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We must consider our planet to be on loan from
our children, rather than being a gift from our
ancestors, G.H. Brundtland (former Prime
Minister of Norway)
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Ecology (Unit 2 Chap 3, 4, 5, and 6)

• Ecology is the study of how living things
  interact with their environment - its niche!

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(No Transcript)
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What biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving)
factors does this Cheetah need in order to
survive?
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Organismal Ecology - learning (imprinting,
maturation, innate, habituation, conditioning,
etc.)
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Population Ecology - cohorts, fecundity,carrying
capacity, density, generation time
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Community Ecology
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Landscape Ecology
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Community Ecology

• (Part I)

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LE 54-2
Tertiary consumers
Microorganisms and other detritivores
Secondary consumers
Primary consumers
Detritus
Primary producers
Heat
Key
Chemical cycling
Sun
Energy flow
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LE 53-12
Quaternary consumers
Carnivore
Carnivore
Tertiary consumers
Carnivore
Carnivore
Secondary consumers
Carnivore
Carnivore
Primary consumers
Zooplankton
Herbivore
Primary producers
Plant
Phytoplankton
A terrestrial food chain
A marine food chain
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Pyramids of Production

• This loss of energy with each transfer in a food
  chain
• Can be represented by a pyramid of net production

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Food Web network of feeding relationships
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• In biological magnification
• Toxins concentrate at higher trophic levels
  because at these levels biomass tends to be lower

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Production Efficiency

• When a caterpillar feeds on a plant leaf
• Only about one-sixth of the energy in the leaf is
  used for secondary production

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• Density is the result of a dynamic interplay
• Between processes that add individuals to a
  population and those that remove individuals from
  it

Figure 52.2
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Population Ecology
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• A clumped dispersion
• Is one in which individuals aggregate in patches
• May be influenced by resource availability and
  behavior

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• A uniform dispersion
• Is one in which individuals are evenly
  distributed
• May be influenced by social interactions such as
  territoriality

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• A random dispersion
• Is one in which the position of each individual
  is independent of other individuals

(c) Random. Dandelions grow from windblown seeds
that land at random and later germinate.
Figure 52.3c
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• Carrying capacity (K)
• Is the maximum population size the environment
  can support

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• K-selection, or density-dependent selection
• Selects for life history traits that are
  sensitive to population density (large animals -
  elephants)
• r-selection, or density-independent selection
• Selects for life history traits that maximize
  reproduction (small animals - minnows)

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• Some populations overshoot K
• Before settling down to a relatively stable
  density

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The Global Human Population

• The human population
• Increased relatively slowly until about 1650 and
  then began to grow exponentially

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• Age structure
• Is commonly represented in pyramids

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Community Ecology

• (Part II)

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Ecological succession in Massachusetts . . .

• Ferns and Grasses
• Shrubs
• White pine
• Hardwoods (maple, oak, hickory, and some birches)
• Hemlock and Beech

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Resource Partitioning

• Resource partitioning is the differentiation of
  niches
• That enables similar species to coexist in a
  community

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Community Interactions

• Mimicry
• Parasitism
• Commensalism
• Coevolution
• Predator/prey
• Mutualism
• Symbiosis
• Exotic species

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• Cryptic coloration, or camouflage
• Makes prey difficult to spot

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• Aposematic coloration
• Warns predators to stay away from prey

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• In Batesian mimicry
• A palatable or harmless species mimics an
  unpalatable or harmful model

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• In Müllerian mimicry
• Two or more unpalatable species resemble each
  other

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• In commensalism
• One species benefits and the other is not affected

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Keystone Species

• Keystone species
• Are not necessarily abundant in a community
• Exert strong control on a community by their
  ecological roles, or niches

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• Field studies of sea stars
• Exhibit their role as a keystone species in
  intertidal communities

Figure 53.16a,b
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Biogeochemical Cycles

• The water cycle and the carbon cycle

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• The nitrogen cycle and the phosphorous cycle