Download File - Claremont AP Environmental

The
Living
World
Ecology
Organization & Relationships
Ecological Organization
– Individual
– Population
– Community
– Ecosystem
– Biome
– Biosphere
– Ecology is the study of the environment
How living things interact with each other
How living things interact with nonliving things
Studying ecology in levels
helps scientists better
understand how living
things interact with other
organisms and with the
physical environment
Levels of Ecological
Organization
Individual: a single organism
– Interacts with other living things, and its
surroundings (habitat)
Population: a group of
individuals of the same
species that live in the
same area.
– Members of the same
species interact with
each other
Community: 2 or more different populations
living in the same area.
– The populations interact with each other.
Ecosystem: a community of living things
interacting with the non living parts of
their environment
– soil, water, air, temperature, weather
patterns
Biome: a collection of ecosystems
with the same climate and similar
communities
• Polar region
• Temperate Grasslands
• Tundra
• Savanna
• Taiga (Boreal Forest) • Desert
• Temperate Forest
• Tropical Rainforest
Biosphere: includes all life, land,
water, and air on Earth.
– Living organisms depend on each
other and on the complex web of
dependencies
Although we divide the environment into
different parts it is important to remember
that ALL living things directly or indirectly
depend on each other and on abiotic factors.
Human Impact on the Levels of
Ecological Organization:
Using as many vocabulary words as you
can answer the following question:
How do the following human activities
negatively effect the levels of ecology: hunting,
building houses, pollution, global warming.
Left Hand Side:
Ecological Organization
Pyramid
• Color and label the picture according
to the instructions
• Cut out and tape/paste into your
notebook
Ecological Relationships
– Niche
– Competition
– Predation
– Commensalism
– Mutualism
– Parasitism
– How do relationships among organisms add to
the complexity of biological communities?
Ecological relationships exist
because of niches
A niche is an organism’s….
role in an ecosystem
the physical space an organism
occupies
how that organism interacts with
other organisms in that space.
determined by the place the
organism has in the food chain.
There are 5 types of ecological
relationships
Competition is the contest
between organisms for food,
space, mates and other resources
Predation is when one organism
feeds on another organism.
The organism eaten is called prey
The organism that is eating is
called the predator
Mutualism is a form of symbiosis
where both organisms benefit from
the relationship
Commensalism is another form of
symbiosis where one organism
benefits from the relationship and
the other organism does not benefit
but is not harmed by it either
Parasitism is the third type of
symbiosis: one organism benefits
while the other is harmed
 One organism benefits – this organism is called
the parasite
 The other organism is harmed, but not always
killed- this organism is called the host
Ecological Roles
Using as many vocabulary words as you
can answer the following question:
Organisms can also be pollinators and seed
dispersers. Describe these ecological
relationships and why they are important.