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13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships KEY CONCEPT Ecology is the study of the relationships among organisms and their environment. 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Objectives • Summarize the levels of organization that an ecologist studies • Describe research methods ecologists use to study the environment 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Vocabulary • • • • • • • Adaptation Biome Community Ecosystem Ecology Organism Population 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Ecologists study environments at different levels of organization. • Ecology is the study of the interactions among living things, and between living things and their surroundings. 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • An organism is an individual living thing, such as an alligator. Organism Organism 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • A population is a group of the same species that lives in one area. Population Population Organism Organism 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • A community is a group of different species that live together in one area. Community Community Population Population Organism Organism 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • An ecosystem includes all of the organisms as well as the climate, soil, water, rocks and other nonliving things in a given area. Ecosystem Ecosystem Community Community Population Population Organism Organism 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • A biome is a major regional or global community of organisms characterized by the climate conditions and plant communities that thrive there. Biome Ecosystem Ecosystem Community Community Population Population Organism Organism 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Ecological research methods include observation, experimentation, and modeling. • Observation is the act of carefully watching something over time. • Observations of populations can be done by visual surveys. – Direct surveys for easy to spot species employ binoculars or scopes. – Indirect surveys are used for species that are difficult to track and include looking for other signs of their presence. 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • Experiments are performed in the lab or in the field. – Lab experiments give researchers more control. – Lab experiments are not reflective of the complex interactions in nature. – Field experiments give a more accurate picture of natural interactions. – Field experiments may not help determine actual cause and effect. 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • Computer and mathematical models can be used to describe and model nature. • Modeling allows scientists to learn about organisms or ecosystems in ways that would not be possible in a natural or lab setting. Ecologists use data transmitted by GPS receivers worn by elephants to develop computer models of the animal’s movements. 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.1 Assessment: What are the 5 different levels of organization studied by ecologists? 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.1 Assessment: Describe the 3 general methods used by ecologists to study organisms Method Description Example the act of watching something over time watching a field of birds can occur in the lab or in the field involves testing a hypothesis Computer or math based method used to predict how changes in one variable may affect another variable Using computer simulations to predict where a flu pandemic will spread 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.1 Assessment: What ecological research methods would you use to study bird migration? Explain your choices 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.1 Assessment: How might an ecologist use modeling to study a forest fire in an ecosystem? What might be some of the key variables used to create the model 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.1 Assessment: How do the principles of Ecology relate to understanding how adaptations occur? 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships KEY CONCEPT Every ecosystem includes both living and nonliving factors. 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Objectives • Identify biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem • Describe how a change in 1 factor in an ecosystem can affect others 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Vocabulary • • • • Abiotic Biotic Biodiversity Keystone species 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships An ecosystem includes both biotic and abiotic factors. • Biotic factors are living things. – plants – animals – fungi – bacteria plants 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • Abiotic factors are nonliving things. – moisture – temperature – wind – sunlight – soil sunlight moisture 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Changing one factor in an ecosystem can affect many other factors. • Biodiversity is the assortment, or variety, of living things in an ecosystem. • Rain forests have more biodiversity than other locations in the world, but are threatened by human activities. 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • A keystone species is a species that has an unusually large effect on its ecosystem. keystone 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • Keystone species form and maintain a complex web of life. creation of wetland ecosystem increased waterfowl Population keystone species increased fish population nesting sites for birds 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.2 Assessment: Select an ecosystem that is familiar to you and describe the biotic and abiotic factors that exist there. Biotic • • • • • • • • Oak tree Cat Racoon Fox Grass Dandilion Mold Rabbit Abiotic • • • • • • • • Air Temperature Rain/ snow Sun light Pond/ lake Stream Rocks Soil 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.2 Assessment: How would the removal of a keystone species affect biodiversity? 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.2 Assessment: explain how a change in an abiotic factor such as sunlight would affect biodiversity 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.2 Assessment: Humans are sometimes described as being a keystone species. Does this label fit? Why or why not? 