Ecology

1
Ecology

• It is the scientific study in which the
  relationships among living organisms and the
  interaction the organisms have with the
  environment are studied

Part 1 Organisms and Their Relationships Part
2 Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem Part 3
Cycling of Matter
2
Ecological Levels of Organization
Part 1 Organisms and their Relationships

• Organism An individual
• Population Individual organisms of a single
  species that share the same geographic location
  at the same time.
• Biological Community A group of interacting
  populations that occupy the same area at the same
  time.

3
Levels of Organization
Part 1 Organisms and their Relationships

• Ecosystem A biological community and all of the
  abiotic factors that affect it.
• Biome A large geographic area with several
  ecosystems that share the same climate and have
  similar types of communities.
• Biosphere All biomes together all places on
  Earth where things can live

4
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
Part 1 Organisms and their Relationships

• How would something be classified as Biotic?
• They must be composed of cells.
• Complex organization patterns are found in all
  living organisms (i.e., cell ? tissue ? organ)
• Living organisms use energy.
• Living organisms must maintain a state of
  homeostasis.
• All organisms develop and change over time.
• All organisms have the potential to reproduce,
  either sexually or asexually.

5
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
Part 1 Organisms and their Relationships

• Biotic
• The living factors in an organisms environment

• Abiotic
• The nonliving factors in an organisms environment

Bio
Abio
6
Biotic or Abiotic?(Make a Venn Diagram with your
group)
Part 1 Organisms and their Relationships

• Whale
• Clock
• Water
• Fish
• Paper
• Glass
• Aluminum
• Wooden Ruler
• Sand
• Clouds
• Corpse
• Snail
• Steak

• Pork Chops
• Salad
• Bread
• Plant
• Hair
• Finger Nails
• Pipe
• Cotton Fabric
• Wool
• Gold
• Plastic
• Grapes
• Air

7
Energy Flow through an Ecosystem

• Producers convert the radiant energy of the sun
  into the chemical energy of food.
• Primary production all organic matter made by
  producers in an ecosystem
• The pathways of energy through the living
  components of an ecosystem are represented by
  food chains and food webs.

8
Models of Energy Flow
Part 2 Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem

• Food chain shows one path for energy flow
  through an ecosystems
• Trophic Level each step in a food chain
• Autotrophs always the first trophic level
• Heterotrophs all other levels
• Decomposers at all levels except 1st

9
Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem
Part 1 Organisms and their Relationships

• Autotroph An organism that collects energy from
  sunlight or inorganic substances to produce food.
  (Producer)
• Heterotroph An organism that gets its energy
  requirements by consuming other organisms.
  (Consumer)

10
Different types of Heterotrophs
Part 1 Organisms and their Relationships

• Herbivore Eats only plants
• (Deer, rabbits, grasshoppers, etc.)
• Carnivore Prey on other heterotrophs
• (Wolves, lions, cats, etc.)
• Scavengers feed on carrion (dead animals)
• (Hyenas, vultures, some crabs, etc.)
• Omnivore Eat both plants and animals
• (Bears, humans, mockingbirds, etc.)
• Detritivores Eat fragments of dead matter
• (Earthworms, millipedes, etc.)
• Decomposers Chemically breaks down dead matter
• (Bacteria and fungi)

11
FOOD CHAIN
Shows each step in one path of energy flow
12
Ecological Pyramids
Part 2 Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem

• Diagrams that can show the relative amounts of
  energy, biomass, or numbers of organisms at each
  trophic level in an ecosystem.
• Biomass The total mass of living matter at each
  trophic level
• Energy total energy stored in organic matter

13
Energy Pyramid

• Carnivores 3rd and higher trophic levels
• secondary or tertiary
• consumers
• Herbivores 2nd trophic level
• primary consumers
• Producers 1st trophic level

14
How much energy in each trophic level is
available as food for the next level?
15

• Food Webs
• Show many overlapping food chains
• Alternate paths of energy flow

16
NAME a) 1st trophic level b) Primary
consumers (Which trophic level?) c)
Secondary consumers (Which trophic level? d)
Third-level consumers (Which trophic level?)
e) Any 4th-level consumers?
17
How many connections can we make?
18
Cycling of Matter
Part 3 Cycling of Matter

• Natural processes cycle matter through the
  environment
• The exchange of matter through the biosphere is
  called the biogeochemical cycle.
• Bio Involves living things
• Geo Geological Processes
• Chemical Chemical Processes
• ENERGY goes one-way sun ? organisms
• Does NOT cycle

19
The Water Cycle
Part 3 Cycling of Matter

• Water vapor condenses high in atmosphere
• Most precipitation falls into the ocean
• Over land
• Much of the water evaporates
• Some travels through plants absorbed by roots,
  evaporates from leaves (transpiration)
• Only a small amount is stored in a body of water
  - a glacier, ice cap, aquifer, or lake

