Ecology Ecosystems and Communities

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EcologyEcosystems and Communities
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Weather and climate

• Weather daily conditions of Earths atmosphere
  at a particular time and place
• Climate average conditions year after year

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Three climate zones
Different Latitudes

• Polar
• Temperate
• Tropical

90N North Pole
Sunlight
66.5N
Arctic circle
Sunlight
Tropic of Cancer
23.5N
Equator
Most direct sunlight
0
Tropic of Capricorn
23.5S
Sunlight
Arctic circle
66.5S
Sunlight
90S South Pole
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• Abiotic (physical) factors determine which
  autotroph can survive and that, in turn,
  determines which heterotrophs can survive
• Terrestrial biomes are large geographical areas,
  characterized by specific climates, which
  determine a dominant vegetation, which in turn,
  influences characteristic animals

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Greenhouse gases

• Carbon dioxide (CO2)
• Methane gas (CH4)
• Water vapor
• Other atmospheric gases
• Greenhouse effect trapping heat

Greenhouse Effect
Some heat escapes into space
Greenhouse gases trap some heat
Earths surface
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Conditions that shape an ecosystem

• Biotic factors anything living
• Flora
• Fauna
• Microorganisms
• Abiotic factors anything not living
• Precipitation
• Temperature
• Humidity

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Terms to know

• Habitat
• where an organism lives
• Ex burrowing under ground
• Niche
• what an organism does
  to survive
• Ex predation
• Whats your niche?

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Niche

• The role that an organism plays in the ecosystem
• its job
• Includes factors such as what the organism eats,
  how it eats, and what eats it

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Warblers and their niches
Cape May Warbler Feeds at the tips of
branches near the top of the tree
Bay-Breasted Warbler Feeds in the middle part of
the tree
Yellow-Rumped Warbler Feeds in the lower part of
the tree and at the bases of the middle branches
Spruce tree
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Competition

• When organisms attempt to use the same resources
• Water
• Space
• Food

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Competitive exclusion principle

• Resource food, water, and anything else an
  organism needs to survive
• Two species cannot occupy the same niche in the
  same habitat at the same time because of resource
  limitations.

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Predator-prey relationship

• Mechanism of population control in which a
  population is regulated by predation
• Predation interaction in which one organism
  capture sand feed on another organism

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Predation

• Orca Seal Predation

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Symbiosis

• (living together) relationship formed from a
  close association with another organism
• Symbiont
• Resides within the host
• Host
• Houses another organism

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Mutualism

• Symbiont helps the host
• Symbiont and host both benefitboth are well
  adapted
• Examples

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Symbiosis Mutualism

• Both species benefit from the relationship

Sea urchin requiring defense and drift red algae
requiring reproductive assistance
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Fig and wasp - mutualism
Wasps ready to emerge from a fig. The wasps will
leave to pollinate fig flowers, which are, oddly,
inside the fig. Notice the long ovipositor which
pierces the green fig to lay eggs and pollinate
at the same time. Their larvae will thrive inside
the fig, protected.
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Lichen - mutualism
A lichen on a twig. Its lichen it there.
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3 way mutualism of ant, caterpillar, and Acacia
plant
The caterpillars have nectar organs the ants
drink from, and the ants allow the caterpillars
to eat acacia leaves. The ants provide protection
for both plant and caterpillar
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Mycorrhizae mutualism

• Fungus that grows from the tips of plant roots
• Fungus absorbs water and minerals for plants.
• Plant produces sugars for fungus.
• Root cells provide home

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Commensalism

• Symbiont benefits, but host is neither helped nor
  harmed
• Examples

Barnacles on a whale
Orchids living in the trees
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Symbiosis Commensalism

• One member of the association is helped while the
  other is neither helped nor harmed

Shrimp riding around on sea slug
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Clownfish and anemone - commensalism
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Symbiosis Parasitism

• One organism lives in or on another organisms
  (the host) and consequently harms it

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Head lice - parasite
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Cocoon and yellow jacket
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Galls plant parasites
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Scavenger-carrion relationship

• Carrion dead and decaying flesh
• Scavenger organism that feeds on carrion

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Vultures and carrion
Carrion (from the Latin caro, meaning meat)
refers to the carcass of a dead animal.
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Bed mites feed on shed skin.
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Endosymbiosis

• Two species interact with one living within the
  another
• Symbiont usually provides nutrition to host
• Host usually provides protection

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Symbionts
O O O O
O O
Hosts
O O O O
O O
_____
Types?
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Succession

• gradual change in species, usually following some
  disturbance
• Primary S. occurs on land where no previous
  growth has occurred
• Ex after the moving glacier leaves bare rock

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Succession

• Secondary S occurs in areas where there has
  been previous growth, that has been disrupted
• Examples of disruptions fire, farming, logging,
  etc

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What is a biome?

• A complex of terrestrial communities that covers
  a large area
• Characterized by certain soil and climate
• Plants and animals have special adaptations that
  make them especially suited for their particular
  biome.
• See pages 100-104 for characteristics of each
  biome.

