Ecology Packet

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Ecology Packet

• The Structure of Ecosystems
• Relationships within Ecosystems
• Population Growth

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The Structure of Ecosystems
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1 - Biomes
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Biomes

• Biomes a large region characterized by a
  specific type of climate and certain types of
  plant and animal communities

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Biotic Factors

• Biotic Factors the biological influences on
  organisms within an ecosystem
• Birds, Trees, Mushrooms, Bacteria

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Abiotic Factors

• Abiotic Factors physical, or nonliving, factors
  that shape ecosystems
• Climate (temperature, precipitation, humidity,
  etc.)
• Wind, Nutrient Availability, Soil Type, Sunlight,
  etc.

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Together, biotic and abiotic factors determine
the survival and growth of an organism and the
productivity of the ecosystem in which the
habitat lives.
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Terrestrial Biomes
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Aquatic Biomes
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2 - Habitat
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Habitat

• Habitat the physical area in which an organism
  lives
• An organisms habitat may include many different
  kinds of areas
• A drastic change in the abiotic (climate,
  topography, soil, water, etc.) or biotic (plant
  and animal life) factors of a habitat that
  affects one organism can have an effect on the
  whole ecosystem.

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3 - Niche
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Niche

• Niche the sum of an organisms interactions with
  its physical environment and with other organisms
• An organisms niche includes its habitat, feeding
  habits, reproductive behavior, and all other
  aspects of its biology.

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Each organism has a niche, or job, in the
ecosystem. An earthworms niche includes many
activities that enhance the soil.
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Niche

• Fundamental Niche the total niche that an
  organism could potentially use within an
  ecosystem
• Realized Niche that part of a fundamental niche
  that an organism actually occupies as a direct
  result of competition

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FN vs. RN
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FN vs. RN
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Resource Partitioning
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4 - Food Chains Food Webs
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Food Chains

• On the average, an organism stores only about
  10-15 of the energy available to it from the
  trophic level beneath it. The rest of the energy
  is lost in the form of heat.
• Thus the amount of energy available to the higher
  trophic levels is much smaller than the amount
  available to the lower levels.

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Food Chain
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Food Chain
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FoodWeb
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Food Web
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Food Web
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Trophic Levels

• Trophic Level a group of organisms whose energy
  source is the same number of steps away from the
  sun

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Five Types of Consumers

• Herbivore
• Carnivore
• Omnivore
• Scavenger
• Decomposer

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Food Chains

• Food chains usually have only four or five levels
  for several reasons
• 1. Animals at a higher level do not eat all the
  available food at the lower level
• 2. There is a great amount of waste at every
  level
• 3. Energy is expended during metabolism

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5 - Primary Productivity
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Primary Productivity

• Primary Productivity the rate at which solar or
  chemical energy is converted into organic
  compounds in an ecosystem
• Primary Productivity is expressed as the rate at
  which energy is stored as organic matter. The
  units are kcal/m2/yr.
• Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) the total
  amount of energy produced in an ecosystem
  including the energy used by the plants for their
  own respiration
• Net Primary Productivity (NPP) the rate at which
  plants store energy that is not used in plant
  respiration

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Net Primary Productivity
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6 - Ecological Pyramids
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Pyramidof Numbers
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Pyramid of Biomass
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Pyramidof Energy
Energy Pyramids are never inverted because energy
is always lost from one trophic level to the next
higher.
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7 - Biochemical Cycles
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Relationships within Ecosystems
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8 - Competition
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Competition

• Competition the use of defense of a resource by
  one individual that reduces the availability of
  that resource to other organisms

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Intraspecific Competition

• Intraspecific competition occurs between
  organisms of the same species
• Intraspecific competition is very keen because
  members of the same species require the same
  food, space, and mates.
• In a population the individuals best adapted to
  survive will pass their genetic material on to
  offspring at a greater than less fit competitors.
• Due to this fact, intraspecific competition is
  one of the driving forces of evolution.

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Intraspecific Competition
Colonies of a Sea Squirt
Barnacles
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Interspecific Competition

• Interspecific competition occurs between
  organisms of different species
• Interspecific competition is often less intense
  than intraspecific competition because
  individuals of different species do not compete
  for exactly the same kinds of food, space, or
  mates.

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Interspecific Competition
red coralline algae
anemone
Hyena Lion
sponge
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Competitive Exclusion

• Competitive Exclusion Principle exclusion that
  occurs when two or more species compete for the
  very same resource, and all but one eventually
  fails as a competitor
• Two competitorscannot coexist onthe same
  limitingresource.

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9 - Predation
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Predation

• Predation biotic relationship in which one
  organism feeds upon another
• In any ecosystem, the relative numbers of
  predators and prey vary from year to year. Over
  time, however, a biological balance is
  established.
• Predators and prey are part of a food web of an
  ecosystem, and a change in their number affects
  the entire ecosystem.

