Ecology
Topics:
Biomes and Succession
Niche
Energy Flow
Adaptations
Population Studies
Biodiversity
WHAT IS ECOLOGY?
Page 1
• Ecology – The study of
interactions of
organisms and their
environment
Page 2
• You will need to complete the crossword
puzzle on your own time to practice
Ecology Vocabulary
What is a Biome? Page 3
• A large geographical are that has a
particular CLIMATE and specific PLANTS
and ANIMALS.
Climate vs. Weather
• Weather is based on the “behavior” of the
atmosphere over a SHORT period of time.
• Climate is based on the AVERAGE
“behavior” of the atmosphere over a
LONG period of time.
– Climate change? Global Warming?
Climate affects 3 abiotic factors
in land biomes page 3
• Precipitation (rainfall)
• Temperature
• Soil – sandy, clay, loam etc.
• Plants are dependent on these 3 abiotic factors.
The climate will determine the type of plants that
can grow in a specific biome. Which will in turn,
determine the types of animals living in these
biomes.
Pages 3 - 5 Activity
• Use the website: http://kids.nceas.ucsb.edu/biomes/
• Or use my wiki and click Biomes link :
http://hess.wiki.conestogavalley.org/Ecology
• Use this site to fill in the biome information in your note
packet (pages 3 and 4)
• Fill out the graph at the bottom of page 4
• Answer the questions on page 5:
– Which biome has the most rainfall? Which has the least?
– Which biome do you think supports the largest diversity of life?
Explain.
WHAT IS AN ECOSYSTEM?
Page 5
• Ecosystem –
Interaction of Biotic
and Abiotic things
• Biotic – LIVING
organisms
• Abiotic – NONLIVING organisms
• What is abiotic and
what is biotic in these
pictures?
Community
• All of the plants and
animals in an area
• Plants, Animals,
Fungi, Protists, and
Monerans
• What community do
these organisms live
in – Pond, Desert,
Forest,
Habitat
• The place an
organism is usually
found in a community
• Provides food,
shelter, and other
resources an
organism needs to
survive
• The resources are
both biotic and abiotic
Ecosystems change over time
• What is succession?
• Gradual change in an ecosystem over a
period of time.
Primary Succession
• Starts as barren land with rocks
– After lava flow
– Retreated glaciers
Lichens are a PIONEER SPECIES
Secondary Succession
• Occurs after a
disturbance to the
land.
– Fire
– Flood
Niche
• Every organism has a specific spot in the
ecosystem it lives in
• No two organisms will have the same niche!
Why?
What is the
niche of these
organisms?
Types of
Consumers:
Producer?
Carnivore
Consumer?
Omnivore
Decomposer?
Herbivore
Venn
Diagram
page 6
Secondary Succession
Primary Succession
Lichen is one pioneer species. Explain why it is called a “pioneer”. Use
the phrase primary succession in your answer.
Niche
• Complete the vocabulary crossword
puzzle on page 7.
Niche page 8
• Every organism has a specific spot in the
ecosystem it lives in.
• Every organism will fall into only one of the
following niches.
NICHE
1. PRODUCERS
• Organisms
that can make
their own food
• Autotrophs
NICHE
2. CONSUMERS
– HERBIVORE:
PLANT EATERS
– CARNIVORES:
MEAT EATERS
– OMNIVORES: EAT
PLANTS AND
ANIMALS
– SCAVENGERS:
EATS DEAD
ORGANISMS
NICHE
3. DECOMPOSERS
• Organisms that
break down dead
organisms into
simpler substances
putting nutrients
back into the
ground
Complete the Activity page 8
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fill in the correct Niche for each of the organisms listed.
Rattlesnake
Questions – page 9
Rabbits
1. How do you know the
Shelf Fungus
organisms you have listed as
decomposers, are
White-tailed deer
decomposers?
Grass
2. How do you know the
Turkey Vulture
organisms you have listed
Raccoon
as omnivores, are
omnivores?
American Toad
Hawk
3. How do you know the
Coyote
organisms you have listed as
scavengers, are scavengers?
Beetles
Problem – page 9
1. Are the warblers sharing the same niche?
Explain.
2. How does the behavior of the warblers
relate to competition?
3. How does the behavior enable five
species of these birds to live in the same
forest at the same time? Predict what
would happen if this behavior did not exist.
Energy Flow
• Complete the vocabulary crossword
puzzle on page 10
Food Chain
• Pathway of food and energy through an
ecosystem
What is wrong with
this food chain?
