Unit 1 Lesson 1 and 2

1. Unit 1Lesson 1 and 2 Lesson 1: Introduction to Ecology Lesson 2: Roles in Energy Transfer

2. The Web of Life • Organisms need energy and matter to live. • When organisms interact with one another there is an exchange of energy and matter. • All organisms are connected to each other and to the environment. • Ecology – the study of how organisms interact with one another and with the environment.

3. The Web of Life • Through the living environment. • Biotic factor – an interaction between organisms (living) in an area. • Bio = life • Through the nonliving environment. • Abiotic factor – a nonliving part of an environment. • A = non or not • Examples: water, nutrients, soil, sunlight, rainfall, temperature, climate, rocks, air. • Abiotic factors influence where organisms can survive.

4. Levels of Organization • The environment can be organized into different levels. • Level 1 – an individual organism. • Level 2 – Population – a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same place at the same time. • Species – organisms that are closely related and can mate to produce offspring. • Individuals within a population often compete for resources such as food, mates, shelter, etc.

5. Levels of Organization • Level 3 – Communities – make up all the populations of different species that live and interact in an area. • There is also competition for resources among all species. • Level 4 – Ecosystems – a community of organisms and their nonliving environment. • Includes all biotic and abiotic factors. • Examples: Pond, forest, swamp, etc.

6. Think Globally Biome – Contains many ecosystems. - Large regions that share climate conditions, such as temperature and rainfall, and have communities of species. - Major land biomes: tropical rainforest, grassland, desert, rain forest, tundra, savanna, taiga, etc.

7. Home Sweet Home • Ecologists – a scientists who studies the different kinds of organisms and their role in the environment. • Niche – a role a population of species play in an ecosystem. • Example: how it gets food, how it interacts with other populations. • Lion and gazelle.

8. Home Sweet Home • Habitat -a place where an organism lives, a part of an organisms’ niche. • Provide all the resources an organism needs to survive. • 2 populations cannot occupy the same niche.

9. Unit 1: Lesson 2Get Energized! • Energy is all around you! • Energy from food is known as chemical energy. • All living things need a source of chemical energy to survive. • Producers convert energy into food! • Producer – also known as an autotroph • Producer/autotroph – use energy to make their own food. • Use the process called photosynthesis. • Sunlight energy + water + carbon dioxide = food + oxygen • Examples include all green plants such as grasses and trees, plants, shrubs, etc.

10. Get Energized! • Decomposers break down matter. • Decomposer – an organism that gets energy and nutrients by breaking down the remains of other organisms. • They are nature’s recyclers; they help move matter through ecosystems. • Examples include: fungi such as mushrooms and some bacteria.

11. Get Energized! • Consumers eat other organisms. • Consumer – an organism that eats other organisms. • They cannot make their own food. • 4 types 1. Herbivore – Eats only plants. 2. Carnivore – Eats other animals. 3. Omnivore – Eats both plants and animals. 4. Scavenger – Eats dead organisms.

12. Get Energized! HERBIVORE CARNIVORE OMNIVORE SCAVENGER

13. Energy Transfer • Energy is transferred from one organism to another when it is eaten or decomposed. • Food chain – the path of energy transfer from producers to consumers. • The arrows represent the transfer of energy as one organism is eaten by another. • Producers form the base of the food chain. • Energy is then transferred to the primary consumer. • Then to a secondary consumer. • Then to a tertiary consumer. • Lastly, decomposers recycle matter back to the soil

14. World Wide Webs • Food web – the feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem. • Made up of many food chains combined. • At the top of each chain are the top predators, animals that eat other animals but are rarely eaten. Website recap Game

15. World Wide Webs • All living organisms are connected by global food webs. • Global food webs include webs that begin on land and webs that begin in the water. • Because global food webs are connected, removing even one organism can affect many organisms in other ecosystems.

16. Dangerous Competition • Invasive species – are sometimes introduced into a new area. • They often compete with native species for energy resources, such as sunlight and food. • Kudzu plant – introduced to stop soil erosion but outgrew all native plants preventing them from getting sunlight. • Zebra mussel – They eat by filtering tiny organisms out of the water, often leaving nothing for the native mussel species • Walking catfish – moves across land to get from one pond to another competing with native species for food. • Snakehead fish – native to Asia invaded FDR park in South Philly.