ecosystems.
Solid, gaseous and liquid waste create serious problems for
humans and the environment if they are not treated, transported and
managed safely.
Waste is generally defined as hazardous or as non-hazardous.
Hazardous wastes
Hazardous and toxic chemicals are generated by industry,
agriculture, homes and the environment. There are three major
classes of hazardous waste: biological, chemical and radioactive.
Biological waste is composed of organic molecules – this can
include anything from kitchen scraps to animal and human wastes.
This type of waste may be infectious or otherwise hazardous to the
health of humans and other organisms. Therefore it must be properly
treated and specially handled. Non-infectious, non-hazardous
biological waste can be disposed of using standard methods of
rubbish disposal. However decomposing biological waste does
generate greenhouse gases, methane in particular.
Chemical wastes are inorganic. They are usually man-made
chemicals but they also include naturally occurring metals like
mercury and lead that are highly toxic and mined for use in paints
and other compounds. There are many sources of hazardous
chemical waste including: batteries, construction debris, natural gas,
fossil fuel combustion, industry waste, pesticides, herbicides,
fertilizers, medical facilities, crude and used oil. Well known chemical
hazards include DDT, 245T and Agent Orange. Also the greenhouse
gases like carbon dioxide and methane are chemical wastes.
Radioactive (or nuclear) waste is the by-product from nuclear
reactors, fuel processing plants, and institutions such as hospitals
and research facilities. Land, water and air can be affected by
radioactive contamination. Because these wastes may take up to
thousands of years to decay and become safe it is a real concern
that they are stored responsibly for the long-term.
Non-hazardous wastes
When solid waste does not pose a threat to the environment
or human health it is classified as non-hazardous.
Nonhazardous wastes are generally disposed of through
municipal landfills, recycling facilities, incinerators, construction
landfills and compost facilities.
Wastes such as paints, plastics, spill residues, latex and
rubber products are considered to be non-hazardous! Therefore
responsible waste processing facilities handle non-hazardous waste
as carefully as hazardous waste.
 When pollution was beginning to be talked about it was
recognized as a huge threat to human health and the surrounding
natural resources. However, the long-term effects from pollution
seems to be have forgotten. Most people seem to only talk about air
pollution and relate it to the exhaust from vehicles. However, it is
actually much bigger than that. Here are 5 kinds of environmental
pollution caused by waste that you should know:
Land Pollution
This kind of pollution is actually the degradation (becoming
unusable) of Earth’s surface . There are 2 causes, and guess what, a
pile of waste is one of them. Land pollution is mainly caused by
improper disposal of waste and the misuse of resources. Here are
some examples of land pollution:
 Litter on every corner or on the side of the road
 Oil spills
 Illegal dumping in natural habitats Debris or damage caused
from unsustainable logging practices
 Pesticides and other farming chemicals
 Nuclear accidents or radiation spills
 Because of land pollution we will likely lose the natural
habitats of animals, especially the endangered ones like
orangutans and tigers!
Garbage Pollution
It is caused by the mismanagement of solid waste from
human & their activities, waste collectors and waste disposal
contractors. The effects of this type of pollution is the spread of
harmful bacteria in the surroundings, as well as obnoxious odours
which will also end up as air pollution. The water will also get
contaminated, which will transmit parasites and bacteria to humans.
Beach Pollution
Beach pollution is waste like plastic bags, nets, or cigarette
filters that being thrown to beach. This waste harms sea creatures
and affects the marine environment. It is often caused by
irresponsible beach visitors littering and leaving their waste behind
after a picnic or get together.
Plastic Pollution
Plastic pollution is hard and soft non-biodegradable plastic
that stays on the land for thousands of years or forever (pretty much
all plastic is this type of plastic). It will stay forever in the soil and
harm the soil’s health and composition.
Wastes Emitted in the Atmosphere
Air Pollution
Air pollution is the contamination of air by smoke particles and
harmful gases. They are mainly oxides of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur.
Some examples of air pollution include:
 The burning of fossil fuels like oil, gas or coal
 The exhaust fumes from your vehicles
 The mismanagement of landfill waste caused by garbage
pollution
 The harmful fragrance or off-gasing from plastic production,
paints and so on
 Nuclear accidents or radiation spills
They are all caused by waste and the only cure is through
growing forests, and just a lot of trees everywhere!
Pollution is waste that is harmful to the environment. Life has
always produced waste but in biological systems one organism’s
waste is food for another organism. In this system all waste is
biological and is recycled.
Humans are continually creating waste that is non-biological
(synthetic, radio-active) and cannot be biodegraded, the world is
becoming more and more polluted as these wastes accumulate in
the soil, waterways and in organisms themselves.
Economic Poisons
a substance or mixture of substances (such as an insecticide,
fungicide, rodenticide, or herbicide) for control of plants or animals
that have economic significance as pests (as in agriculture, industry,
or households) : PESTICIDE
Example:
Regulating "Economic Poisons":
The Persistent Problems of Persistent Pesticides
 element bio – biological systems affect metal cycling geo –
geological forces affect metal distribution chemical –
parameters/processes which affect the movement of metals

