Whati

sEc
ology?

Ecol
ogyisa branchofscience,i
ncludinghumans c
ience
,popul ati
on,community,
ecos
yst
em andbi ospher
e.Ecologyisthest
udyofor ganisms,theenvir
onmentandhowt he
organi
smsi nt
eractwit
he achot he
randt heire
nvir
onme nt.Itisst
udiedatvar
iousle
vel
s,
suchasorganism,population,communi ty,bi
osphereande cosys
tem.

Ecol
ogyisthest
udyoft here l
ati
onshi psbetweenliv
ingor ganis
ms ,includi
nghumans ,and
thei
rphysi
calenvi
ronme nt;itse
ekst ounde rs
tandt hevit
alconnectionsbetwe
enplantsand
animalsandthewor l
dar oundt he m.Ec ol
ogyalsopr ov
idesinfor
mat ionaboutthebenef
it
s
ofec
osys
temsandhowwec anus eEar t
h’sr
esourc
esinwayst hatleavetheenvi
ronment
healt
hyforfut
uregenerati
ons .

Type
sofEc
ology:
­

Ec
ologyc
anbec
las
sif
iedi
ntodi
ff
ere
ntt
ype
s.T
hedi
ff
ere
ntt
ype
sofe
col
ogyar
egi
venbe
low:

1­
GlobalEc
ology:
­Itde
alswi
thinte
ract
ionsamonge art
h’secos
yst
ems,land,atmospher
e
andoceans
.Ithel
pstounder
standthelarge
­sc
alei
nter
actionsandthe
irinf
luenceonthe
pl
anet.

2­LandscapeEcology:­I
tdeal
swi t
ht heex
changeofenergy,materi
als,or
gani
smsandother
product
sofecos
ys tems.Lands
capee c
ologythr
owslightont her
oleofhumani mpac
tsonthe
landsc
apes t
ructuresandfuncti
ons.

3­Ec
osyst
em Ec
ology:
­Itdeal
swi t
ht heenti
ree
cos
yst
em,incl
udingt
hest
udyofliv
ingand
non­
liv
ingcomponentsandt he
irrel
ations
hipwit
htheenvi
ronment
.Thi
ssc
ienc
erese
arc
hes
howe c
osyst
emswork,thei
rinte
racti
ons,et
c.

4­
Communi t
yEcology,:
­Itdealswithhowc ommunitys
truc
turei
smodi
fie
dbyint
erac
tions
amongl i
vingorganisms.Ecologycommuni tyi
smadeupoft woormor
epopul
ati
onsof
di
ffe
rentspec
iesl
ivi
ngi napar tic
ulargeogr
aphicar
ea.

5­
Populati
onEcology:
­Itdeal
swithfac
torsthatal t
erandimpactthegenet
iccomposi
tion
andthes i
zeoft
hepopul at
ionofor
ganisms .Ecol
ogist
sar
einte
res
tedinfluc
tuati
onsint he
si
zeofapopulation,t
hegrowthofapopul ationandanyot he
rinter
act
ionswiththe
populat
ion.
I
nbi ol
ogy,apopulat
ioncanbede f
inedasas
etofi
ndi
vidualsofthesamespec
iesl
ivi
ngin
agivenplaceatagiv
entime.Bi
rthsandimmigr
ati
onarethemai nfact
orst
hatincr
ease
thepopulat
ionandde at
hande migrati
onar
ethemai
nf act
orsthatdecr
easet
he
populati
on.

Populationec
ologyexami ne
sthepopulati
ondi
str
ibuti
onandde ns
ity.Populat
iondensit
y
isthenumbe rofindiv
idualsinagivenvol
umeorarea.Thi
she l
psinde ter
miningwhe t
hera
partic
ularspec
iesisi
ne ndangerori
tsnumberi
stobec ont
rol
ledandr esourc
estobe
reple
nished.

