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Ecology Lesson 1Matter, Energy & the Environment
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_Ecology___- the study of the interactions between organisms and the environment
o An organism’s environment is anything that affects the organism
2 parts:
1. _Biotic____- all of the living things found together that interact with one
another such as: __animals_, __plants_& __bacteria__
2. _Abiotic____- non-living parts of the environment including all of the
physical factors such as:
 _sunlight___
 _Climate__ - average weather conditions in an area over time
 Temperature
 _Water__
 _Atmosphere_- layer of gases that surround the earth
 _Soil_
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Organisms in an ecosystem can be divided into 3 groups based on how they
__obtain energy____
1. Producers
a. Use __sunlight___ directly to make food (photosynthesis)
b. Most are plants; algae and some bacteria are also
2. Consumers
a. Eat producers or other organisms for energy
i. _Herbivores_________ - eats plants
ii. _Carnivores_________- eats animals
iii. _Omnivores_________- eat variety; both plants and animals
iv. _Scavengers_______- feed on bodies of dead animals
3. Decomposers
a. Break down remains of __dead organisms______
i. Examples: bacteria and fungi
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_Food chain_____- a model that shows how energy flows in an ecosystem through
feeding relationships
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__Food web__________- illustrates all the complex feeding relationships in a real
ecosystem
_Energy pyramid__________- shows the amount of energy available in each step of
a food chain
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Ex: Gray wolves
o Consumers- eat large animals and small
o Nurture and teach their young
o Needed in the food web
 Control elk population to allow more plants to grow, which will allow
animals that eat the plants to increase in number, and animals that eat
them to increase in number
Ecology Lesson 2Populations & Communities
5 Levels of the environment
1. Individual __organism____
2. Similar organisms forming a __population____
a. individuals of the same species that live together & compete for resources
3. Different populations forming a __community_____
a. all of the populations of different species that live and interact in an area
b. depend on each other for food, shelter, and many other things
4. Community and its abiotic environment forming an __ecosystem__
a. ex: an ecologist studying the salt marsh ecosystem would examine how the
organisms interact with each other and how temp, precipitation, and soil affect the
organisms
5. All ecosystems forming a ___biosphere____
a. Part of Earth where life exists
b. Extends from deepest parts of the ocean to high in the atmosphere
c. Includes every ecosystem
Populations cannot grow indefinitely
 Environment only contains so much food, water, living space, and other
resources
 When one of these becomes scarce, it is said to be a _limiting___
 A _limiting factor__ is anything that restricts the size of a population
 _Carrying capacity__- the largest number of individuals of a species that an
environment can support over time
Relationships in Communities
___Habitat______- place within an ecosystem in which an organism lives
__Niche________- organism’s way of life within an ecosystem
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Includes its habitat, food, predators, and the organisms with which it competes
_Competition__- 2 or more individuals or populations try to use the same limited resource
such as __food__, ___water__, shelter, or sunlight
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Can occur within or between populations
Predators and Prey- interaction when one organism eats another
 __Prey____- organism that is eaten
 __Predator__- organism that eats the prey
__Symbiosis___- close, long-term association between two or more species
 Individuals can benefit from, be unaffected by, or be harmed
o __Mutualism___- both organisms benefit
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Algae produce food for coral which provides shelter
o __Commensalism___- one organism benefits and the other is unaffected
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Remoras “hitch a ride” and feed on scraps of food left by sharks; shark is
unaffected
o __Parasitism_____- one organism benefits while the other is harmed
 __Parasite____ benefits (ex: ticks, tapeworms)
 __Host_______ is harmed