Emerging organic contaminants in groundwater: A review of sources,

fate and occurrence

Emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) detected in groundwater

may have adverse effects on human health and aquatic ecosystems.
This paper reviews the existing occurrence data in groundwater for a
Some living things, such as the insects shown above, are not
range of EOCs including pharmaceutical, personal care, ‘life-style’
generally esteemed by humans. Those things our society defines as
and selected industrial compounds.
"vermin," "varmints," or one of the other pejorative terms applied to
critters that offend or harm us (a changing cast of characters over
time and across different societies, we should be aware) are often
considered legitimate targets of extermination efforts. At least since Gas or liquid-phase organic contaminants may include
Biblical times, insects that feed on human crop plants have been volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the form of solvents,
chemical precursors and intermediates, petroleum compounds, etc.
near the top of the list of insect enemies. The emergence of germ
Solid organic compounds may include sludges, still bottoms, resins,
theory in medical science, which identified insects as a possible
chemicals, waxes, paper, plastic, wood, foodstuffs, etc.
vector for diseases such as malaria, also strengthened the public's
desire to control or eliminate the populations of some insect pests.
After the Industrial Revolution, however, the war between humans EUTROPHICATION
and insect pests escalated and, inevitably, found its way into the
courts. Eutrophication is when the environment becomes enriched with
nutrients. This can be a problem in marine habitats such as lakes as
it can cause algal blooms.
Contamination by Organic Substances Eutrophication is a serious environmental problem since it results in
a deterioration of water quality and is one of the major impediments
Substance present in greater than natural concentration due to
to achieving the quality objectives established by the Water
man’s activities Anthropogenic: synthetic or man-made Pollutant: a
Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) at the European level. According
substance that occurs in the environment at least in part as a result
to the Survey of the State of the World’s Lakes, a project promoted
of man’s activities, and which has a deleterious effect on living
by the International Lake Environment Committee, eutrophication
organisms. Xenobiotic: a foreign chemical or material not produced
affects 54% of Asian lakes, 53% of those in Europe, 48% of those in
in nature and not normally considered a constitutive component of a
North America, 41% of those in South America and 28% of those in
specific biological system [Note – by this definitions, any xenobiotic
Africa
compound is automatically considered a contaminant] Partitioning:
where a contaminant ends up; i.e. what phase (air, water, sediment,
tissue type) the contaminant enters
These structural changes mainly depend on 3 factors:
Examples of contaminants

