Download Ecological Principles

Ecological Principles
Objectives
• Define Ecology
• Compare and contrast biotic and abiotic
factors
• Describe the three types of symbiosis
ECOLOGY
• is the study of the interactions
among organisms and their
environment
• studied by an ecologist
THE ENVIRONMENT
• An organism’s surroundings
• Composed of living (biotic) and nonliving
(abiotic)things
• Biotic Factors: humans, plants, birds,
fungi, bacteria, protists
• Abiotic Factors: water, light,
temperature, air, soil
LIVING
RELATIONSHIPS
• Describes the associations that
organisms have with other organisms
of a different species within the
environment
Symbiosis
• A relationship between organisms in
which at least one of them benefits
• Three types of symbiosis in
ecosystems are mutualism,
commensalism, and parasitism.
Mutualism (+, +)
Both species benefit
from being in
relationship with
one another
ex. honeybee
&
flower
Commensalism (+, 0)
•
•
•
•
•
One organism benefits
while the other is
unaffected (neither
helped nor harmed)
Ex. robin in a tree
Parasitism (+, -)
• One organism benefits at
the expense of the other
• One organism benefits,
other harmed but not
not killed
• Example:
deer tick on a deer
Predation (+, -)
• one organisms benefits
by hunting, killing, and
feeding on another
organism
• AKA predator – prey
relationship
fox & rabbit
• predator = organism that hunts, kills,
and feeds off another
• prey = organism that is hunted &
killed
Competition
• Occurs when organisms in the same
ecosystem are competing with each
other for resources such as food,
water, sunlight, and living spaces
Objectives
• Describe plants and animals found in various
biomes
• Identify the biome that we live in
BIOMES
• A large region that contains similar
plant and animal ecosystems and is
characterized by certain climate
conditions.
• Biomes can be terrestrial (land) or
aquatic (water).
Terrestrial Biomes
Temperate Deciduous Forest
• Trees (birch, oak, maple,
elm) lose leaves in fall
• Animals such as bears,
deer, rabbits, squirrels, &
many species of birds
Coniferous Forest
• Cone shaped trees (fir,
pine, spruce)
• Moose, bears, lynxes
wolves
• Snow covered ground
during long winters
Tropical Rain Forest
• Made up of tall trees with broad
leaves that form a dense canopy of
vegetation
• Animals include a wide variety of
snakes, lizards, colorful birds, and
many kinds of monkeys
Grassland
• Made up of
grasses & plants
that produce
colorful flowers
• Called a prairie in
U.S.
• Has rich, fertile soil
• Well suited for growing crops
• Animals include bison, mice, and
prairie dogs
Desert
• Arid or dry
• Very little yearly rainfall
• Vegetation sparse, consists of plants
like cacti
• Animals include snakes, lizards, and
jackrabbits
Tundra
• Very cold conditions
• Very little vegetation
• Contains permafrost (permanently
frozen soil located underneath topsoil
• Animals include musk oxen & wolves
Aquatic Biomes
• Aquatic biomes can be freshwater or
marine
• Freshwater biomes include rivers,
streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands
• Wetlands are land
areas that remain
wet for all or part
of the year.
They include
swamps & marshes
• Marine biomes consist of the oceans
• Oceans have 4 distinct zones:
intertidal
neritic
oceanic
benthic
• Intertidal – where ocean meets the
land. Animals include shellfish &
birds
• Neritic – numerous fishes, sea
turtles, squids, coral reefs
• Oceanic – open ocean; most of zone cold
& dark; not much life. Fishes & whales
• Benthic – ocean floor; bottom feeder
animals like starfish, anemones, sponges