Hint: The
grasshopper is not
an autotroph.
*Use the
chart on
page 8 to
create
your own
food chain.
Write it in
the box.
Food Webs
• Complex network of feeding relationships
– made up of many interconnected food
chains
Food webs page 11
1. What is the
producer in this
web?
2. What can
producers do
that consumers
can not?
3. Give an example
of a 2nd
consumer.
Food Webs page 12
4. Where does
all of the energy
originally come
from in this
web?
5.Where do all
of the trophic
levels eventually
end up?
Energy Pyramid page 12
• Chart showing
the flow of
energy through
the food chain
• 10% of energy
is lost per level
as you move up
pyramid
• Always needs
to be more
producers than
consumers
Adaptations
• Complete the vocabulary activity on page
13.
Adaptations
• Behaviors and
physical adaptations
that allow an
organism to survive
in its environment
• What are these
animals adaptations?
SELECTIVE BREEDING
• Choosing the “best”
genes for offspring
• Weeding out the
undesired
characteristics
• Usually domestic
breeding
Beak it Out
• In this activity you are going to mimic how
the variations of Darwin’s finches compete
for three different types of food sources.
• Natural selection happens when a
population changes in response to their
environment.
Beak it Out Analysis
1. What characteristics, or behavior, make each bird species unique
from the other bird species?
2. How did the birds’ characteristics affect their eating habits? Were
they able to eat any type of food? Why or why not?
3. If this activity is an example of how native birds lived before and
after the arrival of humans to the area, which rounds represent the
“before humans” period? __________________ The “after
humans” period?
4. What happened to the native populations after the arrival of the
introduced species?
5. For the native populations, was the arrival of an introduced species
harmful or helpful? Why?
6. Which bird became extinct first? Explain why it was not adapted for
survival.
7. Which bird was best adapted for survival? Why?
8. Define the term extinction.
Natural Selection
• Animals that have the
characteristics and
adaptations suited for
a particular
environment survive
and produce offspring
Natural Selection and Charles
Darwin page 15
Watch the Brain Pop
video and answer the
questions:
1. What was Charles
Darwin’s main
contribution to
science?
2. When is a trait most
likely to be passed on
to the next
generation?
Natural Selection Activity page 15
• Go to:
http://www2.edc.org/weblabs/naturalselection/main.html
• Or click on the Natural Selection link on my wiki:
http://hess.wiki.conestogavalley.org
• Click on the Mice. Follow the directions in the
module.
• Explain what happened to the brown and yellow
mice throughout the module.
• Click on the butterfly, complete the module and
then click the finch and complete the module.
How do these modules apply ot the concepts of
natural selection?
Population Studies page 16
All of the members of ONE species in a particular area.
Answer the questions pertaining to
the rabbit population.
A certain forest ecosystem is able
to support a pouplation of 100
rabbits. One year the pop. soars
to 130.
1. What will probably happen to
the rabbit population over the
course of a year? How might
this occur.
2. What will happen to the rabbit
deathrate?
3. How might the rabbit
overpopulation affect other
organisms in the forest
ecosystem?
Carrying Capacity page 17
• Carrying capacity:
A habitat can only
sustain a certain
range of
organisms
Carrying Capacity page 17
• What is the carrying capacity for Chipmunks in Martic
Twp?
• When did chipmunk pop grow at the fastest rate?
• What might make the chipmunk reach its carrying
capacity?
Limiting Factors
Resources (factors) which limit the growth of a
population
• Density Dependent • Density-independent
– Competition
– Predation
– Parasitism
– Disease
– Unusual weather
– Natural disasters
– Seasonal cycles
– Human interaction –
logging, damming
rivers
Predator vs. Prey
Green tiger beetle attacking wasp
• Predator – Animal that captures other animals
for food
• Prey – Animals eaten by a predator
Complete Activity on
predator/prey page 18
1. What happens to the lynx population when the
snowshoe hare pop goes up?
2. How would you expect an increasing Lynx pop to affect
the snowshoe hare pop?
3. What happens to the lynx pop when the snowshoe hare
pop goes down? Why do you think this happens?
4. How can you tell that lynxes feed almost entirely on
hares?
5. What factors, other than its interaction with the lynx
might affect the population of snowshoe hares?
Limiting Factors page 19
Round Number
Fish Population Size
Round Number
1
6
2
7
3
8
4
9
5
10
Fish Population Size
Limiting factors page 19
1. Describe what happens to the fish
population throughout the activity.
