What is Ecology?

1. What is Ecology?

2. Ecology ! • The scientific study of relationships between organisms and their environment • life histories, distribution, and behavior of individual species, populations, communities, ecosystems, and landscapes • think holistically about interconnections that make whole systems (itsmore than just the sum of their individual parts) • how and why materials cycle between the living and nonliving parts of our environment

3. CORAL REEFS Figure 50.17 A coral reef in the Red Sea • Coral reefs

4. Land masses warm and cool faster than water. The spin of the earth, and the temperature differences lead to currents and winds.

5. Temperate grassland Desert Tropical forest 30 Temperate broadleaf forest 15 Annual mean temperature (ºC) Coniferous forest 0 Arctic and alpine tundra 15 100 200 300 400 Annual mean precipitation (cm) Climate and Terrestrial Biomes Climate has an impact on the distribution of organisms

6. ECOSYSTEM TYPES OF THE WORLD

7. Warm air over land rises. 1 Cooler air sinks over water. 3 Air cools at high elevation. 2 Cool air over water moves inland, replacing rising warm air over land. 4 Bodies of Water • Oceans and their currents, and large lakes • Moderate the climate of nearby terrestrial environments SUMMER DAY CYCLES (WINTER IS REVERSE WHEN THE OCEAN IS WARMER THAN THE LAND )

8. Hot air holds more water than cold air, so air masses forced over mountain ranges are forced to drop their water.

9. ECOSYSTEM TYPES OF Western Washington

10. LAKES An oligotrophic lake in Grand Teton, Wyoming A eutrophic lake in Okavango delta, Botswana • Lakes Figure 50.17

11. In winter, the coldest water in the lake (0°C) lies just below the surface ice; water is progressively warmer at deeper levels of the lake, typically 4–5°C at the bottom. In autumn, as surface water cools rapidly, it sinks below the the water until the surface begins to freeze and the winter temperature profile is reestablished. In summer, the lake regains a distinctive thermal profile, with warm surface water separated from cold bottom water by a narrow vertical zone of rapid temperature change, called a thermocline. 1 4 3 8 8 In spring, as the sun melts the ice, the surface water warms to 4°C and sinks below the cooler layers immediately below, eliminating the thermal stratification. Spring winds mix the water to great depth, bringing oxygen (O2) to the bottom waters (see graphs) and nutrients to the surface. 2 16 16 24 24 Spring O2 (mg/L) Winter O2 (mg/L) 0 4 8 12 0 8 12 4 Lake depth (m) Lake depth (m) 8 16 24 O2 concentration High Medium Low 4 0 O2 (mg/L) 4 2 O2 (mg/L) 4 4 8 0 4 12 0 4 8 12 4 4 Lake depth (m) Lake depth (m) 4 4 22 4 8 20 4 4C 4C 4 18 4 16 8 6 4 5 4C 24 4C Autumn Thermocline Summer Lakes • Are sensitive to seasonal temperature change • Experience seasonal turnover

15. Levels of organization - Terms • Population – one species live in one place at one time • Community – All populations (diff. species) that live in a particular area.

16. Habitat: Place or type of place an organism lives (it’s location) Niche: The role of a species in an ecosystem (its “occupation”)

17. Niches include all physical, chemical , and biological conditions a species needs to live and reproduce in an ecosystem

18. Living interactions • Nonliving • dead organic matter • nutrients in the soil and water. • Producers • green plants • Consumers • herbivores and carnivores • Decomposers • fungi and bacteria • Ecology views each place as an integration of many interdependent parts that function as a “living” unit.

19. Each species has … • an ability/or not to tolerate certain environmental conditions. • What are those conditions? • The Physical Environment • The Biological Environment

20. Ecology is study of interactions between • non-living components in the environment… • Sun light • water • wind • nutrients • temperature • gases • ph, etc.

21. Tolerance Limits Each environmental factor (temperature, nutrient supply, etc.) has both minimum and maximum levels beyond which a species cannot survive or is unable to reproduce.

22. For many species the interaction of several factors, rather than a single limiting factor, determines biogeographical distribution.

24. Competitive Exclusion Principle ecological niche fundamental niche realized niche

27. West Duwamish Greenbelt Salamander pond Fungus threatens state's frogs, salamanders Dead frogs rarely tell tales. The delicate corpses usually decompose or are gobbled up so quickly researchers never find them. . BySandi Doughton Seattle Times science reporter

28. Plants have a lot of interesting chemistry predators have to deal with

29. Most insects can only eat leaves of one or a few related plant species; for example: Spruce Budworm Moth lays eggs on leaves

30. Spruce Budworm larvae

31. The Yucca Moth transfers pollen while laying her eggs on the Yucca Plant

32. Yucca moth larvae feed on developing seeds This is a co-evolutionary relationship

33. Resource Partitioning in shoreline birds

35. Speciation

36. Reed warbler

37. Cowbird egg Reed Warbler eggs

39. Energy & Matter in the Environment • Organism (species) • Population • Biological • Community • Ecosystem • Biosphere

40. Photosynthesis is the beginning of the energy cycle

41. Energy Exchange in an Ecosystem

44. Mangroves in Central America = lots of Primary Production

45. An Elm dying from Dutch Elms Disease: the fungus is a Primary Consumer

46. Hispine Beetles as Primary Consumers feeding in Panama

47. A 2nd order consumer feeding on a Primary consumer

49. Food webs are more interactive than food chains

50. Food Web: Cross-connected Food Chains