6­Organis
malEcology:
­Organis
male c
ologyisthestudyofani ndi
vidualorganism’s
behaviour
,morphology,phys
iol
ogy,et
c.inrespons
et oenvi
ronmentalchall
enges.I
tlooksat
howi ndiv
idualor
ganismsinter
actwit
hbi ot
icandabi oti
ccomponents.Ec
ologi
stsre
search
howor ganis
msareadapt edtothe
senon­l
ivi
ngandl iv
ingcomponentsofthei
r
surr
oundings.

I
ndi
viduals
peci
esarere
latedtov
ari
ousadapt
ati
onsli
kephys
iol
ogi
caladapt
ati
on,
mor
phologi
caladaptat
ion,andbehav
iour
aladapt
ati
on.

7­Molec
ularEc
ology:
­Thest
udyofe
col
ogyfoc
usesontheproduct
ionofpr
ote
insandhow
thesepr
otei
nsaff
ectt
heorgani
smsandthe
irenv
ironment.Thi
shappensatthemole
cul
ar
lev
el.

DNAformsthepr
otei
nsthati
nte
rac
twitheachot
herandt
hee
nvi
ronme
nt.T
hes
e
i
nte
ract
ionsgi
ver
isetos
omecomplexor
ganis
ms.

I
mpor
tanc
eofEc
ology
T
hef
oll
owi
ngr
eas
onse
xpl
aint
hei
mpor
tanc
eofe
col
ogy:

*
Conser
vat
ionofEnvi
ronment
:­Ecol
ogyhel
psustounde
rst
andhowouract
ionsaffe
ctt
he
e
nvi
ronment.I
tshowsthei
ndivi
dualsthee
xte
ntofdamagewecaus
etot
hee nv
ironment.

L
ackofunde
rst
andingofec
ologyhasl
edtothedegradationofl
andandt hee
nvi
ronment
.
I
thasals
ole
dt ot
heext
inc
tionandendange
rme ntofce
rtainspe
cie
s.F
ore
g.,di
nosaur
s,
whit
eshark,mammot hs
,et
c.T
hus,t
hes
tudyoft
hee
nvi
ronme
ntandor
gani
smshe
lpsust
o
pr
otec
tthe
mf rom anydamageanddanger
.

*Res
ourceAl
loc
ati
on:­Withtheknowledgeofecol
ogy,wear eablet
oknowwhi c
hresour
ces
areneces
sar
yforthesur
viv
alofdif
fere
ntorganisms.Lackofecol
ogi
calknowl
edgehasledto
scar
cit
yandde pr
ivat
ionofthes
eresourc
es,l
eadingtocompe t
iti
on.

*Ener
gyConservat
ion:­Al
lorganis
msr e
quir
ee ne
rgyforthe
irgr
owthandde v
elopment.L
ack
ofec
ologi
calunderst
andingl e
adstotheove
r­e
xploi
tat
ionofene
rgyre
sour
cessuchasli
ght,
nutr
iti
onandr adiati
on,leadingtoi
tsdepl
eti
on.

Properknowl
edgeofec
ologic
alre
quir
ementspre
vent
stheunne
ces
sar
ywas
tageofe
ner
gy
re
s our
ces
,the
reby,c
onser
vingener
gyforf
utur
epurpose
s.

*Ec
o­F
riendl
ine
ss:
­Ecol
ogyenc
ouragesharmoni
ousli
vingwi
thi
nthes
pec
iesandt
he
adopti
onofalife
styl
ethatpr
ote
ctst
heecol
ogyofl
if
e.

Env
ironme
ntalf
act
orswi
the
xampl
es:
­

Ane nvir
onme ntalfactor
,ec
ologic
alfact
orore c
ofactori
sanyf actor,abiot i
corbiot
ic,that
inf
luenceslivi
ngorgani s
ms.[
1]Abioti
cfactor
sincludeambi enttempe ratur e
,amountof
sunli
ght ,andpHoft hewatersoi
linwhi c
hanor ganis
ml ives
.Bioticfactorswouldinclude
theavailabili
tyoffoodorganismsandt hepr e
senceofbiol
ogicalspe c
ifi
city,compet
itors,
predators,andparas i
tes
.

