Ecology and evolution

1. Ecologyandevolution Topic 5.1 Communities and ecosystems

2. Some useful definitions: • Species – A group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. • Eg. a lion or a tiger

3. But………A lion and a tiger can reproduce together and produce a Liger No, because the liger is sterile. Is the liger a new species? Are lions and Tigers the same species?

4. Habitat – The environment where a species normally lives or the location of a living organism. Homework: Find out: What is a niche? How is it different from a habitat? A species share of a habitat and the resources in it. This depends not only where the organism lives but also what it does.

5. Population – a group of organisms of the same species who live in the same area at the same time. What’s missing from this graph? .........It has area ……..it has time

6. Community – a group of populations living and interacting with each other in an area.

7. Ecosystem – A community and its abiotic (non-living) environment

8. Ecology – The study of the relationships between living organisms and their relationships with the environment

9. Autotroph- An organism that synthesises its organic molecules from simple inorganic substances. Autotrophic bacteria A plant yesterday.

10. Heterotroph – an organism that obtains organic molecules from other organisms.

11. Saprotroph – an organism that lives on or in non-living matter, secreting digestive enzymes into it and absorbing the products of digestion.

12. What do you call a mushroom that buys you drinks? A Fungi to be with!

13. Detritivore – an organism that ingests non-living organic material. A woodlouse

14. Food chains The arrows represent the flow of energy from eaten to eater! Tertiary consumer Producer Secondary consumer Primary consumer

15. Make food chains with the following organisms: A) • Shark • Minnow • Zooplankton • Phytoplankton • Tuna • B) • Lion • Gazelle • Grass • Tick • Ox-pecker (bird that eats ticks) What is the initial energy source for both chains? Make sure the arrows go in the right direction.

16. Foodwebs What is the trophic level of the: Caterpillar? Robin? Owl? Higher Level question: What will happen to the resilience of a food web if you increase the complexity? Primary consumer 2o,3o, and 4o Consumer

17. Homework • Page 176, Question 5 • Using Clip art make a food web that contains at least 10 named organisms (common names are acceptable but must be more than “big fish” or “tree”!)

18. Pyramid of numbers Pyramid of numbers An ecological pyramid of numbers shows the population of each level in a food chain in a pictorial form.

19. ….but….. Pyramid of numbers for a tree

20. …so we could use a pyramid of biomass Pyramid of Biomass An ecological pyramid of biomass shows what happens to the amount of biomass at each trophic level by showing how much living material there is at each trophic level of a community at a specific time. Typical units for a biomass pyramid could be grams per meter2 (gm-2), or calories per meter2(cal m-2).

21. ….but…… Dead bird Not every part of an organism is digestable, the beak and bones of a bird will not pass on to the next trophic level. This can make a pyramid of Biomass look like it contains more energy than it actually does.

22. …. So we could use a pyramid of productivity. An ecological pyramid of productivity is often more useful, showing the production or turnover of biomass at each trophic level. Instead of showing a single snapshot in time, productivity pyramids show the flow of energy through the food chain. Typical units would be grams per meter2per year (g m-2yr-1)or calories per meter2per year (cal m-2yr-1) As with the others, this graph begins with producers at the bottom and places higher trophic levels on top. (Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_pyramid - 09.10 – 16th September 2010)

23. Energy flows but Nutrients cycle Light Energy Heat Energy Nutrients An Ecosystem

24. Bibliography • Evolution of man picture http://daily.swarthmore.edu/static/uploads/by_date/2009/02/19/evolution.jpg • Lion Picture http://bluepyramid.org/ia/lion.jpg • Tiger picture http://fohn.net/tiger-pictures-facts/tiger-regal.jpg • Liger picture http://img40.exs.cx/img40/8801/liger10jb.png • Habitat picture http://www.desertlion.info/photos/22-wend-1c6.jpg • Population graph http://www.sustainablescale.org/images/uploaded/Population/World%20Population%20Growth%20to%202050.JPG • Community picture http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/48/6548-004-4D277914.gif • Ecosystem picture http://www.scienceclarified.com/images/uesc_04_img0211.jpg • Tree Hugger http://www.treehuggersofamerica.org/images/tree_hugger.jpg • Autotrophic bacteria http://www.college.ucla.edu/webproject/micro7/studentprojects7/Rader/pseudomo.gif • A plant yesterday http://mrgrassosclass.com/images/autotroph.jpg • T.rex picture http://www.biblelife.org/evolution-t-rex.jpg • Mushroom picture http://www.topnews.in/health/files/mushroom.jpg • Woodlice picture http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Porcellio_scaber_-_male_front_2_(aka).jpg/250px-Porcellio_scaber_-_male_front_2_(aka).jpg • Food chain: • http://blogs.townonline.com/wellesley/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/cartoon-sun-thumb10088541.jpg • http://www.selfsufficientish.com/images/appletree.gif • http://bichitomalo.com/images/ist1_1035760_smiling_worm_cartoon.jpg • http://www.teachmecartoons.com/images/bird-cartoon.gif • http://www.floatingbanana.com/artbackwash/BlackHawk1.gif • Food web http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/images/tutorials/ecology/trophic_levels/foodweb.gif • Slide 18, 19 and 20 , - Pyramid of numbers; Pyramid of numbers for a tree; Pyramid of Biomass – http://media.tiscali.co.uk/images/feeds/hutchinson/ency/0013n049.jpg - 09.01, 16th September 2010. • Slide 21 – Dead Bird - Namb Faro, http://namb-ualg.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html - 09.01, 16th September 2010.