Interactions of

Living Things
Organisms interact with
both the living and nonliving
parts of their environment.

SECTION 1
The Environment
Main Idea Organisms
depend on the living and
nonliving parts of their
environment for survival.

SECTION 2
Interactions Among
Living Organisms
Main Idea Organisms in
an environment interact
with one another in
different ways.

SECTION 3
Matter and Energy
Main Idea All living
organisms use energy.

Interactions at a Waterhole
How many different kinds of animals can you see in the photo?
How are the animals interacting with each other? Animals and
other organisms in an area not only interact with each other, but
with the nonliving factors of the area as well. What non-living fac-
tors can you identify?
Science Journal Write a list of things you interact with each day.

530
Clem Haagner/A.B.P.L./Photo Researchers
 Start-Up Activities
Biotic and Abiotic Make
the following Foldable to
help you understand the
Space and Interactions cause and effect relationship of biotic and
abiotic things.
Imagine that you are in a crowded elevator.
Everyone jostles and bumps each other. The
temperature increases and ordinary noises STEP 1 Fold a vertical
seem louder. Like people in an elevator, sheet of paper in
plants and animals in an area interact. How half from top to
bottom.
does the amount of space available to each
organism affect its interaction with other
organisms? STEP 2 Fold in half from
side to side with
1. Use a meterstick to measure the length the fold at the top.
and width of the classroom.
2. Multiply the length by the width to find STEP 3 Unfold the paper
the area of the room in square meters. once. Cut only
3. Count the number of individuals in your the fold of the
top flap to make
class. Divide the area of the classroom by
two tabs.
the number of individuals. In your Science
Journal, record how much space each per-
son has. STEP 4 Turn the paper
4. Think Critically Write a prediction in vertically and label Biotic

the front tabs as

your Science Journal about what might
shown. Abiotic
happen if the number of students in your
classroom doubled.
Illustrate and Label Before you read the chap-
ter, list examples of biotic and abiotic things
Preview this chapter’s content around you on the tabs. As you read, write
and activities at about each.
green.msscience.com

531
Clem Haagner/A.B.P.L./Photo Researchers
 Learn It! The best way for you to remember information is
to write it down, or take notes. Good note-taking is useful for studying
and research. When you are taking notes, it is helpful to
• phrase the information in your own words;
• restate ideas in short, memorable phrases;
• stay focused on main ideas and only the most important supporting
details.

Practice It! Make note-taking easier by using a chart to help you

organize information clearly. Write the main ideas in the left column. Then
write at least three supporting details in the right column. Read the text
from Section 1 of this chapter under the heading Light and Temperature,
page 533. Then take notes using a chart, such as the one below.

Main Idea Supporting Details

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Apply It! As you read this

chapter, make a chart of the main ideas. Next
to each main idea, list at least two supporting
details.

532 A CHAPTER 18 Interactions of Living Things

 raphs
o parag you
Target Your Reading ne o r tw
Read o ake notes aft
d t
er
take
first an are likely to
Use this to focus on the main ideas as you read the chapter. ou ation if
read. Y much inform d.
oo you rea
Before you read the chapter, respond to the statements down t tes as
e no
you tak
below on your worksheet or on a numbered sheet of paper.
• Write an A if you agree with the statement.
• Write a D if you disagree with the statement.

After you read the chapter, look back to this page to see if you’ve
changed your mind about any of the statements.
• If any of your answers changed, explain why.
• Change any false statements into true statements.
• Use your revised statements as a study guide.

Before You Read Statement After You Read

A or D A or D
1 More than 95 percent of Earth’s surface is
covered in water.
2 All soil is the same.
3 All the members of one species living together
is called a community.
4 Organisms can benefit, be harmed, or be
unaffected by symbiotic relationships with other
organisms.
Print out a worksheet
of this page at 5 Limiting factors can be either living or nonliving.
green.msscience.com
6 A niche is where an organism lives in its
environment.
7 Energy can be both converted to other forms
and recycled.
8 Matter can be converted to other forms, but
cannot be recycled.
9 The majority of energy is found at the bottom
on an energy pyramid.

SECTION 1 The Environment 532 B

 The Environment
Ecology
All organisms, from the smallest bacteria to a blue whale,
interact with their environment. Ecology is the study of the
■ Identify biotic and abiotic factors
interactions among organisms and their environment.
in an ecosystem. Ecologists, such as the one in Figure 1, are scientists who study
■ Describe the different levels of these relationships. Ecologists organize the environmental fac-
biological organization. tors that influence organisms into two groups—nonliving and
■ Explain how ecology and the living or once-living. Abiotic (ay bi AH tihk) factors are the non-
environment are related.
living parts of the environment. Living or once-living organisms
in the environment are called biotic (bi AH tihk) factors.
Abiotic and biotic factors interact to
make up your ecosystem. The qual-
Why is a rotting log considered a biotic factor in
ity of your ecosystem can affect
the environment?
your health. Your actions can affect
the health of the ecosystem.
Abiotic Factors
Review Vocabulary In any environment, birds, insects, and other living things,
climate: the average weather including humans, depend on one another for food and shelter.
conditions of an area over time
They also depend on the abiotic factors that surround them,
New Vocabulary such as water, sunlight, temperature, air, and soil. All of these
•• ecology
abiotic factor
•• community
ecosystem
factors and others are important in determining which organ-
isms are able to live in a particular environment.
•• population • biosphere
biotic factor

Figure 1 Ecologists study biotic and abiotic

factors in an environment and the relation-
ships among them. Many times, ecologists
must travel to specific environments to
examine the organisms that live there.

532 CHAPTER 18
WM. J. Jahoda/Photo Researchers
 Earth’s Water Supply
100 The seas and oceans are home
97% to thousands of different species.

