Ecology - study of the interactions between living things and their surroundings.

2. Ecology - study of the interactions between living things and their surroundings.

3. Levels of Organization • Biosphere • Ecosystem • Community • Population • Organism

4. Biosphere • The portion of earth that supports life • Extends from the lower atmosphere to the bottom of oceans • Supports diverse array of organisms and wide range of climates

5. Ecosystem Ecosystem Community Community Population Population Organism Organism • An ecosystem/biome - all of the living and nonliving things in a given area (climate, soil, water, rocks).

6. Earth has six major biomes.

7. Community • All the populations of different species that live in the same place at the same time. • Example • Forest community • Flowers, bushes, trees, snakes, frogs, birds, squirrels, deer, etc…

8. Population • A group of organisms, of one species, which interbreed and live in the same place at the same time. • Example • Population of bullfrogs in Jackson Bog

9. Organism Organism • An organism - individual living thing, ex: alligator.

10. 13.2 Biotic and Abiotic Factors KEY CONCEPT Every ecosystem includes both living and nonliving factors.

11. sunlight moisture 13.2 Biotic and Abiotic Factors • moisture • temperature • wind • sunlight • Soil • Not constant (always changing) • Abiotic factors are nonliving things.

12. 13.2 Biotic and Abiotic Factors Biotic Factors • Living components of the environment

13. keystone 13.2 Biotic and Abiotic Factors • A keystone species is a species that has an unusually large effect on its ecosystem.

14. 16.3 Water Quality 13.2 Biotic and Abiotic Factors • amphibians • top predators • Indicator species provide a sign of an ecosystem’s health.

15. 13.3 Energy in Ecosystems Producers provide energy for other organisms in an ecosystem. • autotrophs- make their own food.

16. carbon dioxide + water + hydrogen sulfide + oxygen sugar + sulfuric acid 13.3 Energy in Ecosystems Almost all producers obtain energy from sunlight. • Photosynthesis • Chemosynthesis – produce energy from chemicals

17. 13.3 Energy in Ecosystems Measuring productivity • Gross primary productivity – rate at which producers capture E • Biomass – organic material in an ecosystem • Only E stored as biomass is available to other organisms in the ecosystem

18. 13.3 Energy in Ecosystems Consumers are organisms that get their energy by eating other living or once-living resources. • heterotrophs

19. 13.3 Energy in Ecosystems • Herbivores – eat producers • Carnivores – eat other consumers • Omnivores – eat both producers and consumers • Detritivores – feed on the “garbage” of an ecosystem

20. GRAMA GRASS DESERT COTTONTAIL HARRIS’S HAWK 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs A food chain is a model that shows a single chain of consumers within an ecosystem. • arrows point in the direction that energy flows

21. 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs A food web - interrelated food chains in an ecosystem

22. 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs Energy Flow moves from producers to consumers Trophic level – indicates the organism’s position in the sequence of energy transfers • Producers – 1st trophic level • Herbivores – 2nd trophic level • Predators of herbivores – 3rd trophic level

23. 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs Quantity of Energy Transfers 10% of the total E consumed in one trophic level is incorporated into the organism in the next level • E is used to maintain body T, to move, etc. • E is lost when organisms escape being eaten • decomposer return their E to the lower trophic levels • E is lost in parts of the organism that can not be broken down by the predator • bones, teeth, hair

25. energy lost energy transferred 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs An energy pyramid shows the distribution of energy among trophic levels. • Higher trophic levels contain less energy • support fewer individuals

26. 16.3 Water Quality 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs Biomagnification - accumulation of toxins in the food chain. • Pollutants move up the food chain. • predators eat contaminated prey • Top consumers (humans) are most affected. • DDT- Birds of prey

27. 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs Species Interactions Predation • Predator – captures, kills, and consumes prey • Influences where and how species live by determining their relationship in the food web • Regulates population size Natural selection favors adaptations that improve the efficiency of predators at finding, capturing, and consuming prey Natural selection favors adaptations for prey to avoid, escape, or otherwise ward off predators

28. 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs

29. 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs Natural selection of plants has favored adaptations that protect them from being eaten • Thorns, sticky hairs, tough leaves • Chemical defenses (secondary compounds) • Strychnine, nicotine, poison ivy • May also have medicinal uses – codeine, morphine

30. 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs Parasitism– one individual is harmed (host) while the other benefits (parasite) • Does not usually result in the immediate death of the host

31. 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs Ectoparasite – external parasites – do not enter hosts body • Ticks, fleas, lice, leeches, mosquitoes Endoparasite – internal parasite – live inside host • Disease causing bacteria, protists, tapeworm Affect the health and reproduction of the host Stimulates evolution of defenses in hosts • Tough skin & chemically defended openings • eyes-tears • mouth-saliva • nose-mucus

32. 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs Natural selection favors adaptations that allow a parasite to efficiently attack host • Specialized anatomically • Mouth parts • and Physiologically • Body chemistry to survive different environments etc.

33. 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs Competition • The use of a limited resource by 2 or more species • Types • Intraspecific- competition between organisms of the same species • Interspecific- competition between 2 or more different species of organisms

34. 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs Competitive Exclusion • one species is eliminated from a community • Natural selection favors differences between potential competitors – character displacement

35. 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs Resource Partitioning • Organisms “divide” resources • Adaptations allow for use of resources in different ways or at different times • Examples • Diurnal vs. Nocturnal

36. 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs Mutualism Cooperative relationship in which both species benefit • Some relationships are so close that neither species can survive without the other • Ex: pollination

37. 13.4 Food Chains and Food Webs Commensalism • Interaction in which one species benefits and the other is not affected

38. 14.1 Habitat and Niche Niche -Role of a species in its environment (Job) Types: • Fundamental- ideal; absence of competition • Realized- natural; competition and other constraints

39. 14.1 Habitat and Niche • Generalists are consumers that have a varying diet. • Specialists are consumers that primarily eat one specific organism or a very small number of organisms.

40. Broad niche Tolerate variety of resources and conditions Example raccoons Narrow niche Very specific adaptations Example Koalas 14.1 Habitat and Niche Generalist vs. Specialist

41. 14.1 Habitat and Niche A habitat is all aspects of the area in which an organism lives. • biotic factors • abiotic factors