I
nanye c
o­s
ystem,al iv
ingor gani
smi
sinfl
uence
dbyanumbe roffac
torsandfor
ces.T
hese
e
nvi
ronmentalfactor
sar eknownasec
o­fac
tor
sorec
ologi
calf
actor
swhi c
hi nc
ludeli
ght,
t
emperat
ure,s
oil,wateretc.

T
hesefact
orsmaybebiot
ic(l
ivi
ng)andabiot
ic(non­li
ving)
.Thes
um t
otalofal
lthe
se
f
act
orsconst
itut
est
hee
nviron­me ntofanorganism.

Al
lthe
see
col
ogi
calf
act
orsc
anbebr
oadl
ycl
ass
ifi
edi
ntot
hef
oll
owi
ngdi
vis
ions
:
(
i)Cl
imat
icorAe
rialf
act
ors
:

(
a)L
ight
;

(
b)T
empe
rat
ure
;

(
c)Wat
er

(
d)Rai
nfal
l,

(
e)Humi
dit
y,

(
f)At
mos
phe
ricgas
es(
wind)
.

i
(i
)Topogr
aphi
corPhys
iogr
aphi
cfac
tor
s:

(
a)Al
tit
ude
;

(
b)Di
rec
tionofmount
ainc
hai
nsandv
all
eys
,

(
c)S
tee
pne
ssande
xpos
ureofs
lope
s.

i
(ii
)Edaphi
cfac
tor
s:

Thes
ede alwi
thf
ormat
ionofs
oil
,it
sphys
icalandc
hemi
calpr
ope
rti
esandde
tai
lsofr
elat
ed
aspec
ts.

(
iv)Bi
oti
cfac
tor
s:

The
sear
eallkindsofi
nter
acti
onsbe
­twe
endi
ff
ere
ntf
ormsofl
if
e.T
hes
ear
epl
ant
s,
ani
mals,mic
ro­or
ganis
mse t
c.

(
v)L
imi
tingF
act
ors
:
1.Cl
imat
icF
act
ors
:
A.L
ight
:

Li
ghtplaysanimport
antr ol
einthespe
cie
scompos i
tionanddevel
opmentofv
ege
tati
on.
Li
ghtisabundant
lyrece
ivedonthesurf
aceoft
hee art
h.And,onanav e
rageappr
oxi
mately
only2­
3perce
ntofthi
ssolarener
gyisusedinPri
mar yProduc
tiv
ity.

Lightintensit
ys howsspe
cialvariati
onsduetothefactorsl
ikeatmos­pher
icwate
rlayer
,
particl
esdispers
edintheai r
,etc
.F urt
her,t
hevege
tationofanar e
amayal soaf
fec
ttheli
ght
intensi
ty.Inde epshadeunde rt
rees,orunderwater
,lightbecomesl
imit
ingbel
owwhi c
h
phot o­
synthesi
sisnotsuff
ici
entforeff
ect
ivegr
owth.

(
a)Ef
fec
tofL
ightonPl
ant
s:

L
ightplaysavi
talrol
edire
ctl
yori
ndi
rec
tlyinregulat
ingt
hegr
owt
h(s
truc
tur
e,f
orm,s
ize
),
metabol
ism,de
vel
opme ntanddis
­tr
ibutionofplant
s.

T
hepl
ant
sar
einf
lue
nce
dbyl
ighti
nthef
oll
owi
ngways
:

1.Ef
fec
tonChl
orophyl
lsynt
hes
is:

Thesynthesi
sofchloro­phylli
ngre
enplant
scant
akeplac
eonlyinthepr
esenceofl
ight
.It
isse
ent hati
fac oprophi
louspl
anti
ske
ptinpro­l
onge
ddar kne
ss,t
hechl
orophyllamount
pract
icall
ydisap­pe ars
.

2.Ef
fec
tonnumbe
randPos
iti
onofChl
oropl
ast
s:

Li
ghthasmar kedeffec
tont henumbe randpos i
tionofchlor
opl as
ts,t
hechl
or ophyl lbeari
ng
organel
l.Theuppers urf
aceofleaveswhi c
hr e
cei
vemax imum s unlighthasthelar gest
numbe rofchl
oroplastsarrangedinl inewiththedirec
tionoflight.Ontheothe rhand,t he
le
av e
softheplantswhi chshadec hloropl
astsarever
yfewi nnumbe randar r
ange datr i
ght
anglestothel
ightr ays,thusincr
eas i
ngt hesurf
aceofabsorpti
on.

