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ECOLOGY INTERDEPENDENCE OF LIFE WHAT DOES AN ORGANISM NEED IN ORDER TO SURVIVE? HABITAT: A place to live, Soil, water, air, gasses RAW MATERIALS: Food, water, minerals TWO PARTS OF AN ORGANISMS HABITAT BIOTIC FACTORS INCLUDES ALL LIVING PARTS: Animals Plants Fungus Bacteria Protists ABIOTIC FACTORS INCLUDES ALL NON-LIVING PARTS: Water Sunlight Oxygen Temperature Soil Levels of Organization • Ecologist study organisms ranging from the various levels of organization: – Species – Population – Community – Ecosystem – Biome – Biosphere ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS • HOW ARE ORGANISMS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTS LINKED TOGETHER? • WHAT DOES MODERN SCIENCE TELL US ABOUT ECOLOGY? • HOW IS LIFE LIKE A WEB? • WHAT EFFECT DOES THE ENVIRONMENT HAVE ON ORGANISMS? • WHY CAN’T THERE BE A SOLE SURVIVOR? Ecology is the study of the way living things interact with each other and their physical surroundings. It looks at the ways an organism is molded by its surroundings, how they make use of these surroundings, and how the area is altered by the presence and activities of organisms. These interactions involve energy and matter, which must flow through the organism if it is to stay alive. LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION WITHIN OUR WORLD Species • Group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring Population group of organisms, all of the same species, which interbreed and live in the same area. The place where a population lives is known as its habitat. Community Is an assemblage of different populations of all the different species occupying and interacting in a particular place. Ecosystem • Collection of organisms that live in a place with the nonliving environment Biome • Group of ecosystems with the same climate and dominant communties of plants and animals. Tropical rain forest Temperate grassland Temperate forest Tundra Tropical dry forest Desert Mountains and ice caps Tropical savanna Temperate woodland and shrubland Northwestern coniferous forest Boreal forest (Taiga) Biosphere • The part of the earth where life exists including land, water, air, and atmosphere CHANGES IN POPULATION SIZES • BIRTHS VS DEATHS • IMMIGRATION VS EMIGRATION Birth rate> death rate= increase in population Death rate > birth rate= decrease in population immigration- moving into a population emigration- leaving a population POPULATION DENSITY- the number of individuals in an area of a specific size. Population Density= Number of individuals Unit Area • Carrying capacity usually refers to the population level that can be supported for an organism, given the quantity of food, habitat, water and other life infrastructure present. • Carrying capacity is thus the number of individuals an environment can support without significant negative impacts to the given organism and its environment. • • • A limiting factor is one that controls a process, such as organism growth or species population size or distribution. The availability of food, predation pressure, or availability of shelter are examples of factors that could be limiting for a species population in a specific area. DIVERSITY • is the presence of a wide range of VARIATION (differences) in the qualities or attributes under discussion Biodiversity is the genetic diversity, species diversity and ecological diversity that are so important to life on this planet. It is the result of adaptations that have evolved over billions of years due to environmental changes in the Earth’s past. Interactions Among Living Things Organisms have adaptations that help them survive in their environment All organisms have their own Niche. Niche is the role of an organism in its environment or how it makes its living. NICHE INCLUDES: • type of food the organisms eats • how it obtains this food • which other organisms use this organism as food • when and how it reproduces • physical conditions it requires to survive SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS • MUTUALISM-An association between organisms of two different species in which each member benefits. • EXAMPLE Example: Rainforest ants and the Whistling Thorn and Bullhorn Acacia trees. ants nest inside the plant's thorns. ants protect acacias from attack by herbivores (which they frequently eat, introducing a resource component to this service-service relationship) • Commensalism- the relation between two different kinds of organisms when one receives benefits from the other without affecting or damaging it. •Barnacles adhering to the skin of a whale or shell of a mollusk: barnacle is a mollusks that benefits by finding a habitat where nutrients are available. (In the case of lodging on the living organism, the barnacle is transported to new sources of food.) •The presence of barnacle populations does not appear to hamper or enhance the survival of the animals carrying them. PARASITISM • symbiosis in which one organism lives as a parasite in or on another organism and usually does some harm to it. Ticks on a bird • Hosts is the organism that the parasite lives on PREDATOR/PREY • Predator- organisms that obtain their nutritional energy by killing and eating other organisms. • Prey – Any creature that is hunted and caught to be eaten for food. COMPETITION • The simultaneous demand by two or more organisms for limited environmental resources, such as nutrients, living space, or light. • In Australia, Rabbits compete with herbivores like the western Quoll which became extinct • rabbits were brought in; invasive species whose destruction of habitats is responsible for the extinction or major decline of many native animals such as the Western Quoll. ENERGY ROLES IN AN ECOSYSTEM • All living things are classified based on shared characteristics, hereditary (genetic) information, development and their phylogeny (evolutionary history). – They are also classified based on how they get their food. Producer are organism that can make their own food and will have chloroplast to absorb energy from the sun to help make their food. Producers are also known as autotrophs . • Consumers are organisms that cannot make their own food and have to get their food from their environment. •They are also known as heterotrophs. Examples: Animals, some protists, fungi and some bacteria • http://www.teachersdomain.org/resources/ tdc02/sci/life/oate/decompose/assets/tdc0 2_vid_decompose/tdc02_vid_decompose_ 56_mov.html Decomposer – Fungus and Bacteria A decomposer is an organism