Intro to Ecology
Study of how organisms INTERACT
with each other and their environment
TEKS 8.6 (C)
Describe interactions within
ecosystems.
Engage
Explore
Ecocolumns
Levels of Organization
(Review First 8 SLIDES)
Red – things you have learned
Blue – things we are covering now
• Biosphere
Large
• Biomes
• Ecosystem
• Community
• Population
• Organism
• Organ System (Muscular, Skeletal, Reproductive)
• Organ (Heart, Lungs)
• Tissue (Blood, etc…)
• Cell (Prokaryotes/Eukaryotes)
• Organelles (Ribosomes, ER, Etc…)
• Compound/Molecule (Macromolecules)
• Element (O,H, N, C)
Small
• Atom
Explain:
Life Levels and Organization
Biosphere
The biosphere is the
outermost part of the
planet’s shell —
including air, land,
suface rocks, and water
— within which life
occurs, and which
biotic processes in turn
alter or transform.
Biome
a biome is a major regional group of
distinctive plant and animal communities
best adapted to the region's physical natural
environment, latitude, elevation, and
terrain.
Examples of biomes include the desert, rain
forest, artic tundra, grassland, coniferous
forest, decidious forest, and oceans.
Ecosystems
All the biotic (living) and abiotic
(nonliving) factors that will INTERACT
with each other in some subset of the
biosphere.
Abiotic factors: soil, water, temperature,
elevation, and location on the earth.
Coral Reef Ecosystems
Yellowstone National Park
Ecosystem
Community
Groups of many different species of
organisms interacting in a particular area
(predator prey relationships)
Only the biotic factors that interact
between different species of organisms
Population
A group of organisms of ONE species that
interbreed and live in the same place at the
same time. A population of aliens
A Population of Aliens
How Organisms Live
(Begin Writing)
Every organism has a function in its
community.
Autotrophs, heterotrophs, carnivores,
scavengers, omnivores, decomposers
Niche – the role a species plays in its
community
Habitat – place where an organism lives
out its life
Three Species of Warbler and Their
Niche
Cape May Warbler
Feeds at the tips of branches
near the top of the tree
Bay-Breasted Warbler
Feeds in the middle
part of the tree
Spruce tree
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Feeds in the lower part of the tree and
at the bases of the middle branches
Symbiosis
Relationships between
organisms.
Commensalisms: One
organism is benefited and
the other is not harmed.
Mutualism: Both
organisms benefit from
the relationship.
Parasitism: One benefits
and the other is harmed.
Producer (autotroph)
Producers (autotrophs)
are always at the base
of the chain. Producers
are organisms that
make their own food.
Plants are producers.
Herbivore
Herbivores are
animals that
only eat plants.
A cow and a
deer are
herbivores.
Omnivore
An omnivore
eats both plants
and animals.
Humans and
bears are
omnivores.
Carnivore
Animals that eat
meat are
carnivores. A lion
and a wolf are
carnivores.
Decomposer
A decomposer eats dead or dying
organisms.
Producers and Consumers
So…producers make their own
food (e.g., photosynthesis) and
consumers don’t.
Is a dog a producer or a
consumer?
Is a termite a producer or a
consumer?
Food Chain
The simplest
feeding
arrangement in
an ecosystem.
Food Chain
A food chain is the flow of energy
from one organism to the next.
Describe the Food Chain
Describe the Food Chain
Describe the Food Chain
Energy Flow
Sun major supplier of the earth’s energy.
Energy CANNOT be RECYCLED, it flows
through the ecosystem.
Most of the energy released is lost in the form
of heat.
The Flow of Energy
Producers - Plants capture the sun’s energy and
store it in food
Primary Consumers (herbivores) - Animals that
receive their energy directly from plants
Secondary Consumers (carnivores) - Consumers
that feed on primary consumers
Energy flows from the sun to the producer, then to
the primary consumer, then to the secondary
consumer, third level consumers, forth level
consumers, etc...
Ecological Pyramids
Write the Definitions of Each Pyramid
Energy Pyramid
Shows the relative amount of
energy available at each trophic
level. Organisms use about 10
percent of this energy for life processes.
The rest is lost as heat.
Biomass Pyramid
Represents the amount of
living organic matter at each
trophic level. Typically, the
greatest biomass is at the
base of the pyramid.
Pyramid of
Numbers
Shows the relative
number of individual
organisms at each
trophic level.
Pyramid of Numbers
Carnivore populations are
smaller in comparison to
the rest of the ecosystem.
They require more food to
sustain their lives than the
lower organisms.
The amount of useable
energy that is transferred
from trophic level to
trophic level only 10%.
More about Energy Flow
Decomposers are organisms that obtain
there energy from dead organic matter.
Organism eat organism at different levels
(trophic levels)
The amount of useable energy that is
transferred from trophic level to trophic
level only 10%.
Energy Pyramid
(Trophic Levels) DO NOT WRITE
The lowest trophic level of
the pyramid represents
the producers and contains
the most energy.
The second level
represents the primary
consumers. A 90%
decrease in useable energy
The third level or
secondary consumers will
have 10% of the energy
from the level below to
use.
Let’s Practice
How many trophic levels
are present?
5
Determine the amount of
useable energy for the
different trophic levels.
Level 2: 35 J
Level 3: 3.5 J
Level 4: 0.35 J
Level 5: 0.035 J
Food Webs
Many food chains
interacting with each
other.
The arrow always points
away from the organism
being eaten to the
organism doing the eating.
Shows the movement of
energy and matter in an
ecosystem.
Elaborate
Interpret Food Webs and Food Chains and
analyze the flow of matter and energy.
Levels of Organization Book
Evaluate