Ecology
(Get out ISN we are taking notes)
 Homework Due Friday
 Lab reports due Friday
 Test Tuesday (study)
The study of the
interactions that take
place among
organisms and their
environment
Biosphere
 The part of Earth that supports
life
 Top portion of Earth's crust
 All the waters that cover Earth's
surface
 Atmosphere that surrounds Earth.
Ecosystem
 All the organisms living in an
area and the nonliving features
of their environment
Populations
 All of the same species in an ecosystem
www.intrasystems.gr
www.nkf-mt.org.uk
Community
 All the populations in an
ecosystem
Competition
 All living things compete for
 Food
 Space
 Competition limits population growth
www.opim.wharton.upenn.edu
Limiting Factors
 Anything that restricts or controls the
number of individuals in a population
 Includes living and nonliving features of
the ecosystem
www.bahamascommerce.com
Carrying Capacity
 The largest number of individuals of one
species an ecosystem can support
www.wwt.org.uk
Quiz
 Ecosystem Brain pop
Relationships in
Ecosystems
Symbiosis
 Any close relationship between species
en.wikipedia.org
Mutualism
 A relationship in which both species benefit
Pollination
www.biology.clc.uc
.edu
Cleaner fish
www.orn.mpg.de
Lichens: algae + fungus
www4.tpgi.com.au
Commensalism
 A relationship in which one species
benefits and the other is neither helped
nor harmed
Shark & remora
Barnacles on whale
www.cbu.edu
www.community.webshots.com
Parasitism
 A relationship in which one organisms
benefits and the other is harmed
Tick
www.oznet.ksu.edu
Mistletoe
www.wcosf.org
Cooperation
 Organisms working together toward a
common end or purpose
http://forger.ca/
http://special.newsro
om.msu.edu
Predator - Prey
 Predators are consumers that capture
and eat other consumers, called prey
http://www.uga.edu
Brain pop
 Relationships
 Gummy Bear Activity
Get out ISN both mini labs
will go in there this is still
Ecology notes
 Reminder Homework Due tomorrow!
 Lab re-writes due tomorrow if you got
your back and made below a 70.
Natural Selection
 Charles Darwin
 Natural Selection-Determines which
individuals have the best adaptations for
reproductive success.
 Biotic factor- The organisms in
an ecosystem (living)
 Abiotic factor- non-living
things
What makes something
“LIVING”?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Growth
Cells
Movement
Respiration
Complex chemical reactions
(digestion, metabolism, muscle
contraction, etc)
6. Reproduction
Habitat
 The place in which an
organism lives
 provides the kinds of food and
shelter, the temperature, and the
amount of moisture the organism
needs to survive
Food Webs and
Biodiversity
Biodiversity
The diversity of life. The different
organisms found on the Earth.
Autotrophs
 Autotrophs - often make their own food by
using sunlight, photosynthesis, carbon dioxide,
and water to form sugars which they can use
for energy.
 Autotrophs are important because they are a
food source for heterotrophs (consumers).
 Some examples of autotrophs include plants,
algae, and even some bacteria.
Heterotrophs
 Heterotroph-an organism that depends
on complex organic substances for
nutrition.
Producers
 Most are photosynthetic
 Use light energy to produce food
 Some are chemosynthetic
 Use stored chemical energy to produce food
 All producers are Autotrophic
 Produce their own food for energy
Producers
Plants
Algae
Consumers
 Heterotrophic
 Consume other organisms as food for energy
 Herbivores-eat only plants
 Carnivores-eat only meat
 Omnivores- eat plants and meat
Consumers
 Detritivores-receive energy from dead
organisms
 Decomposers-responsible for decay and
returning nutrients back into environment
Trophic Level and Energy
Pyramid
Each organism represents a trophic level
on
the energy pyramid.
Energy Transfer
Only 10% of the energy from one trophic
level is transferred to the next.
Food Chain
Shows how each living organism obtains
food. What eats what.
Producer
Primary
Secondary
Consumer
Consumer
Succession
 Natural, gradual changes in the
types of species that live in an
area; can be primary or
secondary.
 Primary – begins in a place without soil
 Secondary – where soil already exists
Succession
Series of environmental changes
that occur in a predictable way.
STEPS THAT OCCUR
OVER TIME
Time
Types Of
Succession
Primary Succession
And
Secondary Succession
Primary Succession
Development of newly formed land where NO plants or
animals have EVER lived.
HOW DOES NEW LAND GET
FORMED
 Volcano
• Glaciers
The Island of Surtsey
Example of Primary Succession
New Land
Formed from an underwater
volcano
Newly formed Island of
Surtsey, Iceland
On November 15, 1963, an island
was born.
Aerial view of Surtsey years
later. What could the green area
be?
Surtsey now. – nearly all green
with vegetation!
Secondary Succession
New plant life that occurs after
all plant life has been destroyed.
If all plants are destroyed
where do all new plants
come from?
If all plants are destroyed where
do all new plants come from?
Wind blows seeds into area
And/or
Animals carry seeds into area
At 8:32 Sunday morning, May
18, 1980, Mount St. Helens
erupted
This picture was taken the day
before the eruption.
The side of the volcano first
collapsed.
Ash, rock, & melted snow came
down the valley covering
everything.
Before eruption
After eruption
Looking down at the valley from
Mt St Helens (1979)
Looking down at the valley from
Mt St Helens (1981)
Pioneer
Species
First plants to
appear in an
ecosystem.
Pioneer species
 A group of organisms, such as
lichens, found in the primary
stage of succession and that
begin an area's soil-building
process
Equilibrium
(state of balance)
Population remains stable throughout
the years unless the ecosystem is
destroyed.
Reaching
Equilibrium
Primary Succession takes
much longer to reach
EQUILIBRIUM than
Secondary Succession.
Remember…
Succession is not immediate.
It takes approximately 100
years for an ecosystem to
recover completely.
Climax community
 A community that has reached a
stable stage of ecological
succession
Biome
 Large geographic areas with
similar climates and ecosystems
Includes
 Tundra
 Taiga
 Desert
 Temperate deciduous forest
 Temperate rain forest
 Tropical rain forest, and grassland
Food Web
Many food chains connected together
Activity
 Food Fight