2011 Ecology Event Rules Overview

1. KAREN LANCOUR National Bio Rules Committee Chairman karenlancour@charter.net 2011 ECOLOGY (B&C)

2. Event Rules – 2011 DISCLAIMER This presentation was prepared using draft rules.  There may be some changes in the final copy of the rules.The rules which will be in your Coaches Manual and Student Manuals will be the official rules.

3. Event Rules – 2011 • BE SURE TO CHECK THE 2011 EVENT RULES FOR EVENT PARAMETERS AND TOPICS FOR EACH COMPETITION LEVEL

4. TRAINING MATERIALS • Training Power Point – content overview • Training Handout – content information • Sample Tournament – sample problems with key • Event Supervisor Guide – prep tips, setup needs, and scoring tips • Internet Resources & Training Materials – on the Science Olympiad website at www.soinc.org under Event Information • A Biology-Earth Science CD as well as the Division B and Division C Test Packetsare available from SO store atwww.soinc.org

5. EVENT COMPONENTS • Ecology Content – 2011 • Principles of Ecology (about 50 %) • Taiga and Tundra (new) of North America (about 50%) • Process skills in data, graph and diagram analysis • Event parameters – check the event parameters in the rules for resources allowed.

6. Section I: General Principles of Ecology ECOLOGY – how organisms interact with one another and with their environment ENVIRONMENT – living and non-living components • ABIOTIC – non-living component or physical factors as soil, rainfall, sunlight, temperatures • BIOTIC – living component are other organisms.

7. ECOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION • INDIVIDUAL– individual organisms • POPULATION– organisms of same species in same area (biotic factors) • COMMUNITY– several populations in same area (biotic factors) • ECOSYSTEM– community plus abiotic factors • BIOSPHERE– all ecosystems on earth

8. ECOLOGY OF INDIVIDUALS • Homeostasis – delicate balance • Components • Physiological Ecology • Temperature and Water Balance • Light and Biological Cycles • Physiological Ecology and Conservation

9. ECOLOGY OF POPULATIONS • Properties of populations • Patterns of distribution and density • Intraspecific competition • Population dynamics • Growth and regulation • Altering population growth • Human impact

10. Growth Curves

11. Human Population

12. Survival Curves • Survivorshipis the percentage of remaining survivors of a population over time; usually shown graphically. Type I survivorship curve: most individuals live out their life span and die of old age (e.g., humans). Type II survivorship curve: individuals die at a constant rate (e.g., birds, rodents, and perennial plants). Type III survivorship curve: most individuals die early in life (e.g., fishes, invertebrates, and plants).

13. ECOLOGY OF COMMUNITIES • Closed vs. Open communities • Closed – sharp boundaries • Open – Lack boundaries • Species abundance and diversity • Trophic Structure of Communities • Food chains • Food web • Trophic pyramid

14. INTERACTIONS AMONG SPECIES • Interactions • Interspecific competition • Predation • Exploitation • Symbiosis

15. Types of Species Interactions • Neutral – two species do not interact • Mutualism – both benefit • Commensalism – one benefits, other neutral • Parasitism – one benefits, one harmed but not killed • Predation – one benefits, other killed

16. Predator - Prey Relationship

17. Food Chain • rose plantaphidsbeetlechameleon hawk • Producer • 1st order Consumer or Herbivore • 2nd order Consumer or 1st order Carnivore • 3rd order Consumer or 2nd order Carnivore • 4th order Consumer or 3rd order Carnivore • Decomposers – consume dead and decaying matter

18. Food Web

19. ECOLOGY OF ECOSYSTEMS • Energy Flow • Energy Flow Pyramids • Bio-mass Pyramids • Community Succession and Stability • Nutrient Recycling – nutrient cycles

20. Energy vs Nutrient • Nutrients– cyclic (Biogeochemical Cycles) • Energy flow – one way

21. Ecologic Pyramids Ecological pyramid - a graph representing trophic level numbers within an ecosystem. The primary producer level is at the base of the pyramid with the consumer levels above. Numbers pyramid - compares the number of individuals in each trophic level. Biomass pyramid - compares the total dry weight of the organisms in each trophic level. Energy pyramid - compares the total amount of energy available in each trophic level. This energy is usually measured in kilocalories.

22. Numbers Pyramid

23. Biomass & Energy Flow Pyramids

24. Biogeochemical Cycles • Hydrologic Cycle • Phosphorus Cycle • Nitrogen Cycle • Carbon Cycle

25. Hydrologic (Water) Cycle

26. Phosphorus Cycle

27. Nitrogen Cycle

28. Carbon Cycle

29. Biosphere • Types of Ecological Spheres • Biosphere • Lithosphere • Hydrosphere • Atmosphere • Biogeochemical Cycles • Disruption of Biosphere • Specie Extinction & Biosphere Destruction

30. Section II: ECOLOGY OF BIOMES • Weather and Climate • Types of Biomes • Aquatic biomes • Terrestrial biomes • 2011 – Biomes of North America • Tundra (new) • Taiga (Boreal Forest or Coniferous Forest)

