1. The study of the interactions between organisms and their environment.
Ecology
Environmental Science: Chapter 18
               
The study of the interactions between organisms and their environment.

2. vocab fluency chart ecology biotic ecosystem abiotic niche community
population
abiotic
habitat
niche
biosphere

3. Section 1 Everything is Connected

4. Biotic factors:
All the organisms that live together and interact with one another.

5. Abiotic factors:
All of the physical factors (non-living things) that affect organisms
Examples: water, air, soil , light, temperature, wind, humidity, waves, currents, gravity, etc.

6. Organism- An individual form of life
Anything that can carry out life processes independently

7. Population-
A group of individuals of the same species that live together in the same area at the same time.

8. Community-
All of the populations of different species that live and interact in an area.
Ex. Fawn Lake:

9. ecosystems
An ecosystem is made up of a community of organisms and it includes its ABIOTIC environment
Example: the ocean, tropical rain forest, salt marsh, river, etc.

10. Biosphere
The part of the earth where life exists.

11. 5 Levels of Environmental Organization:
biosphere
ecosystem
community
population
organism

12. Salt Marsh Ecosystem:
Cape Cod

13. LIVING THINGS NEED ENERGY!
Section 2
LIVING THINGS NEED ENERGY!
99.9% of living things get their energy from where?

14. the sun !

15. exception... deep sea vents
Black smokers….feed clams and tube worms…energy here comes from sulfur chemicals inside the earth

16. water temps are close to 750 dgrees F !
These exist on average at depths of 6,890 feet below the surface of the oceans !
(over a mile deep!)
water temps are close to 750 dgrees F !

17. Submersible : Alvin

19. All organisms are either:
A producer
A consumer or
A decomposer

20. What’s a Producer? Organisms that use sunlight directly to make food…
Ex. plants, algae, some bacteria

21. Producers do this by the process of…
photosynthesis

22. A Consumer Is an organism that eats other organisms
They eat producers (like plants) or
They eat other animals

23. What are the four types of Consumers?

24. Decomposers
Organisms that get energy by breaking down the remains of dead organisms
Ex. Bacteria, Fungi
Known as “nature’s recyclers”

25. What are the 2 main decomposers?
Bacteria !
Fungi !

26. This chain of energy transferring from one species to another can continue several more times, but it eventually ends. It ends with the dead animals that are broken down and used as food or nutrition by bacteria and fungi. As these organisms, referred to as decomposers, feed from the dead animals, they break down the complex organic compounds into simple nutrients. Decomposers play a very important role in this world because they take care of breaking down (cleaning) many dead material. There are more than 100,000 different types of decomposer organisms! These simpler nutrients are returned to the soil and can be used again by the plants. The energy transformation chain starts all over again.

27. Cycle of Life…
                                                                                 
Names and word definitions

28. What’s the difference between a Food Chain and a Food Web?

29. Food Chain-shows how energy in food molecules flows from one organism to the next
Food Web-a complex diagram showing many energy pathways in a real ecosystem

30. In a food chain or Food Web:
The arrow shows the direction of energy movement.
Which is correct?
A) Worm Robin
B) Robin Worm

31. What two things does an Energy Pyramid show?
Number of organisms
Amount of energy
available at each level:

32. Ocean

33. Pond

34. Field

35. Deciduous Forest

36. Wolves Canus lupis Used to be common throughout the country
They are predators that prey on large animals such as elk, deer, moose, buffalo, bison
Considered at the top of the Energy Pyramid in their ecosystem
Almost wiped out as the wilderness was settled
Results of their disappearance to the ecosystem?

37. Complete change of the food web:
Cervus americanus
Elk populations increased…
Overgrazing (by elk)
Grasses became wiped out
Populations of animals dependant on grasses were wiped out (hares, prairie dogs, skunks, chipmunks, and other small mammals)
Wipe-out of animals like foxes that eat the small mammals

38. In 1995
Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park:

39. How’s a habitat different from a niche?
(where it lives)
Niche-
(its role within the ecosystem)

40. Spider
Habitat?
Niche?

41. Dog
Habitat?
Niche?

42. Maple Tree
Habitat?
Niche?

44. Types of Interactions…
Section 3…
Types of Interactions…

45. Interactions in the environment…
Limiting Factors-things that slow the growth of a population such as food, water, or space, sunlight
Carrying Capacity

46. Carrying Capacity
The largest population that an environment can support over a long period of time.

48. Carrying Capacity
Example in Bedford?…
The deer population !

49. Oh Deer Game !

50. Interactions with Other Organisms:
There are 4 main ways that species and individuals affect each other:
Predators and Prey
Competition
Symbiosis
Coevolution

51. Predator-Prey
One organism eats another:
predator
prey

52. Adaptations of predators and prey:
Characteristics that improve an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce
Ex. Goldenrod spider:
Ambush their prey
Camouflage their bodies

53. Prey adaptations: Warning coloration: Schooling in fish
Herding in antelopes, zebras
Camouflage
Chemical defenses

55. Two cannibals are eating a clown
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: "Does this taste funny to you?"

56. Competition
When 2 or more individuals or populations try to use the same limited resource such as:
Food
Water
Shelter
Space
Sunlight
Can occur within a population as well as between populations of different species

57. Symbiosis:
Mutualism
Commensalism
Parasitism

58. Mutualism Both organisms benefit: Coral polyps bacteria algae
Contain living
Lives inside
algae
human intestines

59. clownfish living in anemones
I’m Nemo
I’m Nemo

60. Commensalism One benefits while one is unaffected:
Remora fish live on the underside of sharks

61. Epiphytes
Organisms (usually plants) that grow on other plants and do not harm them.

62. Examples of epiphytes…
Air plants

63. Spanish moss

64. Lichens
moss

65. Parasitism One benefits while the other is harmed:
The animal the parasite lives on or in is called the HOST
Fleas, ticks, worms, leeches

66. Tobacco Hornworm with parasitizing wasp eggs:
No parasites
parasites
parasites

67. Coevolution
The “long-term change” that takes place in two species because of their close interactions with each other.
Example on next slide…

68. Flowers coevolved with pollinators…

69. Hummingbirds and ornithophilous flowers
Hummingbirds and ornithophilous flowers have evolved to form a mutualistic relationship. It is prevalent in the bird’s biology as well as in the flower’s. Hummingbird flowers have nectar chemistry associated with the bird’s diet. Their color and morphology also coincide with the bird’s vision and morphology. The blooming times of these ornithophilous flowers have also been found to coincide with hummingbirds' breeding seasons.

70. Garter snake and Rough-skinned newt
Coevolution can occur between predator and prey species as in the case of the Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa) and the common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis). In this case, the newts produce a potent nerve toxin that concentrates in their skin. Garter snakes have evolved resistance to this toxin through a set of genetic mutations, and prey upon the newts. The relationship between these animals has resulted in an evolutionary arms race that has driven toxin levels in the newt to extreme levels.

71. Acacia ant and Swollen thorn acacia tree
The ant provides protection for the tree against preying insects and other plants competing for sunlight, and the tree provides nourishment and shelter for the ant and the ants' larvae.[11][12]