Autecology and Individual Ecology

Autecology (Idioecology) or Individual Ecology

• Autecology studies the characteristics of living organisms, focusing on their adaptations to various environmental factors
• These factors include temperature, humidity, salinity, and other environmental conditions

Plan

• Organism and Environment:

  • Habitat is the part of nature that surrounds a living organism and interacts with it
  • Components and properties of the environment vary and are diverse
  • Living organisms continually adjust to their environment and adapt vital functions to changes

• Adaptation of Organisms to the Environment:

  • Adaptation is a primary property of life
  • It allows for the existence and survival of organisms
  • It enables reproduction

• Environmental Factors:

  • Properties or elements influencing organisms are environmental factors.
  • Environmental factors are categorized into abiotic and biotic components

• Law of Optimum:

  • Each environmental factor has defined limits for positive effects on organisms.
  • The optimum effect of a factor depends on its intensity.
  • Insufficient or excessive manifestation of a factor can negatively impact life activity
  • Favorable effects occur within the optimum range.
  • Deviation from the optimum results in suppressive effects (pessimum area)

• Shelford's Law of Tolerance:

  • Organisms face limiting effects from factors, not only due to absence but also presence (excess)
  • Organisms can be characterized by their environmental tolerance limits.
  • These limit are denoted as ecological minimum and ecological maximum, forming a tolerance range

• Law of the Minimum:

  • This law, formulated by Liebig, describes how the organism's endurance is determined by the weakest link in the environmental chain.

• Anthropogenic Factors:

  • These are human societal activities that alter natural environments

• Biotic Factors:

  • Biotic factors refer to interactions between living organisms.

• Abiotic Factors:

  • Abiotic factors are components of inanimate nature influencing living organisms.
  • These encompass physical (e.g., space, climate) and chemical factors (e.g., soil composition, water, air, pH).

• Climatic Factors:

  • Radiant solar energy, humidity, precipitation, and ventilation (wind) impact living organisms.

• Chemical Factors:

  • Soil components, water, air, pH, and impurities are chemical factors.

• Examples of Anthropogenic Impacts:

  • Hunting, agriculture, industry, and transportation have significantly changed the planet.
  • Deforestation is a harmful result of human activity.
  • Domestication of wolves (e.g., dogs) changed their lifestyles but not necessarily harmed them.

• Stenobionts and Eurybionts:

  • Stenobionts have narrow ranges of tolerance for various environmental factors
  • Eurybionts have wide ranges of tolerance for various environmental factors

• Maximum Permissible Concentration (MPC)

  • MPC defines the limit of existence for various plants and animals through experimentation.
  • It is grounded in tolerance limits identified through ecological experiments .

• Limiting Factors:

  • Factors limiting the life of organisms are called limiting factors
  • Limiting factors can include insufficient or excess of an essential factor.
  • Sufficient amounts of essential factors (such as potassium, sodium, and phosphorus, along with microelements like copper) are required for plant growth