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.2 Assessment: What role might an abiotic factor such as temperature play in the evolution of a species? 13.3 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships KEY CONCEPT Life in an ecosystem requires a source of energy. 13.3 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Objectives • Describe the roles of producers and consumers in ecosystems • Compare photosynthesis to chemosynthesis 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Vocabulary • • • • • • Producer Consumer Autotroph Heterotroph Photosynthesis Chemosynthesis 13.3 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Producers provide energy for other organisms in an ecosystem. • Producers get their energy from non-living resources. • Producers are also called autotrophs because they make their own food 13.3 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Producers provide energy for other organisms in an ecosystem. • Consumers are organisms that get their energy by eating other living or once-living resources. • Consumers are also called heterotrophs because they feed off of different things 13.3 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Almost all producers obtain energy from sunlight. • Photosynthesis in most producers uses sunlight as an energy source. • Chemosynthesis in prokaryote producers uses chemicals as an energy source. carbon dioxide + water + hydrogen sulfide + oxygen 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.2 Assessment: How does the stability of an ecosystem depend on its producers? 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.2 Assessment: What are the 2 processes used by producers to obtain energy? 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.2 Assessment: Few producers live deep below a lakes surface. Suggest an explanation for this pattern 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.2 Assessment: could producers survive without consumers? Explain why or why not. 13.2 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.2 Assessment: How might chemosynthetic organisms help scientists to understand how life evolved? 13.4 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships KEY CONCEPT Food chains and food webs model the flow of energy in an ecosystem. 13.4 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Objectives • Describe the structure of a food chain • Explain how food chains and trophic levels are related • Analyze feeding relationships in a food web 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Vocabulary • • • • • • • • Carnivore Detritivore Decomposer Food chain Food web Generalist Herbivore Omnivore • • • • • Trophic level Primary consumer Secondary consumer Tertiary consumer Phytoplankton 13.4 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships A food chain is a model that shows a sequence of feeding relationships. • A food chain links species by their feeding relationships. • A food chain follows the connection between one producer and a single chain of consumers within an ecosystem. GRAMA GRASS DESERT COTTONTAIL HARRIS’S HAWK 13.4 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • Consumers are not all alike. – Herbivores eat only plants. – Carnivores eat only animals. – Omnivores eat both plants and animals. – Detritivores eat dead organic matter. – Decomposers are detritivores that break down organic matter into simpler compounds. carnivore decomposer 13.4 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • Specialists are consumers that primarily eat one specific organism or a very small number of organisms. • Generalists are consumers that have a varying diet. 13.4 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • Trophic levels are the nourishment levels in a food chain. – Primary consumers are herbivores that eat producers. – Secondary consumers are carnivores that eat herbivores. – Tertiary consumers are carnivores that eat secondary consumers. – Omnivores, such as humans that eat both plants and animals, may be listed at different trophic levels in different food chains. 13.4 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships A food web shows a complex network of feeding relationships. • An organism may have multiple feeding relationships in an ecosystem. • A food web emphasizes complicated feeding relationships and energy flow in an ecosystem. 13.4 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.4 Assessment: Why are food chains especially useful for describing the relationships of specialists? 13.4 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.4 Assessment: what happens to energy as it flows through an ecosystem? 13.4 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.4 Assessment: Only a small percentage of all consumers are specialists. What danger does a specialist face that a gerneralist does not? 13.4 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.4 Assessment: how might the stability of an ecosystem be affected if all its decomposers were suddenly removed? 13.4 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.4 Assessment: how might an oil spill in the ocean affect an aquatic food web? What might happen to the food web on the land located near ther oil spill? Explain. • The entire food web would be affected by an oil spill • Oily water may kill off the _________________________ • The overall affect would be a decline in the availability of _________ sources both within and outside the ocean, and so a ____________ of biodiversity 13.5 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships KEY CONCEPT Matter cycles in and out of an ecosystem. 