80
Amount (%)

60

40 This stream is a freshwater

environment. It is home
to many species of plants
20 and animals.
3%
0
Salt water Freshwater
Figure 2 Salt water accounts for
97 percent of the water on Earth. It
is found in the seas and oceans.
Water All living organisms need water to survive. The bodies of
Only three percent of Earth’s water
most organisms are 50 percent to 95 percent water. Water is an
is freshwater.
important part of the cytoplasm in cells and the fluid that sur-
rounds cells. Respiration, photosynthesis, digestion, and other
important life processes can only occur in the presence of water.
More than 95 percent of Earth’s surface water is found in the
oceans. The saltwater environment in the oceans is home to a
vast number of species. Freshwater environments, like the one in
Figure 2, also support thousands of types of organisms.

Light and Temperature The abiotic factors of light and Figure 3 Flowers that grow on
temperature also affect the environment. The availability of sun- the forest floor, such as these blue-
light is a major factor in determining where green plants and bells, grow during the spring when
other photosynthetic organisms live, as shown in Figure 3. By they receive the most sunlight.
the process of photosynthesis, energy from the Sun is changed Infer why there is little sunlight on
into chemical energy that is used for life processes. Most green the forest floor during the summer.
algae live near the water’s surface where sun-
light can penetrate. In dense forests where little
sunlight penetrates through to the forest floor,
very few photosynthetic plants grow.
The temperature of a region also deter-
mines which plants and animals can live there.
Some areas of the world have a fairly consistent
temperature year round, but other areas have
seasons during which temperatures vary. Water
environments throughout the world also have
widely varied temperatures. Living organisms
are found in the freezing cold Arctic, in the
extremely hot water near ocean vents, and at
almost every temperature in between.

SECTION 1 The Environment 533

(t)Stuart Westmorland/Photo Researchers, (c)Michael P. Gadomski/Earth Scenes, (b)George Bernard/Earth Scenes
Figure 4 Air pollution can come
from many different sources. Air
quality in an area affects the
health and survival of the species
that live there.

Air Pollution Engineer

Have you ever wondered Air Although you can’t see the air that surrounds you, it has an
who monitors the air you
breathe? Air pollution engi- impact on the lives of most species. Air is composed of a mix-
neers are people who make ture of gases including nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide.
sure air quality standards Most plants and animals depend on the gases in air for respira-
are being met. They also tion. The atmosphere is the layer of gases and airborne particles
design new technologies to that surrounds Earth. Polluted air, like the air in Figure 4, can
reduce air pollution, such cause the species in an area to change, move, or die off.
as improved machinery,
filters, and ventilation
Clouds and weather occur in the bottom 8 km to 16 km of
systems, to try and solve the atmosphere. All species are affected by the weather in the area
problems like “sick building where they live. The ozone layer is 20 km to 50 km above Earth’s
syndrome”. surface and protects organisms from harmful radiation from the
Sun. Air pressure, which is the weight of air pressing down on
Earth, changes depending on altitude. Higher altitudes have less
air pressure. Few organisms live at extreme air pressures.
Figure 5 Soil provides a home
for many species of animals and How does pollution in the atmosphere affect the
species in an area?
other organisms.

Soil From one enviroment to another, soil, as

shown in Figure 5, can vary greatly. Soil type is
determined by the amounts of sand, silt, and clay it
contains. Various kinds of soil contain different
amounts of nutrients, minerals, and moisture.
Different plants need different kinds of soil. Because
the types of plants in an area help determine which
other organisms can survive in that area, soil affects
every organism in an environment.

Biotic Factors
Abiotic factors do not provide everything an
organism needs for survival. Organisms depend on
other organisms for food, shelter, protection, and
reproduction. How organisms interact with one
another and with abiotic factors can be described in
an organized way.

534 CHAPTER 18 Interactions of Living Things

Francis Lepine/Earth Scenes
Levels of Organization The living world is highly organ-
ized. Atoms are arranged into molecules, which in turn might be
organized into cells. Cells form tissues, tissues form organs, and
organs form organ systems. Together, organ systems form
organisms. Biotic and abiotic factors also can be arranged into Figure 6 The living world is
levels of biological organization, as shown in Figure 6. organized in levels.

Organism

An organism is one individual from

a population.

Population

All of the individuals of one species

that live in the same area at the
same time make up a population.

Community

The populations of different

species that interact in some way
are called a community.

Ecosystem

All of the communities in an area

and the abiotic factors they interact
with make up an ecosystem.

Biome

A biome is a large region with

plants and animals well adapted to
the soil and climate of the region.

Biosphere

The level of biological organization

that is made up of all the ecosys-
tems on Earth is the biosphere.

SECTION 1 The Environment 535

 Populations All the members of one species that live together

(t)Roland Seitre-Bios/Peter Arnold, Inc., (bl)Robert C. Gildart/Peter Arnold, Inc., (br)Carr Clifton/Minden Pictures
make up a population. For example, all of the humans living on
Earth at the same time make up a population. Part of a popula-
tion of penguins is shown in Figure 7. Members of a population
compete for food, water, mates, and space. The resources of the
environment and the ways the organisms use these resources
determine how large a population can become.

Communities Most populations of organisms do not live

alone. They live and interact with populations of other types of
organisms. Groups of populations that interact with each other
in a given area form a community. For example, a population of
Figure 7 Members of a penguin penguins and all of the species that they interact with form a
population compete for resources. community. Populations of organisms in a community depend
Infer what resources these on each other for food, shelter, and other needs.
penguins might be using.
Ecosystems In addition to interactions among populations,
ecologists also study interactions among populations and their
physical surroundings. An ecosystem is made up of a biotic
community and the abiotic factors that affect it. Examples of
ecosystems include coral reefs, forests, and ponds. You will learn
Topic: Earth’s Biomes more about the interactions that occur in ecosystems later in
Visit green.msscience.com for Web this chapter.
links to information about Earth’s
different biomes. Biomes Scientists divide Earth into different regions called
Activity Select one of Earth’s biomes. A biome (BI ohm) is a large region with plant and ani-
biomes and research what plants, mal groups that are well adapted to the soil and climate of the
animals, and other organisms live region. Many different ecosystems are found in a biome.
there. Prepare a display that
Examples of biomes include tundra, as shown in Figure 8, trop-
includes pictures and text about
your selected biome. ical rain forests, and grasslands.