3.Ef
fec
tonPhot
osynt
hes
is:

Photos
ynthesi
sisaproces
sofconvers
ionofsolarener
gy(li
ght
)int
ochemicalene
rgy(
in
pres
enceofchl
orophyl
l)whic
hi ssubsequentl
yus e
dforthepr
eparat
ionofcar
bohydr
ate
fr
om carbondioxi
deandwat er.Photosynt
hesisPr
oces
s

F
rom theabov es
tatement
,i ti
sclearthatlightishighlyes­s e
ntialforphotosynthesi
s.The
r
ateofphotosynthes
isi
ssloweratl owerintens
ityandi tincre
asesli
ne arlywithin­c r
easing
l
ighti
nt e
nsityuptoaparticul
arpoi nt,knownas“ Saturati
onpoint,”andaf terattai
ning
t
hispoint,i
tremainscons
t ant.T
hei ntensi
tyoflightatwhi chtheplant snolongercarryon
photos
ynthe
sisorwhe
nthephot
osynt
hes
isbal
­anc
esr
espi
rat
ioni
scal
ledc
ompe
nsat
ion
int
ensi
ty.

4.Ef
fec
tonRe
spi
rat
ion:

I
nplants,r
espi
rati
onisaproc
essoftheoxi
dati
onofcarbohydrate(producedinthe
phot
osyn­thesi
s)int
ocar
bondioxi
deandwat er.Ac
cor
dingtoCal vin(1958)
,therat
eof
re
spi
rati
onincr
easesathi
gherli
ghtintens
ityanditdecr
easesatlowe rli
ghtinte
nsit
y.

5.Ef
fec
tonT
rans
pir
ati
on:

Theri
seinat mospher
ictempera­t urewhichmaybeduet otheconv
ers
ionofsolar
radi
ationintoheatincr
easest
her ateoftr
anspi
rat
ion.Thepr
oces
sofopeningofstomata
(
whichde pendsuponlight)
leadingt olos
sofwate
rfrom t
heaeri
alsurf
aceofplantsi
s
knownast ranspir
ati
on.

6.Ef
fec
tonPr
oduc
tionofHor
mone
:

L
ighti
nhibi
tst
hesynt
he­si
sofauxi
nsorgrowt
hhor
mone
sinpl
ant
sasar
esul
tofwhi
ch
t
heshapeandsiz
eoft
hepl
antsget
smodifi
ed.

7.Effe
ctonde v
elopme ntofFlower
s,Frui
tsandVe getat
ivepar
ts:
Theintensityofli
ghtlargely
infl
uencesthegrowt handde ­ve
lopme ntoffl
owers,f
ruit
sandv ege
tativepartsofpl
ant s
.
Lightofhigherintensi
tyfavoursdeve
lopme ntoffl
owers,f
rui
tsands ee
dsbutl ightoflower
intensi
typromot e
st hedeve
lopme ntofvege
tativ
epar t
sandc ause
sde l
icacy.

8.Ef
fec
tonF
ormat
ionofAnt
hoc
yani
nPi
gme
nt:

I
ntens
elighthe
lpsint
hef
ormati
onofanthoc
yani
npigment
sinplant
s.T
hepl
ant
sin
Al
pinere
gionshavebe
aut
if
ulf
lower
scont
ain­ingthi
spi
gment.

