Transcript Ecology Intro 1L - Stosich Science

Ecology
bio
eco
means “life”
means “home”
Biology is the study
of living organisms
Ecology is the study of
our home, the Earth
 all of the interacting parts of a
living community and its
environment.
 A community is a way of
describing all the living things in
one place or habitat.
 A sustainable ecosystem is one
that can support itself & endure or
last for a long time.
 If too many factors are changed in
an ecosystem, it fails to support
life & becomes unsustainable.
Easter Island was an
unsustainable ecosystem.
Every ecosystem relies
on two categories of
factors to sustain it:
biotic
abiotic
or “living” factors
or “non-living” factors
Eg., competitors, their
prey & predators, and
their symbionts.
Eg., water, oxygen, light,
seasons, soil quality &
compositon.
 That part of the planet that has all of
the conditions to support life:
 lithosphere = soil, rock, minerals
 hydrosphere = fresh & salt waters
 atmosphere = oxygen & other gases
Biotic &
Abiotic factors
need balance
Too much rain, and you’re
flooded. Not enough, and
you’re in a drought.
The plant & animal life of
the habitat can’t handle
either extreme.
Similarly, too few of one
type of organism, or too
many of another, disrupts
an ecosystem, too. Too
many deer are a problem
for the forest, but too few
are a problem for wolves.
Artificial vs. Natural
Ecosystems
 Artificial = created or
maintained by humans
 Natural = found where
they formed naturally
 Not sustainable
without human
intervention
 Sustainable with no
human intervention
required
 May include native &
non-native species
 Native species, but some
non-native ones may be
present.
 Parks, Zoos, Gardens,
etc.
 Forests, meadows,
valleys, lakes, etc.
Native vs. Non-native
species
 A species = any group of living things that
shares common traits & which cannot
reproduce with other such groups.
 Native species = have always existed in a
certain habitat, and are adapted to that
habitat.
 Non-native species = organisms that are
from a different habitat. They can be invasive,
naturalized or exotic.
Earth is the
only planet
with the right
combination
of factors to
support life.
That’s worth
protecting!