Download Ecology - Union County College

• Ecology: the study of interrelationships
between organisms and with their nonliving
environment.
• Ecosystem: The diverse organisms that live in
the same environment, and the physical
environment in which they live. It includes
two components:
*Abiotic - non-living components ( water, soil,
air, other gases, temperature)
*Biotic - living organisms, which form a
community
Types of Biodiversity
• Niche : the ecological role of an organism in a
community. For example, the niche of the
green plants is to produce sugar by
photosynthesis, which is used by the plant and
also consumed by animals.
• Habitat : the place where a species is most
usually found.
Interactions among Community Members
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Competition
Predation
Parasitism
Mutualism
Commensalism
Competition: closely related species have
niches that overlap
Predation and Parasitism: one organism
benefits, other organism is harmed
• Predation : an organism feeds on a second
organism.
Prey/ predator
• Parasitism : smaller parasite feeds on host,
but does not kill the host immediately or ever.
(Intestinal worms and humans).
Mutualism and Commensalism
• Mutualism - both species benefit (bees and
plants)
• Commensalism - one species benefits, the
other is unharmed (bacteria and human skin)
Food chain
Scavengers - feed on dead organisms
Decomposers - decay organisms. They
decompose the dead bodies of organisms, and
return the chemicals back to the earth and to
the air.
Food web: cross-connecting food
chains
Energy Pyramids-90% of an organism’s energy is lost
when it is eaten
Succession in Communities
• Ecological succession : is a process by which
the species composition of a community
changes over time. (Example: Rocks with
lichens and mosses create soil for land plants).
• Climax community: the relatively stable
community that develops at the end of a
process of succession
Succession- Glacier Bay, Alaska
The Cycling of Ecosystem Resources
• The Water cycle
• The Carbon Cycle
• The Nitrogen cycle
The Water Cycle
The Carbon Cycle
The Nitrogen Cycle
• Biome : a type of large geographic region that
has characteristic plants, animals, and other
organisms. Major biomes: marine, taiga
(swampy coniferous forest), tundra, desert,
grassland, tropical rainforest, Eastern
deciduous forest, etc.
• Index species: a species which is common and
characteristic for a biome
New Jersey
• Biome: eastern deciduous forest.
• Index species: white- tailed deer, cottontailed rabbit, fox, skunk, salamander, and frog
Organisms at the UCC Pond
• Submerged aquatic plants rooted to the bottom
(Elodea, Water celery, Milfoil)
• Floating plants on the water surface (Water lilies,
Duckweed)
• Emergent aquatic plants, with bases located
under water. (Cattails, Arrow weeds, Rushes )
• Marsh- grass zone is around the pond periphery
• Shrub zone-beyond the marsh-grass zone
(shrubs, woody plants like blackberry)
• Woodland zone – (maples, oaks)
• Ponds have a short life, becoming a terrestrial
community