1. 6/7/13 Living Environment Attendance Exam Information Vocab Vortex
Rad Review MP3.
Exam Excitement.
Lab Love.
Packet Ponder.

2. Chapter 3: The Biosphere

3. What is Ecology?
Ecology is the scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment.
What does this mean?
How do we study these interactions?

4. We have to ask questions about events and organisms that range in complexity from a single individual to the entire biosphere.

5. Levels of Organization

7. Organism
An individual living thing

9. Population
Members of one species that interbreed and live in the same place at the same time.

10. Population
Compete for:
Food
Water
Shelter
Mates

11. Community Different populations that live together in a defined area.
Several populations interacting together.

12. Ecosystem
A collection of all of the organisms that live in a particular place, together with their nonliving, or physical environment.

13. Ecosystem Biotic Factors: living organisms within an ecosystem
Abiotic Factors: nonliving factors that help shape an ecosystem

14. Biomes
A group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities.

15. Biosphere
The highest level of organization that ecologists study is the entire biosphere itself.
The portion of
the Earth that
supports life.

16. BIOSPHERE
BIOME
ECOSYSTEM
COMMUNITY
POPULATION
ORGANISM

17. Ecological Methods
Ecologists use a wide range of tools and techniques to study the living world.
Apply the scientific method to do ecological research:
Observing
Experimenting
Modeling

18. Interactions Between Organisms
All organisms depend upon other living things and nonliving things to meet their needs, such as:
Food
Shelter
Reproduction
Protection
Thus, an interdependence exists among organisms and the environment 18

19. Energy Flow All living things need ENERGY to survive.
Where does this energy ultimately come from?

20. Autotrophs
Organisms that capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use that energy to produce food.
Ex. Bacteria,
plants, and algae
Also called producers

21. Heterotrophs Rely on other organisms for their energy and food supply
Also called consumers

22. Types of Consumers Herbivores Carnivores Omnivores Detritivores
Decomposers

23. Herbivores
Heterotrophs that eat plants (1st order consumers) 23

24. Carnivores
Heterotrophs that eat animals
They come in many sizes! 24

25. Omnivores
Eat both plants and animals
Ex: humans, raccoons, bears 25

26. Detritivores
Animals that feed on animal remains and dead matter (collectively called detritus)
EX: mites, earthworms, snails, crabs 26

27. Decomposers
Break down decaying matter
Ex: bacteria and fungi 27

28. Feeding Relationships
What happens to the energy in an ecosystem when one organism eats another?
The energy moves along a one-way path.
Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction, from the sun to autotrophs and then to various heterotrophs

29. Food Chains
The energy stored by producers can be passed through an ecosystem along a food chain, a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten.

30. A food chain shows how matter and energy move through an ecosystem
Each organism represents a trophic level, a step in the food chain.
Natural Food Chain
Sun Grass Rabbit Snake Hawk
The arrows show the direction that energy is transferred 30

31. Food Web
Shows all of the possible feeding relationships at each trophic level in the community.

33. Tertiary consumers Secondary consumers Primary Consumers- herbivores
Producers 33

34. Ecological Pyramids
A diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a food chain or food web.
3 types
Energy pyramids
Biomass pyramids
Pyramids of numbers

35. Energy Pyramid
Only part of the energy that is stored in one trophic level is passed on to the next level…. why?
Organisms use much of the energy that they consume for life processes (reproduction, respiration, and movement).
Only 10% of the energy available within one trophic level is transferred to organisms at the next trophic level.

36. Biomass Pyramid
The total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level is called biomass.
A biomass pyramid represents the amount of potential food available for each trophic level in an ecosystem.

37. Pyramid of Numbers
Pyramid based on the numbers of individual organisms at each trophic level.

38. Matter also is moved throughout an ecosystem...
Water
Carbon
Nitrogen

39. Water
The water cycle is the continuous movement of water between Earth and its atmosphere.

41. Carbon Cycle
Carbon is an essential component of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates
The carbon cycle is a process by which carbon is cycled between the atmosphere, land, water, and organisms.

42. Carbon Cycle Four processes Respiration (adds) Combustion (adds)
Decomposition (adds)
Photosynthesis (removes)

43. Carbon Cycle
The carbon cycle has been operating to keep the amount of carbon dioxide in balance between the atmosphere and Earth.
HOWEVER, the burning of fossil fuels has added more carbon dioxide than can be removed by plants during photosynthesis.

44. Carbon Cycle
Carbon dioxide is considered a greenhouse gas …it traps heat on Earth.
This contributes to global warming, which has led to an overall increase in the Earth’s average temperature.

