Download Biology

3-1 What Is Ecology?
Slide
1 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
3-1 What Is Ecology?
Interactions and Interdependence
Interactions and Interdependence
Ecology is the scientific study of interactions
among organisms and between organisms and
their environment, or surroundings.
Slide
2 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
3-1 What Is Ecology?
Interactions and Interdependence
The biosphere contains the combined portions of
the planet in which all of life exists, including:
• land
• water
• air, or atmosphere
The biosphere extends from about 8 kilometers
above Earth's surface to as far as 11 kilometers
below the surface of the ocean.
Slide
3 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
3-1 What Is Ecology?
Interactions and Interdependence
Interactions within the biosphere produce a web of
interdependence between organisms and the
environment in which they live.
The interdependence of life on Earth contributes to
an ever-changing, or dynamic, biosphere.
Slide
4 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
3-1 What Is Ecology?
Levels of Organization
What different levels of organization do
ecologists study?
Slide
5 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
3-1 What Is Ecology?
Levels of Organization
Levels of Organization
To understand relationships within the
biosphere, ecologists ask questions
about events and organisms that range
in complexity from a single individual to
the entire biosphere.
The levels of organization that ecologists
study include: individuals, populations,
communities, ecosystems, and biomes.
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
Slide
6 of 21
End Show
3-1 What Is Ecology?
Levels of Organization
Biosphere
Biome
Ecosystem
Community
Population
Individual
Slide
7 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
3-1 What Is Ecology?
Levels of Organization
A species is a group of organisms so similar to one
another that they can breed and produce fertile
offspring.
Populations are groups of individuals that belong to
the same species and live in the same area.
Communities are assemblages of different
populations that live together in a defined area.
Slide
8 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
3-1 What Is Ecology?
Levels of Organization
An ecosystem is a collection of all the organisms
that live in a particular place, together with their
nonliving, or physical, environment.
A biome is a group of ecosystems that have the
same climate and similar dominant communities.
The highest level of organization that ecologists
study is the entire biosphere itself.
Slide
9 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
3-1 What Is Ecology?
Ecological Methods
What methods are used to study ecology?
Slide
10 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
3-1 What Is Ecology?
Ecological Methods
Ecological Methods
Regardless of the tools they use, scientists
conduct modern ecological research using three
basic approaches:
• observing
• experimenting
• modeling
All of these approaches rely on the application of
scientific methods to guide ecological inquiry.
Slide
11 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
3-1 What Is Ecology?
Ecological Methods
Observing
Observing is often the first step in asking
ecological questions.
Some observations are simple. Others are
complex and may form the first step in designing
experiments and models.
Slide
12 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
3-1 What Is Ecology?
Ecological Methods
Experimenting
Experiments can be used to test hypotheses.
An ecologist may set up an artificial environment in
a laboratory to imitate and manipulate conditions
that organisms would encounter in the wild.
Other experiments are conducted within natural
ecosystems.
Slide
13 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
3-1 What Is Ecology?
Ecological Methods
Modeling
Ecologists make models to gain insight into
complex phenomena.
Many ecological models consist of mathematical
formulas based on data collected through
observation and experimentation.
The predictions made by ecological models are
often tested by further observations and
experiments.
Slide
14 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
3-1
The combined portions of the planet in which life
exists, including land, water, and the
atmosphere, form the
a. biosphere.
b. community.
c. species.
d. ecosystem.
Slide
15 of 21
End Show
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
3-1
A group of organisms that can breed and
produce fertile offspring is known as a(an)
a. ecosystem.
b. species.
c. biome.
d. community.
Slide
16 of 21
End Show
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
3-1
Compared to a community, an ecosystem
includes
a. the nonliving, physical environment as well
as the community.
b. only the physical environment of an area
without the organisms.
c. the entire biome but not the biosphere.
d. only one of the populations within the
community.
Slide
17 of 21
End Show
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
3-1
An ecological method that uses mathematical
formulas based on data collected is
a. observing.
b. experimenting.
c. modeling.
d. hypothesizing.
Slide
18 of 21
End Show
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
3-1
An ecologist marks out an area in a specific
ecosystem and proceeds to identify the number
of insect species in the area. This is an example
of ecological
a. experimentation.
b. observation.
c. modeling.
d. inference.
Slide
19 of 21
End Show
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
4-2 What Shapes an
Ecosystem?
Slide
20 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
Ecosystems are influenced by a
combination of biological and
physical factors.
•
Biotic – biological factors
Slide
21 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
Physical, or nonliving, factors that shape
ecosystems are called abiotic factors.
Abiotic factors include:
•
temperature
•
precipitation
•
humidity
•
wind
•
nutrient availability
•
soil type
•
Slide
22 of 21
sunlight
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
How do biotic and abiotic
factors influence an
ecosystem?
Slide
23 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
The area where an organism
lives is called its habitat. A
habitat includes both biotic and
abiotic factors.
Slide
24 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
Organisms are adapted to abiotic and biotic factors
by natural selection.
•
Species exist in a given place because they
evolve there or disperse there
• Unique adaptations that fit a particular
environment allow organisms to survive there
• Organisms vary greatly in their ability to
tolerate fluctuations and long-term changes in
their environment
Slide
25 of 21
End Show
The Niche
A niche is the full range of physical and
biological conditions in which an organism
lives and the way in which the organism
uses those conditions.
No two species can share the same
niche in the same habitat
Slide
26 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
4-3 Biomes
Slide
27 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
A biome is a complex of
terrestrial (or aquatic)
communities that covers a
large area and is characterized
by certain soil and climate
conditions and particular
assemblages of plants and
animals.
Slide
28 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
Variations in plants and animals
help different species survive
under different conditions in
different biomes.
Plants and animals exhibit
variations in tolerance, or the
ability to survive and reproduce
under conditions that differ from
their optimal conditions.
Slide
29 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
Biomes and Climate
Biomes and Climate
The climate of a region is an important factor in
determining which organisms can survive there.
Within a biome, temperature and precipitation
can vary over small distances.
The climate in a small area that differs from the
climate around it is called a microclimate.
Slide
30 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
Average Precipitation (mm)
Average Temperature (°C)
Two
components of
climate,
temperature and
precipitation,
can be
summarized in a
graph called a
climate
diagram.
Slide
31 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
The Major Biomes
The world's major biomes include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
tropical rain forest
tropical dry forest
tropical savanna
desert
temperate grassland
temperate woodland and shrubland
temperate forest
northwestern coniferous forest
boreal forest
tundra
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
Slide
32 of 21
End Show
The Major Biomes
What are the unique characteristics of
the world's major biomes?
Slide
33 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
The Major Biomes
Biomes are defined by a unique
set of abiotic factors—particularly
climate—and a characteristic
assemblage of plants and
animals.
Slide
34 of 21
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
End Show
The Major Biomes
60°N
30°N
0° Equator
30°S
60°S
Tropical rain forest
Temperate grassland
Temperate forest
Tropical dry forest
Desert
Tropical savanna
Temperate woodland
and shrubland
Mountains and
ice caps
Northwestern
coniferous forest
Boreal forest
(Taiga)
Tundra
Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
Slide
35 of 21
End Show