Ecology Unit 2

What is Ecology?

Ecosystems

Biomes

Biological Hierarchy

Abiotic & Biotic

How Competition

Effects Ecosystems

Carrying Capacity

Limiting Factors

Density Deponent

and Independent

Factors

Variations and

Adaptations

Types Relationships

Food Chains & Webs

Ecological Niches

What is Ecology?

Greek it literally means Home Study

Ecology- the scientific study of the interactions

between organisms and the environment

Types of Ecology

Global Ecology- the sum of all the planets

ecosystems and landscapes

Landscape Ecology- Focuses on the factors

controlling the exchange of energy materials and

organisms across multiple ecosystems

Ecosystem Ecology- The flow of energy and

chemical cycling between organisms in an

environment

Types of Ecology

Community Ecology- examines the interactions

betweens species (predator/prey and resource

competitions) and how that effects an ecological

community

Population Ecology- examines the factors that

influence population size and interactions over time

Organismal Ecology- studies how an organisms

structure, physiology and behaviors meet the

challenges posed by its environment

Ecology’s Influence on

Climate

Climate- the long term prevailing weather condition in a

given area

4 Factors that influence climate

Temperature

Precipitation

Sunlight

Wind

Ecology’s Influence on

Climate

Climate patterns are influence by ecological

factors (large bodies of water, mountains, eat.)

Seasonal variations are also influenced by

ecological factors (amount of sunlight, amount

of precipitation)

Climate changes cause organisms to change

their behaviors

Ecosystems

Ecosystem- is the community of organisms in

an area and the physical factors which those

organisms interact

Abiotic vs Biotic

Abiotic factors- nonliving

factors

A= not

Non living components of

an ecosystem

(temperature, light,

physical attributes, ect.)

Biotic Factors- living factors

Bio= life

The living organisms in an

environments (plants,

animals, bacteria ect. )

Are these Biotic or Abiotic

factors?

Bioms Biome- a major life zone characterized by vegetation type or by

the physical environment

Savanna

Grassland

Tundra

Lake

Wetland

Oceanic

Extra Vocabulary

Biomass- The total mass of all the organisms in

an area

Biosphere-the global ecological system

integrating all living beings and their

relationships

Trophic Level- each of several hierarchical

levels in an ecosystem

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is a way of classifying and naming

organisms

It allows us to classify organisms very

specifically so that other scientist know what we

are talking about

It starts with the most encompassing group and

works its way down to the most specific group

Domain

Kingdom

Phylum

Class

Order

Family

Genus

Species

A Biological Species is a group of closely

related organisms that are very similar to

each other and are usually capable of

interbreeding and producing fertile

offspring

Biological Hierarchy

Without organization there would be no life

On order to have a form and function there must

be some sort of organization

We are going to start from the smallest unit of

nonliving matter and work it up to an ecosystem

Atoms

Basic Unit of

nonliving matter

Compound

2 + atoms of different

elements chemically

combined together

Organelle

a structure that as specific function inside the cell

Cell

Basic unit of

living matter

Tissue

A group of cells coming

together and preforming

a common function

Organ

A group of tissues that come

together for a common

function

Organ System

2 + organs coming

together to preform

a common function

Organism

An individual living thing that can react to stimuli,

reproduce, grow, and maintain homeostasis.

Population

A group of organisms of the same species in the

same area

Community

All the populations in a given area

Ecosystems

Ecosystem- is the community of organisms in

an area and the physical factors which those

organisms interact

Biosphere

the regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere

of the earth occupied by living organisms.

Population vs Community

Biological Population- A group of organisms of

one species that interbreed and live in the same

place and same time

Biological Community- a group of

interdependent organisms living and interacting

with each other in the same habitat

Limiting Factors

Do populations grow exponentially?

Limiting Factor- are any factor that affects an organism’s

ability to survive in its environment

These factors affect population growth

What are some limiting factors?

Food/water availability

Predation

Disease

How Competition Effects

The Environment?

Competition- is an interaction between organisms or

species in which both the organisms or species are

harmed.

If food is scarce and animals will compete for it one

ultimately getting more then the other.

What happens to individuals as a population size

increases?

What happens when the need for a resource exceeds

the supply of it?

Density Independent

Factors Density Independent Factors- factors such as

weather and climate, that have an influence on

a population size regardless of the population's

density.

Naturally occurring events

Abiotic factors

Density Dependent

Factors

Density Dependent Factor- Any factor limiting the

size of a population whose effect is dependent on

the number of individuals in the population

What are some density dependent factors?

Disease, competition for resources, predation

Biotic factors

Carrying Capacity

Carrying Capacity- the number of people, other

living organisms, or crops that a region can

support without environmental degradation.

In other words the maximum population size that

an particular environment can sustain

If a population cannot get the resources it needs

reproduce and thrive it will start to decrease

What will happen if on the savanna there

is an increase number of gazelles?

Grass/foliage will decrease

The increase will attract more predators to the

area

There will be more competition for resources

with the gazelles for grass or with other

predators for the gazelles

If not regulated the number of gazelles and

predators will continue to grow

What happens when the carrying

capacity is exceeded?

