1. ECOLOGY
“No man is an island entire of itself. Every man is a piece of a continent, a part of the main”
-John Donne

2. What is Ecology?
The study of the interactions of organisms with one another and with their physical environment.
Physical Environment (non-living) ex- water, air, dirt, rocks
Organisms that are living (or WERE living at one time…. paper, steak) ex- animals, plants, bacteria, fungus

3. Individual Community Biome Ecosystem Population Biosphere1 2 3
All
Category
A + B
B only
1 Species 1 4 5 6
Can we go smaller ?

4. *self-sustaining

5. Major Biological communities that occur over wide areas on land are called Biomes.
Distribution Climate Life/Organisms Human Impact

6. TUNDRA
Distribution Climate Life/Organisms Human Impact

7. Deciduous Forest
Distribution Climate Life/Organisms Human Impact

8. Tropical Rain Forest
Distribution Climate Life/Organisms Human Impact

9. Desert
Distribution Climate Life/Organisms Human Impact

10. Important Terms Producer/Autotroph (Auto = self, troph = feeder)
organisms that produce their own food directly from the sun’s energy.
Take in energy from their surroundings and and store it in complex molecules such as carbohydrates.
Use the process of photosynthesis to make complex molecules

11. Consumers/Heterotrophs (hetero = other)
Organisms that obtain energy by
consuming other organisms.
Feed on producers & other consumers
Can be:
herbivores
carnivores
omnivores
decomposers

12. Important Terms
Primary Consumer – Feeds on plants. All are herbivores.
Secondary Consumer – Feeds on primary consumers. May be omnivore or carnivore
Tertiary Consumer – Feeds on secondary consumer. May be omnivore or carnivore
Quaternary Consumer – Feeds on tertiary consumer. May be omnivore or carnivore.

13. Food Chain or
Food Web?

15. Trophic levels:
# OF Energy Steps from the Sun

16. Competition Inter = Between different species
Intra = within one species
Predation
Predator
Prey
Pursuit, ambush
Battle at Kruger 8.24
Ch 53#3, extension 1- protection of young, CH51 Extension#1,5

17. Pair, Share, Explain
A population increase in which the population "overshoots" the carrying capacity, K, and then crashes precipitously. Note that after the crash the population rebounds somewhat and approaches a new stable size (dN/dt = 0). Note that the carrying capacity has also changed. In the case of the Kaibab deer, this would represent irreversible (or at least very long term) changes in the amount of food available.

18. Plant Defenses Adaptions to improve Survival & Reproduction:
Mechanical, Chemical *Cuticle- keep water in, pathogens out; close the stomata! Spines! Thorns! *Polymers to reduce digestibility; Odor! *Essential oils- attract predatory insects to kill plant-feeding insects
Ch 53#6, extension 1

19. “Cryptic Coloration” Malaysian orchid mantis Grey Cicada
Camouflage
“Cryptic Coloration”
Malaysian orchid mantis
Grey Cicada

20. Octopus Grizzly Bear 4.37Camouflage

21. Aposematic “warning” Coloration
The yellow banded poison dart frog
Aposematic “warning” Coloration

22. Mimicry
The harmless mimic gains the same advantage as the dangerous model.
The ‘duped’ predator brings about this evolutionary change. How?
While the increased # could benefit both species, the model could be disadvantaged in this process. How?

23. Mimicry The ‘model’ is still an aposematic prey.
The Viceroy butterfly ‘mimic’(top) appears very similar to the noxious tasting Monarch butterfly (bottom).
However, the viceroy is actually more unpalatable than the monarch
The model benefits from being mimic- increasing numbers of toxic prey out there warning away predators
The predator is not ‘duped’- both really are harmful
Mimicry

24. Competitive Exclusion Principle p400 text
No two species can co-exist in a community if they share a niche (have the same needs).
Where there is overlap, competition goes on and one species will always win out.
Competitive Exclusion Principle p400 text

25. Resource Partitioning
Instead of out competing another species- they co-exist
Other ways?
location
time of day
nesting sites or times
Food type
plant root depth

26. Symbiosis Symbiosis Mutualism +/+ Commensalism +/0 Parasitism
+/-(host)
An intimate relationship between two or more organisms of different species.
P/S: examples of each?

27. ?
Mutualism

28. Ectoparasite ?
Parasitism
Ecto or endo?

29. Endoparasite ?
Parasitism…..
ecto or endo?

30. Lichen:
Fungus + Algae ?
Mutualism

31. ?
Mutualism
The “crocodile bird- Egyptian plover…subsaharan Africa

32. ?
Commensalism

33. Keystone vs Dominant Species
Definitions: ?
P/S: Humans: keystone or dominant species?
Dominant: Most abundant species in a community
Keystone: Species that has greater influence on community structure than you would predict based on #’s. Maintains species diversity (predation)
Grey Wolf
Fig Tree ?

35. Energy flow through ecosystems

36. 10% Rule
NPP = GPP - CR
CH54#2

37. Most ecological pyramids are large at the base and narrow at the top.
This is because every time that an organism is eaten by the next trophic level, some of the energy is lost as heat.
More Energy
Less Energy

39. Pyramid of Energy: Shows the energy available at each trophic level.
The size of the blocks represents the proportion of energy
Measured in Joules or Calories

40. Pyramid of Numbers: Illustration of the number of organisms at
each level