9.Ef
fec
tonMov
eme
nt:

Theeffectonsunlightinmodulat
ingthemoveme ntofpl
antsi
scall
edphot ot
ropi
sm or
heli
otropism.Thee l
ongationons
temtowardsli
ghtisknownaspos i
­t i
vephoto­
tropi
sm
andt hemov eme ntofroot
sawayfrom l
ighti
sknownasne gati
vephoto­
tropi
sm.T hel
eave
s
growt ransve
rse
lyt oli
ght.
b)Ef
( fec
tofL
ightonAni
mal
s:

Besi
desthemul ti
fari
ousinflue
nceofli
ghtove
rplants
,ithasfarreac
hi ngeff
ect
sonthe
vari
ousbiol
ogicalactiv
iti
esofanimalssuc
hasgr owt
h,devel
opme nt,repr
oducti
on,
loc
omotion,pigme n­tation,metabol
ismetc
.Somemaj ore
ffec
tsofl
i ghtonanimalsare
descr
ibe
dbe l
ow:

1.Ef
fec
tonMe
tabol
ism:

Therat eofmetaboli
smi nani
mal sisl
argel
yinfl
uence
dbyl i
ghtinte
nsit
yt hr
oughenzyme
acti
vit
y.Hi ghertheint
ensi
tyofli
ghthigherwi
llbeenzymeacti
vit
yandhi gherwi
llbethe
generalme tabol
icrate
.However
,thecave
­dwel
li
ngani mal
sarenotinfl
uencedmuchby
li
ghti n­t e
nsit
y.

2.Ef
fec
tonRe
produc
tion:

I
nc aseofsomeani malsandbirds,thebr
eedingacti
viti
esareinducedbylightthroughi
ts
inocul
atingacti
onoverthegonads.Inadditi
on,ther
ee x­is
tsade f
init
ere
lationship
betweenthele
ngt hoft
heday( i
.e.theamountoflight)ande gglyi
ngbyt hebirds.

3.Ef
fec
tonDe
vel
opme
nt:

Li
ghthasdiff
ere
ntialact
ionov
e rde
velopment.I
ncas
eofs
omeanimals,l
ightac
cel
erat
esthe
deve
lopmentandi nsomeothercas
es,itr
etar
dsthes
ame.Fore
xampl
e,Salmonlar
vaegrows
l
argerindarknes
s.

4.Ef
fec
tonPi
gme
ntat
ion:

L
ightinducest
hef or
mationofpig­me ntsi
nani mals.I
tisse
enthathighert
heinte
ns i
tyof
l
ight,hi
gherwillbepigmentati
on.Forex
ampl e
,thehumani nhab­itantsoftr
opi
cal
r
egionhavehigherconce
ntrat
ionofme l
a­ni ninthei
rskin.Henc
ecomparativ
elydarker
t
hant hei
rcoun­t er
part
sintemperatere
gions
(
B)Te
mpe
rat
ure
:

T
empe ratureisame asure
me ntofthedegreeofheat.Li
kelight
,he ati
saform ofene
rgy.T
he
r
adiante nergyrec
eiv
edfrom thesum isconver
tedintoheatenergy.Heati
sme asure
din
c
alo­r i
es.Thetemperatureatwhichphys i
ologic
alproces
sesar
eatt hei
rmax i
mum
e
ffi
cie
ncyi scall
edoptimum tempe r
ature
.

Themi ni
­mum,opt imum andmax i
mum t e
mpe r
aturesar
ecalle
dcardinalte
mpe r
at ur
es.
Thecardi
naltemper
aturevar
iesf
rom spe
cie
stospec
ies
,andint hesameindivi
dualfrom
parttopart
.Thedi
str
ibuti
onsofplant
s,animalsareals
oinfl
uencedbytem­pe rat
ur e
.

Wat
C) er:

Wat erisanindis
pensablepartoflandandsoilpr
oduct
ivi
ty.Themis
useofwate
rl e
adsto
soildegradati
onande ros
ion.Propermanagementofwaterishi
ghl
ynecess
aryforbet
ter
production.Wate
risals
oi ndis
pe ns
ablef
orhumanbe i
ngs.

Thus,itgoeswi t
houtsayingthatwate
risthemosti
mpor t
antsubst
ancenecess
aryforlif
e.
Allt
hephys i
ologic
alproc
ess
estakepl
aceinthemedium ofwater
.Prot
oplas
m,t hev
e ry
basisofli
fe,i
smadeupmos t
lyofwater
.Pl
antsandanimal ss
howc onsi
derabl
evariati
on
intheirre
­qui r
eme nt
sofwater
.

