What is Ecology?
Ecology !
• The scientific study of relationships between
organisms and their environment
• life histories, distribution, and behavior of
individual species, populations, communities,
ecosystems, and landscapes
• think holistically about interconnections that
make whole systems (its more than just the sum of
their individual parts)
• how and why materials cycle between the living
and nonliving parts of our environment
2
• Coral reefs
CORAL REEFS
Figure 50.17
A coral reef in the Red Sea
Land masses
warm and
cool faster
than water.
The spin of
the earth,
and the
temperature
differences
lead to
currents and
winds.
Climate and Terrestrial Biomes
Climate has an impact on the distribution of organisms
Temperate grassland
Desert
Tropical forest
30
Temperate
broadleaf
forest
Annual mean temperature (ºC)
15
Coniferous
forest
0
Arctic and
alpine
tundra
15
100
200
Annual mean precipitation (cm)
300
400
ECOSYSTEM TYPES OF THE WORLD
Bodies of Water
• Oceans and their currents, and large lakes
– Moderate the climate of nearby terrestrial
environments
2 Air cools at
high elevation.
3 Cooler
air sinks
over water.
SUMMER DAY
CYCLES
(WINTER IS REVERSE
WHEN THE OCEAN IS
WARMER THAN THE
LAND )
4 Cool air over water
moves inland, replacing
rising warm air over land.
1 Warm air
over land rises.
Hot air holds more water than cold air, so air
masses forced over mountain ranges are forced to
drop their water.
ECOSYSTEM TYPES OF Western Washington
• Lakes
LAKES
Figure 50.17
An oligotrophic lake in
Grand Teton, Wyoming
A eutrophic lake in Okavango
delta, Botswana
Lakes
– Are sensitive to seasonal temperature change
– Experience seasonal turnover
2
In winter, the coldest water in the lake (0°C) lies just
below the surface ice; water is progressively warmer at
deeper levels of the lake, typically 4–5°C at the bottom.
Lake depth (m)
O2 (mg/L)
0
4
Spring
Winter
8
Lake depth (m)
1
In spring, as the sun melts the ice, the surface water warms to 4°C
and sinks below the cooler layers immediately below, eliminating the
thermal stratification. Spring winds mix the water to great depth,
bringing oxygen (O2) to the bottom waters (see graphs) and
nutrients to the surface.
12
8
16
2
24
0
4
4
4
8
12
8
24
4
4
4 C
O2 concentration
0
16
4
4
4
O2 (mg/L)
4
4 C
High
Medium
O2 (mg/L)
O2 (mg/L)
0
4
8
12
8
4
4
4
20
4
16
8
4
4 C
Autumn
In autumn, as surface water cools rapidly, it sinks below the
the water until the surface begins
to freeze and the winter temperature profile is reestablished.
0
4
8
12
8
16
6
4
24
22
18
Lake depth (m)
Lake depth (m)
Low
Thermocline
3
5
4 C
24
Summer
In summer, the lake regains a distinctive thermal profile, with
warm surface water separated from cold bottom water by a narrow
vertical zone of rapid temperature change, called a thermocline.
Levels of organization - Terms
• Population – one species live in one place at one
time
• Community – All populations (diff. species) that
live in a particular area.
Habitat: Place or
type of place an
organism lives (it’s
location)
Niche: The role of a
species in an
ecosystem (its
“occupation”)
Niches include all physical,
chemical , and biological
conditions a species needs
to live and reproduce in an
ecosystem
Living interactions
• Ecology views each place as an integration of many
interdependent parts that function as a “living” unit.
Nonliving
dead organic matter
nutrients in the soil and
water.
Producers
green plants
Consumers
herbivores and
carnivores
Decomposers
fungi and bacteria
Each species has …
an ability/or not to tolerate
certain environmental
conditions.
What are those conditions?
•The Physical Environment
•The Biological Environment
Ecology is study of interactions between
• non-living components in the environment…
– Sun light
– water
– wind
– nutrients
– temperature
– gases
– ph, etc.
Tolerance Limits
Each environmental factor (temperature, nutrient supply,
etc.) has both minimum and maximum levels beyond which
a species cannot survive or is unable to reproduce.
21
• For many species the interaction of
several factors, rather than a single
limiting factor, determines
biogeographical distribution.
22
Competitive Exclusion Principle
ecological niche
fundamental niche
realized niche
West Duwamish Greenbelt
Salamander pond
Fungus threatens state's
frogs, salamanders
Dead frogs rarely tell tales. The delicate corpses usually decompose
or are gobbled up so quickly researchers never find them. .
By Sandi Doughton
Seattle Times science reporter
Plants have a lot of interesting
chemistry predators have to
deal with
Most insects can only eat
leaves of one or a few related
plant species; for example:
Spruce Budworm Moth lays
Spruce Budworm larvae
The Yucca Moth transfers
pollen while laying her eggs
on the Yucca Plant
Yucca moth larvae feed on
developing seeds
This is a co-evolutionary relationship
Resource Partitioning in shoreline birds
34
Speciation
35
Reed warbler
Cowbird
egg
Reed Warbler eggs
Energy & Matter in the Environment
•
•
•
•
•
•
Organism (species)
Population
Biological
Community
Ecosystem
Biosphere
39
Photosynthesis
is the
beginning of
the energy
cycle
40
Energy Exchange in an Ecosystem
41
42
Mangroves in Central
America = lots of Primary
Production
An Elm dying from Dutch Elms Disease:
the fungus is a Primary Consumer
Hispine Beetles as Primary
Consumers feeding in Panama
A 2nd order consumer feeding on a
Primary consumer
Food webs are more interactive than food chains
Food Web: Cross-connected Food Chains
50
Antarctic
Marine Food
Web
Complexity - the
number of species
at each trophic
level and the
number of trophic
levels in a
community
51
Relative biomass accumulation of major world ecosystems.
ADD FIG. 3.29
52
THE 10% RULE
Each time food moves up
a trophic level, only 10%
of the energy remains
(90% is lost as heat or
wastes)
Energy Pyramid
ADD FIG. 2.18
Most energy in most ecosystems is stored in the bodies of
primary producers. Only about 10 percent of the energy
at one energy level passes to the next highest trophic level.
54
Vegetarians eat lower on the food chain
Toxics
dissolve and
store in fats,
and
concentrate
up the food
chain
The Water Cycle
ADD FIG. 2.19
57
The Carbon Cycle
ADD FIG. 2.20
58
The Nitrogen Cycle
ADD FIG. 2.21
59
Nitrogen
Fixation
The nodules on the roots
of this plant contain
bacteria that help convert
nitrogen in the soil to a
form the plant can utilize.
60
The Phosphorous Cycle
ADD FIG. 2.23
61
The Sulfur Cycle
ADD FIG. 2.24
62