Download Ecology

Principles of Ecology
What’s the BIG IDEA?
What’s the BIG IDEA?
Energy is required to cycle materials
through living and nonliving systems.
Organisms and their
Relationships
• MAIN IDEA: Biotic and abiotic factors
interact in complex ways in
communities and ecosystems.
Word Origins (Don’t copy)
Word Part
ABioCom- or coEcoSym-
Meaning
not
life
With,
together
Environment
nature
With,
together
Example
Abiotic
Biotic
Community
Ecology
symbiosis
What is Ecology?
• Study of interactions between
organisms, their environments, and
different species
• Organisms are observed in their own
environments
• Effects of biotic and abiotic things are
studied
Ecologists (Don’t copy)
• 1866 – Ernst Haeckel introduced
the word ecology
• Since then, national government has
worked to protect the environment:
–National parks
–Damage to environment studied
–Laws to protect the environment
What Do Ecologists Do?
(Don’t copy)
• What are important things in the
environment people might study?
• Why are they important?
The Biosphere
• Thin layer around Earth that supports
life
• Extends several km above Earth’s
surface, and several km below the
ocean’s surface
• Includes any place where life is found
• Includes biotic (living) and abiotic
(nonliving) things
Biosphere
Levels of Organization
(Hierarchy)
• Simplest  complex:
organism, population, biological
community, ecosystem, biome,
biosphere
Population
• Organisms of the same species in the
same location at the same time
• Ex: the goose population in Nomahegan
Park in 2007
• Members compete for the same
resources
• If becomes too large, some may die
until the environment can support it
again
Community
• All the populations in the same area
at the same time
• Example?
• Populations can interact and
sometimes compete for the same
resources
Ecosystem
• Community + all abiotic factors that
affect it
• No size limit or boundaries; can be
large or small (Watchung Reservation
or a puddle)
• some overlap (ocean and shoreline)
Biome
• Large group of
ecosystems with
the same or
similar climate,
characteristics,
and communities
• Ex: desert,
rainforest, ocean
Biosphere
• Largest level of
organization
• Includes ALL of
the biomes
• Most complex
Create!
• Make a diagram, structure, rhyme,
song, etc. to show the levels of
organization. Include a specific
example.
• Work in a small group.
• You will present your creation!
4 Main Characteristics of
Ecosystems
1. Organisms interact with each other
and abiotic factors.
2. Energy flows by being transferred
through organisms.
3. Nutrients and other materials are
cycled.
4. Ecosystems change.
Factor 1: Interactions
• Interactions occur within ecosystems
and communities.
Community Interactions
• Organisms interact for survival.
• Types of interactions:
– Competition
– Predation
– Symbiotic
Competition
• More than 1 organism uses a
resource at one time
• May compete for food, sunlight
(plants), water, mates, etc.
• Competition – fierce when resources
are limited
• Weaker organisms may die or leave
area
Types of Competition (DON’T
COPY)
• Interspecific – between different
species
–Ex: snail and river turtle compete
for tape grass.
• Intraspecific – within one species
–Deer competing for limited
resources as their land shrinks due
to development by humans
Predation
• Eating another organism
• Predator – usually an animal;
exception is the venus fly trap
• Prey – can be plants or animals
• What are some adaptations of
predators and prey?
Predator/Prey Adaptations
• Camouflage (cryptic coloration)
• Warning coloration – poisons,
stingers
• Chemical defenses – poisons, toxins
• Mimicry – resemble distasteful
models (butterflies, wasps and bees)
Plant Prey Protection
• Morphological (structural) – thorns,
spines, plant hairs, etc
• Chemical defenses- may be poisons
or other toxins
• Some herbivores have adapted to be
able to eat these
Symbiotic Relationships
• Close relationship – organisms live
together
1. Mutualism
2. Commensalism
3. Parasitism
Page 93
Mutualism
• Both organisms benefit from the
relationship
– Ex: birds, insects, bats and flowering
plants
– Lichens (alga and fungus –
food/moisture)
– Grazing animals and birds (cattle and
egrets)
Commensalism
• One benefits, the other is not helped
or harmed
– Ex: barnacles attach to whales for a ride
and protection from predators, new food
resources, water circulation, spread of
genes to new areas for variation
– Shark and remoras
Parasitism
• One benefits (parasite), the other is
harmed (host)
• Host is often indirectly killed because it
becomes so weak
• External – lice
• Internal – eggs often laid in other species
and feed off of them (heartworm,
tapeworm, strongyles)
• Parasitic plant (dodder) obtains food from
host plant b/c no chlorophyll
Ecosystem Interactions
• Interactions occur between organisms
and their environment.
