ORGANISMS & THEIR

ENVIRONMENT
 WHAT IS ECOLOGY?

Ecology- the scientific study of

interactions between
organisms and their
environments, focusing on
energy transfer

Ecology is a science of
relationships
 Ecology
Interactions in the Environment
 And the ENVIRONMENT is…

The surroundings of an organism that

affect its life and development.
 WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY
ENVIRONMENT?

The environment is
made up of two
factors:
• Biotic factors- all living
organisms inhabiting
the Earth
• Abiotic factors-
nonliving parts of the
environment (i.e.
temperature, soil, light,
moisture, air currents)
Organism - any unicellular or
multicellular form exhibiting all of
the characteristics of life, an
individual.
•The lowest level of organization
 The Organism
When talking about the organism, we are
talking about a SINGLE animal, plant, or
other organism. It is a biotic factor of the
environment.
 POPULATION
 a group of organisms
of one species living in
the same place at the
same time that
interbreed
Produce fertile
offspring
Compete with each
other for resources
(food, mates, shelter,
Community - several
interacting populations that
inhabit a common environment
and are interdependent.
Ecosystem - populations in a
community and the abiotic
factors with which they interact
(ex. marine, terrestrial)
 Habitat vs. Niche
Niche - the role a
species plays in a
community; its
total way of life

Habitat- the place

in which an
organism lives
out its life
 Energy Flow
• Energy in an ecosystem
originally comes from the sun
• Energy flows through
Ecosystems from producers
to consumers
– Producers (make food)
– Consumers (use food by
eating producers or other
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Producers
• Sunlight is the
main source of
energy for most
life on earth.
• Producers
contain
chlorophyll &
can use energy
directly from the
copyright cmassengale 13
 Photosynthesis
•Chemical reaction where green
plants use water & carbon dioxide
to store the sun’s energy in
glucose
•ENERGY is stored in glucose
•Glucose is stored as starch in
plants

copyright cmassengale 14
 Autotrophs
• An Autotroph is any
organism that can produce
its own food supply!
• Autotrophs are also called
Producers
• Plants, algae, some protists,
& some bacteria are
examples
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 Organisms that
cannot make their
own energy are
called
CONSUMERS.
 Feeding Relationships
Consumer- all heterotrophs:
they ingest food containing
the sun’s energy
Herbivores
Carnivores
Omnivores
Decomposers
 Consumers
Heterotrophs eat other
organisms to obtain
energy. (e.g. animals)
• Herbivores
– Eat Only Plants
• Carnivores
– Eat Only Other
animals
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 Consumers
Heterotrophs eat other
organisms to obtain energy.
• Omnivores (Humans)
– Eat Plants & Animals
• Decomposers
– Fungi & Bacteria

copyright cmassengale 19
 Feeding Relationships

Consumer-
Decomposers
• Breakdown the
complex
compounds of
dead and decaying
plants and animals
into simpler
molecules that can
be absorbed
Feeding Relationships

Energy flows
through an
ecosystem in
one direction
from
producers to
various levels
of consumers
copyright cmassengale 21
 Feeding Relationships
• Food Chain
– Simple Energy path through
an ecosystem

• Food Web
– More realistic path through
an ecosystem made of many
food chains

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Food chain Food web
(just 1 path of energy) (all possible energy
paths)
 Trophic Levels

• Each link in a food chain is

known as a trophic level.
• Trophic levels represent a
feeding step in the transfer
of energy and matter in an
ecosystem.
 Food Chain
3rd Order
Order
2nd consume
1st order
Consume r 4th Order
Consumer
r Consum
er

Producer (trapped
sunlight & stored food) copyright cmassengale 25
 Ecological Pyramids
• Relative amounts of energy are represented
in an ecological pyramid: a diagram that
shows the relative amounts of energy
in different trophic levels in an
ecosystem. An ecological pyramid can
show energy, biomass, or the number of
organisms in a food web.
Energy Pyramid

