PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
Code: ZLG0400304
Credit: 3 (T) + 1 (P)
Unit 1:
Introduction to Ecology and Ecosystem
Basic concept of Ecology and Ecosystem
Autecology
Synecology
Level of organization
Study of physical factors
Laws of limiting factors
Structural components of Ecosystem
Functional attributes of Ecosystem-Trophic structure
food chain
food web
Energy flow
Ecological Pyramids
Ecological Efficiencies
Types of Ecosystems with examples
Unit 2
Population and community ecology
Definition, Unitary and Modular populations
Population attributes- Abundance
Density
Natality and Mortality
Life table and survivorship curve
Dispersion, Dispersal
Age distribution
Sex ratio
Biotic potential and Environmental resistance
Population growth form-Exponential and Logistic
Population regulation-density dependent and independent
factors
Population interactions
Gauss’s principle
Definition of Community
Community Characteristics
Community Structure
Ecological succession and types
Theories pertaining to climax community
Ecotone and Edge effect
Unit 3
Evolution and Origin of Life: From Chemogeny to Biogeny
Experimental evidences
RNA World: Evolutionary Perspectives
Pre-Darwinian Concepts of Evolution
Paleontological Evidence of Evolution
Geological timescale
Natural Selection and the Concept of Fitness
selection coefficient
kin selection
Sexual selection
Population genetics - Hardy-Weinberg Law
(statement and derivation)
Concept of gene flow
Arrival of the fittest – sources of variations and role in
evolution
Genetic Drift (Founder’s and Bottleneck effect)
Role of migration and mutation in changing allelic
frequencies Evolution of Horse
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