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10 - Symbiosis
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Symbiosis

• Symbiosis a biological relationship in which two
  dissimilar organisms live together in a close
  association.

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Parasitism

• Parasitism (/-) a close, long-term symbiotic
  relationship in which one organism (parasite)
  obtains its nutrition from another organism
  (host).
• Example parasitic worms in the digestive tract
  of a white-tailed deer

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Parasitism
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Commensalism

• Commensalism (/0) a form of symbiosis in which
  one organism benefits and the other neither
  benefits nor suffers harm.
• Example Epiphytes (plants that grow on other
  plants)

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Commensalism
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Mutualism

• Mutualism (/) a form of symbiosis in which
  both organisms benefit from living together.
• Example bacteria that live the digestive tract
  of cattle

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Mutualism
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Mutualism
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11 - Succession
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Succession

• Succession the gradual, sequential replacement
  of populations in an area

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Primary Succession

• Primary Succession the sequential replacement of
  populations in an area that has not previously
  supported life (such as bare rock or a sand dune)
• The transformation of a barren environment into a
  climax community may require a thousand years or
  more.
• Volcanic eruptions that create new islands and
  retreating glaciers can produce barren
  environments where primary succession will take
  place.

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PrimarySuccession
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Primary Succession
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Secondary Succession

• Secondary Succession the sequential replacement
  of populations in disrupted habitats that have
  not been totally stripped of soil and vegetation
• This disruption may stem from a natural disaster
  (forest fire, volcanic eruption, etc.) or from
  human activity (farming, logging, mining, etc.).

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Secondary Succession
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Process of Succession

• Pioneer Species the first species to colonize a
  new habitat
• Seral Community an intermediate community that
  arises after the pioneer species and before the
  climax community
• Climax Community a community that will remain
  stable as long as the area is undisturbed

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Process of Succession
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Process of Succession

• The soil, climate, and other abiotic factors in a
  region determine the organisms that will make up
  a climax community.
• Each set of species in the community changes the
  environment in ways that ultimately make it
  unfavorable for the survival and reproduction of
  those species. Yet these changes allow other
  species to survive and reproduce resulting in a
  new community.

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Population Growth
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12 - Population Growth Rate
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Population Growth Rate

• Population Growth Rate the change in the number
  of individuals in population over time

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PopulationGrowth Rate
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13 - Biotic Potential
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Biotic Potential

• Biotic Potential the rate at which a population
  will grow if all individuals survive and
  reproduce at maximum capacity
• Biotic potential can be reached when organisms
  capable of reproducing are put into an ideal
  environment (unlimited resources and space no
  hazards such as disease and predators).
• In nature, populations rarely achieve their
  biotic potential for any sustained period.
• Eventually the number of individuals declines
  because of shortage of food, shortage of space,
  predation, or accumulation of waste.

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14 - Growth Curves
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Growth Curves

• Growth Curve a graph showing the number of
  individuals in a population over time

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Growth Curves
Exponential Phase
Lag Phase
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15 - Carrying Capacity
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Carrying Capacity (K)

• Carrying Capacity the maximum number of
  individuals that the ecosystem is capable of
  supporting
• When the environment is stable, the maximum
  number of individuals in a population fluctuates
  near the carrying capacity of the environment.
• If the environment becomes unstable, the
  fluctuations become more radical.

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Carrying Capacity (K)
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16 - Limiting Factors
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Limiting Factors

• Limiting Factor a factor that causes the growth
  of a population to decrease
• Population Density the number of individuals in
  a population in a given area in a given time

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Limiting Factors

• Density-Dependent Factors factors that affect
  populations in different ways depending on
  population density
• Examples food availability, number of predators,
  oxygen supply, etc.
• Density-Independent Factors factors that affect
  populations regardless of population density
• Examples changes in weather, temperature,
  humidity, sunlight, etc.

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17 - Human Population Growth
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Human Population Growth

• The exponential growth rate of the human
  population can be explained by the increase in
  food production, rise of industry, domestication
  of plants and animals, and advances in medicine.

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Human Population Growth
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Human Population Growth
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Human Population Growth

• To make predictions about population growth,
  population biologists must consider the
  composition of a population (age, health, etc.).

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Age-Structure Diagrams
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How is human population growth affecting our
environment?
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Analyzing DataPopulation Trends
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18 - Graphs
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Fruit Fly Population Growth
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Rabbit Population Growth
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19 - Analyzing Data

• Fly S Rabbit J

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20 - Drawing Conclusions

• The fly population reached a carrying capacity at
  320 flies/40 days.

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21 - Predicting

• The rabbit population would decrease
  significantly.

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Populations Size Problems
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• a) No
• b) Yes
• c) No
• d) No
• e) Yes

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• a)
• b)
• c)

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• a)
• b)
• c)
• d) NO

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25d
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25d - Extrapolated
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