Ecology – Honors Biology
2010
Hierarchy of Organization
•
•
•
•
•
Biosphere: combined portions of the planet in which all life exists
– land, water & atmosphere
Biome: group of ecosystems with same climate and similar
dominant communities
Ecosystem: collection of all organisms in a particular place
together with physical environment
Community: Assemblages of different populations living in same
area
Population: group of individuals belonging to same species living
in the same area: (Species) Group of organisms that can breed
together.
Energy flow
• Energy power’s life processes
• Ultimate source
Nuclear fusion
from sun
Flow of Energy – Food Chain
Secondary consumer
Carnivore/Omnivore
Primary consumer,
Heterotroph/Herbivore
Producers/Autotrophps
Nutrients Recycle
Energy Pyramid
10% transfer
from one
trophic level
to next
Biomass Pyramid
Numbers pyramid
What is a species niche?
• Place on the food web
• Types of food an organism eats, how it
obtains the food
• Abiotic factors needed to survive: sunlight,
water, temperature
• When and how it reproduces
• No two species can share the same exact
niche – “competitive exclusion principle”
What is a species niche?
• Place on the food web
• Types of food an organism eats, how it
obtains the food
• Abiotic factors needed to survive: sunlight,
water, temperature
• When and how it reproduces
• No two species can share the same exact
niche – “competitive exclusion principle”
Two closely related species of flour beetles grown
together and forced to use same exact resources:
What is happening to the population of one species of
beetles when forced to share the same niche as another
species?
Define the following terms:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Symbiosis
Mutualism
Commensalism
Parasitism
Predation
Competition
Common dog tick: What relationship?
Barnacles on whale tail: What relationship?
What relationship?
What relationship?
Carbon Cycle
1. How does Photosynthesis cycle carbon into living biomass?
2. How does Respiration cycle carbon into the atmosphere?
3. What are geological sources of carbon?
4. How does burning of some of #3 add carbon to the atmosphere?
Nitrogen cycle
1. What three processes are bacteria involved in getting nitrogen from
the atmosphere into a form usable by plants?
2. What form must nitrogen be in to be usable by plants?
3. How is nitrogen cycled from the soil back into the atmosphere?
Water Cycle
1. What role do plants play in the cycling of water?
2. How does water that enters the soil return to atmospheric water
cycling?
3. How would increasing air temperatures affect the water cycle?
Ecological Succession
1. What is the difference between primary and secondary
succession?
2. How are new plants/animals able to colonize the area?
3. What are “pioneer species”?
4. What adaptations do shade plants have in a forest ecosystem?
Environmental Concerns
•
•
•
•
•
Biomagnification of pollutants
Global warming
Ozone depletion
Habitat destruction
Invasive Species
Biomagnification
Persistant toxins –
Mercury, TCDD
Pesticides -DDTs
Complete
Biomagnification
WS
High mercury levels in sushi
Global Warming
Rise in global
temperature due
to human activity
Causes of Global Warming:
•
•
Greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide
Absorbs heat, prevents sunlight from radiating back into space
Ozone Depletion
Thinning of ozone layer (O3) at
poles – “holes in ozone layer”
Ozone layer absorbs harmful
UVB rays
Increase in skin cancer?
Cause: Chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs) – chemically reacts
with ozone
Habitat Destruction
Main cause of loss in species diversity/ Main cause of extinction
Invasive Species
NUTRIA