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Ecology

Ecology. What is Ecology?. Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and the living and non-living components of their environment. Levels of Ecology. BIOSPHERE- broadest, most inclusive = the thin volume of Earth and its atmosphere that supports life.

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Ecology

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  1. Ecology

  2. What is Ecology? • Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and the living and non-living components of their environment.

  3. Levels of Ecology

  4. BIOSPHERE- broadest, most inclusive = the thin volume of Earth and its atmosphere that supports life.

  5. ECOSYSTEMS- includes all of the organisms and the non-living environment found in a particular place.

  6. COMMUNITIES- includes all the interacting organisms living in an area.

  7. POPULATIONS- includes all the members of a species that live in one place at one time. • ORGANISMS- simplest level= individual

  8. HABITAT- WHERE LIVING ORGANISMS LIVE. • NICHE- A SPECIES WAY OF LIFE, OR THE ROLE THE SPECIES PLAYS IN ITS ENVIRONMENT.

  9. What is an Ecosystem? • Interacting groups of Species and their environment • Consists of both biotic and abiotic factors • Biotic Factors: Living things • Ex: Birds, tiger, bees, etc. • Abiotic Factors: Non Living things • Ex: water, oxygen, rocks, etc.

  10. Abiotic Vs. Biotic Factors Animals: Biotic Rocks: Abiotic Weather: Abiotic Flowers/Plants: Biotic Temperature: Abiotic

  11. Who’s Who in an Ecosystem?

  12. AUTOTROPHIC / PRODUCER: • HETEROTROPHIC / CONSUMER: • DECOMPOSER – • organisms that make their own energy. • EX: plants, algae, certain bacteria • organisms that consume their own food for energy. • EX: animals • organisms that breaks down organic substances • EX: certain bacteria, fungi, worms

  13. Type of Consumers • Herbivore – an organism that gets its energy by consuming plants.= primary consumers • Carnivore – an organism that gets its energy consuming meat. = second consumers & tertiary consumers • Omnivore – an organism that gets its energy by consuming both plants and meat.= secondary consumers & tertiary consumers • Detritivore- organisms that eat dead/rotting organisms • EX: worms, vultures, & arthropods

  14. Can an organism be classified as both a consumer and a producer? Why or why not?

  15. Trophic Level (feeding/energy level)- consists of all organisms feeding at the same energy level

  16. Energy in an Ecosystem ENERGY FLOWS THROUGH THE SYSTEM & NUTRIENTS CYCLE All organisms need energy to carry out essential functions, such as growth, movement, maintenance & repair, reproduction and thinking. To do these functions they need energy. The amount of energy an ecosystem receives & the amount that is transferred from organism to organism has an important effect on the ecosystem’s structure.

  17. ENERGY PYRAMID The tiers get smaller as you move up the trophic levels because only a small portion of the energy in the biomass of organisms in one level will ever become part of the next trophic level. Energy transferred from the sun to the autotrophs and between consumers varies between ecosystems

  18. Why don’t organisms from one trophic level get the same amount of energy from the organisms of the trophic level below them? • Not all of the organism is consumed. • Not all food that’s eaten is absorbed by & used • There’s a lot of cellular respiration going on at all levels for use in cellular activities.

  19. What percent of the biomass(total mass of a group of organisms) in the forest community represented above is tied up in the shrub layer? Give your answer to the nearest whole number.

  20. First, 14,100 KJ/m2 is 74.3 percent of the total accumulated biomass, so the shrubs would possess 25.7 percent of the total biomass. A more complex pathway to the same answer is as follows: Energy accumulated as biomass is 1.9 x 104 KJ/m2 or 19,000 KJ/m2 and is distributed among the tree layer, shrub layer, and herb layer. The energy accumulated as biomass in the tree layer is 1.3 x 104 KJ/m2 or 13,000 KJ/m2, and the energy accumulated as biomass in the herb layer is 1.1 x 103 KJ/m2 or 1,100 KJ/m2. Together, the energy accumulated as biomass in the tree and herb layers is 13,000 + 1,100 KJ/m2. Subtracting this amount from the total of 19,000 KJ/m2 leaves 4,900 KJ/m2 energy accumulated as biomass (“tied up”) in the shrub layer. This percentage of the total can be calculated as 4,900 KJ/m2 /19,000 KJ/m2 = .257 or 25.7 percent.

  21. What is the 1st law of thermodynamics? Energy can be transferred, but it cannot be created or destroyed.

  22. How can this be true when we can see the relationship between producers and consumers in ecology & the loss of energy along the way? Because the energy lost is lost to the biosphere earth, but it is kept within the universe.

  23. If nothing is lost, explain where the energy goes when a piece of paper is burned. The matter becomes ash & smoke; and the heat, which is the energy that used to be held in the molecular bonds of the paper is dispersed to the universe.