that breaks down organic matter. Some bacteria and fungi decomposers. What they leave behind is used by primary producers as fertilizers. • VOUR- MEANING TO DEVOUR • ANIMALS are consumers that are also characterized by what they eat and their type of teeth and beaks. CARNIVORE Carnivores are animals that eat meat. Carnivorous animals often have sharp canine teeth and powerful jaws. They also have incisors and molars. HERBIVORE Herbivores are animals that eat plants. Herbivores are also called primary consumers. Most animals are herbivores. Herbivores types of teeth are incisors for cutting and molars for chewing. • OMNIVORE • Omnivores are animals that eat both animals and plants. Some omonivores include people, many monkeys and marmosets, lion tamarins, chimpanzees, and most bears. • Omnivore have canine teeth that are not as prominent most of the time, incisors and molars. Detritivore A detritivore is an organism that feeds on detritus, dead and decomposing organisms. What they leave behind is used by decomposers. Dung bettles and crabs are detritivores. detritus -- Accumulated organic debris from dead organisms, often an important source of nutrients in a food web Detritivores: consume litter, debris, and dung Scavengers: Decomposers: clean-up dead carcasses microorganisms that complete final breakdown of organic matter Energy Flow in Ecosystems: Energy is transferred in a system from one organism to another. How does Energy flow through an Ecosystem? • Energy flows through an ecosystem in ONE direction, – sun or chemicals – Autotrophs – heterotrophs Feeding Relationships • Food Chain – steps of organisms transferring energy by eating & being eaten • Food Web – network of all the food chains in an ecosystem Food Chains Plants and Animals build structures from the nutrients, detritus feeders and decomposers break the structures into the base nutrients once the organisms die. The organisms involved make up a food chain. At the bottom of the food chain are the photosynthetic producers which range from single-celled bacteria to redwood trees. Next come the primary consumers who are eaten by the secondary consumers who are eaten by… you get the idea. Each level of consumption is called a trophic level. Primary producers are therefore in the first trophic level. LINKS IN FOOD CHAINS Primary Producer plant/ algae Primary consumer herbivores Secondary consumer primary carnivore Tertiary consumer top carnivore autotrophs 99% hetrotrophs Usually no more than 5 links in a food chain. Why? There cannot be too many links in a single food chain because the animals at the end of the chain would not get enough food (and hence energy) to stay alive. LAST LINK IN FOOD CHAINS ARE: and decomposers Detritivores, scavengers, Example Food Chains Food Web • ALWAYS DRAW THE ARROW FROM TOWARDS THE ANIMAL THAT THE FOOD’S ENERGY GOES INTO AND READ IT LIKE: • • Sun marsh grass ribbed mussel heron You would say the suns energy goes into the marsh grass, the marsh grass energy goes into the ribbed mussel, the ribbed mussel energy goes into the heron • Sun • • algae zooplankton plankton eating fish heron (microscopic animals) You would say the sun’s energy goes into the algae, the algae’s energy goes into zooplankton, the zooplankton’s energy goes into plankton eating fish and the plankton eating fish goes into the heron YOU TELL ME YOUR FOOD CHAIN Energy Pyramids • Shows the relationship of organisms in a food chain as the biomass (numbers) decrease as you go up the pyramid representing energy that is lost. 10% is lost at each level. • Trophic Level – each step in a food chain or food Biomass Pyramid web PYRAMID OF NUMBERS Pyramid of PYRAMID Numbers BIOMASS Energy Pyramid ENERGY PYRAMID • Only 10% of the energy from each trophic level is passed on to the next level • Energy is used by the organisms for life processes • Some of the energy is lost as heat Energy and the Food Chain • If 10% of the energy can be transfered from one trophic level to the one above it, each trophic level must have 10x the energy as the one above it. • The number of trophic levels depends upon the primary producers Energy Pyramid Nutrient Cycles • Nutrients (Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorus ) stay in a biological system and are recycled continually. Hydrogen and Oxygen (Water) Cycle Water never stops moving. Snow and rain fall to the earth from clouds. The rain and melted snow run downhill into rivers and lakes, sometimes crashing over waterfalls. Eventually the water flows into the ocean. During evaporation, the water turns from liquid into gas and moves from oceans and lakes into the atmosphere where it forms clouds. Then the cycle begins all over again. Carbon Cycle The combined processes, including photosynthesis, decomposition, and respiration, by which carbon as a component of various compounds cycles between its major reservoirs—the atmosphere, oceans, and living organisms. The nitrogen cycle is the biogeochemical cycle Nitrogen Cycle that describes the transformations of nitrogen and nitrogencontaining compounds in nature. Add this to the back of your sheet: Nitrogen-fixing bacteria is the organisms responsible for converting nitrogen gas into a usable form of nitrogen. Bacteria that are decomposers, recycle nitrogen compounds in the soil by breaking down animal wastes and dead plants and animals. Other bacteria, break down nitrogen compounds and release free nitrogen to the air. Animals eat plants and obtain the nitrogen compounds they need to make certain body chemicals. Animal wastes and dead animals and plants are broken down by bacteria to release nitrogen compounds back into the soil. Phosphorus Cycle The phosphorus cycle is the biogeochemical cycle that describes the movement of phosphorus through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. Succession communities: 2. Intermediate species 1. Pioneer species 3. Climax community Pioneer species: • Are the first plants to grown in an area • Lichens (algae & fungi) break apart rock to make soil • Grasses • Annual flowers • Mosses Intermediate Community Is characterized by trees that grow fairly fast like pine trees that needs lots of sun. CLIMAX COMMUNITY Plant community that no longer undergoes changes in species composition due to succession. Hard woods like oak & maple trees Types of Succession Primary • 1st time plants or animals are established • New island • Volcanoes • Bare soil, rock Secondary • After a “blowout” • Re-establish a community • Already had living organisms • Fire, flood, human disruption