ECOLOGY

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ECOLOGY

• The Study of Interactions between Organisms and
  their Environment

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Ecology Vocabulary

• Population a particular species in an area
• Community a group of populations in an area
• Ecosystem a community plus its non-living
  (abiotic) environment
• Biosphere all regions of the planet inhabited by
  populations
• Habitat The place a population lives
• Niche the role of the population in the
  environment (what you eat, what you do)

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ECOSYSTEM FACTORS

• BIOTIC Living (animals, plant, microbes)
• AUTOTROPHS (produce food) plants
• HETEROTROPHS-(need to get food)
• consumers- (eat )
• Decomposers-(breakdown organics)Bacteria, fungi
  
• A scavenger (vulture) is not a decomposer because
  they are not returning nutrients to the soil
• ABIOTICNon-living
• temperature, sunlight, water, minerals

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Trophic Levels
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Trophic Levels

• Primary Producers The autotrophs that capture
  energy to make food (Plants)
• Primary Consumers heterotrophs that eat
  autotrophs (herbivores)
• Secondary Consumers heterotrophs that eat other
  heterotrophs (carnivores)
• Higher Level Consumers carnivores that eat other
  carnivores
• Decomposers consumers of dead organic material
  ( Bacteria, Fungi)

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ENERGY FLOW

• Food chains a specific energy pathway
• Food webs complex energy interactions found in
  an ecosystem.
• Energy pyramids representation of the total
  energy available to a trophic level.

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FOREST FOOD WEB
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Arctic Marine Food Web
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Biomass Pyramid
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Energy Pyramid
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Kruger Park Battle
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Growth of Populations

• Exponential Growth occurs when individuals in a
  population reproduce at a constant rate. (in
  natural populations this does not occur for very
  long)
• Carrying Capacity of the Environment The maximum
  population that a particular environment can
  support
• Limiting Factors those environmental factors
  that keep a population at the carrying capacity,
  like food, predators, amount of water, how much
  land there is

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Population Growth over Time
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In 1944, 20 reindeer were brought to St. Matthew
Island for an emergency food source.The Island is
off the coast of Alaska in the Bering Sea.
Initially there were abundant food sources, and
the reindeer population increased
dramatically.There were no predators to cull the
population.However, about 20 years later, the
reindeer had overshot the food carrying 
capacity of the island, and there was a sudden,
massive die-off.  About 99 of the reindeer died
of starvation.
Exponential growth can lead to massive die-off
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Carrying capacity of the Environment
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Community Interaction

• competition

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• Competition- when populations require use of
  limited resources
• Predator/prey- when one population depends upon
  another for food
• Symbiosis- when two populations Niche
• Coincide with each other

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• Competition- Resource food or population may
  overlap

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Predator-Prey Interactions

• Predators Organisms that catch and consume
  other organisms
• Prey organisms that get consumed.
• Top Predator the organism within a food chain
  or web that is not eaten by any other organism.

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Predation
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Predator Prey Dynamics
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Symbiosis

• When TWO or more species interact so closely
  that one or more of them is NECESSARY for the
  others survival.
• Examples
• Coral and zooxanthellae algae
• Fig trees and fig wasps(only way fig tree is
  pollinated. Fig enters fig and deposits eggs and
  pollen she brought along from another fig)
• Tape worms and humans (from undercooked meat,
  mostly pork.Live inside your intestines.Can grow
  50ft long and live up to 20 years inside you)
• Fleas and hairy mammals
• Bed Bugs-Feed at night on unsuspecting Humans

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Mutualism

• Both organisms BENEFIT
• from the interaction

Coral and Zooxanthellae
Red billed oxpecker feeds on the ticks Off the
Impalas coat (Africa)
Clownfish and Sea Anemone
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Crocodile and plover mutualistic relationship.
Plover cleans crocodiles teeth.
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Commensalism

• one IS HELPED but the other is NOT harmed
• Ex. Birds nest in trees

Hermit crab with Sea Anemone living on it
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Parasitism
One organism BENEFITS
Malaria

• The other is
• HARMED

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Predator Prey Co-evolution

• Protection from Predation (for prey)
• Poison the production of toxins
• Camouflage protective coloration
• Mimicry look alikes
• Adaptations to overcome protections (for
  predators)
• Intolerance to poisons immunity
• Use of senses other than sight hearing, smell

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Co-Evolution

• Predator /prey interactions

WARNING coloration says, Dont mess with me !!
POISON IVY protected from herbivores
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Camouflage
PROTECTIVE coloration
caterpillar
Stick insects found in Australia
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Mimicry

• Similar colors
• Similar DEFENSES

Wasp/yellow jacket- no hair-keep stinging you
Bee-hair on-some dont sting others do.
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Mimicry- Fooled Ya!

• King snake
• (not poisonous)
• Coral
  snake
• (VERY poisonous)

If red touches yellow youre a dead fellow
If red touches black youre a fine Jack