Biogeochemical Cycle Anthropogenic metal contamination is

superimposed on the natural biogeochemical cycle of a given 1. Use of fertilisers:
  111111Fertilisers are often used in farming, sometimes
these fertilisers run-off into nearby water causing an increase
in nutrient levels.
 This causes phytoplankton to grow and reproduce more
rapidly, resulting in algal blooms.
 This bloom of algae disrupts normal ecosystem functioning
and causes many problems.
 The algae may use up all the oxygen in the water, leaving
none for other marine life. This results in the death of many
aquatic organisms such as fish, which need the oxygen in
the water to live.
 The bloom of algae may also block sunlight from
photosynthetic marine plants under the water surface.
 Some algae even produce toxins that are harmful to higher
forms of life. This can cause problems along the food chain
and affect any animal that feeds on them.
2. Discharge of waste water into water bodies.
In various parts of the world, and particularly in developing
countries, waste water is discharged directly into water bodies such
as rivers, lakes and seas. The result of this is the release of a high
quantity of nutrients which stimulates the disproportionate growth of
algae. In industrialised countries, on the other hand, waste water can
be illegally discharged directly into water bodies. When instead water
is treated by means of water treatment plants before discharge into
the environment, the treatments applied are not always such as to
reduce the organic load, with the consequent accumulation of
nutrients in the ecosystem.
3. Reduction of self purification capacity.
Over the years, lakes accumulate large quantities of solid material
transported by the water (sediments). These sediments are such as
to able to absorb large amounts of nutrients and pollutants.
Consequently, the accumulation of sediments starts to fill the basin
and, increasing the interactions between water and sediment, the
resuspension of nutrients present at the bottom of the basin is
facilitated (N. Sechi, 1986). This phenomenon could in fact lead to a
further deterioration of water quality, accentuating the processes
connected with eutrophication (V. Tonolli, 2001)
Formation mechanism
Eutrophication is characterized by a significant increase of algae
(microscopic organisms similar to plants) due to the greater
availability of one or more growth factors necessary for
photosynthesis, such as sunlight, carbon dioxide and nutrients
(nitrogen and phosphorus). When algae start to grow in an
uncontrolled manner, an increasingly large biomass is formed which
is destined to degrade. In deep water, a large amount of organic
substance accumulates, represented by the algae having reached
the end of their life cycle. To destroy all the dead algae, an excessive
consumption of oxygen is required, in some cases almost total, by
microorganisms. An anoxic (oxygen-free) environment is thus
created on the lake bottom, with the growth of organisms capable of
living in the absence of oxygen (anaerobic), responsible for the
degradation of the biomass. The microorganisms, decomposing the
organic substance in the absence of oxygen, free compounds that
are toxic, such as ammonia and hydrogen sulphide (H2S). The
absence of oxygen reduces biodiversity causing, in certain cases,
even the death of animal and plant species. All this happens when
the rate of degradation of the algae by microorganisms is greater
than that of oxygen regeneration, which in summer is already
present in low concentrations.
Sources:
https://www.water-pollution.org.uk/eutrophication-and-water-
pollution/
http://www.eniscuola.net/en/2016/11/03/what-is-
eutrophication-causes-effects-and-control/

CHAPTER VIII: Introduction to Exotic

Species,
Epilogue

Exotic species, which are also known as alien species,

invasive species, non-indigenous species, and bioinvaders,
are species of plants or animals that are growing in a
nonnative environment. Alien species have been moved by
humans to areas outside of their native ranges. Once
transported, they become removed from the predators,
parasites, and diseases that kept them in balance in their
native environments. As a result of the loss of these controls,
they often become pests in the areas into which they are
introduced.