There is not enough foliage to maintain the population of

gazelles. They start to die off due to malnutrition

Predators also take a toll on the gazelle population and

causes a decrease because the gazelle are no longer

reproducing fast enough to keep up with the loss.

If the population is big enough disease sets in to decrease

the gazelle population even more

With less resources the predators start to leave or die off

This will continue until the population for that given area is

back within its carrying capacity

Carrying Capacity Graph

Ecological Niches

Ecological Niche- is the role and position a

species has in its environment. It includes all of

its interactions with the biotic and abiotic factors

of its environment.

A habitat is it’s “address;” A niche is its

“profession”

Tree lizard niche

Both of these are tree lizards

Look at their coloration is one

more adapted to being up in

the leaves of the tree?

Both of these lizards occupy

different parts of the same tree

Both of these lizards occupy

different niches even though

they may be less then 10ft

apart.

Extra Vocabulary

Predation- the preying of one animal on others.

Ecological Pyramid- is a graphical representation

designed to show the biomass at each trophic level in a

given ecosystem.

Habitat- Place where an organism or a biological

population normally lives or occurs.

Variations vs Adaptations

Variation- differences between individuals,

which may be structural, functional, or

physiological

Adaptations- are the result of gradual,

accumulative changes that helps an organism

survive and reproduce.

Variations vs Adaptations

Variations are differences between individuals

this doesn't mean that they are necessary

different species

Adaptations are differences that a passed down

from generation to generation until the new

generation is a distinct different species from

the original

Variations vs Adaptations Think of a peacock vs

a peahen

There is a variation

between their colors

but they can still

interbreed thus they

are the same species

Variations vs Adaptations

Think of the Ground finch and

Warbler finch

Their is a distinct difference in

the size and type of their beak

and this beak is passed down

from generation to generation.

These two finches are

different species so they cant

interbreed making the beak

size an adaptation opposed to

a variation.

Why do we eat food?

Does the food we eat also need energy?

Where does the food we eat get its energy?

Think of a Turkey

Sandwich:

You eat it because your body needs it for

nourishment and it gives you energy

How does it do that?

Turkey/meat get their energy from other

organisms or plants

Plants make energy through the process of

photosynthesis

Producers and

Consumers

There are only 2 types of organisms in this world:

producers and consumers

Producer- an autotrophic organism capable of producing

complex organic compounds from simple inorganic

molecules through the process of photosynthesis

It uses sunlight to make energy

Autotrophic organism- an organism capable of

synthesizing its own food from inorganic substances

such as light

Producers and

Consumers

Consumers-An organism that generally obtains

food by feeding on other organisms or organic

matter due to lack of the ability to manufacture

own food from inorganic sources; a heterotroph

Consumers get energy by consuming

Heterotroph-An organism that cannot

manufacture its own food and instead obtains its

food and energy by taking in organic substances

Are these a consumer or

producer?

Extra Vocabulary

Chemoautotroph- an organism, typically a bacterium, that

derives energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds

Decomposer- an organism, especially a soil bacterium,

fungus, or invertebrate, that decomposes organic material

Detrivore- an animal that feeds on dead organic material

Omnivore- an animal or person that eats food of both plant

and animal origin

Carnivore- an animal that feeds on flesh

Herbivore- an animal that feeds on plants.

Using your vocabulary what kind

of organisms are the following?

Food Chain

A food chain shows the flow of energy through

the environment from producer to consumer.

A food chain consist of an organism “being

eaten” by another organism with an arrow

showing the transfer of energy

Types of Consumers

Primary- herbivores that feed on producers. They

receive the highest concentration of energy from their

diet. They are getting the first cut of energy.

Secondary- mainly carnivores that prey on other

animals and get their energy from those animals. They

only get a portion of the energy the Primary consumer

got from its diet.

Tertiary- strictly carnivores that prey on secondary

consumers. They only get a portion of the energy the

secondary consumer got from its meal.

Energy Pyramid

Food Webs

What differences do you

see from a food chain to

food web?

A food web is several

interconnected food chains

It is a more accurate

representation of how

energy is transferred in an

ecosystem

Name the producers, and types of

consumers in this food web: (primary,

secondary, tertiary)

Organismal Interactions

In this world organisms interact with one

another.

Predators eat pray

Animals use other organisms for shelter (bird

in a tree)

We live in a complicated world that we interact

with on a daily basis.

Types of Organismal

Relationships

Predator/Prey

Parasitism

Mutualism

Commensalism

The last 3 are forms of Symbiosis

Symbiotic Relationships

Symbiosis- when 2 + species live in direct and intimate contact

with one another

Parasitism- a relationship when one organism, the parasite,

benefits from and harms the host (ex: a tick on a dog)

Mutualism- a relationship when both organisms benefit from one

another (ex: ants on a tree, the tree gets protection from the ants

and the ants gets food from the tree)

Commensalism- a relationship when one organism benefits but

the other organism is neither helped or harmed (ex: cattle egrets

in the pasture with cattle)

Ecological Footprint

So do we as humans effect the environment?

Deforestation

Overpopulation (over eating)

Burning of fuel (pollution in the atmosphere)

Disrupting food webs and symbiotic relationships

We only have 1 world and once we use all its

resources up there is no going back