Figure 8 Biomes contain

many different ecosystems.
This mountaintop ecosys-
tem is part of the alpine
tundra biome.

536 CHAPTER 18 Interactions of Living Things

80° Arctic Ocean
Ice
Tundra
Arctic Circle Arctic Circle Taiga
60° Grassland
ASIA
NORTH Temperate
Atlantic EUROPE forests
AMERICA Ocean Pacific Tropical
Ocean rain forest
30°
Tropic of Cancer Chaparral
Pacific Savanna
Ocean AFRICA Desert
Equator Equator
0° Mountain
SOUTH Atlantic
Indian
AMERICA Ocean
Tropic of Capricorn
Ocean
30° AUSTRALIA

Antarctic Ocean
60°
Antarctic Circle

The Biosphere Where do all of Earth’s organisms live? Living Figure 9 This map shows some
things can be found 11,000 m deep in the ocean, 9,000 m high of the major biomes of the world.
on mountains, and 4.5 km high in Earth’s atmosphere. The part Determine what biome you live in.
of Earth that supports life is the biosphere (BI uh sfihr). It
includes the top part of Earth’s crust, all the waters that cover
Earth’s surface, the surrounding atmosphere, and all biomes,
including those in Figure 9.

Summary Self Check

Abiotic Factors 1. Compare and contrast abiotic factors and biotic factors.
• Organisms interact with and depend on
abiotic factors in their environments.
Give five examples of each that are in your ecosystem.
2. Describe a population and a community.
• More than 95 percent of Earth’s surface is water. 3. Define the term ecosystem.
• The amount of sunlight determines where
green plants can grow.
4. Explain how the terms ecology and environment are
related.

• Temperature determines which organisms

can live in a region.
5. Think Critically Explain how biotic factors change in an
ecosystem that has flooded.

• Air is needed by most organisms. Polluted air

can harm organisms.

• Soil can determine organisms in an area.

Biotic Factors
6. Record Observations Each person lives in a popula-
tion as part of a community. Describe your population

• Organisms depend on other organisms for

food, shelter, protection, and reproduction.
and community.
7. Use a database to research biomes. Find the name of

• The living world is organized into levels.

the biome that best describes where you live.

green.msscience.com/self_check_quiz SECTION 1 The Environment 537

 Delicately Balanced Ec(systems
Each year you might visit the same park, but
notice little change. However, ecosystems are del-
icately balanced, and small changes can upset this
balance. In this lab, you will observe how small
amounts of fertilizer can disrupt an ecosystem.

Real-World Question
How do manufactured fertilizers affect pond
systems?
and 30 g to jar D. Put no fertilizer in jar A.
Goals
■ Observe the effects of manufactured
5. Cover each jar with plastic wrap and secure it
fertilizer on water plants. with a rubber band. Use your pencil to punch
■ Predict the effects of fertilizers on pond
three small holes through the plastic wrap.
and stream ecosystems. 6. Place all jars in a well-lit area.
7. Observe the jars daily for three weeks. Record
Materials your observations in your Science Journal.
large glass jars of rubber bands (4)
equal size (4) pond water 8. Measure and record the length of each
clear plastic wrap triple-beam balance Elodea stalk in your Science Journal.
stalks of Elodea (8) *electronic scale
*another aquatic plant weighing paper Conclude and Apply
garden fertilizer spoon 1. List the control and variables you used in
*houseplant fertilizer metric ruler this experiment.
*Alternate materials
2. Compare the growth of Elodea in each jar.
Safety Precautions 3. Predict what might happen to jar A if you
added 5 g of fertilizer to it each week.
4. Infer what effects manufactured fertilizers
might have on pond and stream ecosystems.
Procedure
1. Working in a group, label four jars A, B, C,
and D.
2. Measure eight Elodea stalks to be certain
that they are all about equal in length. Compare your results with the results of
3. Fill the jars with equal volumes of pond water other students. Research how fertilizer
and place two stalks of Elodea in each jar. runoff from farms and lawns has affected
4. Add 5 g of fertilizer to jar B, 10 g to jar C, aquatic ecosystems in your area.

538 CHAPTER 18 Interactions of Living Things

Bob Daemmrich
 Interactions Among
Living Organisms
Characteristics of Populations
You, the person sitting next to you, everyone in your class,
and every other organism on Earth is a member of a specific
population. Populations can be described by their characteris- ■ Identify the characteristics that
tics such as spacing and density. describe populations.
■ Examine the different types of
Population Size The number of individuals in the popula- relationships that occur among
populations in a community.
tion is the population’s size, as shown in Figure 10. Population ■ Determine the habitat and niche
size can be difficult to measure. If a population is small and of a species in a community.
made up of organisms that do not move, the size can be deter-
mined by counting the individuals. Usually individuals are too
widespread or move around too much to be counted. The pop- You must interact with other
ulation size then is estimated. The number of organisms of one organisms to survive.
species in a small section is counted and this value is used to
estimate the population of the larger area. Review Vocabulary
Suppose you spent several months observing a population of coexistence: living together in
the same place at the same time
field mice that live in a pasture. You probably would observe
changes in the size of the population. Older mice die. Mice are New Vocabulary
born. Some are eaten by predators, and some mice move away
to new nests. The size of a population is always changing. The
population density
limiting factor
••
niche
habitat
••
rate of change in population size varies from population to pop-
symbiosis
•
ulation. In contrast to a mouse popu-
lation, the number of pine trees in a
mature forest changes slowly, but a World Population: 1950–2050 (projected)
forest fire or disease could reduce the 10
pine tree population quickly.
Human population (billions)

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
Figure 10 The size of the human popula-
2
tion is increasing each year. By the year
1
2050, the human population is projected to 0
be more than 9 billion. 1960 1980 2000 2020 2040
Year
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base 5-10-00.
Figure 11 Population density
can be shown on a map. This map
C A N A D A
uses different colors to show vary-
Pacific
ing densities of a population of Ocean
northern bobwhites, a type of bird.