• A habitat is an area where an
organism lives.
• A niche is the role or position that an
organism has in its environment.
– Ex: requirements for space, food,
temperature, etc.
Importance of a niche (Don’t copy)
• Niche of one bird species is to eat beetles,
while another bird species can eat spiders in
the area.
• Only one type of organism occupies its niche
in a community. Competing species often
have slightly different food sources,
predators, or hunting times, for example.
• This helps to eliminate competitive
exclusion in nature. (Resources are
partitioned to all members of a community)
What about you?
• What is your habitat?
• Describe your niche.
Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem
• MAIN IDEA: Autotrophs capture
energy, making it available for all
members of a food web.
Word Origins
WORD PART
MEANING
EXAMPLE
Auto-
self
Autotroph
Carne-
meat
Carnivore
Herbi-
plant
Herbivore
Hetero-
different
Heterotroph
Omni-
all
Omnivore
Troph-
nutrients
Autotroph
Vore-
eat
carnivore
4 Main Characteristics of
Ecosystems
1. Organisms interact with each other
and abiotic factors.
2. Energy flows by being transferred
through organisms.
3. Nutrients and other materials are
cycled.
4. Ecosystems change.
DO NOW
• Can energy be created or destroyed?
Where is energy stored so living things can
use it?
• Make a food web connecting the
following: A mouse eats oak acorns, but is
eaten by a snake and a hawk. The hawk
and snake both eat a smaller bird, and the
snake also eats a salamander. The
salamander and small bird eat insects,
which eat pine cones. All organisms are
broken down by fungus and bacteria.
Energy in an Ecosystem
• Energy cannot be created or
destroyed
• Energy CAN be stored in matter –
chemical energy in food
• Energy flows through ecosystems,
from sun  producers  consumers
Autotrophs vs. Heterotrophs
(Don’t copy)
• Different organisms – different sources
of energy
• Autotrophs – make own food; producers
• Basis of all ecosystems; make energy
available for ALL organisms
– Photosynthetic – use sun’s energy
– Chemosynthetic – uses chemical energy
• Heterotrophs - consumers
Types of Heterotrophs
(Don’t copy)
• Herbivores – only eat plants
– Ex: cow, horse, rabbit
• Carnivores – eat other
heterotrophs (meat)
– Ex: cat, dog, lion
• Omnivores – eat plants and
animals
– Ex: bear, human
Types of Heterotrophs cont’d
• Detritivores – eats dead, organic
matter (detritus – waste, dead
organisms, etc) and makes
nutrients available for other
organisms
– Ex: worms, some insects
• Decomposers – break down dead
organisms  compounds and
nutrients
– Ex: fungi, bacteria
Models of Energy Flow
• Show energy movement from one
trophic level (step in food
chains/webs) to the next
• 1st trophic level = autotrophs
• All other levels = heterotrophs
• Organisms in one trophic level get
their energy from level before them
Food Chains/Webs
• Food chain – Simple model of
energy transfer
• Ex: grass  zebra  lion
• Arrows point FROM food TO what
eats it
• Starts with autotroph, ends with
heterotroph
Food Chain
Food Chains/Webs
• REALLY – organisms eat more that
one other organism, and are eaten by
more than one organism
• Food web – interconnected food
chains, showing all energy pathways
in a community
Image from: http://weedeco.msu.montana.edu/
Food Webs
• Keep # of organisms in balance
• Each organism vital in keeping others
balanced in community
• Reproduction and death – important
in balancing populations
Checkpoint
• What is the difference between an
autotroph and a heterotroph?
• Why are autotrophs important to a
community?
• How are food chains and food webs
related?
Inefficiency
• Transfer of energy – inefficient
• Only SOME energy is transferred
from one level to the next
Why Only SOME of the Energy?
• Organism uses energy to
– Grow
– Reproduce
– Life processes
• Energy escapes as heat (not usable)
• Energy contained in wastes (used by
decomposers)
• Energy not destroyed, but lost from
community; need constant source - SUN
Ecological Pyramids
• A diagram that can show the relative
amounts of energy, biomass, or
numbers of organisms at each trophic
level in an organism
Practice
• Make an energy pyramid using the
food web you made at the beginning
of class today. Place all organisms in
the correct level.
• If the producers have 4000 kcal of
energy, how much energy is at each
of the other trophic levels?
Cycling of Matter
• MAIN IDEA: Essential nutrients are
cycled through biogeochemical
processes.
• Bio = life
• Geo = Earth
• Chemical = matter, compounds
4 Main Characteristics of
Ecosystems
1. Organisms interact with each other
and abiotic factors.
2. Energy flows by being transferred
through organisms.
3. Nutrients and other materials are
cycled.
