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Transcript
Ecology The scientific study of interactions among organisms and their environments Includes descriptive and quantitative data to learn about relationships Biosphere – portion of Earth that supports life From high in atmosphere to bottom of oceans Ecology includes non-living parts of environment = abiotic factors Temperature, moisture, air currents, light, soil Living organisms in an environment are the biotic factors Living things affect others Levels of organization To understand relationships you have to look at more than one individual Population Community Ecosystem Population is a group of organisms of one species that interbreed and live in the same place at the same time Individual frogs might compete for the same food source Community is a collection of interacting populations A change in one population may cause change in another population more frogs = fewer flies While population and communities interact, they both interact with their environment An ecosystem is made up of interactions among the populations in a community and the physical surroundings, or abiotic factors Ecosystems Terrestrial = on land, forest, meadow, desert Aquatic = in water, 75% of Earth Freshwater = pond, lake, stream Saltwater = ocean Organisms in Ecosystems Habitat is the place where an organism lives out its life. Prairie dog burrows in a grassland Birds in trees of a beech-maple forest Niche is the role a species has in its environment Several species may live in the same place, but use different resources = their specialized niche Some species improve changes of survival by forming relationships with other species Some relationships benefit one, harm other, like predator/prey relationship Symbiosis = living together, close relationship between species There are several kinds of symbiosis Commensalism Mutualism Parasitism Commensalism = a symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other is neither harmed not benefited Clownfish lives amongst stinging anemone for protection Mutualism = a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit Ants get nectar from acacia trees and attack any animal that tries to eat from tree. This protection allows trees to live longer. Parasitism = a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits at expense of other organism. Tick, flea, mosquito Chapter 2.2 Nutrition and Energy Flow How organisms get energy Autotrophs make their own nutrients Plants use the sun’s energy to produce nutrients Heterotrophs feed on other organisms Herbivores eat plants Carnivores eat other animals Scavangers eat dead animals Decomposers break down dead and decaying plants and animals Energy flow in ecosystems Food chain = simple model used to show how energy flows through an ecosystem algae fish heron Trophic level = step in the food chain Each higher trophic level has fewer individuals and less energy available Food chain is very simple, only one path Food web = a model that shows all the possible feeding relationships at each trophic level in a community Cycles in Nature Like energy, matter moves through trophic levels Matter gets recycled The water cycle Evaporation, condensation, precipitation The carbon cycle Photosyntheis converts CO2 to energy rich carbon molecules used by organisms to grow The nitrogen cycle Bacteria convert nitrogen in the air into the soil where plants can use it to make proteins The phosphorus cycle Plants get phosphorus from the soil, plants and animals need it to grow