1 / 27

Principles of Ecology

Principles of Ecology . What is ecology?. The study of the interactions between organisms and their environments. Biosphere. The part of the earth that supports life Air (Atmosphere) Water (Hydrosphere) Land (Lithosphere)

kamea
Download Presentation

Principles of Ecology

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Principles of Ecology

  2. What is ecology? The study of the interactions between organisms and their environments.

  3. Biosphere • The part of the earth that supports life • Air (Atmosphere) • Water (Hydrosphere) • Land (Lithosphere) • Variety of organisms in a wide range of conditions that they are adapted to survive in

  4. Biotic vs. Abiotic • Biotic factors: living factors in an environment • Ex: • Abiotic factors: nonliving factors in an environment • Ex:

  5. Levels of Organization • Organism • Population • Biological Community • Ecosystem • Biome

  6. Organism- One member of a species • The lowest level of organization that ecologists study Population- All members of a species living in the same location at the same time • Individuals must compete to survive • What limits the size of a population?

  7. Community- A group of populations that interact in the same location at the same time • Includes all plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, and protists • May or may not compete for resources

  8. Ecosystem- A biological community and all the biotic and abiotic factors that affect it • Boundaries are defined by scientists • Can change • Can overlap

  9. Biome- A large group of ecosystems that have • the same climate • similar types of communities

  10. Ecosystem Interactions • Habitat: an area where an organism lives • Tree • Grove of trees • Niche: the role an organism has in its environment • How it meets its need for • Food • Shelter • Survival • Reproduction

  11. Community Interactions • Each organism depends on and competes with other organisms. • Competition: occurs when organisms need to use same resource at the same time • Food • Water • Space • Light

  12. Symbiosis: relationship in which two organisms live in close association to each other • Mutualism: Two species live together and benefit from each other • Ex: Termite and protozoa in stomach • Commensalism: One organism is helped and the other is not helped or harmed • Ex: Remora sharks and whales • Parasitism: One organism is helped and the other is harmed • Ex: Mosquitoes and humans

  13. Symbiosis

  14. Energy in an Ecosystem • Autotrophs: organisms that get energy from sunlight or inorganic substances to produce food (Producers) • Heterotrophs: organisms that obtain energy by consuming other organisms (Consumers)

  15. Herbivore: Consumes only plants • Ex: cows, rabbits, grasshoppers • Carnivore: Eats other heterotrophs • Ex: lions, wolves • Omnivore: Eat both plants and animals • Ex: humans, bears, mockingbirds • Detritivore: Eats dead things and return nutrients to the environment • Ex: hyenas, vultures, fungi, bacteria • Why are they important? What would happen without them?

  16. Food Chains • Shows how energy flows through an ecosystem • Flow on energy is one way into the consumer

  17. Food Web • Shows feeding relationships in an ecosystem • Contains several food chains

  18. Pyramid of Energy • Shows energy flow by trophic levels • Indicates the amount of energy available to next level (~10%)

  19. Pyramid of Biomass • Shows the amount of biomass consumed by the level above it • At each level there is less energy available to support organisms

  20. Nutrient Cycles • Nutrients cycle through biosphere • Needed for organisms to survive • Water • Carbon • Nitrogen • Phosphorous producer  consumer detritivore environment

  21. Communities, Biomes, and Ecosystems

  22. Limiting Factor • Any factor that restricts the numbers, reproduction, or distribution of organisms • Sunlight • Climate • Water • Fire • Space • Other plant or animal species Factors that limit one species might enable another

  23. Range of Tolerance • Upper and lower limit of tolerance that an organism can survive when exposed to certain factors • Optimum zone: range that is best suited for the organism • Zone of physiological stress: zone between optimum zone and tolerance limits

  24. Ecological Succession Primary Succession Secondary Succession • Begins with bare rock • Ex: lava flow forms rock • Pioneer Species: the first organisms to appear • Lichen- creates soil to support other life • Might take hundreds of years for ecosystem to balanced • Climax Community: a stable, mature community; little change in number of species • Begins with disrupted community; soil present • Fire, flood • Over time species belong to community are likely to return • Pioneer communities quickly progress • Ends in climax community

  25. Succession

  26. Succession in a Pond • Eventually the pond fills in with soil • Some last only a couple weeks others for thousands of years • Ponds go from: • Oligotrophic (nutrient poor) to • Eutrophic (nutrient rich)

  27. Biomes Land Aquatic • Tundra • Taiga (Boreal Forest) • Temperate Deciduous Forests • Grasslands • Deserts • Savannas • Tropical Rain Forests • Fresh Water • Transitional • Marine

More Related