BIOL 2003 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Ernst Haeckel, Keystone Species, Ectotherm
Animal Architecture and Ecology
September 14, 2015
• What constitutes animal ecology?
• What makes animals similar and differ?
What is ecology?
• Coined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866
• The whole science of the relations of the organism to the environment including, in the
broad sense, all the conditions of existence.
Levels of Ecology:
• Organismal – individual behaviour and physiological
o How the animal responds to the environment and lives in its habitat or niche
o Its toolbox includes ingrained traits (evolutionary characteristics) and short term
responses (adaptations)
o E.g. generalists (fly) vs. specialists (koala)
o E.g. ectothermy vs. endothermy
• Population – groups of individuals of the same species
o Age structures, sex ratios, growth rates and other demographic properties
o Limits to population growth and carrying capacity
o E.g. plankton vs. giant octopus
• Community – groups of different populations of different species
o Detrimental (negative) – predators on prey
o Beneficial (positive) – prey on predators
o Neutral – commensalism (ex. Sponges)
o Symbioses, parasitism, competition, keystone species
• Ecosystem – communities living and interacting together and with their physical
environment
o Trophic levels
o Niche (habitat)
o Energy flow
▪ Primary producers
▪ Herbivores
▪ Consumers
▪ Detritivore
▪ Omnivores
▪ Decomposers
Animal Architecture
Key transitions:
• Levels of organization/complexity (tissues)
• Body symmetry
• Body cavity organization
• Developmental traits
o Protostome vs. Deuterostome
• Segmentation
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