Intro to Ecology

1. Intro to Ecology Biology

2. By completing this lesson, you will learn about… • The scope of Ecology • Ecological Organization • Energy Flow • Feeding Relationships • Chemical Cycles

3. Studies in Ecology Concept Map Biology Conservation Ecology Ecology Community Ecology Population Ecology Ecosystem Ecology

4. Energy Flow Concept Map Energy Flow Chemical Cycles Feeding Relationships Nitrogen Cycle Carbon Cycle Trophic Levels Phosphorous Cycle Water Cycle

5. The Scope of Ecology • Introduction • Ecological Organization • The Branches of Ecology

6. What is Ecology? • ECOLOGY – The study of interactions between organisms and environments.

7. Ecological relationships range from an individual organism to the entire biosphere. Ecological Organization

8. A single living thing Organism A group of organisms of the same species that live together. Population Community A group of Populations that live together Communities and their physical environments Ecosystem A group of ecosystems that have the same climate. Biome Biosphere All the biomes on Earth. Thus, all the living areas of the planet.

9. Organism Population Community Ecosystem Biome Biosphere

10. Branches of Ecology Population Ecology Study of how populations grow Community Ecology Study of how populations interact with each other Conservation Ecology Study of how to preserve And create a healthy, Lasting biosphere Ecosystem Ecology Study of how populations interact with their physical environment

11. Question: Levels of Organization Match the terms on the left with the definitions on the right Population Ecology Example of a biome Biome Study of group growth Tundra Areas of same climate

12. Question: Levels of Organization Match the terms on the left with the definitions on the right Population Ecology Example of a biome Biome Study of group growth Tundra Areas of same climate

13. Energy Flow 1: Feeding Relationships • Overview • Trophic levels • Food Webs

14. Overview: Energy Flow Ecosystem Most ecosystems are driven by energy from sunlight Level of ecological study that includes all organisms in a given area along with the factors with which they interact. A community and its physical environment. Energy flow and chemical cycling are two interrelated processes that occur by transfer of substances through the feeding levels of ecosystems.

15. Key Concept: One of the ways in which energy flows through an Ecosystem is by feeding. Different living organisms eat each other, and the food is energy moving from one organism to the next.

16. What is a Food Web? • The feeding relationships in an ecosystem. Also called a food chain.

18. Example of a food web snake mouse rabbit grasshopper grass (seeds) decomposers Bacteria & Fungus

19. What are Trophic levels? • Trophic level – each feeding level in a food web or chain.

20. Trophic level organisms: Producers Producers are the backbone trophic level Producers are autotrophs which gets energy from the sun using photosynthesis. Plants, algae & phytoplankton

21. Trophic level: Consumers Consumers is a trophic level of heterotrophs Consumers are heterotrophs which eat other organisms for energy, such as snails and pigs. There are many trophic levels of consumers. Herbivores eat plants only. (cows) Carnivores eat animals only. (sharks) Omnivores eat plants and animals.(humans, mice) Decomposers break down dead, rotting remains. ( bacteria, mushrooms)

22. Trophic levels of food webs PRODUCERS Autotrophs Herbivores Carnivores CONSUMERS (Heterotrophs) Omnivores waste and remains detritivores decomposers

23. Trophic level Pyramid Tertiary Consumer Secondary Consumer Primary Consumer Heterotrophs Herbivores Producers Autotrophs Uses the sun’s energy to make its own food- photosynthesis

24. Trophic level Pyramid Tertiary Consumer About 10% of available NRG is passed up 10 Secondary Consumer 100 Primary Consumer Heterotrophs Herbivores 1000 Producers Autotrophs Uses the sun’s energy to make its own food- photosynthesis

25. Trophic level Pyramid Tertiary Consumer 10 About 10% of available NRG is passed up The rest is lost as Heat and Waste Secondary Consumer 100 Primary Consumer Heterotrophs Herbivores 1000 Producers Autotrophs Uses the sun’s energy to make its own food- photosynthesis

27. Primary Productivity The rate at which light energy is converted to the chemical energy of organic compounds by autotrophs in an ecosystem. primary productivity is limited by a variety of factors that depend on the specific ecosystem as well as change in season. Usually only about 10% of the chemical energy available at one trophic level appears at the next.

28. Question: Trophic Levels • What type of organisms consume wastes? 1.______________ 2.______________ The food web is organized by __________ levels.

29. Question: Trophic Levels • What type of organisms consume wastes? 1. Detritivores 2. Decomposers The food web is organized by Trophic levels.

30. Energy Flow II: Chemical Cycles • Overview • Carbon Cycle • Nitrogen Cycle • Water Cycle • Phosphorous Cycle

31. Another way in which energy flows through an ecosystem is by the cycling of chemical materials. Chemical materials are energy, which move as they cycle from one location to another.

32. Overview: Chemical Cycles Biogeochemical cycles_________________ The various material circuits, which involve both the nutrient and physical components of an ecosystem. Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Water are needed by every organism on Earth. C is needed to build organic molecules. N is needed for nucleic acids. P is needed for energy molecules. Water is needed to maintain life. How does every organism on Earth have access to these limited resources? Chemical Cycling Carbon cycle Nitrogen cycle Phosphorous cycle Water cycle

33. Carbon Cycle The Carbon cycle reflects the connected processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration. • Producers convert inorganic carbon dioxide • into organic molecules. • Consumers eat the producers. • Consumers breathe out CO2 which is reused by the autotrophs. Since photosynthesis generates oxygen, the oxygen cycle is coupled with the carbon cycle.

36. Nitrogen cycle Plants absorb ammonia and nitrates and convert them into proteins that can be passed onto the food chain. Certain prokaryotes fix Nitrogen in the atmosphere into ammonia which other bacteria convert into nitrites and nitrates. Detritivores reduce dead plants, animals and their products into ammonia which can be reused by plants or deposited in the soil. Nitrogen in the soil is returned to the atmosphere in the form of free nitrogen by denitrifying bacteria for prokaryotes to fix again.

38. Phosphorous cycle Phosphorous from rocks leaks into the soil by sediment runoff. Phosphorous is added to the soil as phosphate. The oceans deposit the phosphorous onto rocks. Plants absorb the phosphate. Consumers excrete feces or decomposers break down the wastes, which drains by run-off to the oceans. Animals eat the plants.

40. Water cycle Water lands into the oceans. It also lands on soil, and runs-off into the oceans after use by living things. Rain precipitates water onto the Earth. Water in the air condenses into clouds Water from the ocean evaporates into the air. Water moving through a plant is called Transpiration

42. Questions: Chemical cycles Which cycle has a chemical which become deposited on rocks? Which cycle provides the basis of organic molecules? Which cycle requires the help of bacteria?

43. Questions: Chemical cycles Which cycle has a chemical which become deposited on rocks? Phosphorous cycle Which cycle provides the basis of organic molecules? Carbon cycle Which cycle requires the help of bacteria? Nitrogen cycle

44. What you have learned.. Chemical cycles circulate raw materials for organisms to use. Four major cycles Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Water Feeding relationships circulate energy from the sun to producers to consumers. Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and environments. Ecology can be studied at the organism, population, community, ecosystem, biome and biosphere level. Energy flow is how the earth circulates energy to support life. Two types of energy flow include feeding relationships and chemical cycles.