4. Ecosystems change.
Law of Conservation
• Matter cannot be created or
destroyed.
• It CAN be reused.
• Unlike energy, which FLOWS, matter
CYCLES.
Cycles in the Biosphere
• Nutrients
– matter needed by organisms to survive
– building blocks of cells
– needed for structure and function
– absorbed by plants from air, soil, and
water
– pass through food web; recycled by
decomposers and detritivores
Biogeochemical Cycles
• Water cycle
• Carbon cycle
• Nitrogen cycle
• Phosphorus cycle
NOTE: matter is broken down and
reconstructed throughout cycles;
same exact molecules are not cycled
Your Turn!
• Start in “expert groups” to
– Draw and explain each step of the cycle.
Describe the processes throughout, and
the importance of it.
– Explain how people may affect it.
• Join with people from other groups.
Each must explain their cycle to the
group.
• Fill in your packet.
DO NOW
• You have 10 minutes to…
–Take out your homework
–Fill in your project plan sheet
–Finish your presentation
Water Statistics
• 97% of Earth’s water is in the oceans or
seas.
• 3% is freshwater, 69% of which is in
icecaps and glaciers
• 90% of water vapor is from oceans; 10%
from plants
• Why are oceans salty?
Carbon Facts
• Carbon and oxygen – in all living
things; cycles rather quickly
• Buried organic matter – eventually
makes fossil fuels
• Carbon – trapped in fossil fuels,
limestone (shells, coral, clams, etc.)
until burned (fuels), or weathered and
eroded (limestone)
Nitrogen Info
•
•
•
•
Nitrogen – in proteins
Atmosphere = 70% nitrogen
Can’t use nitrogen gas!
Nitrogen enters food webs when
plants absorb it from the soil
• Nitrogen returns to soil by urination,
death; ammonia converted to Ncompounds by organisms
Phosphorus Info
• Phosphorus – needed for growth and
development
• Short-term: phosphorus in soil 
producers  consumers
• Long-term: phosphorus trapped in
rocks; must go through weathering
and erosion
DO NOW
• Complete “Study Guide” worksheet
for section 2.
• Row by row, add your answers to pg.
49 #1-4 to the board.
Ecosystems Change
• Changes may be…
– Natural
– Caused by humans
• What might cause changes in
ecosystems?
Primary Succession
• Establishment of a
community where
there is no topsoil
• Can be on solid
lava, on the side of
a cliff
• How do organisms
grow with no soil?
Pioneer Species
• Pioneer species –
1st species to grow
• Include lichens,
mosses, etc.
• Help break down
rock by secreting
chemicals
• Decaying
organisms – add to
soil
Thin Topsoil Allows for…
• Small weeds, insects, fungi, etc.
• After they die – more soil!
• Seeds carried by wind, insects, etc.
germinate (usually light seeds –
dandelions)
• Shrubs and trees start
to grow
Secondary Succession
• Soil is present
• Usually occurs in abandoned land, a
pond; or occurs after a disturbance to
land, like a forest fire
• Smaller plants fill in, and over time
larger plants begin to grow
Climax Community
• When mature ecosystem is reached
• Succession stops
• Ecosystem no longer changing with
time
Checkpoint
• What is the difference between
primary and secondary succession?
Which most likely occurs faster?
• What is meant by a climax
community? Do you think they really
exist? Explain.
Do Now:
• Get a textbook
• Read section 3-2 (pages 67-73) and pay
special attention to the vocabulary
• We will be playing a game to review these
definitions afterwards!
Do Now:
• Get a textbook
• Read section 3-2 (pages 67-73) and pay
special attention to the vocabulary
• We will be playing a game to review these
definitions afterwards!
*AUTOTROPH
*PRODUCER
*PHOTOSYNTHESIS
*CHEMOSYNTHESIS
*HETEROTROPH
*CONSUMER
*HERBIVORE
*CARNIVORE
*OMNIVORE
*DETRITIVORE
*DECOMPOSER
*FOOD CHAIN
*FOOD WEB
*TROPHIC LEVEL
*BIOMASS
*ECOLOGICAL PYRAMID
*LIPID
*MEIOSIS
*HOMOZYGOUS
*CHLOROPLASTS
*GENOTYPE
*PROTEIN
*CELL
*OMNIVORE
*MITOCHONDRIA
*CARBOHYDRATE
*MITOSIS
*MUTATION
*NUCLEIC ACID
*HETEROZYGOUS
*PHENOTYPE
*ATOM
Ecology Quiz!
• You have 5 minutes to review your notes
on ecology
• Separate your desks and put everything
away!
• You may write on the sheet, with either
pen or pencil
• Good luck 