2011 ECOLOGY (B&C)
KAREN LANCOUR
National Bio Rules Committee
Chairman
karenlancour@charter.net
Event Rules – 2011
DISCLAIMER
This presentation was prepared using draft
rules. There may be some changes in the final
copy of the rules. The rules which will be in your
Coaches Manual and Student Manuals will be the
official rules.
Event Rules – 2011
• BE SURE TO CHECK THE 2011 EVENT
RULES FOR EVENT PARAMETERS
AND TOPICS FOR EACH
COMPETITION LEVEL
TRAINING MATERIALS
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Training Power Point – content overview
Training Handout – content information
Sample Tournament – sample problems with key
Event Supervisor Guide – prep tips, setup needs,
and scoring tips
• Internet Resources & Training Materials – on the
Science Olympiad website at www.soinc.org under
Event Information
• A Biology-Earth Science CD as well as the Division B
and Division C Test Packets are available from SO
store at www.soinc.org
EVENT COMPONENTS
• Ecology Content – 2011
– Principles of Ecology (about 50 %)
– Taiga and Tundra (new) of North America (about
50%)
• Process skills in data, graph and diagram analysis
• Event parameters – check the event parameters in
the rules for resources allowed.
Section I: General Principles of
Ecology
ECOLOGY – how organisms interact with one another
and with their environment
ENVIRONMENT – living and non-living components
• ABIOTIC – non-living component or physical factors
as soil, rainfall, sunlight, temperatures
• BIOTIC – living component are other organisms.
ECOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
• INDIVIDUAL – individual organisms
• POPULATION – organisms of same species in
same area (biotic factors)
• COMMUNITY – several populations in same
area (biotic factors)
• ECOSYSTEM – community plus abiotic factors
• BIOSPHERE – all ecosystems on earth
ECOLOGY OF
INDIVIDUALS
• Homeostasis – delicate balance
• Components
– Physiological Ecology
– Temperature and Water Balance
– Light and Biological Cycles
– Physiological Ecology and Conservation
ECOLOGY OF POPULATIONS
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Properties of populations
Patterns of distribution and density
Intraspecific competition
Population dynamics
Growth and regulation
Altering population growth
Human impact
Growth Curves
Human Population
Survival Curves
• Survivorship is the percentage of remaining
survivors of a population over time; usually
shown graphically.
Type I survivorship curve:
most
individuals live out their
life span and
die of old age (e.g., humans).
Type II survivorship curve: individuals
die at a constant
rate (e.g., birds,
rodents, and perennial plants).
Type III survivorship curve: most
individuals die early in
life
(e.g., fishes, invertebrates,
and
plants).
ECOLOGY OF COMMUNITIES
• Closed vs. Open communities
– Closed – sharp boundaries
– Open – Lack boundaries
• Species abundance and diversity
• Trophic Structure of Communities
– Food chains
– Food web
– Trophic pyramid
INTERACTIONS AMONG SPECIES
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Interactions
Interspecific competition
Predation
Exploitation
Symbiosis
Types of Species Interactions
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Neutral – two species do not interact
Mutualism – both benefit
Commensalism – one benefits, other neutral
Parasitism – one benefits, one harmed
but not killed
• Predation – one benefits, other killed
Predator - Prey Relationship
Food Chain
• rose plant  aphids  beetle  chameleon  hawk
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Producer
1st order Consumer or Herbivore
2nd order Consumer or 1st order Carnivore
3rd order Consumer or 2nd order Carnivore
4th order Consumer or 3rd order Carnivore
Decomposers – consume dead and decaying matter
Food Web
ECOLOGY OF ECOSYSTEMS
• Energy Flow
– Energy Flow Pyramids
– Bio-mass Pyramids
• Community Succession and Stability
• Nutrient Recycling – nutrient cycles
Energy vs Nutrient
• Nutrients – cyclic
(Biogeochemical
Cycles)
• Energy flow – one
way
Ecologic Pyramids
Ecological pyramid - a graph representing trophic
level numbers within an ecosystem. The primary
producer level is at the base of the pyramid with
the consumer levels above.
Numbers pyramid - compares the number of
individuals in each trophic level.
Biomass pyramid - compares the total dry weight
of the organisms in each trophic level.
Energy pyramid - compares the total amount of
energy available in each trophic level. This energy
is usually measured in kilocalories.
