Transcript Ecology

The study of the interactions
that take place among organisms
and their environment
Biosphere
• The part of Earth that supports
life
–Top portion of Earth's crust
–All the waters that cover Earth's
surface
–Atmosphere that surrounds Earth.
Factors that affect the biosphere may be
living or nonliving
Biotic Factors: living such as plants animals, bacteria fungus,
Abiotic Factors: nonliving such as soil, sun, water air, temperature
Name the biotic and abiotic factors in this picture
Ecosystem
• All the organisms living in an
area and the nonliving features
of their environment
Habitat
• The place in which an
organism lives
–provides the kinds of food and shelter,
proper temperature, and the amount
of moisture the organism needs to
survive
NICHE
• A niche is the role an organism or population
plays within its community or ecosystem
It includes all the
relationships that an
organism (or population)
has with its environment
and with other organisms
and populations in its
environment.
Population
All the organisms in an ecosystem
that belong to the same species
Community
All the different populations
that live within an ecosystem
Limiting Factor
Anything that restricts the number of
individuals in a population.
Includes living and nonliving features of the
ecosystem
Carrying Capacity
• The largest number of individuals of a
particular species that an ecosystem can
support over time.
• It can be changed by nature or humans.
Competition
For Food and Space
Competition caused by population growth affects
many organisms, including humans
Limits population size
Counting Populations
RANDOM SAMPLES
•Make a GRID
•Count the total number of
squares in the grid
•Choose one square of the
grid at random.
•Count the population in that
one square.
•Estimate the total
population by multiplying the
number in one square time
the total squares in the grid.
ACTUAL COUNT
• Each member of a
population is counted
one by one
Name of
Population
Ducks
Cattails
Water Lilies
Actual
Count
6
20
4
Sample
Count
Relationships
• Producers, such a s plants, use the sun to
make food.
• Most of the energy they use for themselves.
• Consumers that eat producers to get energy:
are First Order Consumers (herbivores)
• A consumer that eats
another consumer for
energy is a Secondary
Consumer (carnivore or
scavenger)
• A consumer that eats a
secondary consumer is a
3rd level consumer
Feeding Relationships
•
•
•
•
Herbivores eat producers
Carnivores eat herbivores
Omnivores eat producers and consumers
Predators kill for food (consumer); can be a
carnivore or omnivore.
• Prey is hunted for food (consumer); can be
herbivore, omnivore or carnivore.
Feeding Relationships
• Producers such as plants use the sun to make
energy rich food
• Consumers obtain their food by eating other
organisms
• Decomposers consume waste and dead
organisms
Energy Flow Through an Ecosystem
Food Chain
• Food Chain - a chain along which energy passes.
Energy is transferred form prey to predator
Energy Flows through an
Ecosystem through Food Webs
• Food Web – complex network of
interconnected food chains and feeding
relationships
Energy Pyramid
Shows energy flow. As the
amount of available
energy decreases, the
pyramid gets smaller.
Each layer on a pyramid
is called a trophic level
Living Relationships
Symbiosis
any close
relationship
between species,
including
mutualism,
commensalism
and parasitism.
Mutualism: Both organisms benefit
Mutualism
A 3-way Mutualism between an ant, a
butterfly caterpillar, and an acacia in
the American southwest. The
caterpillars have nectar organs which
the ants drink from, and the acacia
tolerates the feeding caterpillars. The
ants appear to provide some
protection for both plant
Commensalism
One organism benefits and the other is unaffected
Parasitism – one organism benefits
and the other is harmed
Succession
• Natural, gradual changes in the types of species that live in
an area; can be primary or secondary.
– Primary – begins in a place without soil
– Secondary – where soil already exists
Primary Succession
Secondary Succession
Pioneer species
• A group of organisms, such as
lichens, found in the primary stage of
succession and that begin an area's
soil-building process
Climax Community
A community that has reached a stable stage
of ecological succession
Plants and animals of the community use
resources efficiently
Balance is maintained by disturbances such
as fire
Biomes
• Large geographic areas with similar
climates and ecosystems
TUNDRA
TAIGA
DESERT
DECIDUOUS FOREST
RAIN FOREST
MARINE
Human Impact
Pollution: any substance that
contaminates the environment
• Air pollution
Cause: smoke, gases, volcanic eruptions, dust,
fires, evaporation of chemicals and burning
fuels
Effect: Irritates eyes and lungs, can cause lung
diseases
Water Pollution
• Causes: waste water from factories & sewage
treatment plants, chemical runoff off from
land, and oil spills
• Effects: kills water dwelling organisms, creates
shortage of food, increase in algal blooms
Soil Pollution
• Cause: air or water pollutants contaminate
ground, improper disposal of trash and
chemicals
• Effects: danger to soil dwelling organisms,
can pollute ground water
Acid Rain
• Cause: pollutants from burning fossil fuels
react with H2O to form strong acids
• Effect: washes nutrients form soil, lowers pH
of lakes and pond water, water dwelling
organisms die, erodes buildings
Ozone Depletion
• Causes: pollutant gases (CFC’s) leak into the
air breaking apart ozone molecules, depleting
it
• Effect: depleted ozone allows amount of UV
radiation to increase; increase in skin cancers.
Too much ozone at earths surface pollutes the
air and can damage lungs and plant tissues
Greenhouse Effect
• Cause: sunlight trapped by atmospheric gases
(CO2)
Too much CO2 caused by an increase in
burning fossil fuels allows for more sunlight to
be trapped, hence Global Warming
Effects: polar ice cap melt, change in rainfall
patterns, increase in storms (hurricanes),
increase in tropical disease