46. Nitrogen Cycle *78% of the atmosphere is composed of nitrogen
*Living things cannot use nitrogen in the atmospheric form
*Lightening and some bacteria convert nitrogen to usable forms, then producers use them to make proteins. Consumers then eat the producers and reuse the nitrogen to make their own proteins!
*When organisms die, decomposers return nitrogen to the soil and it is either reused or converted into nitrogen gas and returned to the atmosphere.

47. Nutrient Limitation
Primary Productivity—rate at which an organic matter is created by producers
Process can be limited by a lack of nutrients

48. A polar bear, its fur stained with algae, stands in its cage at Higashiyama Zoo in Nagoya, central Japan, Saturday, Sept. 6, Three polar bears at the zoo changed their colors in July after swimming in a pond with an overgrowth of algae, prompting many questions from visitors concerned about whether the animals are sick or carrying mold, a zoo official said. Credit: AP Photo/Kyodo News, Shuzo Shikano

49. Ecosystems & Communities
Chapter 4
Ecosystems
&
Communities

50. 4–1 The Role of Climate Words you need to know: Weather Climate
The Greenhouse Effect
Climate Zones 
polar zones (66.5° and 90° North and South latitudes)
temperate zones (between the polar
zones and the tropics)
tropical zone (23.5° North and ° South latitudes)

52. Heat Transport
winds and ocean currents

53. 4–2 What Shapes an Ecosystem?
Biotic & abiotic factors
Habitat = the area where an organism lives (biotic and abiotic factors that affect it)
Niche = full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions

54. no two species can share the same niche in the same habitat

55. Community Interactions
Competition = organisms of the same or different species attempt to use an ecological resource in the same place at the same time
Resource = any necessity of life (water, nutrients, light, food, or space)
competitive exclusion principle = ecological rule that states that no two species can occupy the same exact niche in the same habitat at the same time

58. Predation = interaction in which one organism captures (kills) and feeds on another organism 
Predator / Prey

59. Symbiosis = Any relationship in which two species live closely together
mutualism
commensalism
parasitism

60. Mutualism = symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit from the relationship

61. Ecosystems & Communities
Chapter 4
Ecosystems
&
Communities

62. 4–1 The Role of Climate Words you need to know: Weather Climate
The Greenhouse Effect
Climate Zones 
polar zones (66.5° and 90° North and South latitudes)
temperate zones (between the polar
zones and the tropics)
tropical zone (23.5° North and ° South latitudes)

64. Heat Transport
winds and ocean currents

65. 4–2 What Shapes an Ecosystem?
Biotic & abiotic factors
Habitat = the area where an organism lives (biotic and abiotic factors that affect it)
Niche = full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions

66. no two species can share the same niche in the same habitat

67. Community Interactions
Competition = organisms of the same or different species attempt to use an ecological resource in the same place at the same time
Resource = any necessity of life (water, nutrients, light, food, or space)
competitive exclusion principle = ecological rule that states that no two species can occupy the same exact niche in the same habitat at the same time

70. Predation = interaction in which one organism captures (kills) and feeds on another organism 
Predator / Prey

71. Symbiosis = Any relationship in which two species live closely together
mutualism
commensalism
parasitism

72. Mutualism = symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit from the relationship

74. Commensalism = symbiotic relationship in which one member of the association benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed

76. Parasitism = symbiotic relationship in which one organism lives in or on another organism (the host) and consequently harms it
Host / parasite

77. Ecological Succession
Ecosystems are constantly changing in response to natural and human disturbances.
ecological succession = gradual change in living communities that follows a disturbance

78. Primary Succession 
primary succession = succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists
Volcano
Glacier

79. pioneer species = first species to populate an area during primary succession
Often lichens

80. Secondary Succession 
secondary succession = succession following a disturbance that destroys a community without destroying the soil
land cleared and plowed for farming is abandoned
Wildfires

81. climax community = mature, stable community that did not undergo further succession
Old growth forests

82. Chapter 5 Populations
5-1
How Populations Grow

83. How Populations Grow Characteristics of Populations
Three important characteristics of a population
geographic distribution
Density
growth rate

84. Geographic Distribution
Geographic distribution, or range, is a term that describes the area inhabited by a population.

85. Population Density
Population density is the number of individuals per unit area.
The population of saguaro cactus in the desert plant community has a low density, whereas other plants in that community have a relatively high density.