U N I T E D S T A T E S

Atlantic
Average Count per km2 Ocean
<1 11–30
Topic: Human Population 1–3 31–100
Visit green.msscience.com for Web 4–10 > 100
links to information about human
population and densities.
Activity Select at least three Population Density At the beginning of this chapter, when
different areas of the world and you figured out how much space is available to each student in
prepare a bar graph to compare
your classroom, you were measuring another population char-
population density of each area.
Compare the population density acteristic. The number of individuals in a population that
of where you live to the three occupy a definite area is called population density. For example,
areas of the world you select. if 100 mice live in an area of one square kilometer, the popula-
tion density is 100 mice per square kilometer. When more indi-
viduals live in a given amount of space, as seen in Figure 11, the
population is more dense.

Figure 12 Some populations, Population Spacing Another characteristic of populations is

such as creosote bushes in the spacing, or how the organisms are arranged in a given area. They
desert, are evenly spaced through- can be evenly spaced, randomly spaced, or clumped together.
out an area. If organisms have a fairly consistent distance between them,
as shown in Figure 12,
they are evenly spaced.
In random spacing, each
organism’s location is inde-
pendent of the locations of
other organisms in the pop-
ulation. Random spacing of
plants usually results when
wind or birds disperse seeds.
Clumped spacing occurs
when resources such as food
or living space are clumped.
Clumping results when ani-
mals gather in groups or
plants grow near each other
in groups.

540 CHAPTER 18 Interactions of Living Things

Dan Suzio/Photo Researchers
Limiting Factors Populations, such as the antelopes in
Figure 13, cannot continue to grow larger forever. All ecosys-
tems have a limited amount of food, water, living space,
mates, nesting sites, and other resources. A limiting factor is
any biotic or abiotic factor that limits the number of individ-
uals in a population. A limiting factor also can affect other
populations in the community indirectly. For example, a
drought might reduce the number of seed-producing plants
in a forest clearing. Fewer plants means that food can
become a limiting factor for deer that eat the plants and for
a songbird population that feeds on the seeds of these plants.
Food also could become a limiting factor for animals that
feed on the songbirds.

What is an example of a limiting factor?

Competition is the struggle among organisms to obtain the Figure 13 These antelope and
zebra populations live in the grass-
same resources needed to survive and reproduce, as shown in
lands of Africa.
Figure 14. As population density increases, so does competition
Infer what limiting factors might
among individuals for the resources in their environment.
affect the plant and animal popula-
tions shown here.
Carrying Capacity Suppose a population increases in size
year after year. At some point, food, nesting space, or other
resources become so scarce that some individuals are not able to
survive or reproduce. When this happens, the environment has
reached its carrying capacity. Carrying capacity is the largest
number of individuals of a species that an environment can
support and maintain for a long period of time. If a population
gets bigger than the carrying capacity of the environment, some
individuals are left without adequate resources. They will die or
be forced to move elsewhere.

Figure 14 During dry summers,

the populations of animals at
existing watering holes increase
because some watering holes have
dried up. This creates competition
for water, a valuable resource.

SECTION 2 Interactions Among Living Organisms 541

(t)Tim Davis/Photo Researchers, (b)Arthur Gloor/Animals Animals
 Biotic Potential What would happen if a population’s envi-
ronment had no limiting factors? The size of the population would
continue to increase. The maximum rate at which a population
increases when plenty of food and water are available, the weather
is ideal, and no diseases or enemies exist, is its biotic potential.
Most populations never reach their biotic potential, or they do so
for only a short period of time. Eventually, the carrying capacity of
the environment is reached and the population stops increasing.
Observing Symbiosis
Procedure
Symbiosis and Other Interactions
In ecosystems, many species of organisms have close relation-
1. Carefully wash and exam- ships that are necessary for their survival. Symbiosis (sihm bee
ine the roots of a legume OH sus) is any close interaction between two or more different
plant and a nonlegume species. Symbiotic relationships can be identified by the type of
plant. interaction between organisms. Mutualism is a symbiotic rela-
2. Use a magnifying lens to tionship in which two different species of organisms cooperate
examine the roots of the and both benefit. Figure 15 shows one example of mutualism.
legume plant.
Commensalism is a form of symbiosis that benefits one
Analysis organism without affecting the other organism. For example, a
1. What differences do you species of flatworm benefits by living in the gills of horseshoe
observe in the roots of the
two plants? crabs, eating scraps of the horseshoe crab’s meals. The horseshoe
2. Bacteria and legume plants crab is unaffected by the flatworms.
help one another thrive. Parasitism is a symbiotic relationship between two species in
What type of symbiotic which one species benefits and the other species is harmed.
relationship is this? Some species of mistletoe are parasites because their roots grow
into a tree’s tissue and take nutrients from the tree.

What form of symbiosis exists between a bee

and a flower?

The yucca depends on the

moth to pollinate its flowers.

The moth depends

on the yucca for a
protected place to
lay its eggs and a
source of food for
Figure 15 The partnership its larvae.
between the desert yucca plant
and the yucca moth is an example
of mutualism.

542 CHAPTER 18 Interactions of Living Things

Gilbert Grant/Photo Researchers
Predation One way that population size is regu-
lated is by predation (prih DAY shun). Predation is
the act of one organism hunting, killing, and feeding
on another organism. Owls are predators of mice, as
shown in Figure 16. Mice are their prey. Predators are
biotic factors that limit the size of the prey popula-
tion. Availability of prey is a biotic factor that can
limit the size of the predator population. Because
predators are more likely to capture old, ill, or young
prey, the strongest individuals in the prey population
are the ones that manage to reproduce. This improves
the prey population over several generations.

Habitats and Niches In a community, every

species plays a particular role. For example, some are
producers and some are consumers. Each also has a
particular place to live. The role, or job, of an organism in the Figure 16 Owls use their keen
ecosystem is called its niche (NICH). What a species eats, how it senses of sight and hearing to hunt
gets its food, and how it interacts with other organisms are all for mice in the dark.
parts of its niche. The place where an organism lives is called its
habitat. For example, an earthworm’s habitat is soil. An earth-
worm’s niche includes loosening, aerating, and enriching the soil.

