Interactions of Living Things

By: Mr. Hunter

Who eats whom?

Killer whaleKrill shrimpAlgaeLeopard sealCod fish

Ecology

Ecology: the study of the interactions of organisms with one another and with their environment

Abiotic/Biotic

Biotic: LIVING

Abiotic: NON-LIVING

What abiotic factors are important?

Cycling

Matter and energy cycle between the abiotic and biotic

parts of ecosystems.

Levels of Organization

Individual Organism: one living thingPopulation: groups of the same kinds of

living thingsCommunity: interacting populationsEcosystem: living and nonliving things in

an areaBiosphere: where life is on Earth

Let’s find these examples in nature.

Energy is transferred in an ecosystem

1. All energy required for life to exist on earth comes from the _____ .

2. How is the energy from this source transferred to living things?

Define each of the following.Give three examples of each.

1. producer 2. photosynthesis 3. consumers 4. herbivores 5. carnivores 6. omnivores 7. scavengers 8. decomposers

Cockroaches

Have survived for 300 million years

Most successful and well-adapted scavenger of all times

Scavenged dinosaur bones long before they survived on crumbs and kitchen scraps of humans

Cockroaches

Dead skin and fingernails is a real treat for them; leftover food is a delicacy.

Cockroaches can survive on unlikely food sources like shoe polish, paint, and soap.

Turkey Vultures

Turkey vultures used their acute sense of smell to locate decaying carcasses that scientists hid in the California foothills.

Engineers once pumped ethyl mercaptan into natural gas lines and allowed turkey vultures to find the leaks, since this chemical smells like rotting flesh.

Food Chains

1. Refer back to our marine food chain. Which animals were producers, consumers, and decomposers? What type of consumer was each animal?

2. Think about your last meal. Trace the origin of the energy you received from each type of food.

Food Chain

Food Chain: a diagram that shows how energy in food flows from one organism to another

Food web: a diagram that shows feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem; shows how matter and energy are transferred between organisms.

Energy Pyramid

Energy pyramids show that energy decreases towards the consumer.

Energy pyramids show that number of organisms increases in the direction towards the producer.

Gray Wolves

1. Gray wolves are _____ on the food chain.

2. How are gray wolves related to overgrazing?

Gray Wolves

3. How are other animals affected by the disappearance of the gray wolves?

4. What is the controversy in Yellowstone National Park related to reintroducing gray wolves? Do you think these concerns are valid? Why or why not?

Types of Interactions

Types of Interactions

Human Population

The human population exemplifies exponential growth.

The larger the human population becomes, the faster the population grows.

What do you think?

1. Why do you think the human population has exhibited exponential growth?

2. What do you think could cause the human population to stop growing?

Look at the picture below. What do you think a limiting factor is?

Limiting Factors

A limiting factor is a resource that is so scarce that it limits the size of a population.

What did you think the limiting factors are for the human population?

Carrying Capacity

Carrying Capacity

The largest population that an environment can support is known as the carrying capacity.

Do you think that the human population has reached its carrying capacity? Why or why not?

How do organisms affect one another?

CompetitionPredator/PreySymbiotic RelationshipsCoevolution

Competition

What is a competition? How do you think this word could be applied to something in nature?

Competition

Competition happens within a population and between populations.

How do you think competition happens within a population?

How do you think competition happens between populations?

Predator/Prey

Predator/Prey

Adaptations: improves an individual’s ability to survive and reproduce in an environment

Predator/Prey Adaptations

What would be the main prey adaptation of the roadrunner?

What would be an example of how this prey adaptation may be used as a predator adaptation in another situation?

Think of an example of each in nature….

1. camouflage2. defensive chemicals3. warning coloration

What examples does the text provide?

1. camouflage2. defensive chemicals3. warning coloration

Symbiosis

Symbiosis: a close, long-term relationship between two or more species

Symbiotic relationships are mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism.

Mutualism

Mutualism

Both species benefit from the relationship

A remarkable 3-way mutualism appears to have evolved between an ant, a butterfly caterpillar, and an acacia in the American southwest. The caterpillars have nectar organs which the ants drink from, and the acacia tolerates the feeding caterpillars. The ants appear to provide some protection for both plant and caterpillar.

How would each be an example of mutualism?

Bacteria in your intestines

Corals and algae

Commensalism

Commensalism is a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected.

Parasitism

1. an insect gets nectar from a flower and spreads its pollen from one flower to another

2. coral and algae 3. barnacles adhering to the skin of a whale 4. some tropical orchids use trees or branches of

trees for support without harm or benefit to the tree

5. a leech attaching to the skin of a human and sucking blood

6. heartworms live in the hearts of dogs 7. Female mosquitoes ingest blood for the

protein