Transcript Ecology
Do Now 1. List 5 ways that human activities change the natural environment. 2. What is acid rain? What causes it? What does it do? 3. What is global warming? What causes it? 4. List 3 renewable resources 5. List 5 nonrenewable resources Ecology Organisms and their interactions with each other and their environment Ecological levels of organization How does climate affect life? • Different parts of the biosphere have different climates. – Climate is long term, average temperature and precipitation. • Different climates result in different biomes. • Each biome has typical ecosystems. Abiotic factors • The non-living parts of the environment, including the climate determine what can live where. • Temperature • Available water • Soil type • Light Intensity • Wind • pH Figure 50.10 A climograph for some major kinds of ecosystems (biomes) in North America The distribution of major terrestrial biomes Figure 50.18 Zonation in a lake Figure 50.19 Freshwater biomes: Oligotrophic lake (left), eutrophic lake (top right), stream flowing into a river (bottom right) Figure 50.21 Wetlands (top) and estuaries (bottom) Figure 50.22 Zonation in the marine environment Energy flows through an ecosystem • An energy source is captured by producers. • Consumers (herbivores) eat the producers. • Secondary consumers (carnivores) eat the primary consumers. • Decomposers break down and recycle everything after it dies. A food web: • Arrows show how energy flows: producer to consumer. 10% Rule: energy transfer is low Energy Pyramid Shows the relative amount of energy available at each trophic level. Organisms use about 10 percent of this energy for life processes. The rest is lost as heat. Biomass Pyramid Represents the amount of living organic matter at each trophic level. Typically, the greatest biomass is at the base of the pyramid. Pyramid of Numbers Shows the relative number of individual organisms at each trophic level. Cycles • Many nutrients cycle between being available in the environment and being used by an organism. • Water • Carbon • Nitrogen The water cycle Condensation Precipitation Evaporation Transpiration Runoff Seepage Root Uptake The carbon cycle CO2 in Atmosphere CO2 in Ocean The nitrogen cycle N2 in Atmosphere NH3 NO3and NO2- Rock Cycle • Igneous Rock –From the cooling of lava (extrusive) or magma (intrusive) Weathering breaks down rock, created sediment. • Clastic/Detrital – broken bits of rock • Chemical – made of mineral crystals • Organic – remains of living things. Sandstone formation Lithification • Compacting and cementing of sediments into sedimentary rocks Sandstone formation Sedimentary Rock –Collection of sand, mud and other sediment –¾ of all surface rocks –fossil record Sandstone formation Metamorphism • Metamorphic Rock –Rocks subjected to high heat and pressure and then cooling Slate Schist Gneiss Foliated (form layers) Metamorphic Rock Crystalline structure changes –Composition doesn’t change –Created at subduction Slate Schist Gneiss Foliated (form layers) How does an ecosystem form? • 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Going from bare rock to a stable mature ecosystem is called ecological succession. Pioneer species – lichens, moss followed by: Grasses Shrubs Conifers and softwoods Hardwoods Lichens Lichens help break up rock and add organic material to create soil. Common pioneer species Ecological Succession http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/images/succession.gif How do animals contribute? Stable ecosystems • A climax community will remain stable if it has: – A constant source of energy – Producers – Cycling of nutrients • Natural disasters and human activities can disrupt an ecosystem. Secondary succession • If an ecosystem is damaged, the communities will rebuild using the materials that remain. • Called secondary succession, and it goes much faster than primary – you don’t need to build new soil, and some species remain. – Old Field succession: what happens to farmland Interactions among the living things in an ecosystem • Predation Symbiotic relations: who benefits? • Mutualism Symbiotic relations: who benefits? • Parasitism Symbiotic relations: who benefits? • Commensalism Habitat and Niche • Where do you live? • What do you do? Ecological Niche Cape May Warbler Feeds at the tips of branches near the top of the tree Bay-Breasted Warbler Feeds in the middle part of the tree Spruce tree Yellow-Rumped Warbler Feeds in the lower part of the tree and at the bases of the middle branches