(
D)Rai
nfal
l:

Themai nsourceofsoilwateri
sprec
ipi
tat i
on.Therai
nfal
lpro­vide
swatertoplant
sand
animals.Rainfalloccur
sduetointe
r­c hangeofwat e
rbetwee
ne ar
th’
ssur
faceandthe
atmosphere.Thisisknownast hehydrologicc
ycle
.Inthi
scycl
etwoimport
antthingsar
e
pre
cipi
tati
onande v
apo­tr
anspir
ati
on.

Annualrainfalldete
rminesthetype
sofveget
ati
oninanyr e
­gion.Wefindever
gree
n
f
orest
sintropicalr
egionsduetoheavyrai
nfallt
hroughoutt
heyear.Gr
assl
andsarefound
i
ns uchre
gi onswherether
eisheavyrai
nfalldur
ingsumme randlowrainf
alldur­ing
winter

Humi
dit
y:
At
mos
phe
ricmoi
stur
eint
hef
orm ofi
nvi
sibl
evapouri
sknownashumi
dit
y.Humi
dit
yis
greatlyinf
luencedbyintens
ityofsol
arradiat
ion,te
mpe ratur
e,alt
itude,wind,wat e
rst
atus
ofsoilet
c.Lowtempe r
aturec
auseshigherre
lat
ivehumi di
tybyde cre
asingthec apaci
tyof
airformoisture
.Proc
esse
sastranspir
ati
on,ab­s or
ptionofwateretc
.areinflue
nc e
dby
atmos pheri
chumi di
ty.Humi di
ty,thus
,playsani mportantpartinthelif
eofplantsand
animal s.

Topogr
aphi
cFac
tor
s:
T
hefact
orsconce
rnedwithphysi
calgeographyoftheeart
hareknownastopogr
aphic
f
act
ors
.Thesefact
orsi
nfl
uencev
egetati
onwhi chc
ausesvari
ati
onincl
imat
eofage ogr
aphi
c
r
egi
on,ult
imat e
lygiver
iset
oac haract
eri
sti
cmicr
ocli
mat e
.

T
hedi
ff
ere
ntt
opogr
aphi
cfac
tor
sar
e:

(
1)Al
tit
udeoft
hepl
ace
s.

(
2)S
tee
pne
ssande
xpos
ureoft
hes
lope
,and

(
3)Di
rec
tionoft
hemount
ainc
hai
ns.

BI
OTI
CFACTORS
:­
Bi
oti
cFac
tor
s:

Unde rnatur
als i
tuati
ons,or
gani s
msl i
vetoge t
herwi t
ht hei
rinte
r­ac tionsdire
ctl
yand
indir
ectl
y.Thebioti
cfact
orsconsti
tutethelivingorgani s
msoft heenvironme ntand
defi
nitel
ythe yhavethei
rinter
actions.Thepopul ationoccurr
ingtogethe ri
nanar ea
inte
ractswit
he achotherinseve
ralways .Int hestudyofe nvir
onme ntalr e
acti
onsofa
parti
cularkindoforganisms,theseinter
actionsar egeneral
lyref
erredtoast hebioti
cfac
tor
s.

Wecanelaborat
ei nde t
ailt
her e
lati
onshi
pfoundi nbi
oticf
actor
,inf
luenci
ngthe
e
nvir
onme nt
.Ecologis
tsusethetermsymbiosi
swhi chmeanslivi
ngtogether
.Al
ltypesof
i
nte
ract
ionsincl
udi ngparasit
ism havebe
enincludedunder“symbiosi
s.
”Symbiosi
sme ans
i
nte
ract
ionofliv
ingor gan­ismswhi charenatural
lybenef
ici
al.

Odum hasanal
yse
dtheaf
ore
sai
dint
erac
tioni
ntot
womai
ngr
oups
.The
sear
e:
1.Pos
iti
vei
nter
acti
ons:(Popul
ati
onshel
poneanother)
comme
nsal
ism,pr
oto­
co­
ope
rat
ion
andmut uali
sm aregroupedunderpos
iti
vei
nte
ract
ions.