Summary Self Check

Characteristics of Populations 1. Determine the population of students in your class-
• Populations can be described by size, density,
and spacing.
room.
2. Describe how limiting factors can affect a population.
• Limiting factors affect population size. 3. Explain the difference between a habitat and a niche.
• The number of individuals an environment
can support and maintain over time is called
4. Describe and give an example of two symbiotic relation-
ships that occur among populations in a community.
the carrying capacity. 5. Explain how sound could be used to relate the size of
• The biotic potential is the rate a population
would increase without limiting factors.
the cricket population in one field to the cricket popula-
tion in another field.
6. Think Critically A parasite obtains food from its host.
Symbiosis and Other Interactions Most parasites weaken but do not kill their hosts. Why?

• A close interaction between two or more dif-

ferent species is called symbiosis.

• Mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism

are types of symbiotic relationships that can 7. Solve One-Step Equations A 15-m2 wooded area has
exist between organisms. the following: 30 ferns, 150 grass plants, and 6 oak

• Predators are biotic limiting factors of prey.

trees. What is the population density per m2 of each of
the above species?
• The role an organism plays is called its niche.

green.msscience.com/self_check_quiz 543
John Gerlach/Animals Animals
 Matter and Energy

Michael P. Gadomski/Photo Researchers

Energy Flow Through Ecosystems
Life on Earth is not simply a collection of independent
organisms. Even organisms that seem to spend most of their
■ Explain the difference between a
time alone interact with other members of their species. They
food chain and a food web. also interact with members of other species. Most of the inter-
■ Describe how energy flows actions among members of different species occur when one
through ecosystems. organism feeds on another. Food contains nutrients and energy
■ Examine how materials such as needed for survival. When one organism is food for another
water, carbon, and nitrogen are
used repeatedly. organism, some of the energy in the first organism (the food) is
transferred to the second organism (the eater).
Producers are organisms that take in and use energy from the
You are dependent upon the recy- Sun or some other source to produce food. Some use the Sun’s
cling of matter and the transfer of energy for photosynthesis to produce carbohydrates. For example,
energy for survival. plants, algae, and some one-celled, photosynthetic organisms are
producers. Consumers are organisms that take in energy when
Review Vocabulary they feed on producers or other consumers. The transfer of energy
consumer: organism that obtains
energy by eating other organisms does not end there. When organisms die, other organisms called
decomposers, as shown in Figure 17, take in energy as they break
New Vocabulary down the remains of organisms. This movement of energy
•• food chain
food web
• water cycle through a community can be diagrammed as a food chain or a
food web.

Food Chains A food chain, as shown in Figure 18, is a model,

a simple way of showing how energy, in the form of food, passes
from one organism to another. When drawing a food chain,
arrows between organisms indicate the direction of energy
transfer. An example of a pond food chain follows.

aquatic plants → insects → bluegill → bass → humans

Food chains usually have only three or four links. This is

because the available energy decreases from one link to the next
link. At each transfer of energy, a portion of the energy is lost as
heat due to the activities of the organisms. In a food chain, the
amount of energy left for the last link is only a small portion of
the energy in the first link.

Figure 17 These mushrooms are decomposers. They obtain

needed energy for life when they break down organic material.

544
 VISUALIZING A FOOD CHAIN
Figure 18

I
n nature, energy in food E The last link in many food chains is a
passes from one organism
top carnivore, an animal that feeds on
to another in a sequence
other animals, including other carnivores.
known as a food chain. All liv-
This great horned owl is a top carnivore.
ing things are linked in food
chains, and there are millions
of different chains in the world.
Each chain is made up of organ-
D The fourth link
isms in a community. The pho-
tographs here show a food of this food chain is
chain in a North American a garter snake, which
meadow community. feeds on toads.

A The first link in

any food chain is a
producer—in this
case, grass. Grass
gets its energy
from sunlight. B The second link of a food chain
is usually an herbivore like this
grasshopper. Herbivores are animals
that feed only on producers.

C The third link

of this food chain is a
carnivore, an animal
that feeds on other
animals. This wood-
house toad feeds on
grasshoppers.

SECTION 3 Matter and Energy 545

(t)Joe McDonald/CORBIS, (c)David A. Northcott/CORBIS, (bl)Michael Boys/CORBIS, (bc)Dennis Johnson/Papilio/CORBIS, (br)Kevin Jackson/Animals Animals, (bkgd.)Michael Boys/CORBIS
 Food Webs Food chains are too simple to describe the many
interactions among organisms in an ecosystem. A food web is a
series of overlapping food chains that exist in an ecosystem. A
food web provides a more complete model of the way energy
moves through an ecosystem. They also are more accurate mod-
els because food webs show how many organisms, including
humans, are part of more than one food chain in an ecosystem.
Humans are a part of many land and aquatic food webs.
Most people eat foods from several different levels of a food
chain. Every time you eat a hamburger, an apple, or other food,
you have become a link in a food web. Can you picture the steps
in the food web that led to the food in your lunch?

How do changes in Antarctic food webs affect populations?

T he food webs in the icy Antarctic

Ocean are based on phytoplankton,
which are microscopic algae that float
changes in any of these populations
affect the other populations?

near the water’s surface. The algae are Identifying the Problem
eaten by tiny, shrimplike krill, which are Worldwide, the hunting of most
consumed by baleen whales, squid, and baleen whales has been illegal since
fish. Toothed whales, seals, and penguins 1986. It is hoped that the baleen whale
eat the fish and squid. How would population will increase. How will an
increase in the whale population affect
the food web illustrated below?
Solving the Problem
1. Populations of seals, penguins, and
krill-eating fish increased in size as
populations of baleen whales declined.
Explain why this occurred.
2. What might happen if the number of
baleen whales increases but the
amount of krill does not?

