Ecology

Ecology
• The scientific study of interaction
between different organism and
between organisms and their
environment or surroundings.
• Biotic - living factors thet influence an ecosystem.

• Abiotic - non-living factors that influence an ecosystem

Producers

A. Sunlight is the main

energy source for life on
earth.

B. Also called autotrops

C. Use light or chemical

energy to make food.
1. Plants
2. Bacteria
3. Plants like protists
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Presentations are communication tools that can be used as
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Consumers
A. Organisms that rely on other
organisms for there energy and food
supply.

B. Also called heterotrophs

D. Photosynthesis - use light energy to to convert carbon
dioxide and water to oxygen and carbohydrates.

E. Chemosynthesis - perform by bacteria, use chemical

energy to produce carbohydrates.
Omnivorse - eat both plants Herbivores - obtain energy by
and animals.
eating only plants.

Decomposers - breaks down Carnivores - obtain energy

dead organic matter.
by eating animal
 Interaction
A. Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction - from
the sun or inorganic compound to autotrophs (producers) and
then to heterotrophs (consumers).

B. Food chain - series of steps in wich transfer energy

by eating and being eaten.
1. Arrow go in the direction of how energy is
transferred.
2. Start with producer and end with top consumer or
carnivore.
Ex. Grass. Cricket. Frog. Raccoon.
C. Food web - network of food chain within an
ecosystem.

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D. Tropic levels - each step in a food chain and food
web.
1. Level 1 - Producers (Autotrophs)

2. Level 2 - Primary consumers

(Herbivores)

3. Level 3 - Secondary
consumers (carnivores &
omnivorse)
4. Leve 4 - Tertiary consumers
(carnivores - usually top
carnivores)
Ecological Pyramids

A. Diagram thats shows relative amount of energy

or organisms contained within each tropic level of
a food chain or web.
B. Energy Pyramid shows relativ amount of energy available at each
tropic level.

1. Organism in a trophic level use the available energy for life

processes (such as grownth, photosynthesis, cellular respiration,
metabolism, etc.) and release some energy as heat.

Remember: Every chemical process that happens in your body

realeses heat as a byproduct (ex. burning calories).

2. Rule of 10 - only about 10% of the available energy within a

trophic level is transfered to the next higher trophic level.

C. Biomass Pyramid - represents the amount of living organic

matter at each trophic level.
ENERGY PYRAMID BIOMASS PYRAMID
Energy and Biomass Pyramid
(together)

Represents amount
of energy available at
each level as well as
amount of living
tissue - both
decrease with each
increasing trophic
level
Heavy metals
Ex. Mercury

Pesticides
Ex. DDT
(dichlorodiphenyltri
chloroethane)

Organochlorides
Ex. PCBs
V. Ecological Interaction between organism
A. Competition - when the organisms of the same or
different species attempt to use a ecological resource in the
same place at the same time.
Ex. Food, water, shelter
 Monkeys compete
with each other and
other animals for
food.

Rams compete with

others for mates.
Until Americans introduced by gray squirrels into parts of
England in the early 20th century, red squirrels had been the
only species of squirrel in the country. The gray squirrel were
larger and bred faster and successfully completed for resources.
Within a couple years of overlap in area, the red squirrels
disappeared.
 B. Niche - The ecological niche involves bith the place
where an organism lives and the roles that an
organism has in its habitat.
Example:The ecological niche of sunflower growing
in the backyard includes absorbing light, water and
nutrients (for photosynthesis), providing shelter and
food for other organism (e.g. bees, ants, etc), and
giving off oxygen into the atmosphere .
The ecological niche of an organism depends not only
on where it lives but also on what it does. By analogy,
it may be said that the habitat is the organism's
"address", abd the niche is its "profession",
biologically speaking.
Worm Niche "Address" - Soil, Ground etc.

"Profession" - Mix
up soil.

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C. Predation - one organism captures and feeds
on another organism
1. Predator - one that does killing
2. Prey - The one that is the food
D. Symbiosis - any relationship in which two species
live closely together.

1. Mutualism - both species benefit (WIN-WIN)

Ex. Insects and flowers
2. Commensalism - one member of the association
benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed.
Example: barnacles on a whale
 The Remora fish
attaches to the
shark and gets a
ride

Birds build a nests in

tress.
3. Parasitism - one organism lives on or inside
another organism (host) and harms it.

The parasite obtains all the part of its nutritional

needs from the host. (WIN-LOSE)
Example: flies on the dog
 Wasp eggs on the back
of a caterpillar.

Sea lampreys feed on

fluid of other fish.

Mosquito biting a
human.
 Level of Organizations
• Organism - Organismal ecologists study adaptations,
beneficial features arising by natural selection, that allow
organisms to live in specific habitats.
• Population - population is a group of organisms of the same
species that live in the same area at the same time. Population
ecologists study the size, density, and structure of populations
and how they change over time.
• Community - A biological community consists of all the
populations of different species that live in a given area.
• Ecosystem - An ecosystem consists of all the organisms in
an area, the community, and the abiotic factors that influence
that community.
• Biosphere - The biosphere is planet Earth, viewed as an
ecological system.
How animals and plants
survive?
• Eating other living things. Animals eat plants, while
predators eat their prey.
• Pollination. Insects pollinate flowers, which helps
plants reproduce.
• Decomposition. Microbes break down dead things,
which helps recycle nutrients.
• Interacting with non-living things. Living things use
rocks for shelter, depend on rain to bloom, and
hibernate when it gets cold.
• Being part of an ecosystem. Living and non-living
components make up an ecosystem, and energy is
transferred between species through a food web.
Identify each of the following as
predation, competition,
commensalism or mutualism
1. One species benefits from the interaction but the
other is unaffected
2. Lion eating zebra
3. Animals eating plants
4. Tapeworm living inside the host
5. Cow birds and cattle egrets feed on insects
flushed out of the grass by grazing bison, cattle,
horses and other herbivores