Chapter 2 Principles of Ecology

1. Chapter 2 Principles of Ecology Section 1: Organisms and Their Relationships Section2: Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem Section 3: Cycling of Matter

2. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.1 Organisms and Their Relationships Ecology • Scientific discipline in which the relationships among living organisms and their environment. • Ecologists observe, experiment, and model using a variety of tools and methods.

3. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.1 Organisms and Their Relationships TheBiosphere • A thin layer around Earth • Extends several kilometers above the Earth’s surface • Extends several kilometers below the ocean’s surface

4. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.1 Organisms and Their Relationships The Biosphere

5. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.1 Organisms and Their Relationships Biotic Factors • Living factors in an organism’s environment • Ex: Animals, plants Abiotic Factors • Nonliving factors in an organism’s environment • Ex: Sunlight, temperature

6. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.1 Organisms and Their Relationships Levels of Organization • Levels increase in complexity as the numbers and interactions between organisms increase. • organism • population • biological community • ecosystem • biome • biosphere

8. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.1 Organisms and Their Relationships • The lowest level of organization is the individual organism . • Organisms of a single species that share the same geographic location at the same time make up a population. • A biological community is a group of interacting populations that occupy the same geographic area at the same time.

9. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.1 Organisms and Their Relationships • An ecosystem is a biological community and all of the abiotic factors that affect it. • A biome is a large group of ecosystems that share the same climate and have similar types of communities.

10. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.1 Organisms and Their Relationships Ecosystem Interactions • A habitat is an area where an organism lives. • A niche is the role or position that an organism has in its environment.

11. While many species may share a habitat, this is not true of a niche. Each plant and animal species is a member of a community. The niche describes the species' role or function within this community. • For example, the red fox's habitat might include forest edges, meadows and the bank of a river. The niche of the red fox is that of a predator which feeds on the small mammals, amphibians, insects, and fruit found in this habitat. Red foxes are active at night. They provides blood for blackflies and mosquitoes, and are host to numerous diseases. The scraps, or carrion, left behind after a fox's meal provide food for many small scavengers and decomposers. This then is the ecological niche of the red fox. Only the red fox occupies this niche in the meadow-forest edge communities. In other plant communities different species of animal may occupy a similar niche to that of the red fox. For example, in the grassland communities of western Canada and the United States, the coyote occupies a similar niche (to that of the red fox.)

12. Carefully observe the picture below and list all the abiotic factors and biotic factors you see.

13. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.1 Organisms and Their Relationships Community Interactions • Competition • Occurs when more than one organism uses a resource at the same time • Predation • Many species get their food by eating other organisms.

14. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.1 Organisms and Their Relationships Symbiotic Relationships • The close relationship that exists when two or more species live together • Mutualism: both benefit • Commensalism: one benefits, the other is not helped or harmed. • Parasitism: one benefits and the other is harmed.

15. Mutualism Commensalism Parasitism

16. Principles of Ecology • Organism that gets it energy requirements by consuming other organisms Chapter 2 2.2 Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem Energy in an Ecosystem • Autotrophs AKA Producer • Organism that collects energy from sunlight or inorganic substances to produce food • Heterotrophs AKA Consumer

17. Heterotrophs, AKA Consumers Types: Herbivores: plant eaters Carnivores: meat eaters Omnivores: plant and meat eaters Detritivores: eat plant and animal remains

19. Principles of Ecology • Decomposers get energy from fragments of dead matter in an ecosystem, and return nutrients to the soil, air, and water to be reused. Chapter 2 2.2 Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem Fungus

20. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.2 Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem Models of Energy Flow • Food chains and food webs model the energy flow through an ecosystem. • Each step in a food chain or food web is called a trophic level.

21. Trophic levels represent each step in a food chain 1st level = producers 2nd level = herbivores 3rd level and up = carnivores and omnivores What are trophic levels?

22. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.2 Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem Food Chains • A food chain is a simple model that shows how energy flows through an ecosystem from one organism to another.

23. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.2 Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem Food Webs • A food web is a model representing the many interconnected food chains and pathways in which energy flows through a group of organisms.

24. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.2 Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem Ecological Pyramids • A diagram that can show the amounts of energy, biomass, or numbers of organisms at each trophic level

25. Only about 10 percent of the total energy gets passed from one trophic level to the next.

26. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.3 Cycling of Matter Cycles in the Biosphere • Energy is transformed into usable forms to support the functions of an ecosystem. • The cycling of nutrients in the biosphere involves both matter in living organisms and physical processes found in the environment such as weathering.

27. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.3 Cycling of Matter The Water Cycle

28. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.3 Cycling of Matter The Carbon and Oxygen Cycles

29. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.3 Cycling of Matter The Nitrogen Cycle • The capture and conversion of nitrogen into a form that is useable by plants is called nitrogen fixation.

30. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.3 Cycling of Matter • Nitrogen is returned to the soil in several ways: • Animals urinate. • Organisms die. • Organisms convert ammonia into nitrogen compounds. • Denitrification

31. Principles of Ecology Chapter 2 2.3 Cycling of Matter The Phosphorus Cycle

32. Making your own “tri-fold” Cycling of Matter Study Guide You must have the following words (and define them!!) in each of your cycles. You must also come up with your own creative environment/scenario (NOT found in your textbook). • Water Cycle • Transpiration • Precipitation • Evaporation • Percolation • Run off • Solar energy • Water • Nitrogen Cycle • Atmospheric nitrogen • Nitrogen fixing bacteria & plant roots • Denitrifying bacteria • Nitrifying bacteria • Excretion/Animal Waste • Animal • Plants

33. Carbon-Oxygen Cycle • Balanced Equation: Photosynthesis & Cell Respiration • Respiration • CO2 (where) • O2 (where) • Diffusion • Combustion • Plants & Animals • Decomposition • Fossil Fuels • Phosphorous Cycle • Phosphates • Sediments • Weathering of rocks/Erosion • Decomposers • Animal waste/decay • Plants • Animals