Transcript Ecology

Principles of Ecology
Study
of the interactions among
organisms and their environments
Nonliving
part of an organisms
environment
 Wind
 Climate
 Rain
 Temp
 Light
Living
parts of an organisms
environment
 Plants
 Animals
Cell
Tissue
Organ
Organ
System
Organism
Populations
Communities
Ecosystems
Biosphere
Remember these?
Group
of organisms of one
species that interbreed and live
in the same place at the same
time.
Collection
of interacting
populations
Made
up of the interactions
among the populations in a
community and the community’s
physical surroundings (abiotic)
 Terrestrial---land
based
 Aquatic---freshwater
and saltwater
Portion
of the earth that
supports living things (extends
from the bottoms of the oceans
to high in the atmosphere)
Place
where an organism lives
out its life (home)
Role
and position a species has
in its environment (job)
Symbiosis
– close and permanent
association among organisms of
different species (meaning living
together)
This
bird keeps his teeth clean
The bird gets food
 Commensalism
– one species benefits and
the other species is neither harmed nor
benefited
 Mutualism
 The
– both species benefit
bee gets fed, the flower reproduces
(pollen)

Parasitism – one organism benefits at the
expense of the other
Energy
is the ability
to do work
Energy takes the
form of a pyramid as
it flows through a
community.
Ultimate energy
source = SUN
 Autotrophs
– Producers
 Organisms
make their own food
(plants, bacteria, some algae)
 Organisms
that depend on
others for their food
 Herbivores – plant eaters

Carnivores – meat eaters

Omnivores – eat both
Scavengers
– eat animals
that are already dead
Decomposers
– feed of dead
and decaying matter
 Fungi
 Bacteria
 protozoan
Energy
is transferred in a
community by means of a chain
 Food
web is an expression of all the
possible feeding relationships at each
trophic level in a community