Many plants and animals can disperse naturally into

new habitats. The colonization of North America by cattle
egrets from Africa, and the slow spread of the nine-banded
armadillo into Texas and Louisiana occurred without human
intervention. But the most destructive invasions are invariably
those caused by human activity, whether deliberate or
inadvertent.
Environmental Impact
Nonnative species are not always harmful. Ninety-eight
percent of the food grown in the United States come from
nonnative species of wheat, barley, rice, cattle, and poultry.
The nonnative honeybee is essential in growing plant crops,
as well as generally benefiting flower pollination. Non-native
species add $500 billion a year to the United States economy.
However, many nonnative species do enormous
environmental damage. Research has shown that more than
40 percent of species on the U.S. Department of the Interior's
lists of endangered or threatened species are at risk primarily
because of nonindigenous species.
The economic damage caused by rats is huge. Rats
alone do more than $19 billion of damage per year. Damage
caused by alien insects cost $20 billion. Altogether, the more
than 30,000 nonnative species in the United States cost the
country $123 billion a year in economic losses, according to a
June 12, 1999 report by Cornell University ecologists. In that
report, David Pimentel of Cornell said that the United States
has become the land of a billion rats.
Invading species can cause complex changes within
the structure and function of their new ecosystem. Their
presence can lead to the restructuring of established food
webs, the importation of new diseases to the new
surroundings, and competition with indigenous organisms for
space and food. Other ecological changes may occur when
the invading organisms reproduce with native species,
possibly altering the gene pool. This may lead to hybridization
and homogeneity, which reduces biodiversity, the primary
element associated with an ecosystem's ability to adapt to
natural or human-induced changes.
How Do They Get Here?
Introductions of nonnative species can be planned, incidental,
accidental, or unintentional. They can also be caused by a
natural disaster. Scientists have made several attempts to
identify the possible pathways of introduction, with varied
success.
The most common method of introduction into marine
environments is through the ballast water of shipping vessels.
A cargo ship floats high in the water and is very unstable when
it is empty. To stabilize the ship, the crew fills the ballast tanks
with water. When the tanks are filled, marine organisms are
pumped in along with the water. Then, when the ballast water
is discharged at the next port of call, exotic species can be
introduced. Scientists estimate that as many as 3,000 alien
species per day are transported around the world in the ballast
water of ships.
Aquaculture, the cultivation of natural products of water such
as fish, also introduces invading organisms. Although
nonnative species can provide inexpensive food and sources
of recreation for human communities, these same species can
cause environmental damage if they are released or escape.
Well Known Invaders
Thousands of invasive species worldwide are notorious for
their distinctive habits, destructive potential, or ecological
damage. Other invaders seem to be having little environmental
impact. A few of the more well-known exotic species in the
United States are discussed here.
African Clawed Frog.
The African Clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, was widely used in
human pregnancy testing in the 1940s and 1950s, and as a
result was shipped all over the world. The frog is native to
southern Africa, but is now found around the world in suitable
habitats, probably due to accidental or deliberate releases. It is
voracious and prolific, preying on insect larvae, small fish, and
tadpoles. It is a completely aquatic frog. The state of
Washington prohibits importation of Xenopus, and other states
require a permit for possessing it. Xenopus remains a popular
laboratory animal and is still available as a pet in some areas.
The environmental damage caused by Xenopus is due to its
voracious appetite and fecundity. The frog competes with
native species for small fish, insect larvae, amphibians, and
other prey. However, researchers disagree as to the extent of
environmental damage it causes.
Mediterranean Gecko.
This small gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus ) is a native of the
Mediterranean, and apparently first arrived in the United
States on cargo ships unloading in New Orleans. Some areas
may also have been colonized by escaped pets. The lizard is
primarily nocturnal, preferring rocky walls near bright lights. It
is found all along the Gulf Coast of the United States and as
far west as Arizona. Because there are no other nocturnal,
insectivorous lizards in areas the gecko have colonized, it
does not appear to be causing any environmental damage.
Zebra Mussel.
Zebra Mussels (Dreissena polymorpha ) originated in the
Balkans, Poland, and areas within the former Soviet Union.
The species was introduced into the Great Lakes in the ballast
water of ships in 1988. It has been spread by barge traffic into
all the major East Coast rivers of the United States that are
connected through canals to the Great Lakes. At first, the
zebra mussel was believed to be intolerant of the warm water
in the southern parts of the United States, but it is now
established in the lower Mississippi River. Many of the small
lakes near the Great Lakes are not connected to the Great
Lakes by waterways, but they still have zebra mussels. In
these cases, the mussels were probably transported on boats
moved from lake to lake on trailers. They would not
necessarily have to be moved from lake to lake on the same
