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Ecology
What is in an Ecosystem?
What is ecology?
• The study of the relationships between
living things and their environment
• In an ecosystem everything is connected
What will you learn?
• Abiotic/ biotic factors
• Population /
community
• Habitat and niche
What is an Ecosystem?
• Includes all the different organisms living
in a certain area
• Includes their physical environment
• Usually don’t have clear boundaries as
organisms move from one place to
another
Examples
• Soil and leaves wash into
a lake from the forest
• Birds often migrate from
winter homes to summer
Ecosystems
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Wetlands
Desert
Mountains
Polar region
Coral reef
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
• Biotic- living parts of
an ecosystem
• Animals
• Plants
• microorganisms
• Abiotic- nonliving
parts of an ecosystem
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Temperature
Sunlight
Humidity
rainfall –water supply
Soil
Mineral nutrients
– Nitrogen
– Phosphorus
– sulfer
All parts of the ecosystem
• Are interconnected – they depend on one
another
organism
population
community
Organism
• One individual living thing
– Humans
– Ants
– Plants in classroom
– Bacterium in our intestines
Species
• Group of organisms able to produce
offspring
• Share common genes
• Share common characteristics
– Humans – Homo sapiens
– Domestic dogs– Canis familiaris
DNA and Genes
Population
• Group of individuals of the same species
living in a particular place
Examples
• Bullfrog population in
a pond
• Lion population of the
savanna
• Bluebonnet
population of a field
Community
• All populations are part of a community• Group of interacting populations of
different species
• All living inhabitants of an ecosystem
make up a community
Pond community
• Includes populations
of different plants
• Populations of Fish
• Populations of
different insects
• Populations of
different amphibians
• Populations of
different
microorganisms
Niche
• All of the relationships between an
organism and its environment – both living
and nonliving- make up its niche
• Think of an organisms niche as its lifestyle
Bear’s Niche
• Tick feeds on a bear
blood
• Bear sunning on a
rock
• Feeding on salmon in
the river
• Drinking from the river
Niche
• Also includes
– When and how often it reproduces
– How many offspring it has
– What time of day it is most active
– Where it finds shelter
– How it contributes to and fits in w/ its
environment
How does a lion in Africa fit into its
ecosystem?
• They survive by killing
and eating other
animals
• Other animals –
scavengers- hyenas,
vultures, pick over the
meat left on the
bones
• Bacteria, fungi, and
insects in the soil also
feed on the carcass
causing it to rot
Soil Ecosystem
• Includes a variety of organisms
• Earthworms to aerate the soil and break it
up
• Snakes feed on moles in the ground
• Insects tunnel through the soil
• Plants die and provide nutrients in the soil
• Fungi and bacteria break down dead
organisms