Numbers Pyramid
Biomass & Energy Flow
Pyramids
Biogeochemical Cycles
• Hydrologic Cycle
• Phosphorus Cycle
• Nitrogen Cycle
• Carbon Cycle
Hydrologic (Water) Cycle
Phosphorus Cycle
Nitrogen Cycle
Carbon Cycle
Biosphere
• Types of Ecological Spheres
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Biosphere
Lithosphere
Hydrosphere
Atmosphere
• Biogeochemical Cycles
• Disruption of Biosphere
• Specie Extinction & Biosphere Destruction
Section II: ECOLOGY OF
BIOMES
• Weather and Climate
• Types of Biomes
– Aquatic biomes
– Terrestrial biomes
• 2011 – Biomes of North America
– Tundra (new)
– Taiga (Boreal Forest or Coniferous Forest)
Terrestrial Biomes – Latitude vs.
Altitude
Biomes:
Temperature and Climate for Terrestrial Biomes
Adaptations of Plants & Animals
• Not intended to be a taxonomic event
• Emphasis on adaptations of common plants
and animals to each biome
• Common members of food chains and food
webs of each biome
• Limiting factors for each biome
TAIGA OF NORTH AMERICA
• 2nd largest forest in the
world
• Ring Artic between Artic
and Deciduous Forest – 50
to 60 degrees North
Latitude
• Upper elevations of
Mountains
Tiaga or Boreal (Evergreen)
forests of North America
Taiga – Abiotic Factors
• Angle of incidence for incoming solar radiation is low and
twilight lasts many hours
• Seasons- short, moist and moderately warm summers &
long, cold, dry winters.
• Temperature: -65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit
• Variable precipitation: 6-40 in (15-100 cm).
• Soils – thin because they were scraped by glaciers and
very acid because of decomposition of pine needles
• Absence of earth-churning invertebrates as earthworms
so soil is hard and compact
• Fire a major factor in maintaining biome
Environmental Importance
of the Taiga
– Filters millions of liters of water
– Stores large amounts of carbon
– Produces oxygen
– Rebuilds soils and restores nutrients
– Bogs and marshes provides habitats for large
numbers of species from fish to birds
Taiga - Food web
Taiga: Types of Plants
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Conifers are major producer
Most common types – spruce, balsam fir and pine
Others – hemlock, cedar, redwood, junipers
Latitude and altitude influences species
Berry-producing shrubs important to birds, mammals
and people
• Some types of fungi, lichens, and mosses
Taiga: Plant Adaptations
• Trees have upside down cone shape so snow slides off the
branches
• Branches are flexible to hold great amounts of snow and not
break
• Trees grow thin and close together to protect them from cold
and wind
• Needles waxy for protection from freezing temperatures and
prevent them from drying out
• Needles are present year round and deep green to absorb the
maximum warmth from the sun
• Thick bark which does not easily burn and protects inner layers
from heat and cones protect the seeds
Taiga: Types of Animals
• Insects – millions of insects in the summer
• birds – up to 3 billion insect-eating birds breed each year in Taiga –
over 200 species
• Seed eaters like finches and sparrows as well as omnivorous birds
as crows stay all year
• Crossbill has specialized bill for prying open cones and nuthatch
can break the cones open
• Herbivores as small mammals, snowshoe rabbits, red squirrels,
voles and lemming
• Predators feeding on small mammals as owls, wolves, lynx,
bobcats, minks, wolverines, weasels, mink, otters, martens, fishers
• Deer, elk and moose
• Largest predators as grizzlies, lynx, and mountain lions will also
feed on weakened or young deer, elk or moose
Taiga: Animal Adaptations for long cold
winters and hot summers
– migrate south in winter (birds)
– go into hibernation during winter
– store extra fat layers on their bodies for winter
– change diets from season to season
– grow extra fur on the bottom of their feet to tread
on snow easier (lynx and snowshoe rabbit)
– change fur color and coat thickness from season to
season
– live under snow in winter in snow tunnels
(lemmings, mice, shrews, voles)
Taiga: Environmental Concerns
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Pollution Clear cutting
Illegal logging
Poaching
Forest fires – unnatural fires
Mining
Drilling for oil and natural gas disrupt the forest
Global warming
Taiga: Role in Earth’s Climate
• It stores large quantities of carbon stored as plant
material on forest floor (up to 10 feet in some areas)
• 1 cm of plant material can hold 2.5 tons of carbon per
acre
• Taiga acts like a large refrigerator preventing fallen trees,
needles and other debris from decomposing
• Heating up the taiga is causing the following problems:
Litter decomposes putting carbon into the atmosphere
Increases in forest fires
Infestation by bark beetles which is killing the trees
Dead trees - tinder to fuel the forest fires and adding
more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
TUNDRA OF NORTH AMERICA
• About one fifth of the
land surface of the
earth is tundra.
