ECOLOGY UNIT

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ECOLOGY UNIT

• Chapter 18 Introduction to Ecology
• Chapter 19 Populations
• Chapter 20 Community Ecology
• Chapter 22 Humans and the Environment

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• Ecology Study of the interactions between
  organisms and the living and nonliving components
  of their environment
• Survival depends on interactions interdependence

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Levels of Organization
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Habitat vs Niche

• Habitat the actual place an organism lives
  address
• Niche way of life (role) within its environment
  job

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Energy Flow

• Herbivores
• Carnivores
• Omnivores
• Decomposers

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10 of the energy available at one trophic level
is transferred to the next
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(No Transcript)
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Keystone Species
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What is a keystone?

• Stone at the top of an arch
• Supports the other stones
• Keeps whole arch from falling

http//www.morning-earth.org/Images/keystoneL.jpg
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What is a keystone species

• Species whose presence contributes to a diversity
  of life and whose extinction leads to the
  extinction of others
• Loss of a keystone species is like a drill
  accidentally striking a power line. It causes
  lights to go out all over.
• - E.O. Wilson

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Prairie Black Tailed Prairie
Dogs

• Burrows act as homes
• burrowing owls, badgers, rabbits, black-footed
  ferrets, snakes, salamanders, and insects.

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• Burrowing activity works to loosen and churn soil
• Increases the ability to sustain plants
• Foraging and feeding practices enable a more
  nutritious, diverse and nitrogen-rich mixture of
  grasses to grow.

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• Africa Grasslands
• Africa Elephant
• Many plant species are dependent on passing
  through an elephant's digestive tract before they
  can germinate
• - 1/3 of tree species in west African forests
  rely on elephants.

http//www.youtube.com/watch?vUMFWdTVtQw0
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Marine Kelp Forest Sea Otter Keep the sea
urchin populations in check. Sea Urchins feed on
the kelp which are critical habitat for
spawning fish. Fish population will
decline
http//www.pbs.org/kqed/oceanadventures/video/kelp