86. Populations Growth Population Growth
Three factors can affect population size:
number of births
the number of deaths
the number of individuals that enter or leave the population.
* Simply put, a population will increase or decrease in size depending on how many individuals are added to it or removed from it

87. Immigration & Emmigration
the movement of individuals into an area, is another factor that can cause a population to grow.
Emigration
the movement of individuals out of an area, can cause a population to decrease in size.

88. Word Origin
Immigration is formed from the Latin prefix in-, meaning “in,” and migrare, meaning “to move from one place to another.
If the Latin prefix e- means “out,” then which of the following means “migration out”?
A.) emigration
B.) migration
C.) Immigration

89. Exponetial Growth Exponential Growth
If a population has abundant space and food, and is protected from predators and disease, then organisms in that population will multiply and the population size will increase.

91. Exponential Growth
Exponential growth occurs when the individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate.
Under ideal conditions with unlimited resources, a population will grow exponentially.

92. Logistic Growth
Logistic growth occurs when a population's growth slows or stops following a period of exponential growth.
As resources become less available, the growth of a population slows or stops. The general, S-shaped curve of this growth pattern, called logistic growth

94. Carrying Capacity Carrying Capacity
The number or the largest number of individuals that a given environment can support.

95. Pythons have replaced alligators as the apex (top) predator in the
In the Belly of a Python
Pythons have replaced alligators as the apex (top) predator in the
Florida Everglades

96. What is a Python?
Native to grassy marshes and jungles of Southeast Asia
Can grow up 23 feet long
Can weigh up to 200 lbs
Excellent swimmers – can stay submerged in
water up to 30 minutes
Diameter can be about the same as a telephone pole
Carnivores that kill by constriction (squeezing prey)
On Threatened List in native lands, but not threatened in Florida

97. Burmese Pythons are an Invasive Species
An invasive species is one that “invades” a habitat that is not its native habitat. In its native habitat it is part of an ecosystem that keeps its population in balance with other organisms.

98. An Invasive Species can Severely Damage an Ecosystem’s Balance
But when it is imported into another environment that provides the right combination of climate and resources to live but where its population is NOT kept in check in the new ecosystem, it becomes an INVASIVE SPECIES that disrupts the balance of the ecosystem.

99. What are the Everglades?
The Florida Everglades is a huge, wetland ecosystem .
Over 4,500 miles of slow moving waters feed the sub- tropical habitats.
Formed over thousands of years its waters and vegetation provides home to thousands of mammals, amphibians, birds, fish, insects, arachnids, reptiles and plants.
The Everglades is America's only sub-tropical wilderness and visitors travel from all over the world over to experience its natural beauty.
Has diverse habitats of pine and freshwater cypress forests, open prairie, and tropical saltwater mangrove swamps.
Fragile ecosystems are easily disrupted by invasive species.

100. Images of the Everglades

101. Burmese Pythons Disturb the Ecosystems of the Everglades
The non-native python has virtually no predators in the Everglades.
It is a voracious eater.
It disrupts the fragile balance of the ecosystems in the Everglades
The following slides show some of the very different kinds of animals that have been found in stomachs of captured pythons.

102. Bob Cats

103. Endangered Key Largo Woodrat Rare – only about 100 in the wild

104. White-tailed Deer
White-tails have a home territory that is less than one square mile. If the deer
in an area decrease because of python predation, how does that affect the ecosystem?
Think – what else eats deer? What do deer eat? Think in both directions of the food chain.

105. Rabbits

106. Yes, Alligators in Python Digestive Systems!

107. Limpkins – southern marsh bird
Feed almost exclusively on apple snails, which are voracious plant eaters. If
the limpkin population goes down from python predation, what does the apple
snail population do?

108. Wood Stork
Wood Storks have been on the Endangered Species List since 1984

109. Little Blue Heron

111. How Many Pythons Are in Florida?
An estimated 150,000 are slithering around the Evergaldes
So let’s see – what’s the math?
72 mice x 150,000 =
4 gators x 150,000 =
1 racoon x 150,000 =
15 rabbits x 150,00 =
And so on - you get the picture!
Now multiply the above by the fact that they can live to be 30 years old and hatch 35 to 100 eggs a year! And some percentage of the babies live and continue eating and hatching more snakes!
It’s a problem, alright.

112. Female with 59 Eggs When Captured and Killed

113. Ready to Watch Our Movie?
What are we interested in picking up information about?
How the invasion started
What predators they replace
What they eat
Ways that they disrupt the ecosystem
What can be done to solve the problem?

114. Images from The Nature Conservancy

115. Links to videos http://video.pbs.org/video/1411970145/