Ecology introduction Me 23 slides
What is
Ecology?
1
What is Ecology??
• The study of interactions that
take place between organisms
and their environment.
• It explains how living
organisms affect each other
and the world they live in.
2
Habitat & Niche
• Habitat is the
place a plant or
animal lives
• Niche is an
organism’s total
way of life
3
The Nonliving Environment
• Abiotic factors- the
nonliving parts of an
organism’s environment.
• Examples include air
currents, temperature,
moisture, light, and soil.
• Abiotic factors affect an
organism’s life.
4
The Living Environment
• Biotic factors- all the
living organisms that
inhabit an environment.
• All organisms depend on
others directly or
indirectly for food,
shelter, reproduction, or
protection.
5
Class Quiz
• When prompted, blurt your answer
once.
• If it becomes too loud, you will be told
to signal your answer visually.
6
Abiotic or Biotic?
Biotic
7
Abiotic or Biotic?
Abiotic
8
Abiotic or Biotic?
Abiotic
9
Abiotic or Biotic?
Biotic
10
Levels of
Organization
11
What are the Simplest Levels?
• Atom
• Molecule
• Organelle
• Cell
• Tissue
• Organ
• System
• Organism
12
on to
ECOLOGICAL
Levels of Organization
5 levels
13
1st Level of Organization
• Organism (or
Individual):
An individual
living thing that
is made of cells,
uses energy,
reproduces,
responds, grows,
and develops
14
2nd Level of Organization
• Population:
A group of
organisms, all
of the same
species, which
interbreed and
live in the
same place at
the same time.
15
3rd Level of Organization
• Biological
Community:
All the
populations of
different
species that
live in the same
place at the
same time.
16
4th Level of Organization
• Ecosystem:
Community plus
abiotic factors
• Can be
terrestrial or
aquatic
17
5th Level of Organization
• Biosphere:
The
portion of
Earth that
supports
life.
18
Read; don’t copy.
The Biosphere
• Life is found in air, on
land, and in fresh and salt
water.
• The BIOSPHERE is the
portion of Earth that
supports living things.
19
Class Quiz
20
What level of organization?
(1)
Organism
21
What level of Organization?
(2)
Community (without the rocks) or
Ecosystem (with the rocks and other abiotic factors)
22
What level of Organization?
(3) (Ignore the tree.)
Population
23
24
Ecosystems food energyM.e 25 Slides
Energy Flow in an
Ecosystem
Now look for underlined words OR color
change for your guided notes.
25
Energy Flow
• Energy in an ecosystem originally
comes from the sun
• Energy flows through Ecosystems
from producers to consumers
– Producers (make food)
– Consumers (use food by eating
producers or other consumers)
26
Producers
• Sunlight is the main
source of energy
for most life on
earth.
• Producers contain
chlorophyll & can
use energy directly
from the sun
27
Consumers
Heterotrophs (e.g. animals)
eat other organisms to
obtain energy.
• Herbivores
– Eat Only Plants
• Carnivores
– Eat Only Other
Animals
28
Consumers (cont’d.)
• Omnivores (like humans)
– Eat Plants & Animals
• Scavengers
– (like buzzards) Feed On Dead Plant
& Animal Remains
• Decomposers
– Fungi & Bacteria
29
Feeding Relationships
Energy flows
through an
ecosystem in
one direction
from producers
to various
levels of
consumers
30
Feeding Relationships (cont’d.)
• Food Chain
– Simple Energy path through an
ecosystem
• Food Web
– More realistic path through an
ecosystem made of many food
chains
31
Here is a Food Chain
1st
order
Consumer
2nd Order
Consumer
3rd Order
consumer
4th Order
Consumer
Producer (trapped
sunlight & stored food)
32
Quiz: Name the Producer,
Consumers & Decomposers in
this food chain:
33
Food Web
34
35
Trophic Levels
Each Level In A Food Chain or Food
Web is a Trophic Level.
• Producers
– Always The First Trophic Level
– How Energy Enters The System
• Herbivores
– Second Trophic Level
36
Trophic Levels
• Carnivores/Omnivores
– Make Up The Remaining
Trophic Levels
Each level depends on the
one below it for energy.
37
Ecological Pyramids
Graphic Representations Of The
Relative Amounts of Energy or
Matter At Each Trophic Level
May be:
Energy Pyramid
Biomass Pyramid
Pyramid of Numbers
38
Energy Pyramid
10% Rule: Only about 10% of chemical energy is transferred from one
trophic level to the next. The rest (90%) dissipates as heat.
39
Biomass Pyramid
5000
10% Rule: Only about 10% of chemical energy is transferred from one
trophic level to the next. The rest (90%) dissipates as heat.
40
Pyramid of Numbers
10% Rule: Only about 10% of chemical energy is transferred from one
41
trophic level to the next. The rest (90%) dissipates as heat.
What do all three pyramids
show?
• Everyone is somebody’s lunch, but...
• 10% Rule: Only about 10% of
chemical energy (bodies) is
transferred from one trophic level to
the next. The rest (90%) is given off
as heat.
• That’s where body heat comes from.
42
The End?
43