day, because in cool, humid conditions, zebra mussels can
stay alive out of water for several days.
The economic impact of zebra mussels is due to their habit of
colonizing the pipes that supply water to electric power plants
and public water supplies. The colonies can become so dense
that flow through the pipes is restricted. At one power plant in
Michigan, zebra mussel densities were as high as 700,000
individuals per square meter (80,000 per square foot), and the
diameters of pipes had been reduced by two-thirds at some
Michigan water-treatment facilities.
Imported Fire Ants.
There are two species of imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta,
the red fire ant, and Solenopsis richteri, the black fire ant. S
rich-teri was introduced first, but the much more aggressive
red fire ant has displaced it and the native fire ant species
across most of the south. Currently, S richteri is found only in a
few areas of northeast Mississippi, northwest Alabama and
southern Tennessee. The attempts to control these invaders
have been controversial. Early efforts to eradicate the ants
with the widespread application of pesticides severely
damaged the environment and may have contributed to the
spread of the insect. Recently, a small parasitic fly
(Psuedacteon ) which offers promise as a fire ant control has
been successfully bred, and test releases are underway.
Techniques are now being developed to breed large numbers
of the tiny flies for more widespread release.
The red fire ant is well established from North Carolina to
eastern Texas, although the further extension of its range may
be limited by geographical factors such as dry summers or
cold winters. The two fire ant species inhabit approximately
93,120,000 hectares (23,010,4531 acres) in nine southern
states, making them a familiar feature of life in these areas.
There are probably about 10 billion colonies. The ants are
feared because, when a nest is disturbed, the ants swarm over
any nearby object, delivering multiple, painful stings to the
intruder. However, the greatest economic impact of the
imported fire ant comes from their attraction to electrical
equipment. Short circuits, fires, and other damage can occur
after ants colonize the equipment.
Reptiles and amphibians.
The native range of the giant toad (Bufo marinus ) extends
from southern Texas, through Mexico and Central America, to
Brazil in South America. This marine toad is widespread,
occurring outside its natural range in places such as Australia,
Fiji, Guam, Hawaii, Japan, New Guinea, the Philippines, the
Solomon Islands, Tonga, several islands in the West Indies,
and southern Florida. In 1955 an accidental release of 100
frogs led to an established population around Miami
International Airport. This population has now spread
throughout southern Florida and into the fringes of Everglades
National Park through an extensive system of canals and
drainage ditches.
Giant toads have replaced the native toad Bufo terrestris in
much of its range. Marine toads have voracious appetites and
eat small, moving or non-moving objects such as other toads,
insects, snails, snakes, garbage, and dog food. If bitten by a
pet, the toads release a milky bufotoxin from their parotid
glands. Bufotoxin causes profuse salvation, twitching;
vomiting; shallow breathing and collapse of the hind limbs. The
toxin has been known to cause death in small mammals. The
long-term environmental impact of this animal is unknown.
Birds.
The parakeet or budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus ),
commonly known as the budgie, is indigenous to interior
Australia. Budgerigars are popular as caged birds throughout
the world, but escaped or released birds have become
established as wildlife in Florida. Another small parrot, the
Monk parakeet (Myopsitta monachus ), is native to South
America. It has established colonies in several cities around
the United States, including one in Austin, Texas. This parrot is
considered a pest in its native territory, causing substantial
damage to grains and fruit crops. It is also a very aggressive
bird, competing with other species for food sources. There are
several reports of Monk parakeets attacking and killing other
birds. The overall environmental impact of these birds is
unknown at this time.
In the 1850s and 1860s, the weaver finch, Passer domesticus
(also called the house sparrow) was deliberately introduced
into North America at several different times and places. In
1853, a group of 100 birds from England were released in
Brooklyn, New York, in a misguided attempt to control canker
worms. Since its introduction, it has rapidly and aggressively
colonized almost all of North America, displacing native birds
by competing for nest sites and food. It is also hardy and
fecund.
Where do we go from here?
Many scientists think that the spread of exotic species is one
of the most serious, yet largely unrecognized, threats to our
environment. Nonnative animal species cause enormous
economic each year to crops, waterways, and natural
environments in the United States. Safeguarding our natural
heritage from alien and exotic species involves stopping
additional introductions, the early detection and quick
eradication of pests, integrated systems for the control and
management of existing pests, and the restoration of native
species and ecosystems.
the costs of attempts to restore native species whose survival
is endangered by introduced species .
Exotic species are most are most destructive when they adapt
readily to their new environment and compete successfully
with native species. Unfortunately there is no sure way to
know which introduced species will become invasive. Often
these plant and animals turn out to be better competitors
because, unlike native species, they have no natural pests,
parasites , diseases, or predators in their new home.

