CHAPTER

7 Organisms and Populations

™ Ecology (at organismic and population level) studies Soil

interactions among organisms and between organism and its ™ Nature and properties of soil depends on climate, weathering
physical (abiotic) environment. and transportation.
™ Ecology is basically concerned with four levels of biological ™ Composition, grain size, pH, minerals and topography
organisation-organisms, populations, communities and
determine vegetation which dictates the type of animals
biomes.
supported.
ORGANISMS AND ITS ENVIRONMENT
RESPONSE TO ABIOTIC FACTORS
™ Ecology, at the organismic level, is essentially physiological
™ Abiotic conditions of many habitats vary drastically in time
ecology.
and organisms living in such habitats need to evolve strategies
™ The rotation of our planet around the sun and the tilt of its to survive or manage with the stressful conditions.
axis cause annual variations in the intensity and duration of
temperature, resulting in distinct seasons. ORGANISMIC RESPONSE TO ABIOTIC
™ Habitat of an organism is characterised by physico-chemical STRESS
(abiotic) components and biotic components like-pathogens,
parasites, predators and competitors- of the organism with Regulate
which they interact constantly. ™ Maintain homeostasis by physiological (or behavioural)

MAJOR ABIOTIC FACTORS means.

™ All birds, mammals and very few lower vertebrates and
Temperature
invertebrates are capable of this.
™ Is the ecologically most important factor.
™ Success of mammals is largely due to their ability to maintain
™ Affects enzyme kinetics, metabolic activity and physiology. constant body temperature and thrive in antarctica or in
™ Eurythermals tolerate wide temperature fluctuations. Sahara desert.
™ Stenothermals restricted to narrow range.
Conform
™ Thermal tolerance determines geographical distribution.
™ 99% animals and nearly all plants are conformers.
Water ™ Body temperature changes with the ambient temperature.
™ Life originated in water.
Suspend
™ Productivity and distribution of plants is dependent on water.
™ Thick walled spore in bacteria, fungi and lower plants.
™ Salinity measured in ppt is:
™ Dormancy in higher plants, hibernation in bears, aestivation
< 5 in inland water, in snails and fish, diapause or suspended development in
30-35 in sea, zooplanktons.
and >100 in some hypersaline lagoons.
Migrate
Light ™ The organism can move away temporarily from the stressful
™ Plants need light for photosynthesis and photoperiod for habitat to a more hospitable area and return when stressful
flowering. period is over
™ Animals also need light for foraging, reproduction & ™ Every winter the famous Keolado National Park (Bharatpur)
migration. in Rajasthan host thousands of migratory birds coming from
™ Red algae are found in deepest water. Siberia and other extremely cold northern regions.
ADAPTATIONS- TO COPE WITH EXTREME  If births plus immigration (B + I) is more than deaths plus
emigration (D + E), population density will increase
ENVIRONMENT
 Under normal conditions, births & deaths are most
Morphological important factors influencing population density
™ Kangaroo rat in North American deserts is capable of meeting  If a new habitat is just being colonised, immigration is
all its water requirements through internal fat-oxidation and more significant to population growth than birth rates.
ability to concentrate urine.
™ CAM plants like Opuntia have thick cuticle, sunken stomata
GROWTH-MODELS
and photosynthetic stems. Exponential Growth
™ Allen’s Rule: Shorter limbs and ears of mammals in cold ™ When resources in the habitat are unlimited, then the
climate to reduce heat loss. population grows in an exponential or geometric fashion. It
™ Thick blubber in seal. is given by the equation, Nt = Noert.
™ It results in J-shaped curve.
Physiological
™ Altitude sickness. Symptoms-Nausea, fatigue & heart
palpitations. LOGISTIC GROWTH
™ Gradually, the body compensates low oxygen by increasing ™ The natural resources are limited in nature, this leads to
RBC production, decreasing the binding affinity of competition.
haemoglobin and increasing the breathing rate. ™ The population growing in a habitat with limited resources
shows, lag, acceleration, deceleration and finally asymptote.
Behavioural ™ It results in S-shaped or sigmoid curve also called as Verhulst-
™ Responses to cope up with variations in environment. Pearl logistic curve.
™ Desert lizards-bask in the sun & absorb heat when their body dN K−N 
™ Given by the equation: = rN  
temperature drops below comfort zone, but move away into dt  K 
shade when ambient temperature starts increasing.
™ Logistic growth model is realistic.
™ Some species hide in burrow to escape from the above-
™ Asymptote-When population density reaches the carrying
ground heat.
capacity.