28
Biomass Pyramid

29
Pyramid of Numbers

30
 Trophic Levels
Biomass- the amount of organic
matter comprising a group of
organisms in a habitat.
• As you move up a food chain,
both available energy and
biomass decrease.
• Energy is transferred upwards
but is diminished with each
transfer.
 Trophic Levels
Each Level In A Food Chain or
Food Web is a Trophic Level.
• Producers
– Always The First Trophic
Level
• Herbivores
– Second Trophic Level

copyright cmassengale 32
 Trophic Levels
• Carnivores/Omnivores
–Make Up The Remaining
Trophic Levels

Each level depends on

the one below it for
energy.
copyright cmassengale 33
 Trophic Levels
E Tertiary
consumers-
N top
carnivores
Secondary
E consumers-small
carnivores
R Primary consumers-
Herbivores
G
Y Producers-
Autotrophs
Some of the
energy is lost
as heat, but
some energy
is stored and
can passed on
to another
consumer.
35
 Nutrient Cycles

Cycling maintains homeostasis

(balance) in the environment.
•3 cycles to investigate:
1. Water cycle
2. Carbon cycle
3. Nitrogen cycle
The hydrologic cycle begins with the evaporation of water from the
surface of the ocean. As moist air is lifted, it cools and water vapor
condenses to form clouds. Moisture is transported around the globe
until it returns to the surface as precipitation. Once the water reaches
the ground, one of two processes may occur; 1) some of the water
may evaporate back into the atmosphere or 2) the water may penetrate
the surface and become groundwater. Groundwater either seeps its
way to into the oceans, rivers, and streams, or is released back into
the atmosphere through transpiration. The balance of water that
remains on the earth's surface is runoff, which empties into lakes,
rivers and streams and is carried back to the oceans, where the cycle
begins again.
Water cycle-
Carbon Cycle
Carbon Cycle
Carbon cycle-
Nitrogen cycle-
Atmospheric nitrogen (N2) makes up
nearly 78%-80% of air.
Organisms can not use it in that
form.
Lightning and bacteria convert
nitrogen into usable forms.
Nitrogen cycle-
Only in certain bacteria and
industrial technologies can fix
nitrogen.
Nitrogen fixation-convert
atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into
ammonium (NH4+) which can be
used to make organic compounds
like amino acids.
N2 NH4+
Nitrogen cycle-
Nitrogen-fixing
bacteria:
Some live in a
symbiotic
relationship with
plants of the
legume family
(e.g., soybeans,
clover, peanuts).
Nitrogen cycle-
•Some nitrogen-fixing bacteria
live free in the soil.
•Nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria
are essential to maintaining the
fertility of semi-aquatic
environments like rice paddies.
 Atmospheri Nitrogen Cycle
Lightning c nitrogen
Denitrification
by bacteria
Animal
Nitrogen s
fixing
Plants
bacteria Decompose
rs

Nitrification Nitrites Nitrates

Ammonium
by bacteria
Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen Cycle
 Population
All the individuals of a species
that live together in an area
 Population Growth

Growth rate results from

processes that add and
remove individuals

+ Births − Deaths

+ Immigration − Emigration
Therefore r = (b+i) - (d+e)
EFFECTS OF BIRTHRATES
AND DEATH RATES
Slow population growth rate if deaths,
exceed births

Fast population growth rate if births

exceed deaths
MOBILITY HAS AN EFFECT
ON POPULATION SIZE

•Immigration: movement of individuals

into an area.
•Emigration: movement of individuals
out of a population
•International migration does not affect
world population
•National and local populations are
affected by internal migrations
 Sigmoid Population growth
curves:

1. Lag phase.

2. Exponential(log) phase.

3. Stationary
phase.

4. Death phase.
 Factors Limiting Growth Rate
• Declining birth rate or increasing death rate are
causDeclining birth rate or increasing death
rate are caused by several factors including:
– Limited food supply
– The buildup of toxic wastes
– Increased disease
– Predation
 The Human Population
Doubled three times in the last three centuries
• About 6.1 billion and may reach 9.3 billion by
the year 2050
• Improved health and technology have lowered
death rates
•
History of the Human Population
 DOES AGE AFFECT
POPULATION GROWTH?
•A population with more
young than old people will
grow faster than the reverse.
•Age structure is shown on
graphs and helps predict
growth rate of population
•Broader base has faster
population that is increasing