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria ) is an example of a plant

Exotic species are organisms that are introduced to a region or
that is kept in check in its native habitat , but is invasive in
ecosystem , often unintentionally, through human migration or
North America. This showy wetland plant with tall purple
trade. Some exotic species are useful to man, such as horses,
flowers may have arrived accidentally or been intentionally
goats, pigs, and edible plants including wheat and oats. These
imported to North America as a garden ornamental. In its
are examples of species that were brought to the Americas
native northern Europe, resident beetles feed on its roots and
intentionally by European colonists. Other exotic species that
leaves, keeping the loosestrife in check, so that it only appears
were introduced accidentally such as the Mediterranean fruit
occasionally and temporarily in disturbed sites. When
fly (Ceratitis capitata ), Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica ),
loosestrife arrived in North America, the beetles, along with
Africanized bees (Apis mellifera scutellata )(sometimes called
other pests and diseases, were left behind. Loosestrife has
killer bees), and Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus ) have become
proven to be extremely adaptable and has become an
pests. Many exotic species, including most tropical fish, birds,
aggressive weed across much of the American East and
and houseplants brought to colder climates, can survive only
Midwest, often taking over an entire wetland and choking out
under continuous care. A few prove extremely adaptable and
other plants, eliminating much of the wetland biodiversity .
thrive in their new environment , sometime becoming invasive
and out competing native species.

