Download Ecology - Maria Regina

Ecology
Ecology
• Biosphere- the part of Earth that supports life
• Ecosystem- all organisms living in an area and
the nonliving parts of their environment
• Ecology- study of interactions that occur
among organisms and their environment
• Population- made up of all organisms in an
ecosystem that belong to the same species
• Community- all the populations in an
ecosystem
Habitat
• Place where an organism lives
– Provides food, safe temperatures, moisture
organism needs to live
• Competition- two or more organisms seek the
same resource at the same time
Populations
• Population size- indicates whether a population
is healthy and growing
– Measured by trap-mark-release or sample count
• Limiting factor- any living or nonliving feature
that restricts the number of individuals in a
population
• Carrying capacity- largest number of individuals
of one species that an ecosystem can support
• Exponential growth- the larger a populations
becomes, the faster it grows
Symbiosis
• Any close relationship between species
• Mutualism- a symbiotic relationship in which
both species benefit
• Commensalism- a symbiotic relationship in
which one organism benefits and the other is
not affected
• Parasitism- a symbiotic relationship in which
one organisms benefits and the other is
harmed
Niche
• An organism’s role in its environment, including
its habitat, food, how it avoids danger, finds a
mate, cares for young
• Predator- animal that captures and eats other
consumers
• Prey- organism that is captured by the predator
• Predators limit the size of prey populations,
increasing the number of different species that
can live in an ecosystem
Abiotic Factors
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Atmosphere (air)
Water
Soil
Sunlight
climate
Water Cycle
• How water moves from the Earth’s surface to
the atmosphere and back to the surface again
• Evaporation- when liquid water changes into
water vapor and enters the atmosphere
• Condensation- the process of changing water
from a gas to a liquid
Other Cycles
• Nitrogen cycle- the transfer of nitrogen from
the atmosphere to the soil, to living
organisms, and back to atmosphere
• Carbon cycle- how carbon molecules move
between the living and nonliving world
Energy flow
• Matter recycled over and over, but energy is
converted from one form to another
• Chemosynthesis- production of energy rich
nutrient molecules from chemicals
• Energy stored in the molecules of one
organism is transferred to another when one
organism becomes food for another organism
Food chain
• Simple wat of showing how matter and energy
pass from one organism to another
Food web
• Shows all possible feeding relationships
among the organisms in a community
Energy Pyramid
• Shows the amount of energy available at each
feeding level in an ecosystem
Ecological succession
• Normal, gradual changes that occur in types of
species that live in an area
• Climax community- stable stage of ecological
diversity and balance