2. Is it possible for the Fish population to go
extinct? Why or why not.
3. Do you think the limiting factors in this
activity (food, oxygen, shelter) only slow
the population growth when the population
reaches a high population density
(crowded)? Why or why not.
BIODIVERSITY
• Diversity of life on
Earth.
• Including all animals,
plants, fungus,
bacteria you can see
and can’t see
IMPORTANCE OF
BIODIVERSITY
1. PLANT COMMUNITIES PROVIDE
MANY VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR
OUR PLANET
2. MEDICALLY IMPORTANT
3. ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT
4. PASSING ON TO OUR CHILDREN AND
THEIR CHILDREN, ETC.
PLANT COMMUNITIES
• VALUABLE FOR:
– GIVE OXYGEN
– SHADE AND
MOISTURE
– ANCHORS IN SOIL;
PREVENTING
MUDSLIDES, ETC.
– REMOVE
GREENHOUSE
GASES (CARBON
DIOXIDE)
MEDICALLY IMPORTANT
• PENICILLIN AND
OTHER
ANTIBIOTICS
PRODUCED FROM
BACTERIA AND
FUNGUS
• PACIFIC YEW TREE
PRODUCES
COMPOUNDS
HELPFUL FOR
CANCER PATIENTS
ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT
• TOURISM
• HUNTING, FISHING
• PRODUCING MANY
GOODS WE USE ON
A DAILY BASIS
GENERATIONS
• PASSING OUR
WORLD ON TO
NEXT
GENERATIONS
• MUST TAKE CARE
OF IT NOW…OR
WHAT WILL WE SEE
IN 25, 50, 75
YEARS?
MAJOR CONCERNS
FISHING
• Catching aquatic
animals (fish, clams,
oysters, crabs, etc.)
faster than they can
reproduce
MAJOR CONCERNS
ANIMAL TRADE
• Demand for leather,
furs, skins, etc.
• Supply is diminishing
due to increased
amounts of trading
• Supply vs. demand
MAJOR CONCERNS
HEALTHY SOIL
• In the past 40 years,
1/3 of our soil has
been washed down
stream
• Chesapeake Bay
MAJOR CONCERNS
DEFORESTATION
– Cutting down the trees
to make paper,
homes, firewood,
lumber, etc.
– Rain forests to your
back yard
– Supply vs. Demand
MAJOR CONCERNS
TOXIC CHEMICALS
• Phosphates in many
household cleaners –
eutrophication
• Fertilizers – nitrogens
washed down into
local stream – how
does it get to the
ocean?
• Oil spills
MAJOR CONCERNS
GREENHOUSE
GASES
• CARBON DIOXIDE,
METHANE GAS –
RELEASED FROM
CARS, FACTORIES,
COWS
• GLOBAL WARMING
INVASIVE SPECIES
• A species that was
not originally found
in a specific habitat,
but now is a part of
that habitat
• Trade, pets, tourism
• Invasive species in
PA – Zebra mussels,
purple loosestrife,
chestnut blight
Environmental Laws
• Air Pollution Control Act – PA law created to protect
humans and the environment against airborne pollutants
including auto exhaust
• Wild Resource Conservation Act – Created to protect
endangered plants and animals
• Clean Streams Law – Provided PA with the authority to
protect streams from pollution and the effects of surface
mining.
• Growing Greener Act – Funding to protect and preserve
farmland and open space, maintain parks, clean up
abandoned mines, restore watersheds, and upgrade
sewer systems.
Ecological Collapse
List the names of the organisms you remove
from the Chesapeake Bay Community
Analysis of Ecological Collapse
1. What happened when the keystone
species was removed?
2. What happens to biodiversity of the
community?
3. What was the keystone species?
Watercycle
• Evaporation – liquid to gas (water to water
vapor)
• Condensation – gas to liquid
• Precipitation – snow, rain, etc.
• Evapotranspiration – evaporation from
trees, plants
• Run-off – water moves off of the land
• Infiltration – water moves into the ground
WETLANDS
• TYPES:
– BOGS
– MARSHES
– SWAMPS
– Estuary
BOGS
• VERY ACIDIC
CONDITIONS
• DECOMPOSERS
CAN NOT
LIVE….NOTHING
BREAKS DOWN
• FOUND MEN 2000
YEARS OLD
Marshes
• Reeds, grasses,
cattails, soft-stemmed
plants
• Near ponds and lakes
Swamps
• More trees and
woody vegetation
Estuary
• Land between Sea
and Freshwater