20
Water Cycle
Part 3 Cycling of Matter
Solar Energy
Movement of clouds by wind
Precipitation
Evaporation
Precipitation
Transpiration from plants
Percolation in soil
21
Carbon Oxygen Cycles

• Photosynthesis and cell respiration

22
Carbon and Oxygen Cyles
Part 3 Cycling of Matter

• Burning and decomposition

CO2 in atmosphere
Burning
Cellular Respiration
Photosynthesis
Plants, Algae Cyanobacteria
Higher level Consumers
Wood Fossil Fuels
Primary Consumer
Detritivores(soil microbes others)
Detritus
23
Carbon and Oxygen Cycles
Part 3 Cycling of Matter

• Short-Term Cycle
• Autotrophs use CO2 for ____________ produce
  _________________.
• Heterotrophs produce CO2 during ________
  __________ and use ______________.

• Burning also uses __________and produces
  _________
• Removing forests ___________ CO2 in the atmosphere

24
Carbon and Oxygen
Part 3 Cycling of Matter

• Long term cycle Fossil Fuels
• Organic matter is buried underground and
  converted to peat, coal, oil or gas deposits.
• 5.5 billion tons are burned each year and 3.3
  billion tons stay in the atmos-phere, the rest
  dissolves in sea water

http//www.ucar.edu/ (The National Center for
Atmospheric Research)
25
Carbon cycle today
Part 3 Cycling of Matter

• Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas and
  traps heat in the atmosphere.
• Humans have burned so much fuel that there is
  about 30 more Carbon Dioxide in the air today
  than there was about 150 years ago.
• The atmosphere has not held this much Carbon for
  at least 420,000 years according to data from ice
  cores.

http//www.ucar.edu/ (The National Center for
Atmospheric Research)
26
Climate

• Normal environmental conditions for a large
  geographic region
• Determines the kinds of organisms that can
  survive in an area (type of biome)
• Abiotic factors (temperature, water, sunlight)
• Seasonal changes

27
Some examples

• 1. A low annual temperature common to the
  northern latitudes determines in part the species
  of plants which can exist in that area.
• 2. The amount of oxygen dissolved in a body of
  water will help determine what species of fish
  live there.
• 3. The dry environment of desert regions limits
  the organisms that can live there.

28
Orbit of earth and tilt cause uneven heating of
surface
June solstice(NorthernHemisphere tiltstoward
sun)
March equinox(equator facessun directly)
December solstice(NorthernHemisphere tiltsaway
from sun)
Constant tiltof 23.5º
Septemberequinox
Figure 34.6B
29

• Uneven heating of the Earth
• Causes patterns of precipitation and winds
• Climate, seasonal changes

Figure 34.6C, D
30

• Major terrestrial biomes

31
Altitude and Biomes
32
Ecosystem Interactions
Part 1 Organisms and their Relationships

• Habitat An area where an organism lives
• Niche The role or position that an organism has
  in its environment

33
Habitat vs. Niche
Part 1 Organisms and their Relationships

• The niche of an organism depends on where it
  lives and on what it does.
• An organisms habitat is its address, and the
  niche is its profession or role in the habitat.
• Odum - Fundamentals of Ecology

34
Feeding Relationships
Part 1 Organisms and their Relationships

• There are 3 main types of feeding relationships
• 1. Producer ? Consumer
• 2. Predator ? Prey
• 3. Parasite ? Host

35
Community Interactions
Part 1 Review Organisms and their Relationships

• Competition More than one organism uses a
  resource at the same time.
• Predation The act of one organism consuming
  another organism for food.
• Symbiosis The close relationship that exists
  when two or more species live together.

Niche competition
Carnivore
Mutualism
36
Symbiotic relationships
Part 1 Organisms and their Relationships

• Mutualism When both organisms benefit
• Lichens
• Commensalism One organism benefits, the other
  is neither helped nor harmed.
• Epiphytes (i.e., Bromeliads, orchids)
• Parasitism One organism benefits at the expense
  of the other.
• Parasitic wasp eggs on a tomato hornworm

37
0

• Predator and Prey often have regular cycles of
  growth and decline

Figure 36.6
38
Succession

• Series of community changes in a maturing habitat
  -determined by changes in plants

39

• Each community modifies the environment- adds
  soil, shade, moisture
• As early plants (mosses, grasses) die and
  decompose, they make deeper and richer soil for
  larger plants
• Larger plants shade lower plants
• More plants, keep more moisture in area
• Often makes it more favorable for different kinds
  of organisms
• Gradually replaces the previous community

40

• Ecosystems tend to change with time until a
  stable system is formed Climax Community.
• The type of ecosystem that is formed depends on
  the climate of a given geographical area.

