Transcript ecology - MrsStowSupport

ECOLOGY
Ecology – the scientific study of interactions
among organisms and between organisms and
their environment.
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LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION
Biosphere-portions of the planet in which all of
life exists
Biome- a group of ecosystem that have the
same climate and similar dominant communities
Deciduous – forest with leafy trees
Coniferous – forest with needle type trees ( Pine
Trees)
• Ecosystem- collection of all organisms that live
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in a particular place, together with their nonliving or physical, environment
Communities – different populations that live in
the same area
Species – organisms that can breed and produce
fertile offspring
Energy Flow
• Producers:
Autotrophs – an organism that is capable of synthesizing its own food from
an inorganic substance
Chemoautotrophs - An organism, such as a bacterium or protozoan, that
obtains its nourishment through the oxidation of inorganic chemical
compounds as opposed to photosynthesis.
• Consumers:
Heterotrophs
Herbivores – eat plants
Carnivores – eat meat
Detritivores (scavangers) eat dead animals
Decomposers (bacteria/fungus)
Feeding Relationships
*Food Chain
*Food Web
TROPHIC LEVELS
Level’s within the Food Web
• Primary Producers
• Primary Consumer
• Secondary Consumer
• Tertiary Consumer
• Quaternary Consumer
Primary Producers have the most
impact on the food web
Ecological Pyramid
• Energy Pyramid – only 10% of the energy
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available within one trophic level is transferred
to organisms at the next trophic level
Humans get their energy from food we measure
this energy in the form of calories
Biomass Pyramid
(Bio-living mass-weight)
• Amount of living
tissue
Pyramid of Numbers
• Number of individuals
at each trophic level
Water cycle
• Evaporation
• Condensation
• Precipitation
• Transpiration –
evaporation from plants
Carbon Cycle: The carbon cycle diagram serves to
demonstrate how the various supplies of carbon on earth
change forms and ultimately are released into the
atmosphere in dangerous quantities, adding to the
greenhouse effect and global warming. -
*Nitrogen Cycle
*Phosphorus Cycle
Nutrient Limitation
• Primary productivity – rate at which organic matter is
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created by producers (how much food a plant makes)
Limiting nutrient when a single nutrient is scarce or
cycles very slowly (farmers apply nitrogen, phosphorus
and potassium)
Algae Bloom
• When an aquatic ecosystem receives a large input of
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limiting nutrient (run off)
Immediate increase in the amount of algae
Algae can’t get enough sunlight die
Decomposition user up the available oxygen
Fish die
Ecosystems
• Biotic – living factors
• Abiotic – non living factors
• Together the biotic and abiotic factors
determine the survival and growth of an
organism and the productivity of the
ecosystem in which it lives
Habitat
• Area where an organism lives, includes
both the biotic and abiotic factors
Niche
• Includes the type of food the organism
eats, how it obtains this food, and which
other species use the organism for food
Community Interactions
• Competition – when organisms of the
same or different species attempts to use
a resource in the same place or at the
same time
• Results in a winner and a loser
Competitive exclusion principle
• No two species can occupy the same niche
in the same habitat at the same time
Predation
• One organism captures and feeds on
another organism
Symbiosis
1. Mutalism – both benefit
2. Commensalism – one benefits other
is neither helped or harmed
3. Parasitism- parasite gets it needs from
host, host weakend
Ecological Succession
• Ecosystems are constantly changing in
response to natural and human
disturbances
Older inhabitants gradually die out and new
organisms move in, causing further
changes in the environment
Primary Succession
Secondary Succession
Movie: Ferngully (all about the
rainforest)