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Principles of Ecology What is ecology? The study of the interactions between organisms and the living and nonliving components of their environment Involves collecting information about organisms and their environment Issues dealing with Ecology Thinning ozone layer Climate changes (greenhouse effect) Habitat destruction Pollution Levels of Organization Biome Large areas characterized by climate conditions and plant life Temperate Grassland Ecosystem Includes all of the organisms and the non living environment found in a particular place Ex. Ponds, bottom of shoe, deep oceans, rain forests Community All the interacting organisms living in an area Ex. All the fish, turtles, plants, algae, and bacteria in a pond Population A group of the same species that lives in one area All the painted turtles in a pond Organism An individual living thing A painted turtle Biotic and Abiotic Factors Habitat is where an organism lives Includes abiotic and biotic factors Biotic factors include all living things that affect the organism Ex. Animals, plants, algae, fungi, bacteria Abiotic factors are nonliving factors which are the physical and chemical characteristics of the environment Ex. Temperature, humidity, pH, salinity, oxygen concentration, amount of sunlight, availability of nitrogen in the soil affects how fast plants can grow Biotic and abiotic determine the survival and growth of an organism, productivity of the ecosystem in which organism lives Producers What is the main energy source for life on Earth? What are producers? Organisms that capture energy and use it to make food Also known as autotrophs Examples Photosynthesis-light energy is used to power chemical reactions CO₂ and H₂O are converted into O₂ and sugars Plants, algae, cyanobacteria Chemosynthesis-convert energy from chemical bonds within inorganic molecules into chemical energy Use hydrogen sulfide and convert it into carbohydrates Bacteria Volcanic vents on deep ocean floors, hot springs, tidal marshes Types of Consumers Heterotroph- organisms that rely on other organisms for their energy and food supply Consumer Many types of heterotrophs Herbivores eat only plants Carnivores eat animals Omnivores eat both plants and animals Detritivores eat plant and animal remains, and other dead organic matter Decomposers break down organic matter Decomposers are essential for autotrophs to obtain their necessary nutrients Feeding Relationships What happens to the energy in an ecosystem? Flows through ecosystem in one direction Starts with sun to various consumers Food chain- steps showing the transfer of energy from organism to organism Producer-pri consumer- sec consumer- tertiary consumer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZOvqYypOuo Food web- network of complex interactions, among organisms in community from producers to decomposers linking all food chains in an ecosystem together Trophic Levels Trophic levels- levels of nourishment in a food chain Each step in food chain or food web=trophic Ecological pyramids- shows the relative amount of energy available at each trophic level Organisms use about 10% of this energy for life processes, rest is lost as heat Respiration, movement, reproduction Most ecosystems contain only 3 or 4 trophic levels First level-Producers Second level-Herbivore Third level-Predators Biomass- total amount of living tissue w/in given trophic level All organisms need energy to carry out essential functions Ex. Growth, movement, maintenance, repair and reproduction The amount of energy an ecosystem receives and the amount that is transferred from organism to organism has an important effect on the ecosystem’s structure Niche Habitat is where an organism lives Includes abiotic and biotic factors What is an ecological niche? All the physical, chemical, and biological factors that a species needs to survive, stay healthy, and reproduce It is a species way of life, or the role the species plays in its environment Includes the range of conditions that the species can tolerate How it obtains food, competes with others, fits into food web When is it active and reproduces Competitive exclusion- when two species are competing for same resources, one species will be better suited to niche, other species will pushed into another niche or become extinct Ecological equivalents- species that occupy similar niches but live in different geographical regions Community Ecology 5 major types of close interactions can powerfully affect an ecosystem Predation, parasitism, competition, mutualism, and commensalism Competition- occurs when organisms of the same or different species attempt to use a resource in same place at same time Predation- interaction where one organism captures and feeds on another organism Predator- higher on food chain Prey- lower on food chain Symbiosis- any relationship where 2 species are living closely together 3 types- mutualism, commensalism, parasitism\ Discovery Education Types of Symbiotic Relationships Mutualism- relationship where both species benefits Commensalism- relationship where one specie benefits and others is not helped or harmed Parasitism- relationship where one organism lives on or inside other organism and harms it Write down which relationship is being shown Lions and zebras Honey bee pollinates flower Remora fish attaches itself to other shark and eats the food that is dropped by shark Lions and cheetahs Mosquito bites humans Population Ecology Why do populations change? Population densitynumber of individuals per unit area Depends on species and its ecosystem # of individuals= population density area (units^2) Population dispersion- way in which individuals of a population are spread in an area or volume Population Growth What factors affect population size? # of births, # of deaths, and # of individuals that enter and leave the population Immigration- the movement of individuals into an area Emigration- the movement of individuals out of an area What causes these movements? Young animals reach maturity search for mates, shortage of food Exponential Growth Individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate Under ideal conditions with unlimited resources, and in the absence of predation and disease, a population will grow exponentially Logistic Growth A population’s growth slows or stops following a period of exponential growth Why might this happen? Resources become less available Carrying capacity- the largest number of individuals that a given environment can support Many natural populations follow the logistic growth curve Ecological Factors that limits to Growth Limiting factors- factor that causes population growth to decrease A resource can also affect long term survival of a species Pandas Density-dependent factors- limiting