* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download File
Overexploitation wikipedia , lookup
Renewable resource wikipedia , lookup
Reforestation wikipedia , lookup
Mission blue butterfly habitat conservation wikipedia , lookup
Biogeography wikipedia , lookup
Restoration ecology wikipedia , lookup
Biodiversity action plan wikipedia , lookup
Triclocarban wikipedia , lookup
River ecosystem wikipedia , lookup
Soundscape ecology wikipedia , lookup
Source–sink dynamics wikipedia , lookup
Theoretical ecology wikipedia , lookup
Lake ecosystem wikipedia , lookup
History of wildlife tracking technology wikipedia , lookup
Reconciliation ecology wikipedia , lookup
Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project wikipedia , lookup
Habitat destruction wikipedia , lookup
Habitat conservation wikipedia , lookup
JANUARY 10, 2017 • TO DO: Notebook, pencil/pen, sit with your groups • WARM UP: Write all you know about the different levels of the food web/food chain. • HOMEWORK: • Vocabulary on Weebly Due Friday the 13th of January • Contract due Monday 16th of January INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY WHAT IS ECOLOGY • The study of how organisms interact with their environment • All organisms must interact with both living and nonliving things that surround them BASIC CONCEPT OF ECOLOGY • The fundamental idea behind the study of ecology is that all organisms are interdependent. • They interact with one another and the physical environment. LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION • To add to our list of the levels of organization: • Cells Tissues Organs Organ Systems Organisms Population Community Ecosystem Biosphere LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION • Ecologists tend to label groups of organisms. • Let’s look at a familiar setting for example: Your house is part of a town, this is part of a state, which is part of a country, which is part of a continent. LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION CONT. • No individual organism lives completely on its own. It may live with other individuals of the same species to form a population. • Several populations living together make up a community. • Several communities in a given area make up a biome. ORGANIZATION CONT. • Collectively, all the biomes of the planet earth make up the biosphere. • Again, the most basic level of ecological organization is the individual/species. • A group of individuals of the same species make up a population. • A community is all the populations of living organisms in an area. LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION ORGANIZATION CONT. • The boundary of a community is determined by the distribution of its members. • The boundary of one community is not necessarily the boundary of another community. We say these communities overlap. ORGANIZATION CONT. A biome is a large geographical area with a similar climate. BIOSPHERE The biosphere is the region on Earth where all life exists. THE ENVIRONMENT • Made up of all the living and nonliving things that surround an organism. • Vocabulary: • Abiotic Factors • Biotic Factors TWO PARTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC • Biotic – • factors that are or were alive/living in an ecosystem. • Examples: animals, plants, insects, bacteria, fungi, and dead organisms. ABIOTIC • Factors in an environment that are not or never were alive. • Examples: rock island, gases, water, sun, minerals and temperature. ENVIRONMENT VS HABITAT • Many species can survive in more than one environment. • But each species has its “home” or habitat. • Fish may be able to live in fish tanks, but would rather live in the wild HABITAT AND NICHE • Each organism confronts the challenge of survival in a different way. • The niche an organism occupies is the sum of all the ways it utilizes the resources of its environment. • Part of this role may be played as the predator and part may be played as the prey. NICHE Example: Snakes eat mice and other birds and rodents but snakes are also eaten by birds of prey and mice eat grasshoppers and other insects. NICHE • A niche may be described in terms of space utilization, food consumption, temperature range and mating requirements. • An organism’s niche would also take into account its behavior. You can think of an organism’s niche as its job/role in the environment. NICHE • A beaver is an ecosystem engineer. It cuts down trees and dams up a river which will flood the forest with a pond. Eventually the trees will dies, new species of plants and wildlife will arrive to take advantage of the new conditions. Eventually, this forest will become a meadow. The beaver’s NICHE is the role it plays in shaping the environment. But… it is also a