Ecology

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Ecology
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What is ecology?

• The scientific study of interactions between
  organisms and their environment.
• Interactions can take place between living and
  nonliving things.

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Abiotic Factors --- Nonliving parts of environment
Soil
Temperature
Sunlight
Water/Moisture
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Biotic Factors

• All the living organisms

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Levels of Organization in Ecology

• Organism an individual
• Population a group of organisms of the same
  species that live in the same place at the same
  time.
• Community a collection of interacting
  populations
• Ecosystem interactions of living and nonliving
  things in the community

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Organism
http//people.uvawise.edu/cte/documents/Science20
Resources/Principles20of20Ecology.pdf
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Population
http//people.uvawise.edu/cte/documents/Science20
Resources/Principles20of20Ecology.pdf
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Community
http//people.uvawise.edu/cte/documents/Science20
Resources/Principles20of20Ecology.pdf
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Ecosystem
http//people.uvawise.edu/cte/documents/Science20
Resources/Principles20of20Ecology.pdf
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How organisms obtain energy

• Producers can make own food usually use
  radiant energy from the sun (photosynthesis)
• 6CO2 6H2O ? C6H12O6 6O2
• Carbon dioxide water ? Glucose Oxygen
• Consumers must eat other organisms cannot make
  own food

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Different Types of Consumers

• Herbivore eat only plants
• Carnivore eat only animals
• Omnivore eat both plants and animals
• Decomposer break down and absorb nutrients of
  dead plants and animals
• Release nutrients into the
• soil for the plants
• Scavenger eat rotting flesh (like road kill)

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How does this work?Food Chain

• Shows how matter and energy move through
  ecosystem
• Arrows indicate flow of energy
  from one organism to the next.
• Only a portion of original energy is passed on to
  other organisms in chain (10 each link)
• Example
• Energy
  Transfer Energy Transfer
• Algae Fish Heron

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How does this work?Food Chain

• Producer Plants
• Absorbs energy from the sun
• Provide oxygen as a result of photosynthesis (
  takes place in chloroplast)
• Provide glucose to consumers for energy

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How does this work?Food Chain

• Consumers
• Herbivore primary consumer
• Most efficient users of solar energy (thru
  cellular respiration process in the mitochondria)
• Get energy from plants they eat
• Carnivore/Omnivore Secondary/Tertiary
• Use energy from other consumers (animals) by
  eating them

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How does this work?Food Chain

• Decomposers
• Provide nutrients to the soil by breaking down
  organic material (dead animals and dead
  trees/limbs)
• Nutrients return to soil and absorb by plants

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Food Web

• Made up of many food chains
• Shows all possible feeding relationships in a
  community
• More realistic than a food chain, because most
  animals eat more than one thing.

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Identify the 1. Producers   2. Primary
Consumers   3. Secondary Consumers   4.
Herbivores   5. Carnivores   6.
Omnivores 7. Tertiary Consumer
http//www.biologycorner.com/resources/foodweb1.gi
f
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What if we remove producers from the web?

• Food chain collapses because
• No food for herbivores and carnivores
• No oxygen production by photosynthesis
• No cellular respiration, so no energy for all
  levels
• Decomposers run out of material to break down

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Energy PyramidDraw the pyramid
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• Lets check for understanding!
• Are you ready?

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Question 1

• Which of these does not belong to the
• group?
• Consumer
• Human
• Fish
• Plant

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Question 2

• All energy transformations in an ecosystem begin
  with --
• A scavenger
• A decomposer
• The Sun
• An herbivore

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Question 3

• In a food chain, which are the most efficient
  users of solar energy?
• Herbivores
• Carnivores
• Omnivores
• Scavengers

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Question 4