Ecology
…the study of how organisms interact
with each other and their environments
© J Beauchemin 2006
Introduction
• Groups of animals live in specific
habitats.
• There are two factors included in every
habitat:
• Biotic factors
– Living things, like…?
• Abiotic factors
– Nonliving things, like…?
Like a set of nesting dolls…
• We can think about the
interactions and types of living
things by organizing them into
groups, smallest to largest.
• A species includes only one
type of organism.
– Example: pigeon
• A population includes all
members of one species that
live in the same area.
– Example: all the pigeons in
Brockton
…bigger and bigger groups!
• A community includes all of the
different species that live in the same
area.
– Example: all the pigeons, ants, maple trees,
dogs, etc. that live in Brockton
• An ecosystem includes both the
community and the abiotic factors.
– Example: the Brockton community plus the
cars, buildings, rocks, air…
The organisms in a habitat can
be organized in the following
way…
ecosystem
species
population
community
Food webs
• All organisms need FOOD to survive!
• Food webs show what eats what.
Eat or be eaten
• Here are some important
terms that will help you
describe interactions in a
food web.
1. Producer (autotroph)
– can make its own food
– forms the base of the food
web
Mmmmm…delicious.
2. Consumer (heterotroph)
– cannot make its own food
There are several words that describe consumers…
– Prey: the hunted
– Predator: the hunter
– Herbivore: eats plants
– Carnivore: eats animals
– Omnivore: eats both plants and animals
Hey, you gonna eat that?
3. Decomposer
– Breaks down dead organisms
– Examples: bacteria, maggots, fungi, worms
– Complete the circle of life by returning
nutrients to the soil
Your mission…
• Label the organisms on the coloring sheet
you don’t know. (use the next slide to help
you)
• Color in the organisms.
• On the back, WRITE some examples of how
the organisms might interact. Use
vocabulary words from your notes.
daisy
r
flounder
sea urchin
raccoon
monarch
butterfly
clam
hermit crab
whitetailed
deer
puffer
spider
crab
rat snake
gull
horseshoe
crab
screech owl
oak
whelk
mussels
egret
cardinal
harbor seal
bass
cattail
red-winged
blackbird
sea star
skate
right
whale
oriole
*How do different species of
organisms interact with each
other?
Agenda [insert date]
1. Intro to ecology: notes
2. Food webs
3. Coloring sheet