main prey species for predators. HABITAT • Niche is not synonymous with habitat. Habitat is a place, niche is a pattern of living. Habitat is the address and niche is the job or occupation. • If two organisms have the same habitat and similar niches, they will compete with each other over the available resources. (food- water -shelter) COMPETITION • An important aspect of the struggle for survival involves competition for limited resources • • • • Food Water Shelter Sunlight HABITAT • Competition is the struggle between two organisms within their habitat. • If a species can avoid competing they may co-exist. But if they compete, one will eventually drive the other out of the habitat, unless they have slightly different niches. • Example: times of activity DIFFERENT NICHES TO AVOID COMPETITON: • Nocturnal – active at night • Diurnal - active during the day • Crepuscular – active at dawn and dusk DIFFERENT NICHES TO AVOID COMPETITON: CONT… • Migration – moving from one area to another to use resources • Hibernation – reducing activity severely for a period of time. ECOSYSTEM • An interacting system that consists of groups of organisms and their non-living environment with in a boundary. Oligotrophic Lake: Nutrient poor, water is clear, oxygen rich; little productivity by algae, relatively deep with little surface area. Eutrophic lake: nutrient rich, lots of algal productivity so it’s oxygen poor at times, water is murkier often a result of input of agricultural fertilizers Rivers and Streams: Organisms need adaptations so that they are not swept away by moving water; heavily affected by man changing the course of flow (E.g. dams and channel-straightening) and by using rivers to dispose of waste. Wetlands: includes marshes, bogs, swamps, seasonal ponds. Among richest biomes with respect to biodiversity and productivity. Very few now exist as they are thought of often as wastelands. Estuary: Place where freshwater stream or river merges with the ocean. Highly productive biome; important for fisheries and feeding places for water fowl. Often heavily polluted from river input so many fisheries are now lost. Intertidal Zone: Alternately submerged and exposed by daily cycle of tides. Often polluted by oil that decreases biodiversity. Coral Reefs: occur in neritic zones of warm, tropical water, dominated by cnidarians (corals); very productive, protect land from storms; most are now dying from rise in global temperatures Deep-sea vent: Occurs in benthic zone; diverse, unusual organisms; energy comes not from light but from chemicals released from the magma. Tropical Forest: Vertical stratification with trees in canopy blocking light to bottom strata. Many trees covered by epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants). Example of Tropical, Dry Forest Desert: Sparse rainfall (< 30 cm per year), plants and animals adapted for water storage and conservation. Can be either very, very hot, or very cold (e.g. Antarctica) Chaparral: Dense, spiny, evergreen shrubs, mild rainy winters; long, hot, dry summers. Periodic fires, some plants require fire for seeds to germinate. Temperate Grassland: Marked by seasonal drought and fires, and grazing by large animals. Rich habitat for agriculture, very little prairie exists in US today. Temperate Deciduous Forest: Mid-latitudes with moderate amounts of moisture, distinct vertical strata: trees, understory shrubs, herbaceous substratum. Loss of leaves in cold, many animals hibernate or migrate then. Original forests lost from North America by logging and clearing. Coniferous forest: Largest terrestial biome on earth, old growth forests rapidly disappearing, usually receives lots of moisture as rain or snow. Tundra: Permafrost (Permanent frozen ground), bitter cold, high winds and thus no trees. Has 20% of land surface on earth. CLIMATE • Definition? • The overriding factor that determines the general nature of an ecosystem. If the climate is always hot and dry, the soil will be sandy. The plants, animals and other life will be specially adapted for survival in a desert. CLIMATE CONT. • If the climate is hot and moist, then there will be many trees, characteristic of a Rainforest. Some animals and insects will be adapted for living in trees. They are called arboreal and include monkeys and spiders. PREDATOR – PREY RELATIONSHIP • Predators are a biotic limiting factor. • They control population size by feeding on prey. • There is a delicate balance that needs to be maintained. KEY IDEA • All organisms have the ability to produce populations of unlimited size • But their environment keeps their numbers in check. CATEGORIES OF POPULATIONS • Populations are labeled by the function they serve in the ecosystem • Producers • Consumers • Decomposers