Living Environment: Unit 9: Ecology
I. Ecology
A. Components
B. Organization
C. Relationships
1. Nutritional
2. Community Interactions
II. Ecology and the movement of energy
A. Food Chains
B. Food Webs
C. Biomagnification
D. Pyramids
III. Ecological development
A. Succession
1. Land
2. Water
B. Pioneer organisms
C. Climax Communities
IV. Ecological Cycles
A. Water
B. Carbon
C. Nitrogen
9-1
Living Environment: Unit 9: Ecology
9-1a
Living Environment: Unit 9: Ecology
Ecology
• the study of the relationships among __________ ___________ and their
interaction with the environment
• ______________________ (Ecological System): An interacting system of living and
non-living components.
•A forest, a pond, a stream, a decaying log, an aquarium are all ecosystems.
Sometimes called a ____________________.
• _________ and __________ factors interact in complex ways in communities and
ecosystems
Biotic Factors- ___________ factors in an environment
– ExAbiotic Factors- ___________ factors in an environment
– Ex-
Ecosystem Interactions
• Habitat- an area where an organism __________
– Ex-
• Niche- the ___________ (job) an organism has
– Ex-
9-2
Living Environment: Unit 9: Ecology
Levels of Organization
• ______________- individuals of a single species that share the same
geographic location at the same time
• _______________- a group of interacting populations that occupy the
same geographic area at the same time
• _______________- a community and all the abiotic factors (nonliving) that
affect it
• _______________- the part of Earth that supports life
9-2a
Living Environment: Unit 9: Ecology
I) Autotrophs: organisms that make their own _________
a) Producers
•photosynthetic ______________________ (green plants).
•Examples:
II) Heterotrophs: organisms that consume other organisms
a) Primary Consumers: “__________________________”
•Plant eating animals
•Examples:
b) Secondary Consumers “_________________________”
• Meat eating animals
• may be primary, secondary tertiary or higher.
• Examples:
c) Omnivores
• Animals that eat both plants and _______________.
• Examples:
d) Scavenger
Animal that feeds on other ________________ that are already dead
Examples:
e) Decomposers:
•Break down complex _________________ to return them to the environment for
reuse.
•Examples: bacteria, molds, tree bract, mushrooms, insect larva
f) _________________:
• organisms that take nutrients from, or use systems of, other living organisms.
• Examples: tapeworm, some protozoans, leech, some fungus
g) Pathogens:
- ___________________ causing microorganisms. Viruses, bacteria, some protists.
- Examples: E. Coli, staph, strept, Flu virus, HIV virus
9-3
Living Environment: Unit 9: Ecology
Community Interactions
• ____________________
• Predation
• Symbiotic relationships
1. ______________________- organisms benefit from each other
2. _______________________- one organism benefits and the other is
neither helped nor harmed
3. Parasitism- one organism benefits while the other is __________
Predator-__________ Relationships:
- Predator hunts prey
-Example: The Canada Lynx and the Snowshoe Rabbit
Carrying __________________: The number of organisms any habitat can
support
Limiting Factors: a ___________that controls a process, such as organism growth or
species population, size, or distribution.
Examples:_______, water, shelter, disease, predators, etc.
9-3a
Living Environment: Unit 9: Ecology
Energy in an Ecosystem
• __________________ capture energy, making it available for all members of a food
web
• Where do they capture the energy from? ____________________
Energy Flow
• Autotrophs (make their own food) _____________ (do not make their own food)
• Decomposers: ______________ nutrients from any dead organism
A) Food Chain: a series of organisms through which food ______________
is passed
B) Food Web: many food chains ________________
9-4
Living Environment: Unit 9: Ecology
Draw a food web below:
(include the following organisms: deer, grass, toad, berries, snake,
fly, rabbit, wolf, bear, hawk, squirrel)
Biomagnification:
Accumulation of substances in larger and
larger _________________ in bodies of
organisms at each higher level of the
food chain
- Also known as bioaccumulation
9-4a
Living Environment: Unit 9: Ecology
Ecological Pyramids
______________ Consumer
_________________ Consumer
_________________ Consumer
Primary
______________
Amount of energy available in an ecosystem
-Greatest amount of energy = _________________
-Least amount of ____________ = highest level consumer
-Pyramid of biomass- shows relative mass of organisms
Energy Pyramid
Bio-mass Pyramid
Numbers Pyramid
9-5
Living Environment: Unit 9: Ecology
Ecological Succession:
The process by which an existing community is slowly replaced by another community
Pioneer Organisms: The first ________________to inhabit an area
Examples: In Water: algae
On Land: lichen
Climax Community: Stable _________________that develops as a result of
succession
Cycling of Matter
• Essential ______________ are cycled through biogeochemical processes.
Nutrient Cycles:
1) Water cycle
2) Carbon and ____________ Cycles
3) Nitrogen Cycle
4) Phosphorous Cycle
9-5a
Living Environment: Unit 9: Ecology
Carbon Cycle:
The Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen is needed for the ______________ of proteins and nucleic acids. Plants can
synthesize them from nitrates, animals must eat _____________ and nucleic acids.
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