Transcript ECOLOGY

Study of the environment
an how organisms interact
with it
ECOLOGY
Ecological Organization
 Place the following in order from largest to
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smallest:
Biome
Population
Biosphere
Species
Ecosystem
Community
Species
Similar organisms
that can mate and
produce fertile
offspring
Population
Same species living
in the same area
Example : catfish in
a pond
Community
Many species living in
the same area.
Example: all the dogs,
cats, trees, birds,
humans in Pikeville
Ecosystem
 All of the living (biotic) and non-
living (abiotic) factors in an
environment
 Examples: Biotic-plants and
animals
Abiotic-soil, temperature,
sunlight,moisture
Biome
 An area of characteristic climate
and vegetation
 Specific type of weather and plant
life primarily based on latitude
 Examples: Rainforest, Temperate
Forest, Taiga, Tundra
Biosphere
All the life on Earth
and the abiotic factors
that help to sustain it.
Habitat
The place in which an
organism lives.
Example: Tree, pond
Niche
 An organisms role/job in
the environment such as
what it eats and where it
nests
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Autotroph/Producer
“Self –feeder”
Make their own food
Photosynthetic (contain chlorophyll)
Examples –Plants and plantlike protists
like algae
 Marine Environment makes most O2
 Chemosynthetic- archaebacteria
 Examples-around hydrothermal vents,
dead sea
Heterotroph/Consumer
 Get their energy from eating
other organisms
 Examples: animals,
decomposers, and some
protists
 Herbivores-eat plants
 Carnivores-eat animals
 Omnivores- eat both
 Scavengers- feed on dead,
dying, or defenseless
organisms
 Detritiphores-feed on dead
plants
Decomposer/Saprophytes/
Detritivores
 Break down dead organic
material
 Examples: Fungi and bacteria
 The great recyclers putting
nutrients back into the soil and
atmosphere keeping us from
being overtaken by wastes
Food Chain
 A diagram that shows the flow of
energy and matter through the
ecosystem
Arrows show the flow of
energy through the food
chain
3 Major components of the food chain
 1. Producers are always at the beginning of
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the food chain because they have to convert
energy from the sun into food for other
organisms.
2. Primary consumers eat the producers (1st
order).
Secondary consumers eat the primary
consumers (2nd order).
Tertiary consumers eat the secondary
consumers (3rd order).
3. Decomposers get their energy from all the
above when they die.
Create a food chain utilizing
the following items:
Bacteria/Fungi
Carrot
Rabbit
Hawk
Snake
 Carrot
Rabbit
Snake
Fungi and Bacteria
Hawk
Trophic Level
 Feeding level in the food chain.
There were 5 trophic levels in
our prior example.
Marine Food Chain
 Place in the correct order:
Bigger Fish, Phytoplankton, Smaller
Fish, Zooplankton, Medium Fish
How many trophic levels are there?
Energy Pyramid
Producers are at the bottom of the energy
pyramid. They have the most energy
and have the largest population because they
provide food and energy for everything
else.
 With each step up the pyramid,
energy is lost by a factor of 10
because 90% of the energy
available is used in daily activities or
released as heat.
 The number of organisms decreases
because not enough energy to
support more organisms
 Biomass decreases as move up the
food pyramid.
Food Web-series of
interconnecting food chains
 Biomagnification
 Bioaccumulation
 Toxins increase as they
move through the
food chain
 Examples: DDT, mercury
 Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring book about
the effect of DDT on Eagle egg shells. The
exposure to DDT through the food chain caused
the shells to thin and crack causing the decrease
in the Eagle population
 http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec/module02/Bioco
ncentrationandBioaccumulation.htm
Carbon Cycle-cycling of carbon
between organic molecules and
CO2
 CO2 from atmosphere for photosynthesis
 Consumers eat plants to get carbon for their
tissues.
 CO2 returns to atmosphere through
respiration, excretion, and decomposition
 Burning of fossil fuels add CO2 back into
atmosphere
Carbon Cycle
Nitrogen Cycle
 Atmosphere 78% N2 but can’t use in
respiration
 Nitrogen fixers convert ammonia into nitrites
 Nitrogen fixers live on roots of legumes (soy
beans, peas) adding usable nitrogen to soil
 Nitrifying bacteria convert
Water Cycle
Phosphate Cycle
Relationships between
organisms in the community
1. Symbiosis- long term relationship between
two organisms in community
2. Competition- two organisms have the same
habitat and niche competing for resource
3. Predator-prey relationship
Symbiotic Relationship-living
together, two different
species
 1. parasitism- 1 harmed, 1 benefits
 Example-tick and tapeworms-parasites;
dog-host
 2. mutualism-both benefit
 Example-lichen-algae and fungi;cleaner
fish remove dead skin and parasites from
fish for protection
 3. commensalism- 1 is benefitted
the other is not affected
 Example- barnacles on a whale
Competition-organisms compete for
limited resources like food, water,
light, and space.
It can occur between same or
different species.
