Download Ecology

Ecology
What is ecology?
• The study of
interactions between
organisms and their
environment
Biosphere
• Where life is
found/supported
• Exists between the
bottom of the ocean
to the tops of the
atmosphere
Abiotic factors
• Non-living parts of the environment
– Examples: temperature, air currents,
moisture, light, soil, weather
Biotic factors
• Living factors in an environment
• examples: other organisms (all living
organisms depend on each other)
Levels of organization
Biosphere
(Earth)
Ecosystem
(abiotic & biotic)
Communities
(all biotic factors living together)
Populations
(same biotic factors living together)
Organisms
(individual species)
Ecosystem
Biosphere
Communities
Population
Organism
Ecosystems
• Two main types
• Terrestrial = land
• Aquatic = water
– Saltwater (oceans)
– Freshwater ( lakes,
ponds, rivers)
Habitat
• Where an organism
lives out its life
• Examples: grass,
wetlands, parking lot,
pond
– Can be anywhere
Niche
• All the interactions a species has with
biotic and abiotic parts
– How it finds shelter, food, where it reproduces
– the role it has in the environment
Survival relationships
• Mutualism – both species benefit
• Commensalism – one species benefits,
but the second is neither helped nor
harmed
• Parasitism – one species benefits at the
expense of another
Symbiosis = living together
commensalism
Mutualism
parasitism
Nutrition & Energy Flow
• Autotrophs  produce their own energy
– Also called producers
– Examples: plants
• Heterotrophs  have to consume other
organisms to obtain energy
– Also called consumers
– examples: humans, cows, deer, tigers
Types of heterotrophs
• Herbivores – eat plants only
– Rabbits, bees, elephants, beavers
• Carnivores – eat meat only
– Lions, tigers
• Omnivores – eat both plants and animals
• Scavengers – eat animals that are already
dead
• Decomposers – break down decaying
remains
Food Chains
• Shows how energy travels thru an
ecosystem
• Algae  fish  bear
• Grass  cow  human
• Arrows = energy flow
• 5 or less links
Trophic levels
• Each link is called a
trophic level
• Also called feeding
steps
Food webs
• Shows all feeding
relationships
• A large set of
connected food
chains
Ecological pyramids
• Pyramid of energy
Pyramid of numbers
Pyramid of biomass
Nutrient cycles
• Matter is cycled thru
ecosystems
• Matter is recycled,
never lost
• 4 main cycles
–
–
–
–
Water
Carbon
Phosphorus
nitrogen
Water cycle
Carbon cycle
Nitrogen cycle
Phosphorus cycle