Transcript introduction to ecology

ECOLOGICAL
PRINCIPLES
CHAPTER 19
What is Ecology?
The study of interactions between organisms
and the living and non-living components of
their environment.
Root: oikos (household), same as economics
“economy of nature”
BIOSPHERE
“thin film of life covering an otherwise lifeless
planet”
http://www.planet-earth.org/images/bluemarble.jpg
ECOSYSTEM
Includes all of the organisms (biotic) and
the non-living factors (abiotic) of an environment
found in a particular place
Biotic factors
All living things that affect the organism:
Shelter (Cover from plants)
Competition
Predation
Parasites
Available food supply (plants and animals)
Symbiotic relationships (“partnerships”)
Abiotic factors
All non-living things that affect the organism:
Oxygen concentration
Precipitation
Humidity
Temperature
pH
Amount of sunlight
Available nitrogen
Pollutants
COMMUNITY
All of the interacting organisms living in an area
(biotic factors)
danny.oz.au/travel/ new-zealand/p/1266-estuary.jpg
POPULATION
All of the members of a species that live in one
place at one time
http://www.bionet.nsc.ru/booklet/images/imagesLaboratories
/Kushnir3Big.jpg
http://www.buddycom.com/animal/special/elephant/elephwater.
jpg
ORGANISM
Simplest level of organization that focuses on
individual adaptations
(variations in a group that make the individual
MORE FIT!)
http://131.183.60.23/brenda/brazil/organisms.jpg
BIOSPHERE
ECOSYSTEM
COMMUNITY
POPULATION
ORGANISM
Interconnectedness and
Disturbance
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/atlas/images/big05.gif
Ecological Niche (NICH)
Where it lives?
When is it
active?
What it eats?
www.vancouver.wsu.edu/.../ holbrook06-2003.html
Niche
• The range of environmental conditions in
which an organism can survive.
• There are two kind:
– Fundamental Niche
– Realized Niche
Niche Types
• Fundamental Niche:
• What the organisms
is able to do
• What it could eat
• Where it could live
• When it could be
active
• Realized Niche:
• What the organism
actually does
• Due to competition
• Due to preference
• Due to a lack of
options
• Usually “Most highly
adapted to”
The Competitive Exclusion
Principle
• What do you think this term means?
• No two organisms can occupy the same
niche
• One organism will “out-compete” the other
• Those organism which are more poorly
suited will either die or have to find a new
niche where they can survive
Niche Differences
Generalists
Specialists
• Broad niches
• Tolerate a wide range
of conditions
• Able to adjust easily
to disturbances
• Jack-of-all-trades
• Narrow niches
• Very specific needs
• Vulnerable to
disturbances
• Really good at what
they do