factor that depends on population size Factors greatly affect large and dense populations Factors include; competition, predation, parasitism, and disease Competition may occur between individuals of same species or of different species Predation- often controls populations in nature The more individuals the faster the resources are used up Competition between different species leads to evolutionary change Moose populations rise, wolves population soon rises. Moose populations soon decrease, later followed by the decline in wolves Parasitism and disease- range in size, similar to predators, take nourishment from host, weakening or causing death to them Density-Independent Factors- affect all populations in similar ways, regardless of population size Unusual weather Natural disasters Seasonal cycles Certain human activities- clearing forests, damming rivers Environments are always changing, most populations can adapt to certain amount of change Ecological Succession Ecosystems are constantly changing in response to natural and human disturbances, as ecosystem changes, older inhabitants gradually die out and new organism move in, causing further changes in community These predictable changes that occurs in community over time= ecological succession Primary succession- succession that occurs on surface where no soil exists Volcanic eruption builds new island- Hawaii Pioneer species- 1st organisms that live in previously uninhabited area Secondary succession- succession that occurs after natural events or human activities, after disturbance community interactions restore the ecosystem Wildfires Sec 3- Cycles of Matter 95% of body made up of 4 elements Matter is recycled within and between ecosystems Biogeochemical cycles- the passing of elements, compounds and other forms of matter from one organism to another Each substance travels through a biogeochemical cycle-moving from the abiotic portion of the environment, such as the atmosphere, into living things and back again Water Cycle and Nutrient Cycles 4 important processes of the water cycle Evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation The amount of water the atmosphere can hold depends on temperature and air pressure Nutrient cycles- every organism needs nutrients Build tissues, carry out essential life function Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen The basis of the carbon cycle is photosynthesis and cellular respiration Plants use carbon dioxide 3 major sources of CO2-cellular respiration, combustion, and decomposition of organic matter Nitrogen Cycle Nitrogen is essential for organisms to make proteins and nucleic acids Makes up 78% of atmosphere Plants can only use nitrate Nitrogen fixation is the process of converting nitrogen gas to nitrate (ammonia) How does this happen? Bacteria Live in soil or in the roots of plants Denitrification- nitrates converted into nitrogen gas Phosphorus Cycle Forms part of DNA and RNA Not found in atmosphere, found mostly in rock and soil minerals, ocean sediments Most exist in form of inorganic phosphate Land-plants-consumers Sec 3- Biomes What is a biome? Very large terrestrial ecosystems that contain number of smaller but related ecosystems within them, have characteristic climate and species How many different biomes cover the Earth’s land surface? 10 Each is defined by unique set of abiotic factors-climate, and by characteristic set of plants and animals Tundra, taiga, temperate forest, northwestern coniferous forest, temperate woodland and shrubland, tropical rain forest, tropical dry forest, temperate grassland, tropical savanna, and desert Tundra is cold and treeless Covers 1/5 of world’s land surface Very little precipitation, short growing seasons, animals include caribou, musk oxen, snowy owls, arctic foxes, snowshoe hares Permafrost Northern N America, Asia, Europe Taiga- covered with dense evergreen forests Plants are adapted for long and cold winters, short summers and poor soil Animals include moose, bears, wolves and lynxmany hibernate for 6-8 months North America, Asia, northern Europe Temperate forests-trees loose their leaves, pronounced seasons, precipitation evenly distributed, cold winters/warm summers Trees include cottonwood, maple Animals include deer, foxes, raccoons Eastern U.S., most of Europe, China Temperate Grasslands- contain grasses, low rainfall, fertile soil, support herds of mammals, turned into farmland Warm to hot summers/cold winters North America, central Europe Deserts- receive less than 25 cm of rainfall a year, cold at night, vegetation is sparse, animals include foxes, lizards and snakes Africa, Middle East, Australia Savannas- tropical and subtropical grasslands with scattered trees and shrubs Herbivores-zebras, giraffes, and gazelles Carnivores-lions, leopards, and cheetahs Climate-Two seasons- wet and dry Eastern Africa, southern Brazil Tropical Rain forest-tall trees, year round growing seasons, abundant rainfall, highest species richness Animal life very diverse-birds, monkeys, snakes, lizards Insects very abundant Contains 1/5 of world’s known species 2 football fields may have 300 species Southeast Asia, southern India, parts of Central and South America Tropical Dry forest- precipitation is seasonal rather than year-round Generally warm year-round, rich soils Tigers, elephants Parts of Africa, Mexico, India Temperate Woodland and Shrublandsemiarid climate, dominated by shrubs and open woodlands Coyotes, foxes, blacktailed deer Hot, dry summers, cool moist winters Western coasts of N and S America Northwestern Coniferous forest- made up of variety of conifers, lush vegetation Mild temperatures, cool summers with abundant precipitation during spring, winter, fall Pacific coast of northwestern U.S. and Canada Tundra Taiga Savanna Deciduous Forest Rainforest Grasslands Desert www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm Aquatic Ecosystems Determined by primarily the depth, flow, temperature, and chemistry of the overlying water Grouped by abiotic factors that affect them Freshwater ecosystems divided into 2 types- flowing water and standing water ecosystem Plankton- tiny, free-floating organisms live in freshwater and saltwater Phytoplankton- unicellular algae supported by nutrients, form base of food web Zooplankton- planktonic animals that feed on phytoplankton Freshwater wetlands- water covering land for at least part of year Bogs, marshes, swamps Estuaries Estuary occurs where freshwater rivers and streams flow into the sea Ex. Bays, mud flats, salt marshes, Mangrove swamps Very species rich Vital to marine animals that are used as food Ex. Shrimp, mullet, redfish, anchovies Marine Ecosystems Divided into photic and aphotic zones Ocean divided into zones based on depth, distance from shore: intertidal zone, coastal ocean, open ocean