ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT

In a community, there exist different kinds of biological associations between organism of different species. Some of these biological associations are beneficial, some are neutral while others are harmful.

      TYPES OF ASSOCIATION

               Symbiosis

Symbiosis is a close association between organisms in which both of them benefit from each other. Symbiosis is a beneficial association and each member is called a symbiont.

Examples of symbiotic association are; 1.Algae and fungus in lichen.


A lichen is made up of two organisms which are a fungus and a green alga. They live in a close association and benefit from each other.




2. Bacteria in rumen of ruminant.
Bacteria and other protozoa in the rumen of ruminant animals like cattle, sheep and goat help the ruminant to digest cellulose to sugar while the ruminant in turn provides food and shelter for the bacteria.


                 Commensalism


Commensalism is an association between two organisms living together in which only one benefit from the association while the other is neither benefited nor harmed.

Examples of commensalism are;
a. Man and intestinal bacteria.
b. Remora fish and shark.

                   Parasitism


Parasitism is a close association between two organisms in which one, known as the parasite, lives in or on and feeds at the expense of the other organism which is known as the host. The parasite benefits from the association while the host  usually suffers harm or may die.

Examples of parasitism are;



a. Man and tapeworm


b. Mistletoe and flowering plants.

             
                    Predation



Predation is a type of association between two organisms in which the predator kills the other, called the prey and directly feeds on it.



Examples of predation are;
a. The hawk and chicks of domestic fowls.

b. The lion and goat.

                 Tolerance


Tolerance is the ability of living organism to withstand or tolerate little unfavorable changes in the environment which affect their survival.

                    Adaptation



Adaptation is defined as the ability of an organism to live successfully in a particular habitats as a result of its structure, appearance and behavior.

                  Pollution


Pollution is defined as the release of toxic or harmful substances into the environment by their natural forces or man and other animals to an extent that causes biological damage to man and his resources.

Types of pollution.
There are four main types of pollution that that affect humanity. Here are they:
a. Air pollution

b. Noise pollution

c. Land pollution

d. Water pollution.


See ecological concept

DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

Digestive system includes the alimentary tract or canal and all the organs and glands associated with the digestion and assimilation of food in animals.
   



 Digestion is the breaking down of large molecules of food into simple and absorbable form for use by the animals.
   


A typical mammalian alimentary tract or canal includes the following parts: Mouth, pharynx, oesaphagus or gullet, stomach, small intestine or ileum, caecum, appendix, large intestine, rectum and anus. All these parts can be found in most vertebrates.





Digestion of food in man.
The alimentary canal of man includes the mouth, oesaphagus, stomach, duodenum, small intestine, caecum, appendix, large intestine, rectum and anus.




The description and importance of the parts are as follows:
1. Mouth: the mouth contains the teeth, salivary gland and tongue.


2. Teeth: the teeth are used to cut, grind or chew food into tiny particles.



3. The tongue: the tongue roll the food, it aid movement of the food in the mouth, it allows mixing of food with saliva or tyalin, it aids swallowing of food into the gullet or oesaphagus.

          Feeding habits




Organisms exhibit different feeding habits. These are:



1. Parasitic feeding: Parasitic feeding is found in both plant and animals. Animal parasites are tapeworm, roundworms, tick and guinea worm. Plant parasites are cassytha, dodder and mistle. Parasites are structurally modified organism that depends wholly or partially on other living organisms for their food and survival.


2. Fluid feeding: Animals which feed on any fluid materials are classified as fluid feeder's. Examples are bug, mosquito, butterfly, aphid, tsetse fly and housefly.



3. Saprophytic feeding: saprophytic are mainly non-green plants which do not have chloroplast and therefore cannot manufacture their own food. Examples are Rhizopus, mushroom, mucor. They feed on dead and decaying organic matter.


4. Filter feeding: Filter feeder's which are also called microphagous feeders, they feed on very tiny organisms. Filter feeders are mainly aquatic animals.

          Dentition


Dentition refers to the arrangements, number and confirmation of teeth in an organism.

Types of dentition
There are two types of dentition namely:


1. Homodont dentition: The organism have the same type of teeth. Examples are fishes, reptiles, amphibians.


2. Heterodont dentition: the organisms possess teeth of different shapes, sizes and functions. Examples of organisms having heterodont dentition are mammals e.g Rabbits, man,dog, cattle's etc.
     
       Types of teeth

i  Incisors
ii Canines
iv Premolars
iv Molars

EXCRETORY SYSTEM

Excretion is defined as the process of removing or ejecting material that has no further utility, especially from the body.
   


In other words, excretion can be defined as the removal of metabolic waste from the body.

Importance of excretion.


1. Excretion helps to maintain water balance in the body.

2. The excretory products are harmful to the body and so must be removed.

3. Some are poisonous and must never be allowed to accumulate within the body.

4. Excretion also helps to maintain salt balance i.e homeostasis in the body.

Excretory system or organs of some organisms.
1. Protozoa e.g Amoeba uses Contractile vacuole.

2. Annelids (earthworm) use  Nephridia

3. Insects uses  malphighian tubules.

4. Fishes use Kidneys
5. Amphibians e.g toad use  kidneys
6. Reptiles use   kidneys
7. Birds use  kidneys or lungs.
8. Mammals  use    kidneys, skin, liver and lungs.
9. Flowering plants   use   stomata and lenticels.

Excretory system and their waste product.
1. Contractile vacuole: carbondioxide and water.
2. Flame cells: ammonia, water.
3. Nephridia: water, urea and carbondioxide.
4. Kidneys: urine containing urea salt, water and uruc acid.
5. Liver: bile salts, urea and water.
6. Stomata and lenticels: water, carbondioxide and oxygen.
7. Lungs: co₂, water vapour.
8. Gills: co₂, water and urea.

Excretion in mammals.

There are four types of excretory organs used by mammals. These are: lungs, skin, liver and kidneys. The lungs excrete water vapour and carbondioxide, the liver excretes bile pigment called Bilirubin (from haemoglobin's). The skin excretes water, salt and urea through sweat while the kidney excretes water, mineral salts, urea, uric,acid and creatinine. In mammals, kidneys are the major excretory organs.



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BASIC ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM

    

 Meaning of Ecology.


Ecology can simply be defined as a branch of biology, deals with the relationships of with their environment and with each other.





Ecology is derived from a greek word "oikos" which means home or dwelling place.
     

                  Branches of Ecology.

(a) Autecology: Autecology is concerned with the study of an individual organism or a single specie's of organism and it's environment.


(b) Synecology: Synecology is concerned with the study of the interrelationships between groups of organism or species of organism living together in an area.

         Ecological concepts
 1. Ecosystem: An ecosystem refers to a system formed by an ecological community and it's environment that function as a unit. This is the interconnectedness of organism's a(plant, animals,microbes) with each other and their environment.

2. Biotic community (Biome): A biotic community is any naturally occurring group of different organisms living together and interacting in the same environment.


3. Habitat: A place of abode, settled dwelling, residence, house of living organism. In other words, Habitat is any environment in which an organism lives naturally, for example.....The habitat of fish is water.

4. Population: population can be defined as the total number of organism's living within a political or geographical boundary.

5. Lithosphere: The lithosphere is the solid portion of the earth. It is made up of rocks and mineral materials.
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