546 CHAPTER 18 Interactions of Living Things

Ecological Pyramids Most of the energy in the biosphere
comes from the Sun. Producers take in and transform only a
small part of the energy that reaches Earth’s surface. When an
herbivore eats a plant, some of the energy in the plant passes to
the herbivore. However, most of it is given off into the atmo-
sphere as heat. The same thing happens when a carnivore eats an
herbivore. An ecological pyramid models the number of organ- Chemosynthesis Certain
isms at each level of a food chain. The bottom of an ecological bacteria take in energy
pyramid represents the producers of an ecosystem. The rest of through a process called
chemosynthesis. In chemo-
the levels represent successive consumers. synthesis, the bacteria
produce food using the
What is an ecological pyramid? energy in chemical com-
pounds instead of light
energy. In your Science
Energy Pyramid The flow of energy from grass to the hawk Journal, predict where
in Figure 19 can be illustrated by an energy pyramid. An energy these bacteria are found.
pyramid compares the energy available at each level of the food
chain in an ecosystem. Just as most food chains have three or
four links, a pyramid of energy usually has three or four levels.
Only about ten percent of the energy at each level of the pyra-
mid is available to the next level. By the time the top level is
reached, the amount of energy available is greatly reduced. Figure 19 An energy pyramid
illustrates that available energy
decreases at each successive feed-
ing step.
Determine why an energy pyra-
mid doesn’t have more levels.

SECTION 3 Matter and Energy 547

(t)Ray Richardson/Animals Animals, (tc)Suzanne L. Collins/Photo Researchers, (bc)William E. Grenfell Jr./Visuals Unlimited, (b)Zig Leszczynski/Earth Scenes
 The Cycles of Matter
The energy available as food is constantly renewed by plants
using sunlight. However, think about the matter that makes up
the bodies of living organisms. The law of conservation of mass
Modeling the states that matter on Earth is never lost or gained. It is used over
Water Cycle and over again. In other words, it is recycled. The carbon atoms
Procedure in your body might have been on Earth since the planet formed
1. With a marker, make a billions of years ago. They have been recycled billions of times.
line halfway up on a Many important materials that make up your body cycle
plastic cup. Fill the cup to through the environment. Some of these materials are water,
the mark with water. carbon, and nitrogen.
2. Cover the top with plastic
wrap and secure it with a
rubber band or tape. Water Cycle Water molecules on Earth
3. Put the cup in direct constantly rise into the atmosphere, fall to
sunlight. Observe the cup Earth, and soak into the ground or flow into rivers and oceans.
for three days. Record your The water cycle involves the processes of evaporation, conden-
observations. sation, and precipitation.
4. Remove the plastic wrap Heat from the Sun causes water on Earth’s surface to evapo-
and observe the cup for
seven more days. rate, or change from a liquid to a gas, and rise into the atmo-
sphere as water vapor. As the water vapor rises, it encounters
Analysis
1. What parts of the water
colder and colder air and the molecules of water vapor slow
cycle did you observe down. Eventually, the water vapor changes back into tiny
during this activity? droplets of water. It condenses, or changes from a gas to a liquid.
2. How did the water level in These water droplets clump together to form clouds. When the
the cup change after the droplets become large and heavy enough, they fall back to Earth
plastic wrap as rain or other precipitation. This process is illustrated
was removed? in Figure 20.

Condensation Precipitation

Transpiration

Evaporation

Runoff
Figure 20 A water molecule
that falls as rain can follow several
paths through the water cycle.
Identify these paths in this
diagram.

548
Other Cycles in Plants remove carbon After the carbon
Nature You and all dioxide from the air is returned to the
and use it to make atmosphere, the
organisms contain carbohydrates. cycle begins again.
carbon. Earth’s atmos-
phere contains about
0.03 percent carbon
in the form of carbon
dioxide gas. The move-
ment of carbon through
Earth’s biosphere is
called the carbon cycle,
as shown in Figure 21.
Nitrogen is an ele-
ment found in proteins
The carbohydrates are
and nucleic acids. The eaten and used by The carbon from
nitrogen cycle begins other organisms. the carbohydrates
with the transfer of is returned to the
nitrogen from the atmosphere to atmosphere
producers then to consumers. The ni- through respiration,
combustion, and
trogen then moves back to the atmos- decay.
phere or directly into producers again.
Phosphorus, sulfur, and other elements needed by living organ-
isms also are used and returned to the environment. Just as you Figure 21 Carbon can follow
recycle aluminum, glass, and paper products, the matter that several different paths through the
organisms need to live is recycled continuously in the biosphere. carbon cycle. Some carbon is
stored in Earth’s biomass.

Summary Self Check

Energy Flow Through Ecosystems 1. Draw and label a food web that includes you and what
• A food chain models one pathway of energy
through an ecosystem, and a food web is
you’ve eaten today.
2. Compare and contrast producers, consumers, and
made of many food chains. decomposers.

• Humans are part of different food webs. 3. Explain how carbon flows through ecosystems.
• Ecological pyramids model the number of
organisms at each level of a food chain.
4. Think Critically Use your knowledge of food chains and
the energy pyramid to explain why fewer lions than

• Energy pyramids illustrate the available

energy at each level of a food chain.
gazelles live on the African plains.

The Cycles of Matter

• Energy is constantly renewed by the Sun, but

matter must be recycled.
5. Classify Look at the food chain in Figure 18. Classify
each organism as a producer or a consumer.
• The water cycle involves evaporation, conden-
sation, and precipitation.
6. Communicate In your Science Journal, write a short
essay about how the water cycle, carbon cycle, and
• Other matter that cycles includes carbon,
nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur.
nitrogen cycle are important to living organisms.

green.msscience.com/self_check_quiz SECTION 3 Matter and Energy 549

 Design Your Own

Identifying a Limiting Factor

Goals Real-World Question
■ Observe the effects of Organisms depend upon many biotic and abiotic
an abiotic factor on the factors in their environment to survive. When
germination and these factors are limited or are not available, it
growth of bean can affect an organism’s survival. How do abi-
seedlings. otic factors such as light, water, and tempera-
■ Design an experiment ture affect the germination of seeds?
that demonstrates
whether or not a spe- Form a Hypothesis
cific abiotic factor limits
Based on what you have learned about limiting
the germination of
factors, make a hypothesis about how one specific
bean seeds.
abiotic factor might affect the germination of a bean
Possible Materials seed. Be sure to consider factors that you can change easily.
bean seeds
small planting containers Test Your Hypothesis
soil
water Make a Plan
label 1. As a group, agree upon and write out a hypothesis statement.
trowel 2. Decide on a way to test your group’s hypothesis. Keep available
*spoon materials in mind as you plan your procedure. List your materials.
aluminum foil
sunny window
3. Design a data table in your Science Journal for recording data.
*other light source 4. Remember to test only one variable at a time and use suitable
refrigerator or oven controls.
*Alternate materials