Predator-the hunter (lynx)
Prey-the hunted (hare)
Leopard, Hyena, Lion
Your text here
Population Dynamics
 Growth rate of a population= change
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in population number through time
Immigration-movement into a
population
Example-birth rate
Emmigration-movement out of
population
Example-death rate
Population Growth Curves
 J-curve, Exponential Growth-starts slow and
increases rapidly as reproducing organisms
increase. (new populations, human
population)
 Eventually a population will reach a limiting
factor like lack of food, space, water, etc
 Carrying capacity is the total number of
individuals the environment can support
 S-curve, Stabilization curve (older
populations)
Limiting factors
 1. Density-Dependant Factors- factors are
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influenced by the size of a population.
Examples- disease, food, water, space limits
The more organisms, the more impact these
factors have
2. Density-Independent Factors-not controlled
or influenced by the population size
Examples-floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, forest
fires, tsunami
Demographics- population
statistics
Succession-replacement of 1
community by another
Example-Field to Forest
 Primary Succession- no soil only rock
 Examples cooled volcanic rock, retreating
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glaciers
Pioneer Species -1st into area
Lichen holds moisture and weathers rock
Next bacteria, protists, mosses and fungi
Next weeds, herbs and grasses
 As soil becomes available, shrubs and trees
 Secondary Succession-Soil and
seeds are present
 Examples –fires , floods,
abandoned farms
 Pond succession-eutrophication
 Rich with nutrients, lots of
growth, reaches carrying
capacity, fills in
 The Earth is made up of interconnected biotic
and abiotic Factors including the biosphere,
hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere.
Every organism impacts its
environment
 Humans overburden the environment placing
the greatest impact on it
Why do we need other organisms?
Balance of food chain, Use them in industry,
Medications
Hydrosphere- only 2.5% is
freshwater
 Most of the 2.5% is unusable because it is
frozen in the icecaps
 Humans require up to 13gallons a day for
cooking, cleaning and drinking. This does not
include irrigation and animal care.
 Agricultural runoff leads to eutrophication
destroying wetlands and acidifying rivers
 Increase in metals like mercury from runoff
causing biomagnification
http://www.riverlaw.us/fishkills.html
Pfiesteria
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4
4946850/ns/technology_and_sci
ence-science/t/japan-tsunamidebris-spotted-course-hit-us
Overfishing and pollution have led to the
extinction of organisms
Lithosphere-land
 Deforestation= clear cutting , urbanization
 Agriculture-pesticides, growing only one crop year
after year instead of rotating crops to replenish the
nutrients in the soil, over plowing leading to erosion
 Landfill space or lack there of
 Paint, cleaners prescription drugs, batteries, grease
etc. being disposed of inappropriately
 Throwing away items that can be recycled or reused
because to lazy to take the time to dispose of them
correctly
The US Consumes 1500 Plastic Water Bottles Every Second, a fact by
Watershed
Petz Scholtus Science/Clean Water
October 15, 2009
 Out of the 50 billion bottles of water being bought
each year, 80% end up in a landfill, even though
recycling programs exist.
 17 million barrels of oil are used in producing bottled
water each year.
 Bottled water costs 1,000 times more than tap
water. Drinking 2 Litres of tap water a day only costs
50 cents per year.
 Plastic leaches toxins into the water, which have
been linked to health problems such as reproductive
issues and cancer.
 http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/tdc02_
vid_btcorn/
 http://www.today.com/id/26184891/vp/51863
808#51836205
 Over use of natural resources both renewable
and non renewable.
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/27/h
urricane-sandy-nc-outerbanks_n_2199391.html#slide=1810246
 http://wn.com/fracking_animation
Atmosphere
 Acid Rain-sulfur dioxides and
nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere
from burning of fossil fuels mixes with
rain
 Fog and Ice have a greater impact
 Burn young plants. When brought up
through roots clogs veins
http://channel.nationalgeographic
.com/channel/videos/acid-raininvisible-menace/
Ozone Depletion
 Cause-CFC’s (Chlorofluorocarbons)
from aerosol cans and refrigerants
 Ozone protects us as well as other
plants and animals from harmful UV
radiation
 http://www.teachersdomain.org/ass
et/ess05_vid_antarctica-en/
Global Warming
 Cause- burning of fossil fuels increasing
greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide and
methane)
 Greenhouse gases trap infrared radiation in
Earth’s atmosphere causing the temperature of
Earth to increase
 http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightlynews/50152559#50018387
 http://www.today.com/id/26184891/vp/518638
08#51863808
Biosphere
 Invasive Species, Removal of Habitat
Endangered species,
 http://www2.nbc17.com/news/2012/sep/21/ne
ighbors-wonder-if-cancer-tcecontamination-linke-ar-2628405/
 http://www.today.com/video/today/51863808
#51795179
http://www.teachersdomain.org/
asset/lpsc10_vid_frogs/
 http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly
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news/50152559#50138674
Biosphere
Invasive species
http://unctv.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/71a3dc
8d-8936-4ce0-8d8d-8c07c9d47fec/71a3dc8d-89364ce0-8d8d-8c07c9d47fec/
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/07/181
07999-deadly-giant-snail-found-in-houston?lite
Positive Impacts
 National parks, Wild Life Protection Acts
 Protection of Endangered Species, Clean Air Acts
 Finding Alternative Fuels
 Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
 Carpool, Walk, Mass Transit, Bicycle
 Reduce your carbon footprint
 Reclamation of mining lands