Transcript Lesson_2.2._Ecology

Species Relationships
• Feeding relationships
• Autotrophs Vs. Heterotrophs
• Autotrophs are things that make their own food
– Examples- plants
• Heterotrophs eat others** for food
– Examples- monkeys & humans
"I MUST BE A HETEROTROPH I CAN'T MAKE THESE !!"
Carnivores and Scavengers
• Heterotrophs which eat other heterotrophs
– Carnivore= meat eaters
– Examples= lion
• Some animals do not kill their own food
they are called scavengers
– They play a beneficial role in ecosystem.
– Clean up dead animals
• Examples= turkey vulture
Herbivores
• Herbivores eat plants
Omnivores & Decomposers
• Omnivores- eat both
• Examples= humans & bears
• Fungus is an example of
decomposer.
• Decomposers break down and
absorb nutrients from dead
organisms.
Detritivores
• Detritivores eat “garbage” of ecosystem –
organisms that have recently dies, fallen
leaves and branches, animal wastes (vulture,
bacteria and fungi - decomposers)
Relationships for survival
• Symbiosis
– “living together”
– Relationship in which there is a close and permanent
association between organisms of a different species
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Commensalism
The predator-prey relationship
Mutualism
Parasitism
Commensalism
• One species
benefits and the
other is neither
helped nor harmed
– Barnacles on a
whale
• Do not harm or
help whale
• Barnacles benefit
because constant
moving water
source
Predators vs prey
• One organisms hunts another for food
– Predators- hunt for food
– Prey- organism that predator eats
– Predators can be the prey of larger animals
• Population sizes are linked
– If # of prey grows or shrinks # of supported
predators does the same
Predator- Prey
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Hunter
Lions
Insect eating birds
Benefit from
relationship
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Hunted
Zebra
Insects
Die from relationship
Predator & prey
• When the # of prey increases the # of predators will
increase too because there is more food to support
them. The changing population size of the prey species
controls the population size of the predator species
– Creates a cycle
• The larger the animal the larger the life cycle vs smaller
animals
–Live longer
–Reproduce slower
Predator vs prey
• Fox hunts can kills
rabbit
Mutualism
• A symbiotic relationship in which both species
benefit
– Ants and acacia tree
– Flowers and insects
– Lichen
– Example: pollination – bees, butterflies, bats, and birds
carry pollen to other plants
Mutualism
• Lichens
• An alga and a fungus
– depend on each other
and cannot live
independently.
• Through photosynthesis,
the alga produces the
food the lichen requires,
while the fungus absorbs
vital nutrients and water
for the lichen.
Parasitism
• When one organism harms another
– A symbiotic relationship in which one
organism derives benefit at the expense of
other.
– Example
• Parasite and host…
–How come parasites only harm not kill
host?
Parasite
vs Host
• Feeds on host
• Live on body of host
• Depends on host for life
processes
• Thrive in crowded areas
• Are a density-dependent
limiting factor
• Is feed on
• Larger the host the
more parasites it can
support
• May become ill or die
from parasite
Parasites
• Sheep Tick
• Carnivorous, feeding on
the blood of various
species of birds, reptiles,
and mammals, including
human beings.
Summary of symbiotic relationships
Relationship
Description
Harmful vs
helpful
Example
Predator & prey
One animal eats
another
One is helped
one is killed
Cat eating a
mouse
Parasitism
One animals
One is helped
feeds off another one is drained
of resources or
killed
Tick living off
a deer
Commensalism
One species
benefits from
another
One is helped
one is not
phased
Barnacles and
a whale
Mutualism
Both rely on
each other
Both are helped Flower and
insect
Competition
• Results from niche overlap (use of the same
limited resource by two or more species)
– Some animals will fight to the death for their
resources
– Some plants species release toxins into the soil
that prevent other species from growing nearby,
restricting the space of the other species