41

• Primary Succession the development of plant
  communities on newly formed habitats that
  previously lacked plants (ex. a lava flow)

42
Pioneer Organisms

• First organisms to inhabit a location
• Ex. bare rock bacteria and fungi
• Pioneer organisms slowly modify the environment,
  forming conditions under which more advanced
  organisms can live.
• Ex. bacteria and lichen slowly weather rock,
  making soil ? mosses grow ? mosses die and decay,
  making richer soil ? grasses grow

43

• Secondary Succession return of an area to its
  natural vegetation following a disruption or
  removal of the original climax community

44
Climax Community

• Final stage of succession.
• Stable ecosystem that can last for hundreds or
  thousands of years.
• Identified by dominant plant species
• Persists until a catastrophic event alters or
  destroys it.
• ex. forest fires, abandoned farmlands, floods,
  areas where the topsoil has been removed

45
Part 1 Organisms and their Relationships

• Limiting Factors

Restrict the existence of organisms in a specific
environment. - Biotic or abiotic Some limiting
factors 1. amount of water, food, space 2.
competition, predation 3. climate
46
Carrying Capacity

• Maximum number of organisms an area can support
• Limited by abiotic and biotic resources
• And by ability of ecosystems to decompose and
  recycle the residue of dead organisms

47
Population Ecology

• How and why populations change
• Limiting Factors
• Regulate population size
• Density-Dependent Limiting Factors
• Increase in impact when population is high
• Ex. disease, food, water, competition, predators
• Density Independent
• Population density not a factor
• Ex. forest fire, flood, deforestation

48
0

• Logistic growth
• -growth rate slows as a result of limiting
  factors
• - levels off at the carrying capacity

Figure 36.4C
49
Threats to the Environment

• Overpopulation
• Development
• Deforestation
• Pollution air, water, soil
• Monoculture farming
• Overfishing
• Introduced Species

50
Human Population Growth
51

• Living space/available land is greatly
  decreasing as a result of increasing population
• creates increasing stress on individual humans
• we are also taking up living space and resources
  needed by other organisms

52
Disruption of Existing Ecosystems

• Urbanization - growth of cities has destroyed
  land and wetlands ruining natural habitats

53

• Forests are becoming increasingly depleted as a
  result of timber needs the need for more
  agricultural land
• the direct harvesting of timber has destroyed
  many forests
• this destruction also impacts land use and
  atmospheric quality

54
Loss of Topsoil

• Agricultural practices have exposed soil to the
  weather resulting in great loss of topsoil.

55

• Wildlife overexploitation - from hunting,
  fishing, regional elimination (ranches)
• ex. passenger pigeon, dodo, great auk, bison,
  Carolina parakeet, gray wolf

56
What does your graph tell you?
Part 2 Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem
57
Biomagnification

• Pollutants that do not decompose
• Collect in tissues of consumers
• Concentrate up the food chain
• Toxic levels in top predators

58
Ozone Layer

• High in atmosphere
• Filters ultraviolet light makes life on land
  possible
• Some air pollutants break down the ozone
• Thinned layer ? more UV, more skin cancer
• Ban on PCPs ? ozone layer thickened

59
Cycling of Matter
Part 3 Cycling of Matter

• Carbon and Oxygen Cycles
• Oxygen is found in the atmosphere at a stable
  concentration of approximately 21.
• Because it is a very reactive element, it can
  quickly combine with other elements and disappear
  from the atmosphere.
• Some of the atmospheric oxygen (O2) finds itself
  lofted high into the upper reaches of the
  atmosphere called the stratosphere, where it is
  converted into Ozone (O3)
• Ozone serves to absorb biologically damaging
  ultra-violet (UV) radiation from the sun.

60
Greenhouse Effect warms the earth
61
Climate Change

• Global warming could alter the entire biosphere
• Burning of fossil fuels is increasing the amount
  of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the air

62
Major Greenhouse Gases

• Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
• Burning of fossil fuels, cut/burn forests
• Methane (CH4)
• Raising livestock, landfills, natural gas wells
• Other man-made gases
• Nitrous and sulfur dioxides

63
(No Transcript)
64
Effects of Climate Change

• Melting ice caps, glaciers rising sea levels
• Climate patterns more extreme weather
• Agriculture droughts, floods, heat waves
• Disease expanding tropics
• Hasten species loss habitat loss, increased
  competition for scarce resources

65
(No Transcript)
66
(No Transcript)
67
Decrease YOUR Carbon Footprint

• Drive less buy efficient car
• Save electricity turn off lights, appliances
• Save heat insulate home, turn temp down
• Save water- uses energy to clean, deliver
• Purchase wisely less packaging, local foods, no
  plastic
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle