What is
Ecology?
1
Organisms
and Their
Environment
2
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.
3
Habitat & Niche
• Habitat is the
place a plant or
animal lives
• Niche is an
organism’s total
way of life
4
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.
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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.
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Abiotic or Biotic?
Biotic
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Abiotic or Biotic?
Abiotic
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Abiotic or Biotic?
Abiotic
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Abiotic or Biotic?
Biotic
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Levels of
Organization
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What are the Simplest Levels?
• Atom
• Molecule
• Organelle
• Cell
• Tissue
• Organ
• System
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Levels of Organization
• Ecologists have organized the
interactions an organism takes
part in into different levels
according to complexity.
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1st Level of Organization
• Organism:
An individual
living thing that
is made of cells,
uses energy,
reproduces,
responds, grows,
and develops
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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.
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3rd Level of Organization
• Biological
Community:
All the
populations of
different
species that
live in the same
place at the
same time.
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4th Level of Organization
• Ecosystem:
Populations of plants
and animals that
interact with each
other in a given
area with the
abiotic components
of that area.
(terrestrial or
aquatic)
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5th Level of Organization
• Biosphere:
The
portion of
Earth that
supports
life.
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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.
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What level of organization?
Organism
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What level of Organization?
Community
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What level of Organization?
Population
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Energy Flow
Through an
Ecosystem
Food Chains, Food
Webs, Energy
Pyramids
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•Begins with the
SUN
•Photosynthesis
6CO2 + 6H2O + sunlight & chlorophyll
C6H12O6 + 6O2
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• Photosynthesis
• Chemical reaction where green plants use
water & carbon dioxide to store the sun’s
energy in glucose
• ENERGY is stored in glucose
• Glucose is stored as starch in plants
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Organisms that can
make glucose
during
photosynthesis are
called
PRODUCERS.
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Producers use
most of the
energy they
make for
themselves.
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Producers use
cellular
respiration to
supply the energy
they need to live.
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6O2 + C6H12O6 --> 6H2O + 6CO2 + energy
CELLULAR
RESPIRATION is
the chemical
reaction that
releases the
energy in glucose.
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The energy that is not
used by producers can
be passed on to
organisms that cannot
make their own energy.
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Organisms that
cannot make their
own energy are
called CONSUMERS.
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Consumers that eat
producers to get energy:
• Are first order (1st) or
primary consumers
• Are herbivores (planteaters)
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Most of the
energy the
primary
consumer gets
from the
producer is used
by the
consumer.
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Some of the
energy moves
into the
atmosphere as
heat.
34
Some energy in the
primary consumer is
STORED & not lost to
the atmosphere or
used by the consumer
itself.
This energy is available
for another consumer
(predator).
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A Consumer that Eats Another
Consumer for Energy:
• Is called a
secondary or 2nd
order consumer
• May be a carnivore
or a omnivore
• May be a predator
• May be a scavenger
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Most of the
energy the
secondary
consumer gets
from the primary
consumer is used
by the secondary
consumer.
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Some of the
energy is lost as
heat, but some
energy is stored
and can passed
on to another
consumer.
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A consumer that eats a
consumer that already ate a
consumer:
• Is called a 3rd order
or tertiary consumer
• May be a carnivore
or a omnivore
• May be a predator
• May be a scavenger
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Consumers that eat producers
& other consumers
• Are called
omnivores
• Omnivores eat
plants and animals
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Consumers that hunt &
kill other consumers are
called predators.
The animals that are
hunted & killed are called
prey.
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Consumers that eat
other dead
consumers are called
scavengers
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The transfer of energy
from the sun to
producer to primary
consumer then to
higher order consumers
can be shown in a
FOOD CHAIN.
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Food Chains Show Available Energy
44
More Food Chains
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Another way
of showing
the transfer
of energy in
an ecosystem
is the
ENERGY
PYRAMID
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Energy Pyramids Show
•Amount of available
energy decreases for
higher consumers
•Amount of available
energy decreases down the
food chain
•It takes a large number
of producers to support a
small number of primary
consumers
•It takes a large number
of primary consumers to
support a small number of
secondary consumers
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Food Webs:
• Are
interconnecte
d food chains
• They show
the feeding
relationships
in an
ecosystem
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How Many Chains are in
this web?
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Identify the Producers, Consumers, &
Decomposers:
Count the
Food
Chains!
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