• Located next to icy
zones in the arctic
encircling North Pole
down to Taiga. (Arctic
Tundra)
• Located at the top of
mountains above the
tree line ( Alpine
Tundra)
TUNDRA OF NORTH AMERICA
 Simple vegetation structure
 Limitation of drainage
 Energy and nutrients in the form of dead organic
material
 Large population oscillations
TUNDRA – Abiotic Factors
• Angle of incidence for incoming solar radiation is low and twilight
lasts many hours
• Temperature - extremely cold - from -30oC to -40oC in winter;
average winter temperature of - 34 degrees C ( -30 degrees F).
Highest summer temperature is only about 10o C
• Annual precipitation (mostly as snow) is 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25
cm) which is desert-like
• Winds - often reach speeds of 30 to 60 miles (48 to 97 km/hr)
• Sunlight - During the winter there are only a few hours or less of
sunlight in the summer, there is sunlight almost 24 hours a day.
• Ground surface - spongy, uneven as a result of freezing and
thawing
• Permafrost - Plains of tundra are covered with snow, ice and
frozen soil most of the year
• Growing Season - Short season of growth and reproduction from 50 to 60 days
Tundra Food Web
Tundra Energy Pyramid
TUNDRA of North America
Plants of the Tundra
Plants of the Tundra
• About 1,700 kinds of plants
• Tiny flowering plants (4 inches or
less in height)
• grasses
• lichens – crustose and foliose
• sedges
• willows
TUNDRA – Plant Adaptations
• Many of the plants are perennials so they can
store food from season to season
• Must adapt to strong winds and disturbances in
soil
• Plants are short and group together
• Form little cushions or mats close to the ground
where ground is warmer than the air
• Carry out photosynthesis at low temperatures
and low light intensities
• Adapt to short growing seasons by reproducing by
asexually rather than sexually
Animals of the Tundra
Animals of the TUNDRA
• Primary consumers (Herbivores) – lemmings,
insects, musk oxen, reindeer
• Secondary consumers ( Carnivores) – snow
owls, arctic foxes, polar bears
• Migratory birds: ravens, snow buntings, falcons,
loons, sandpipers, terns, snow birds, and various
species of gulls
• Insects: mosquitoes, flies, moths, grasshoppers,
blackflies and arctic bumble bees
• Fish: cod, flatfish, salmon, and trout
• Reptiles and amphibians are few or absent
TUNDRA: Animal Adaptations
• Must adapt to extremely cold winters
• Breed and raise their young very quickly during
the short summers
• Many as birds migrate south in the winter
• Many of those that stay - hibernate during the
winter
• Constant immigration and emigration –
Population constantly oscillates
Environmental Importance
of the TUNDRA
 Filters millions of liters of water
 Stores large amounts of carbon
 The permafrost layers doesn’t normally
thaw out, so the organic matter stored in
them is effectively trapped forever
 Global warming lowers the thaw depth,
and the peat and organic matter begins
decaying inputting of CO2 to the
atmosphere
TUNDRA: Environmental Concerns
• Large scale extraction industries ( oil, gas, and minerals as
uranium)
• Pollution – chemical waste, mining, hydroelectric
development
• Expansion of agriculture/livestock, vehicular traffic, and
tourism increase degradation
• Global warming – 1/3 of soil bound carbon is found in this
area.
• Melting of permafrost releases large amounts of carbon into
the atmosphere increasing
• “Greenhouse Affect” as organic matter decays and released
carbon dioxide.
• Erosion is emerging due to permafrost thaw and overgrazing
• Poaching – hunting and fishing out of season, on protected
land, or to endangered species
TUNDRA: Role in Earth’s Climate
• global warming is happening at twice the rate of
more temperate regions of the earth
• affect the release or retention of greenhouse
gases such as carbon dioxide and methane
• methane is 20 times more efficient at trapping
warmth than carbon dioxide
• soil nutrients, plant type, and plant biomass will
be affected by changes in soil moisture and can
modify the amount and types of greenhouse
gases
• the climate balance could tip not just in the
Arctic, but throughout the world