31. Terrestrial Biomes – Latitude vs. Altitude

32. Biomes: Temperature and Climate for Terrestrial Biomes

33. Adaptations of Plants & Animals • Not intended to be a taxonomic event • Emphasis on adaptations of common plants and animals to each biome • Common members of food chains and food webs of each biome • Limiting factors for each biome

34. TAIGA OF NORTH AMERICA • 2nd largest forest in the world • Ring Artic between Artic and Deciduous Forest – 50 to 60 degrees North Latitude • Upper elevations of Mountains

35. Tiaga or Boreal (Evergreen) forests of North America

36. Taiga – Abiotic Factors • Angle of incidence for incoming solar radiation is low and twilight lasts many hours • Seasons- short, moist and moderately warm summers & long, cold, dry winters. • Temperature: -65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit • Variable precipitation: 6-40 in (15-100 cm). • Soils – thin because they were scraped by glaciers and very acid because of decomposition of pine needles • Absence of earth-churning invertebrates as earthworms so soil is hard and compact • Fire a major factor in maintaining biome

37. Environmental Importanceof the Taiga • Filters millions of liters of water • Stores large amounts of carbon • Produces oxygen • Rebuilds soils and restores nutrients • Bogs and marshes provides habitats for large numbers of species from fish to birds

38. Taiga - Food web

39. Taiga: Types of Plants • Conifers are major producer • Most common types – spruce, balsam fir and pine • Others – hemlock, cedar, redwood, junipers • Latitude and altitude influences species • Berry-producing shrubs important to birds, mammals and people • Some types of fungi, lichens, and mosses

40. Taiga: Plant Adaptations • Trees have upside down cone shape so snow slides off the branches • Branches are flexible to hold great amounts of snow and not break • Trees grow thin and close together to protect them from cold and wind • Needles waxy for protection from freezing temperatures and prevent them from drying out • Needles are present year round and deep green to absorb the maximum warmth from the sun • Thick bark which does not easily burn and protects inner layers from heat and cones protect the seeds

41. Taiga: Types of Animals • Insects – millions of insects in the summer • birds – up to 3 billion insect-eating birds breed each year in Taiga – over 200 species • Seed eaters like finches and sparrows as well as omnivorous birds as crows stay all year • Crossbill has specialized bill for prying open cones and nuthatch can break the cones open • Herbivores as small mammals, snowshoe rabbits, red squirrels, voles and lemming • Predators feeding on small mammals as owls, wolves, lynx, bobcats, minks, wolverines, weasels, mink, otters, martens, fishers • Deer, elk and moose • Largest predators as grizzlies, lynx, and mountain lions will also feed on weakened or young deer, elk or moose

42. Taiga: Animal Adaptations for long cold winters and hot summers • migrate south in winter (birds) • go into hibernation during winter • store extra fat layers on their bodies for winter • change diets from season to season • grow extra fur on the bottom of their feet to tread on snow easier (lynx and snowshoe rabbit) • change fur color and coat thickness from season to season • live under snow in winter in snow tunnels (lemmings, mice, shrews, voles)

43. Taiga: Environmental Concerns • Pollution Clear cutting • Illegal logging • Poaching • Forest fires – unnatural fires • Mining • Drilling for oil and natural gas disrupt the forest • Global warming

44. Taiga: Role in Earth’s Climate • It stores large quantities of carbon stored as plant material on forest floor (up to 10 feet in some areas) • 1 cm of plant material can hold 2.5 tons of carbon per acre • Taiga acts like a large refrigerator preventing fallen trees, needles and other debris from decomposing • Heating up the taiga is causing the following problems: Litter decomposes putting carbon into the atmosphere Increases in forest fires Infestation by bark beetles which is killing the trees Dead trees - tinder to fuel the forest fires and adding more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

45. TUNDRA OF NORTH AMERICA • About one fifth of the land surface of the earth is tundra. • Located next to icy zones in the arctic encircling North Pole down to Taiga. (Arctic Tundra) • Located at the top of mountains above the tree line ( Alpine Tundra)

46. TUNDRA OF NORTH AMERICA • Simple vegetation structure • Limitation of drainage • Energy and nutrients in the form of dead organic • material • Large population oscillations

47. TUNDRA – Abiotic Factors • Angle of incidence for incoming solar radiation is low and twilight lasts many hours • Temperature - extremely cold - from -30oC to -40oC in winter; average winter temperature of - 34 degrees C ( -30 degrees F). Highest summer temperature is only about 10o C • Annual precipitation (mostly as snow) is 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) which is desert-like • Winds - often reach speeds of 30 to 60 miles (48 to 97 km/hr) • Sunlight - During the winter there are only a few hours or less of sunlight in the summer, there is sunlight almost 24 hours a day. • Ground surface - spongy, uneven as a result of freezing and thawing • Permafrost - Plains of tundra are covered with snow, ice and frozen soil most of the year • Growing Season - Short season of growth and reproduction - from 50 to 60 days

48. Tundra Food Web

49. Tundra Energy Pyramid

50. TUNDRA of North America