Ecology Interactions Between Organisms and their Environments

1. EcologyInteractions Between Organisms and their Environments Mr. Broderick NC SCOS Goal 5

2. The organization of our world! The earth is a biosphere Ecosystems are the living and nonliving things in an area Populations are a group of one type of organism living in an area

3. Hierarchy of Biology • Molecules • Ecosystems • Communities • Populations • Organisms • Organ systems • Organs • Tissues • Cells • Organelles

4. What is ecology? • Ecology: The study of the relationship between organisms and their environment • Example problems that ecology handles: • How do humans affect the atmosphere and contribute to global warming? • How does the population of wolves in an area affect the population of rabbits? • Do clownfish (Nemo!) and anemone benefit each other?

5. Why does ecology matter? • Ecology: The study of the relationship between organisms and their environment Scenario: Imagine that there is an insect that lives on peanut plants growing on farms in Northampton County. Is there a way that we can limit insect damage to the peanut crops in order to decrease the price of peanuts at the store by 20 cents per pound?

6. Ecosystems • Ecosystem: An area containing an interaction of living and non-living factors in an area/region • Example ecosystems: • North Carolina forests (pine forests) • Coastal Plains of NC • Outer banks coastal water ecosystem • Lake Gaston ecosystem

8. What is in an Ecosystem? • Abiotic Factors: The non-living parts of an ecosystem • Rocks, soil, temperature, gases in the air, light • Biotic Factors: The living parts of an ecosystem • Plants, animals, bacteria, fungus • Producers: use light to make their own energy • Consumers: eat other organisms to obtain energy • Decomposers: break down dead organisms for energy

9. Biotic Abiotic Water Soil Wind or Air Gases oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen Temperature Sunlight pH Acid or base • Humans • Bacteria • Fungus • Plants • Insects • Amphibians • Reptiles • Mammals • Birds

10. Abiotic or Biotic? Biotic (plant) Abiotic (rainwater)

11. Abiotic or Biotic? • The air temperature is 45 degrees F = • The soil is made of rocks and minerals = • A bird lays eggs = • Bacteria break down dead organisms = • The pH or the water is 2 (acidic) = abiotic abiotic biotic biotic abiotic

12. Abiotic or Biotic? Biotic Abiotic Biotic Biotic

13. Which of the following is a relationship between abiotic and biotic factors? A) The rain on an open field washes away soil B) A hawk hunts a mouse and swoops down into the forest for the kill C) A lake has very acidic water which causes many fish populations to die D) A deer grazes in a field of grasses Abiotic Biotic

14. A scientist performs an experiment to see if acids have an effect on the health of a particular type of plant. Three sets of plants were treated with acidic solutions of known pH while the control set was treated with a solution of neutral pH 7. What is the best conclusion for this experiment? Acid has no effect on the health of this type of plant High acidity is helpful to this type of plant Low acidity is harmful to this type of plant High acidity is harmful to this type of plant

15. Energy Transfer in an Ecosystem

16. Food Chains • A food chain shows the flow of energy between the organisms in an environment

17. Food Chains • Notice that the arrow points from the organism being eatento the organism that eats it. • Like the burger you eat goes into you Plants  Cow (burger)  Human

18. What do the arrows in the food chain below indicate? • Sunlight • Energy flow • Heat transfer • Toxins

19. What is energy? • The energy that is transferred in an ecosystem is stored in carbon-compounds, or organic compounds. • Organic compounds: molecules that contain a carbon atom • Carbohydrates: glucose, starch, cellulose (mostly plants) • Proteins: the muscles of animals (steak!) • Fats: in muscle of animal tissues (fatty steak!)

20. Food Webs • When we put many food chains together in one ecosystem, it is called a food web • Food webs show the direction that energy flows in an ecosystem.

21. Energy Moves in a Food Web Other animals get energy from the fat and protein in other animals Some animals get glucose from plants Plants make glucose from light

22. Parts of a Food Web Producers: organisms that use light to store energy in organic compounds. (examples: plants, algae, phytoplankton) Consumers: organisms that eat other organisms to get organic compounds that they use for energy (examples: humans, cows, insects, birds…) 3 ͦconsumers: organisms that eat 2 ͦconsumers for energy 2 ͦ consumers: organisms that eat 1 ͦconsumers for energy 1 ͦconsumers: eat producers to obtain energy compounds

23. Parts of a Food Web • Where are the producers in the food web below?

24. Parts of a Food Web • Where are the consumers in the food web below?

25. Tertiary Consumer Secondary Consumer Primary Consumer Producer

26. Which of the following organisms is a primary consumer in the ecosystem shown? • Hawk • Rabbit • Mountain lion • Frog

27. Population Impacts in a Food Web • If the population of organisms at any level of the food web changes, it will affect the population at other levels • If the population of producers decreases, then the population of primary consumers will decrease if they don’t have enough food. • If the population of primary consumers decreases, then… -The producers will increase because there are less consumers eating them -The secondary consumers will decrease because there is less food for them

28. Which organism would be most affected if the cricket population decreased? • Snake • Deer • Frog • Hawk

29. Energy Pyramids • Energy Pyramids show the amount of energy at each level of a food web • Trophic Level: the total amount of energy in all organisms at one level in the food web.

30. Energy Pyramids • More energy at the bottom, decreases as the pyramid moves up the food web Less Energy More Energy

31. Energy Pyramid Labels Tertiary Consumers Secondary Consumers Primary Consumers Producers

32. Energy Transfer in Energy Pyramids • Each trophic level of the energy pyramid supplies energy to the level above it. • Each transfer loses 90% of the energy • Only 10% of the energy at a level is passed to the next level up! 0.1% 1% 10% 100%

33. Energy Transfer (calories) 1 calorie 10 calories 100 calories 1,000 calories

34. Energy Transfer in Energy Pyramids • We can say that the energy transfer from level to level is inefficient • (not a lot of the energy at each level makes it up) • This means that there can’t be many levels ina food web or pyramid • The amount of energy decreases, and it cannot typically support organisms at higher levels than tertiary consumer

35. Energy Transfer and Flow

36. How does energy enter the food web?

37. Better question… where does the weight of a producer come from? How does this... become this?

39. Photosynthesis Sunlight Glucose Oxygen Carbon Dioxide Water Photosynthesis: a toxin process that occurs in producers and converts light, carbon dioxide, and water into glucose (sugar) and oxygen

40. Starch Fat (nuts) Glucose O2 Light CO2 H2O

41. How do consumers get energy? • Digestionof organic molecules • Consumers eat other organisms to obtain organic molecules, which are forms of stored energy. • Energy is stored in the bonds of the molecules.

42. The Carbon Cycle

43. Carbon Cycle • Carbon is found throughout the environment • Carbon is found in the atmosphere and in water as carbon dioxide (CO2) • Carbon is found in organisms as organic molecules, like glucose (sugars) and fats • Carbon is found buried in the ground as fossil fuels

44. CO2

45. C6H12O6

46. CO2

50. Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming Greenhouse Effect • Heat is trapped near the Earth’s surface because once light gets in, it warms the surface but cannot escape out of the atmosphere. • It is trapped by the gases in the atmosphere, like CO2