Ecology- is the scientific study of organisms and the interactions with their environment (living and nonliving things)

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Ecology- is the scientific study of organisms and
the interactions with their environment (living
and nonliving things)
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• We can study it on many levels from how
  microorganisms in a drop of water interact with
  each other and the nutrients to the entire Earth

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Methods of Study

• Observing use the five senses to collect data
  about the surroundings
• Experimenting set up a controlled environment
  to test occurrences
• Modeling based on data collected, scientists
  can simulate over time what will happen

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Levels of Organization
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Levels of Organization

• Species organisms of the same type that can
• interbreed

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Levels of Organization

• Population a group of organisms of the same
  species in the same area

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Levels of Organization

• Community many populations or different species
  living in an area

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Levels of Organization

• Ecosystem communities and the nonliving things
  in an area
• Biotic all organisms and living things
• Abiotic nonliving part of the environment, but
  necessary to life

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What are some examples?

• Abiotic

• Biotic

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What are some examples?

• Abiotic
• sunlight
• soil
• water
• temperature
• gases (oxygen, CO2, nitrogen)

• Biotic
• Humans
• animals
• dead organisms
• trees

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Levels of Organization

• Biomes several related ecosystems with similar
  climate and vegetation

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Levels of Organization

• Biosphere all the biomes in the Earth the
  earths surface plus 8 km above the surface and
  11 km below ANY PART OF THE EARTH with life in
  it

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• Interactions and interdependence in an ecosystem
  are all about Energy Transfer

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• The ultimate source of energy in the ecosystem is
  the sun. From the sun, plants can make their own
  food and other organisms can feed on them. Some
  other organisms can make their own food from
  inorganic compounds (chemicals not containing
  carbon)

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Feeding Relationships

• Autotrophs/Producers- organisms that can make
  their own food from sun or chemicals
• Plants capture sunlight and convert CO2 and water
  into sugar (food) by photosynthesis
• Some bacteria in extreme environments capture
  energy from inorganic compounds by chemosynthesis

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Feeding Relationships

• Heterotrophs/Consumers organisms that eat OR
  absorb food to obtain energy

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Feeding Relationships

• Herbivores- eat vegetation
• Carnivores- eat other consumers
• Omnivores- eat vegetation and other consumers
• Detrivores and scavengers- feed on dead material
• Decomposers- decompose dead material and return
  organic material to earth

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What type is each organism?
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What is each organism?
Heterotroph Omnivore

• Heterotroph Carnivore

Heterotroph Decomposer
Autotroph/ Producer
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• FOOD WEB

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Feeding Relationships

• Energy flows in one direction through an
  ecosystem from the sun, through autotrophs
  through heterotrophs and all eventually lost as
  heat

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Feeding Relationships

• Food Chain single display of energy transfer in
  an ecosystem. Arrows point toward the organism
  receiving the energy, or rather the arrows show
  the direction of energy flow

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Feeding Relationships

• Food Web interwoven food chains within an
  ecosystem

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Feeding Relationships

• Trophic Levels each step in a food chain or food
  web or pyramid

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• Energy Flow Activity

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Ecological Pyramids

• The direction of energy flow through the trophic
  levels can be shown through food chains and food
  webs.
• To show relative amounts of matter and energy per
  trophic level, we can use a pyramid

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Ecological Pyramids

• Energy Pyramid the producers are at the bottom
  with the total amount of sun energy captured.
• Each trophic level that the energy flows into
  only receives 10 of the energy from the
  previous level.
• The other 90 is lost as heat

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Ecological Pyramids

• Biomass Pyramid shows the amount of food
  available (organic matter or biomass) at each
  trophic level

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Ecological Pyramids

• Pyramid of numbers shows the number of organisms
  at each trophic level in an area

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• Food Web Analysis

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Biogeochemical Cycles

• While energy is transferred in one direction in
  an ecosystem, matter is cycled through the
  ecosystem in the biogeochemical cycles

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Biogeochemical Cycles

• Water cycle- water from the bodies of water
  evaporate and form the surface of plants
  transpire into the atmosphere. They condense back
  into liquid around tiny particles in the air
  which form the clouds. Once the clouds get too
  heavy, precipitation falls to the earth to be
  consumed/ absorbed by organisms

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Biogeochemical Cycles

• Carbon Cycle Carbon dioxide (CO2) is absorbed by
  photosynthetic organisms to make sugars (food).
  CO2 is released by exhalation of organisms,
  burning of fossil fuels, carbon from dead
  organisms is released into the soil and compacted
  into fossil fuels over millions of years

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Biogeochemical Cycles

• Nitrogen Cycle nitrogen (N) from the atmosphere
  is changed into a form that plants can take up
  from the soil. Consumers can then eat and take in
  N
• in order to make
• proteins. Dead
• organisms can
• return N to the
• soil or to the
• atmosphere with
• the help of bacteria

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Biogeochemical Cycles

• Phosphorus Cycle it does not enter the
  atmosphere, but rather is cycled through the
  soil, oceans, and organisms