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Adaptation

• An organism whose variations can withstand the
  environmental factors is said to be adapted to
  the environment
• An organism that can compete with others of its
  species for mates resources is also adapted
• How are each of the organisms seen here adapted
  to their ecosystem?

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Geographic distribution of biomes
Temperate grassland
Tropical rain forest
Temperate forest
Tundra
Northwestern coniferous forest
Mountains and ice caps
Tropical dry forest
Desert
Temperate woodland and shrubland
Tropical savanna
Boreal forest (Taiga)
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BIOME Climate Vegetation Animals
Tropical Rain f.
Tropical Dry f.
Trop. Savanna
Temp.Grassland
Desert
Wood/Shrubland (chaparral)
Temperate forest
NW Coniferous f.
Boreal (Taiga)
Tundra
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• Tropical Rain Forests
• Most diverse life
• Warm temperatures
• Most annual rainfall
• Of all biomes

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Tropical rainforest
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Tropical Dry Forest
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Tropical Dry Forest

• Warm
• Alternating wet and dry periods
• Tall trees with dense canopy
• Tigers, monkeys, elephants snakes, lizards
• Parts of Africa, south and Central America,
  Australia

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Tropical Savannah
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Tropical Savannah

• Warm temps
• Seasonal rainfall
• Tall grasses
• Drought and fire resistant shrubs
• Lions, leopards, cheetahs, giraffes, antelope,
  zebra
• Large parts of Africa, southern Brazil,
• N Australia

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Desert

• Most arid (driest) biome
• Rainfall is the most dominant limiting factor
• Can have the greatest daily temperature range

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Do pigs live in the desert?
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Grasslands

• Large communities covered with rich soil, grasses
  and similar plants
• Winters are cold, summers are hot

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Temperate woodland shrubland
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Temperate woodland shrubland

• Hot dry summers
• Thin nutrient poor soil
• Woody evergreen shrubs - Chaparral
• Coyotes, foxes, mountain lions, quail, lizards
  and snakes
• West coast, North and South America, South Africa

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Temperate (deciduous) Forest

• Dominated by broad-leafed hardwood trees that
  lose their leaves annually
• Four seasons cold winters,
• Mild springs and falls,
• warm/hot, summers

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Temperate (deciduous) Forest
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Northwestern Coniferous Forest
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Northwestern Coniferous Forest

• Mild temperatures, abundant precipitation during
  fall, winter and spring
• Dry summers
• Rocky acidic soils
• Douglas fir, spruce, hemlock, redwood
• Bears, elk, deer, owls, bobcats, weasel
• Pacific Coast of US and Canada from California to
  Alaska

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Boreal / Taiga

• Also called the Boreal Forest or Northern
  Coniferous Forest
• Usually warmer and wetter than the tundra
• Long harsh winters and short mild summers

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Tundra
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Tundra

• Strong winds, Low precipitation, short soggy
  summers, long cold dark winters, permafrost
• Small ground-hugging plants, lichens, sedges,
  short grasses, arctic willow
• Musk-ox, arctic fox, caribou, lemmings
• Northern North America, Asia and Europe

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Aquatic ecosystems

• Freshwater
• Flowing water rivers, streams, creeks, and
  brooks
• Standing water ponds and lakes, abundant in
  plankton
• Estuaries areas where saltwater mixes with
  freshwater
• Marine saltwater (oceans, gulfs, intercoastals)

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Aquatic biomes

• Photic zone the portion that is shallow enough
  for light to penetrate
• Ex intertidal zones, estuaries, coral reefs

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Intertidal zone

• Organisms in these areas are exposed to constant,
  daily changes in environment.
• Zonation banding of certain organisms, as a
  result of competition

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Coastal ocean

• Extends from low tide mark to edge of continental
  shelf
• Kelp forest clusters of large brown algae, vital
  to the ecosystem

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Coral reefs

• Hard corals that aggregate into large structures
• Acts as a habitat for many marine animals
• Great Barrier Reef most famous

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Open Ocean and Benthic Zone

• Oceanic zone covers 90 of Earths surface
• Benthic zone ocean floor, usually populated with
  organisms that cannot surface in any other
  habitat

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Marine Ecosystems
land
Photic zone
200m
1000m
Coastal ocean
Aphotic zone
4000m
Open ocean
6000m
Ocean trench
10,000m
Continental shelf
Continental slope and continental rise
Abyssal plain
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Aquatic biomes

• Aphotic zones deeper waters that never receives
  sunlight
• Ex the abyss

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Biome Activity

• Include in a neat and attractive poster
• Three pictures with write-ups of 3 (Minimum) ways
  (how why) each organism is adapted to the
  biome
• 1) a representative autotroph (plant)
• 2) a representative herbivore (plant-eater)
• 3) a representative carnivore (animal-eater)
• Complete a display of all information compiled to
  fit the poster paper provided.
• No plagiarism!! Use your own words!! (Cite your
  references on the back)
• Share responsibility within your group stay on
  task.