  24. If nothing is lost, where does the food energy go when you eat a meal? Most of the energy is lost as heat during cell respiration and the matter is converted into the molecules of your body or discarded as feces.

  25. If energy is lost from the biosphere constantly as heat into the atmosphere, where does the replacement energy come from to keep the energy flow of each ecosystem going? There is a constant supply of energy from the sun.

  26. Summary Take 5 minutes and summarize what you have learned about Ecology. • The ultimate source of energy (in most ecosystems) is the sun, which only 1% is captured by plants. • Energy and nutrients are passed from organism to organism through a food chain/web as one organism consumes another. • A majority of the energy (90%) is used by an organism and released as heat, until death, then decomposers remove the last energy from the remains of the organism. • Energy & Matter are not created nor destroyed, only transferred. • Inorganic nutrients are recycled, thanks to decomposers. • Energy is never recycled in an ecosystem, but its ultimate fate is heat.

  27. What is this interrelationship called? How is this different than a food chain? What do the lines represent? How would you determine which organism(s) was an autotroph?

  28. Create your own FOOD WEB Draw a food web with nine organisms. You must have one of each of the terms below. Label what each organism is (they may be more than one, so put all that they are): • Herbivore • Carnivore • Omnivore • Detritivore/Decomposer • Autotroph/Producer • Heterotroph • Primary Consumer • Secondary Consumer • Tertiary consumer Pick a food chain (highlight it) & calculate the energy each organism holds. Let’s say that the sun is shining down 17 million kJ of energy. • Your food chain should include at least one producer, one primary consumer, and one secondary consumer.

  29. Food Web Questions • Can organisms eat at more than one trophic level? If so, give an example. • Which organisms eat at every trophic level? • What would happen if one of the organisms were removed or exterminated? • Which organism’s removal would cause the greatest impact? Explain why.

  30. Some of the factors that affect the amount of oxygen dissolved in water • Temperature: As water becomes warmer, its ability to hold oxygen decreases. • Photosynthetic activity: In bright light, aquatic plants are able to produce more oxygen. • Decomposition activity: As organic material decays, microbial processes consume oxygen. • Mixing and turbulence: Wave action, waterfalls, and rapids all aerate water and increase the oxygen concentration. • Salinity: As water becomes more salty, its ability to hold oxygen decreases.

  31. Primary productivity • A term used to describe the rate at which plants and other photosynthetic organisms produce organic compounds in an ecosystem. There are two aspects of primary productivity: • Gross productivity: the entire photosynthetic production of organic compounds in an ecosystem. • Net productivity: the organic materials that remain after photosynthetic organisms in the ecosystem have used some of these compounds for their cellular energy needs (cellular respiration).

  32. Measuring net productivity • Measure oxygen production in the light, when photosynthesis is occurring. • Measure respiration without photosynthesis by measuring O2 consumption in the dark, when photosynthesis does not occur.

  33. Primary productivity can be measured in three ways: • The amount of carbon dioxide used • The rate of sugar formation • The rate of oxygen production

  34. BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES AKA Nutrient cycles

  35. We are going to divide up into 4 groups. Each group is in charge of one cycle.

  36. What to focus on: Importance of each chemical Forms in which each chemical is available to organisms. Major reservoirs for each chemical Key processes that drive the movement of each chemical through its cycle. Human influences

  37. The Water Cycle

  38. Summary of The Hydrological Cycle • http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/flash/flash_watercycle.html • Song of the Hydrological Cycle: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okZBiy_IdBA

  39. 75% of Earth’s surface is covered with ocean. 25% of the surface is land (7 continents).

  40. Nitrogen Cycle The process by which atmospheric nitrogen is converted to ammonia or nitrates.

  41. Nitrogen • Important nutrient in the ecosystem • Used to make organic molecules such as: • Amino acids • Proteins • DNA • Moves slowly through the cycle

  42. Where can Nitrogen Be Found? • Stored in reservoirs: • living and dead plants, animals, soils, & water. • Main reservoir is the atmosphere Gas = N2 (dinitrogen)~80% • Unfortunately, most organisms are unable to use nitrogen in the atmospheric state, N2. • The N2 must be “fixed”: this is known as nitrogen fixation.

  43. Fixation is the process of combining nitrogen with oxygen or hydrogen. • atmospheric fixation by lightning & rain • biological fixation by certain microbes • industrial fixation by humans There are three processes responsible for most of the nitrogen fixation in the biosphere:

  44. Atmospheric Fixation • Taking atmospheric nitrogen (N2) and converting into usable forms of nitrogen (ammonium- NH4 or nitrate ions -NO3) by strong electrical bursts of energy- Lightning

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