2.Negativ
einte
rac
tions:
(Me mbersofonepopulati
onmaye atme mbe r
softheother
populat
ion.)
Theycompe t
eforf
oodandi nter
fer
ewi thot
herpopulat
ion.Pr
edation,
paras
iti
sm andant i
bios
isaregroupedunderne gati
vei
nter
acti
ons.

1.Pos
iti
veI
nte
rac
tions
:­

(
a)Mut
ual
ism:

Mutuallybenef
ici
alinter
­speci
fici
nter
acti
onswithpermanentandobli
gat
orycontac
t
i
ndi
s pensabl
eforthei
rsurviv
ali st
ermedasmut uali
sm.General
ly,t
wospe
cie
s(populat
ion)
e
nte
ri ntosomecontactbenefi
cialtoeachothe
r.

S
omee
xampl
esofmut
ual
ism ar
easf
oll
ows
:

(
i)Pol
li
nat
ionbyAni
mal
s:

(
ii
)Di
spe
rsaloff
rui
tsands
eeds
:

(
ii
i)S
ymbi
oti
cni
troge
nfi
xer
s:

(
b)Comme nsali
sm:Comme nsali
smr e
present
stwoormor epopulat
ionsli
vingto­gether
withoutente
ringi nt
oanykindofphys i
ologi
cale
xchange.Inthi
sproce
ss,oneisbene
fit
ed
withoutanye ff
ectontheot
her
.Ac omme nsalwhic
hl i
vesuponthehostsiscal
ledas
ec
tocomme nsals.

2.Ant
agoni
sm orNe
gat
iveI
nte
rac
tions
:

I
)Par
asi
tis
m:

Apar asiteistheor ganis

ml iv
ingonori nt hebodyofanot he
rorganism andde r
ivingi
ts
foodf rom itstissues.Agalaxyofpl antsandani malsareparasi
tesi
nt hei
rmodeofe xi
ste
nce
.
Spe c
iesofc uscutagr owonothe rplantsonwhi c
ht he
yde pendfornourish­me nt
.
Or abanc hec onophol i
sandEpi fagusar efoundonr ootsofhi
gherplants.Mostofthe
par asite
sar emi c r
o­or
ganisms.F ungi,bacter
ia,myc opl
asms,ri
ckett
siasetc
.arethe
exampl esofpl antsandani mal softhiscategory.

I
I)
Pre
dat
ion:
Pr
edatorisf
reel
ivi
ngor ganism whi c
hkill
sandde vour
sindiv
idualsofot
herspe
cie
s.The
paras
itewhichli
vesonori nitshostder
ive
snouris
hme ntswit
houtkill
ingit
,whereasthe
pre
datorkil
lsandde v
our sit
sprey.Carniv
ore
’sanimalsarepredat
ory.

I
II)Compe t
iti
on:Whe ntwoorganismssurv
ivef
orsome t
hingwhichi si
nade quatel
eadsto
compe t
iti
on.Dar win(1859)inhisf
amouswor k,“OntheOrigi
nofS pec
iesThroughnatural
Sele
ction”hashi ghlighte
dt heconc
eptofst
rugglebet
we ens
peci
es.Plantsc
ompe tef
orli
ght,
nut r
ientsinaf ores
tandani malsf
orfoodands hel
ter
.

L
imi
tingF
act
ors
:
Ali
mi t
ingfac
tori
sthats
ubst
anceofqual
ityint
heenvi
ronment,jthesupplyofwhichis
l
eastabundantorove
rabundanti
nr e
la­tiont
otheneedoft
hel i
vingorgani
smc once
rned.

L
imi
tingf
act
orsar
eoft
wot
ype
sont
hebas
isoft
hei
rcor
rel
ati
onwi
thpopul
ati
onde
nsi
ty:

(
i)T
hede
nsi
tyde
pende
ntl
imi
tingf
act
or.

(
ii
)Thede
nsi
tyi
nde
pende
ntl
imi
tingf
act
or.