Safety Precautions

550
(t)Geoff Butler, (b)KS Studios
5. Read over your entire experiment to make sure
that all steps are in logical order.
6. Identify any constants, variables, and controls in
your experiment.
7. Be sure the factor that you will test is measurable.
Follow Your Plan
1. Make sure your teacher approves your plan before
you start.
2. Carry out your approved plan.
3. While the experiment is going on, record any
observations that you make and complete the
data table in your Science Journal.

Analyze Your Data

1. Compare the results of this experiment with those of other groups in
your class.
2. Infer how the abiotic factor you tested affected the germination of bean seeds.
3. Graph your results in a bar graph that compares the number of bean seeds that
germinated in the experimental container with the number of seeds that ger-
minated in the control container.

Conclude and Apply

1. Identify which factor had the greatest effect on the germination of the seeds.
2. Determine whether or not you could change more than one factor in this
experiment and still have germination of seeds.

Write a set of instructions that could be

included on a packet of this type of seeds.
Describe the best conditions for seed
germination.

LAB 551
Matt Meadows
 The Solace of Open Spaces
a novel by Gretel Ehrlich

Animals give us their constant, unjaded1 faces

Understanding
and we burden them with our bodies and civilized Literature
Informative Writing This passage is
ordeals. We’re both humbled by and imperious2 informative because it describes the real
with them. We’re comrades who save each other’s relationship between people and animals
lives. The horse we pulled from a boghole this on a ranch in Wyoming. The author speaks
morning bucked someone off later in the day; one from her own point of view, not from the
stock dog refuses to work sheep, while another point of view of a disinterested party. How
brings back a calf we had overlooked. . . . What’s might this story have been different if it had
stubborn, secretive, dumb, and keen3 in us bumps been told from the point of view of a visit-
up against those same qualities in them. . . . ing journalist?
Living with animals makes us redefine our
ideas about intelligence. Horses are as mischievous
as they are dependable. Stupid enough to let us use Respond to the Reading
them, they are cunning enough to catch us off
1. Describe the relationship between peo-
guard. . . .
ple and animals in this passage.
We pay for their loyalty; They can be willful,
hard to catch, dangerous to shoe and buck on frosty 2. What words does the author use to indi-
mornings. In turn, cate that horses are intelligent?
they’ll work them- 3. Linking Science and Writing Write
selves into a lather a short passage about an experience
cutting cows, not you have had with a pet. Put yourself
for the praise in the passage without overusing the
they’ll get but for word “I”.
the simple glory of
outdodging a calf
Animals and ranch-
or catching up with
ers are clearly de-
an errant steer. . . .
pendent on each other. Ranchers provide
nutrition and shelter for animals on the
ranch and, in turn, animals provide food,
companionship, and perform work for the
1 Jaded means “to be weary with fatigue,” so ranchers.You might consider the relationship
unjaded means “not to be weary with fatigue.”
between horses and ranchers to be a symbi-
2 domineering or overbearing otic one. Symbiosis (sihm bee OH sus) is any
3 intellectually smart or sharp close interaction among two or more differ-
ent species.

552 CHAPTER 18 Interactions of Living Things

Allen Russell/Index Stock
 The Environment number of individuals in a population is a
limiting factor.
1. Ecology is the study of interactions among
organisms and their environment. 3. A close relationship between two or more
species is a symbiotic relationship.
2. The nonliving features of the environment
are abiotic factors, and the organisms in the 4. The place where an organism lives is its
environment are biotic factors. habitat, and its role in the environment is
its niche.
3. Ecosystems include biotic and abiotic factors.
4. The region of Earth and its atmosphere in Matter and Energy
which all organisms live is the biosphere.
1. Food chains and food webs are models
that describe the flow of energy.
Interactions Among Living
2. At each level of a food chain, organisms
Organisms
lose energy as heat. Energy on Earth is
1. Characteristics that can describe popula- renewed constantly by sunlight.
tions include size, spacing, and density. 3. Matter on Earth is never lost or gained. It is
2. Any biotic or abiotic factor that limits the used over and over again, or recycled.

Copy and complete the following concept

map on the biosphere.
Biosphere

is made up of

Biotic parts Organisms

include
include
make up make up

Air Soil

Temperature
make up

green.msscience.com/interactive_tutor CHAPTER STUDY GUIDE 553

(l)Richard Reid/Earth Scenes, (r)Helga Lade/Peter Arnold, Inc.
 9. What is made up of all populations in an
area?
abiotic factor p. 532 habitat p. 543 A) niche C) community
biosphere p. 537 limiting factor p. 541 B) habitat D) ecosystem
biotic factor p. 532 niche p. 543
community p. 536 population p. 536 10. What is the term for the total number of
ecology p. 532 population density p. 540 individuals in a population occupying a
ecosystem p. 536 symbiosis p. 542
certain area?
food chain p. 544 water cycle p. 548
food web p. 546 A) clumping C) spacing
B) size D) density