In addition to the competitive advantage of having few

predators, invasive exotic plants and animals may have
The federal government's Office of Technology Assessment
ecological characteristics that make them especially
has estimated that more than 2,000 plant species introduced
competitive. They can be hardy, adaptable to diverse habitat
from around the world currently live and thrive in the United
conditions, and able to thrive on a variety of food sources.
States, and that 15 of these have caused more than $500
They may reproduce rapidly, generating large numbers of
million worth of damage. Economic costs associated with
seeds or young that spread quickly. If they are aggressive
exotic species include agricultural losses, damage to
colonizers adapted to living in marginal habitat, introduced
infrastructure, as when aquatic plants clog water intakes, and
species can drive resident natives from their established sites
and food sources, especially around the disturbed
environments of human settlement.
This competitiveness has been a problem, for example, with
house sparrows (Passer domesticus ). These birds were
intentionally introduced from Europe to North America in 1850
to control insect pests. Their aggressive foraging and breeding
habits often drive native sparrows, martins, and bluebirds from
their nests, and today they are one of the most common birds
in North America. Exotic plants can also become nuisance
species when they crowd, shade, or out-propagate their native
competitors. They can be extraordinarily effective colonists,
spreading quickly and eliminating competition as they become
established.
The list of species introduced to the Americas from Europe,
Asia, and Africa is immense, as is the list of species that have
made the reverse trip from the Americas to Europe, Asia, and
Africa. Some notable examples are kudzu (Pueraria lobata ),
the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha ), Africanized bees
Apis mellifera scutellata ), and Eurasian milfoil (Myriophyllum
spicatum ).
Kudzu is a cultivated legume in Japan. It was intentionally
brought to the southern United States for ground cover and
erosion control. Fast growing and tenacious, kudzu quickly
overwhelms houses, tangles in electric lines, and chokes out
native vegetation.
Africanized "killer" bees were accidentally released in Brazil by
a beekeeper in 1957. These aggressive insects have no more
venom than standard honey bees (also an Old World import),
but they attack more quickly and in great numbers. Breeding
with resident bees and sometimes traveling with cargo
shipments, Africanized bees have spread north from Brazil at a
rate of up to 200 miles (322 km) each year and now threaten
to invade commercially valuable fruit orchards and domestic
bee hives in Texas and California.
The zebra mussel, accidentally introduced to the Great Lakes
around 1985 presumably in ballast water dumped by ships
arriving from Europe, colonizes any hard surface, including
docks, industrial water intake pipes, and the shells of native
bivalves. Each female zebra mussel can produce 50,000 eggs
a year. Growing in masses with up to 70,000 individuals per
square foot, these mussels clog pipes, suffocate native clams,
and destroy breeding grounds for other aquatic animals. They
are also voracious feeders, competing with fish and native
mollusks for plankton and microscopic plants. The economy
and environment of the Great Lakes now pay the price of
zebra mussel infestations. Area industries spend hundreds of
millions of dollars annually unclogging pipes and equipment,
and commercial fishermen complain of decreased catches.
Eurasian milfoil is a common aquarium plant that can
propagate from seeds or cuttings. A tiny section of stem and
leaves accidentally introduced into a lake by a boat or boat
trailer can grow into a huge mat covering an entire lake. When
these mats have consumed all available nutrients in the lake,
they die and rot. The rotting process robs fish and other
aquatic animals of oxygen, causing them to die.
Exotic species have brought ecological disasters to every
continent, but some of the most extreme cases have occurred
on isolated islands where resident species have lost their
defensive strategies. For example, rats, cats, dogs, and
mongooses introduced by eighteenth century sailors have
devastated populations of ground-breeding birds on Pacific
islands. Rare flowers in Hawaii suffer from grazing goats and bring in outside experts and land conservation partners to
rooting pigs, both of which were brought to the island for food, develop innovative and cost effective means of controlling
but have escaped and established wild populations. Grazing exotic species.
sheep threaten delicate plants on ecologically fragile North
Atlantic islands, while rats, cats, and dogs endanger northern
Sources:
seabird breeding colonies. Rabbits introduced into Australia
https://www.encyclopedia.com/earth-and-
overran parts of the island and wiped out hundreds of acres of
environment/ecology-and-environmentalism/environmental-
grassland.
studies/exotic-species

Humans have always carried plants and animals as they

migrated from one region to another with little regard to the
effects of these introductions might have on their new habitat.
Many introduced species seem benign, useful, or pleasing to
have around, making it difficult to predict which imports will
become nuisance species. When an exotic plant or animal
threatens human livelihoods or economic activity, as do kudzu,
zebra mussels, and "killer" bees, people begin to seek ways to
control these invaders.

Control efforts include using pesticides and herbicides, and

introducing natural predators and parasites from the home
range of the exotic plant or animal. For example, beetles that
naturally prey on purple loosestrife have been experimentally
introduced in American loosestrife populations. This deliberate
introduction requires a great deal of care, research, and
monitoring, however, to ensure that an even worse problem
does not result, as happened with the house sparrow. Such
solutions, and the time and money to develop them, are
usually elusive and politically controversial, so in many cases
effective control methods remain unavailable.
Non-profit environmental organizations across the globe are
leading the effort for control of exotic species. For example,
The Nature Conservancy has established Landscape
Conservation Networks to address issues of land conservation
that include invasive species management. These networks