13.5 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Objectives • Summarize Earths hydrologic and biogeochemical cycles • Relate cycling of matter to an ecosystem 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Vocabulary • • • • • • • • • Biogeochemical cycle Carbon cycle Cellular respiration Combustion Condensation Decomposition Evaporation Hydrologic cycle Legume • • • • • • • Nitrogen cycle Nitrogen fixation Phosphorous cycle Photosynthesis Precipitation Transpiration Water cycle 13.5 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Water cycles through the environment. • The hydrologic, or water, cycle is the circular pathway of water on Earth. • Organisms all have bodies made mostly of water. precipitation condensation transpiration evaporation lake groundwater surface runoff water storage in ocean 13.5 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Elements essential for life also cycle through ecosystems. • A biogeochemical cycle is the movement of a particular chemical through the biological and geological parts of an ecosystem. • The main processes involved in the carbon / oxygen cycle are photosynthesis and respiration. • Together the carbon & oxygen cycle make up what we call “the circle of life” 13.5 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • Oxygen cycles indirectly through an ecosystem by the cycling of other nutrients. oxygen photosynthesis respiration carbon dioxide 13.5 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • Carbon is the building block of life. – The carbon cycle moves carbon from the atmosphere, through the food web, and returns to the atmosphere. – Carbon is emitted by the burning of fossil fuels. – Some carbon is stored for long periods of time in areas called carbon sinks. carbon dioxide in air combustion respiration photosynthesis respiration decomposition of organisms fossil fuels photosynthesis carbon dioxide dissolved in water 13.5 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • The nitrogen cycle mostly takes place underground. – Some bacteria convert gaseous nitrogen into ammonia through a process called nitrogen fixation. – Some nitrogen-fixing bacteria live in nodules on the nitrogen in atmosphere roots of plants; animals others live freely in the soil. plant nitrogen-fixing bacteria in decomposers roots ammonification nitrogen-fixing ammonium bacteria in soil nitrifying bacteria nitrates nitrifying bacteria nitrites denitrifying bacteria 13.5 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships – Ammonia released into the soil is transformed into ammonium. – Nitrifying bacteria change the ammonium into nitrate. – Nitrogen moves through the food web and returns nitrogen in atmosphere to the soil during animals decomposition. plant nitrogen-fixing bacteria in decomposers roots ammonification nitrogen-fixing ammonium bacteria in soil nitrifying bacteria nitrates nitrifying bacteria nitrites denitrifying bacteria 13.5 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • The phosphorus cycle takes place at and below ground level. – Phosphate is released by the weathering of rocks. – Phosphorus moves through the food web and returns to the soil during decomposition. rain geologic uplifting – Phosphorus leaches into groundwater weathering of phosphate from rocks from the soil and runoff plants is locked in sediments. animalsphosphate phosphate in solution in soil – Both mining and leaching agriculture add sedimentation phosphorus into decomposers forms new rocks the environment. 13.5 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.5 Assessment: How does the hydrologic cycle move water through the environment? 13.5 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.5 Assessment: What are 4 elements that cycle through ecosystems, and why are they important? 13.5 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.5 Assessment: Why might farmers plant legumes such as peas to improve the nitrogen levels in the soil? 13.5 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.5 Assessment: Explain the importance of decomposers to the overall biogeochemical cycle 13.5 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.5 Assessment: how might Earths biogeochemical cycles help scientists to understand the early history of life on Earth? 13.6 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships KEY CONCEPT Pyramids model the distribution of energy and matter in an ecosystem. 13.6 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Objectives • Trace the flow of energy through an ecosystem, using an energy pyramid • Relate energy pyramids to food chains and trophic levels • Compare and contrast a biomass pyramid and pyramid of numbers 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Vocabulary • • • • Biomass Biomass pyramid Energy pyramid Pyramid of numbers 13.6 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships An energy pyramid shows the distribution of energy among trophic levels. • Energy pyramids compare energy used by producers and other organisms on trophic levels. • Between each tier of an energy pyramid, up to 90 percent of the energy is lost into the atmosphere as heat. • Only 10 percent of the energy at each tier is transferred from one trophic level to the next. energy lost energy transferred 13.6 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships Other pyramid models illustrate an ecosystem’s biomass and distribution of organisms. • Biomass is a measure of the total dry mass of organisms in a given area. tertiary consumers 75 g/m2 150g/m2 secondary consumers primary consumers producers producers 675g/m2 2000g/m2 13.6 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships • A pyramid of numbers shows the numbers of individual organisms at each trophic level in an ecosystem. tertiary consumers 5 secondary consumers 5000 primary consumers 500,000 producers producers 5,000,000 • A vast number of producers are required to support even a few top level consumers. 13.6 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.6 Assessment: how does an energy pyramid help to describe energy flow in a food web? 13.6 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.6 Assessment: What is the difference between a biomass pyramid and a pyramid of numbers? 13.6 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.6 Assessment: Draw a pyramid of numbers for a dog with fleas. 13.6 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.6 Assessment: if each level in a food chain typically loses 90% of the energy it takes in, and the producer level uses 1000kcal of energy, how much of that enetrgy is left after the 3rd trophic level? 13.6 13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships 13.6 Assessment: Why is a herbivorous diet more energy efficient than a carnivorous one? Explain.
