Ecology

Study of interactions between organisms and living and nonliving environment.

Biotic= living

Abiotic= nonliving

**List three examples of each!**

Interdependence

Interconnectedness between different organisms

Ex. green plants take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen; we take in oxygen and produce carbon dioxide

If one fails, all could fail!

Levels of Organization

Biosphere

Biome

Ecosystem

Community

Population

Organism

Largest to

Smallest

Habitat vs. Niche

Habitat: Place an organism lives

Niche: Role an organism has within the ecosystem

Includes all resources used, all abiotic factors tolerated, offspring produced, etc.

Acclimation vs. AdaptationAcclimation= Ability of an organism to adjust to changing environmental conditions within a lifetime

Ex. New fish slowly get use to water in a new tank

Those that can’t acclimate —>

Migrate

Hibernate/dormancy

Die

Acclimate vs. Adaptation

Adaptation?

Food Chain

Linear feeding relationship

Traces flow of energy from one trophic (energy/feeding) level to another

Always begins with producer/autotroph (why?)

Only one capable of adding biomass

Biomass: Organic material produced in ecosystem

Food Chain/Web Vocabulary

Food Web

Interconnected food chains

More realistic!

All living things can cycle back to decomposers/detritivores —> why?

Energy Transfers

Less than 10% of energy is sent to next trophic level

Lost as heat

Lost to digestion/waste

Some used for survival

Ecology Review

Energy Transfer in Ecosystems