POPULATION LIFE HISTORY VARIATION

Population Attributes: ™ Populations evolve to maximise their reproductive fitness,
™ Birth rates and Death Rates: Refer to per capita births and also called Darwinian fitness (high ‘r’ value), in the habitat
deaths, respectively. in which they live and evolve towards the most effective
™ Sex-ratio reproductive strategy.
™ Age-pyramids: Shows percent individuals of a given age
Reproductive Strategies in Organisms
or age group. The shape of the pyramids reflects the growth
™ Breed only once in their life time. e.g., Pacific salmon fish,
status of the population. It is of three types:
Bamboo.
Expanding, stable and declining.
™ Breed many times during lifetime. e.g., Most birds &
™ Evolutionary changes through natural selection takes place at Mammals.
population level.
™ Some produce large number of small-sized off springs e.g.,
Oysters, Pelagic fishes.
POPULATION GROWTH ™ Others produce a small number of large-sized off springs.
™ Food availability, predation pressure and adverse weather are e.g., Birds & Mammals.
the factors which affect population.
™ Population density, in a given habitat during a given period, POPULATION INTERACTIONS
fluctuates due to changes in four basic processes.
Predation (+; –)
 Natality, immigration increase it.
™ One species benefits and other is harmed.
 Mortality, emigration decrease it.
™ Used as biological control method for pest-control.
™ Tiger census in our national parks & tiger reserves is often
™ Maintain species diversity by reducing competition among
based on pug marks and fecal pellets
prey.
™ If N is the population density at time ‘t’, then its density at ™ Prey species evolved defenses: Camouflage - Insects & frogs,
time ‘t + 1’ Nt+1 = Nt [(B + I) – (D + E)] monarch butterfly- Chemical defense, thorns-Cactus, Acacia.

12 NEET (XII) Module-2 Botany PW

 ™ Many plants produce and store chemicals that make herbivore ™ Brood parasitism in birds eg. Cuckoo and crow. The eggs
sick when they are eaten, e g., Calotropis produces cardiac of parasitic bird had evolved to resemble host’s egg in colour
glycosides. and size.
Competition (–; –) ™ Ectoparasites feed on external surface of host (Ex. ticks, lice,
Cuscuta) and endoparasites live inside the host (e.g., Ascaris
™ Both the species are negatively affected.
lives in intestine)
™ Totally unrelated species can compete for same resources.
™ The fitness (‘r’ the intrinsic rate of increase) of one species Commensalism (+; 0)
is significantly lower in presence of another species. ™ One species benefits and the other is neither harmed nor
™ Competitive release - The distributional range increase benefited.
dramatically when the superior species is removed., eg. ™ An orchid growing as an epiphyte on a mango branch,
Balanus & Chathamalus. barnacles growing on back of a whale, cattle egret and grazing
™ Gause’s competitive exclusion principle states two closely cattle, sea anemone that has stinging tentacles and clown fish
related species competing for the same resources cannot that lives among them are few examples.
co-exist. e.g., Abingdon tortoise and Goats in galapagos
island. Amensalism (–; 0)
™ One species is harmed whereas the other is unaffected.
™ Two species compete for the same resource could avoid
competition by resource partitioning eg. 5 closely related Mutualism (+; +)
species of warblers on a tree.
™ Both the species get benefits by this interaction.
Parasitism (+; –)
™ Lichens, mycorrhiza, plant - animal relationships for pollination.
™ One species benefits and other is harmed.
™ Free lodging and meals.
™ Plants offer rewards or fees like pollen, nectar for pollinators
and fruits for seed dispersal.
™ Parasites are host specific, i.e., co-evolve.
™ Human liver fluke depends on a snail and a fish to complete ™ Mediterranean orchid Ophrys employs sexual deceit to get
its life cycle. pollination done by a species of bee by pseudo copulation.
™ Parasites reduce survival, growth and reproduction of host ™ Shows co-evolution and one to one relationship like fig and
make them weak partner wasp.

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