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Adapting to the Environment
Natural Selection
Niche
Natural Selection
 Characteristics that are better-
suited for the environment are
eventually shown in a species
through this process.
Natural Selection
 Those characteristics that are the
strongest carry over to the next
generation.
 Adaptation occurs because of the
changes in behavior and physical
characteristics.
Niche
 The role of an organism in its habitat,
or how it makes its living.
 Includes:
 Type of food the organism eats.
 How it obtains food.
 Which other organisms use the
organism for food.
Competition
 Organisms struggle between other
organisms to survive as they attempt
to use the same limited resource.
 There are limitations on food, water
and shelter.
Predation
 This is when another organism kills
another organism for food.
 Predator – The organism that kills
 Prey – The organism that is killed.
Predation
 The effect of predation on population
size.
 Predator adaptations
 Prey Adaptations
Predation
The effect of predation on
population size.
 When you have too many predators
the prey population drops.
 Less prey means eventually less
predators.
Predation
Predator adaptation
 These adaptations allow the predators
to catch and kill their prey
 Examples: Short bursts of speed for
the cheetah, Tentacles of jellyfish
have poison that paralyzes prey, and
Big eyes of owls help them see their
prey at night.
Predation
Prey adaptations
 Avoiding being killed or eaten.
 Coloration warns predators that
organism may be poisonous.
 Camouflage
 Mimicry
Symbiosis
 Mutualism
 Commensalism
 Parasitism
Symbiosis
Mutualism:
 A relationship between two organisms
in which both species benefit.
 Example: Saguaro cactus and Longeared bat.
 Bats get a meal and transfer the
pollen to another cactus.
Symbiosis
Commensalism:
 One organism benefits while the other
organism is not harmed nor helped.
 Example: Red-tailed hawk builds nest
in Saguaro cactus. Cactus is not
affected by the hawk.
Symbiosis
Parasitism:
 This involves one organism either living on
an organism or in the organism and does
harm to the organism.
 The organism benefiting is called the
parasite
 A host is the organism the parasite lives
on or in.
 Examples: fleas, ticks, tapeworms, and
leeches.