Fill in the blanks with the correct vocabulary 11. What is the tree to the
word or words. right an example of?
A) prey
1. A(n) is any living thing in the B) consumer
environment. C) producer
2. A series of overlapping food chains makes D) predator
up a(n) .
12. Which level of the food chain has the
3. The size of a population that occupies an most energy?
area of definite size is its . A) consumer C) decomposers
4. Where an organism lives in an ecosystem is B) herbivores D) producers
its . 13. What is the symbitotc relationship called in
5. The part of Earth that supports life is the which one organism is helped and the other
. organism is harmed?
6. Any close relationship between two or more A) mutualism
species is . B) parasitism
C) commensalism
D) consumer
14. Which of the following is NOT cycled in
Choose the word or phrase that best answers the the biosphere?
question. A) nitrogen C) water
B) soil D) carbon
7. Which of the following is a model that
shows the amount of energy available as it 15. What are coral reefs, forests, and ponds
flows through an ecosystem? examples of?
A) niche A) niches C) populations
B) energy pyramid B) habitats D) ecosystems
C) carrying capacity 16. What are all of the individuals of one
D) food chain species that live in the same area at the
8. Which of the following is a biotic factor? same time called?
A) animals C) sunlight A) community C) biosphere
B) air D) soil B) population D) organism

554 CHAPTER REVIEW green.msscience.com/vocabulary_puzzlemaker

Helga Lade/Peter Arnold, Inc.
 24. Record Observations A home aquarium con-
tains water, an air pump, a light, algae, a
Use the illustration below to answer question 17. goldfish, and algae-eating snails. What are
the abiotic factors in this environment?
25. Determine why viruses are considered
parasites.

26. Poster Use your own observations or the

results of library research to develop a
food web for a nearby park, pond, or
other ecosystem. Make a poster display
illustrating the food web.
17. Infer why each level of the energy pyramid 27. Oral Presentation Research the steps in the
shown above is smaller than the one phosphorous cycle. Find out what role phos-
below it. phorus plays in the growth of algae in ponds
18. Compare and contrast the role of producers, and lakes. Present your findings to the class.
consumers, and decomposers in an
ecosystem.
19. Explain what carrying capacity has to do
Use the table below to answer questions 28 and 29.
with whether or not a population reaches
its biotic potential. Arizona Deer Population
20. Infer why decomposers are vital to the Deer Per
cycling of matter in an ecosystem. Year
400 Hectares
21. Write a paragraph that describes your own 1905 5.7
habitat and niche.
1915 35.7
22. Classify the following as the result of either 1920 142.9
evaporation or condensation.
1925 85.7
a. A puddle disappears after a rainstorm.
1935 25.7
b. Rain falls.
c. A lake becomes shallower.
d. Clouds form. 28. Deer Population Use the data above to graph
23. Concept Map Use the following information the population density of a deer population
over the years. Plot the number of deer on the
to draw a food web of organisms living in y-axis and years on the x-axis. Predict what
a goldenrod field. Aphids eat goldenrod might have happened to cause the changes in
sap, bees eat goldenrod nectar, beetles eat the size of the population.
goldenrod pollen and goldenrod leaves, 29. Population Trend What might the population
stinkbugs eat beetles, spiders eat aphids, and of deer be in 1940 if the trend continued?
assassin bugs eat bees.

green.msscience.com/chapter_review CHAPTER REVIEW 555

Record your answers on the answer sheet Use the illustration below to answer questions 6 and 7.
provided by your teacher or on a sheet of paper.
1. Many of the processes necessary for life can
only occur in the presence of water. Which
of the following is not one of these neces-
sary life processes?
A. photosynthesis C. digestion
B. respiration D. dehydration
Use the illustration below to answer questions 2 and 3.

6. Antelope and zebras interacting is an

example of a(n)
A. community. C. ecosystem.
B. population. D. biome.
7. These two groups both eat plants, biotic
factors that help determine the number of
individuals that will survive in that area.
This is known as a
2. Little light reaches the plants on the floor of A. carrying capacity.
this deciduous forest. Which season would B. limiting factor.
let the bluebells pictured grow the best? C. biotic potential.
A. spring C. fall D. population spacing.
B. summer D. winter 8. The maximum rate at which a population
3. What process do these bluebells use to increases when plenty of food and water
transform energy from the Sun into stored are available is known as
chemical energy for their life processes? A. carrying capacity.
A. respiration C. photosynthesis B. limiting factor.
B. radiation D. desertification C. biotic potential.
4. Soil that receives little rain can be changed D. population density.
and a desert can form. What is this process 9. A close interaction between two or more
known as? different species is known as
A. pollution C. desertification A. symbiosis. C. commensalism.
B. radiation D. respiration B. mutualism. D. botulism.
5. Which of the following is NOT considered 10. The job of an organism in the ecosystem
when determining soil type? is called its
A. amount of clay C. amount of sand A. habitat. C. niche.
B. amount of silt D. amount of plant B. ecosystem. D. community.

556 STANDARDIZED TEST PRACTICE

(l)George Bernard/Earth Scenes, (r)Tim Davis/Photo Researchers
Record your answers on the answer sheet Record your answers on a sheet of paper.
provided by your teacher or on a sheet of paper. 19. How do humans interact with land and
11. How do producers and consumers water food webs? What would happen to
interact? humans if these webs were destroyed?
12. Give an example of an abiotic factor and 20. Describe the carbon cycle.
explain how living organisms interact 21. Describe how better food production,
with it. sanitation, and disease prevention have
13. What is a limiting factor? Give a non- contributed to the yearly increase in the
living limiting factor and show how it human population.
affects living organisms. Use the illustration below to answer questions 22 and 23.
14. What is symbiosis? Name three types of
symbiosis. Condensation
Precipitation
Use the illustration below to answer questions 15 and 16.

Transpiration

Evaporation
Runoff

22. Name the process shown in the illustration

15. What is competition and how does it above.
relate to population density? Use the illus- 23. Explain why this process is necessary for
tration above as an example of competi- living organisms.
tion. Explain the environment and how it
impacts their survival.
16. Use the illustration to explain populations
and communities. Answer All Parts of the Question Make sure each part of the
question is answered when listing discussion points. For
17. What is biotic potential and how does it example, if the question asks you to compare and contrast,
relate to limiting factors? make sure you list both similarities and differences.
18. How is population size controlled by Question 21 Notice that this question asks you to describe
predators? Use the owl/mouse relationship how three things contribute to human population growth.
as an example.

green.msscience.com/standardized_test STANDARDIZED TEST PRACTICE 557

Arthur Gloor/Animals Animals