Download Ecology

Ecology
Ecology
• Ecology is the study of the
interactions among organisms
and their environment
What is the Biosphere?
• The portion of the earth in which
all living things exist
• Only about 20Km of total diameter
of earth
• From ocean floor to about 8Km
above earths surface
Two types of factors in Biosphere
• Biotic: all things living
–Examples?
• Abiotic: all things non-living
–Examples?
Many subcategories
• Population: all individuals of a
certain species within a certain
area
• Community: all the populations
of different species within an
area
Many subcategories
• Ecosystem: includes a
community and its physical
environment
–Includes both biotic and abiotic
Individuals have a habitat and a
niche
• Habitat: where an individual
organism lives; its home
– where is yours?
• Niche: the role that organism
plays in its ecosystem
–What is yours?
Relationships between organisms
• Competition: if two individuals
occupy the same niche they
will compete
–Limited resources like?
–Only one will win
Relationships between organisms
• Symbiosis: two organisms
living in close association
–Three types: mutualism,
commensalism and
parasitism
Relationships between organisms
Mutualism: both species benefit
Example?
Why?
Relationships between organisms
Commensalism: one benefits;
the other is neither hurt nor
helped
Relationships between organisms
Parasitism:
one species
benefits at
the other’s
expense
All organisms require Energy
• As one organism eats another
energy moves through
ecosystem
• Forms food chain
• Many food chains make food
web
Energy Pyramid
Energy Pyramid
• Producers/Autotrophs: make
food from sunlight or other
inorganic molecules
– examples: plants, algae
and bacteria
Energy Pyramid
• Primary consumers: eat
producers
–Herbivores
–Examples: rabbits, plankton
Energy Pyramid
• Secondary or High order
consumers: eat primary
consumers carnivores
–Larger animals
–Top consumers are not
eaten by anyone
Where do they go then?
• Decomposers: bacteria;
break down dead
organisms and return
nutrients (nitrogen) back to
the soil for producers to use
Food Chain
Food Web
Mother Nature Recycles
All essential inorganic nutrients
cycle between biotic and abiotic
parts of ecosystem
- Water
- Oxygen
- Carbon
- Phosphorus
- Nitrogen
Water Cycle
Water Cycle
• Organisms give off water
• Water evaporates into
atmosphere
• Water condenses in cloud
• Falls back to earth in
rain/snow
• Taken back in by Organisms
Carbon cycle
Nitrogen Cycle
Phosphorous Cycle
Oxygen Cycle