1. Welcome Back to School! DO NOW on paper TAKE OUT HOMEWORK- June 2012 Regents Part A

2. Ecology Ecology is the study of how living things interact with other living things AND their environment Ecology looks at both BIOTIC and ABIOTIC factors

3. Living things compete with each other for the finite resources available in nature. There is only so much food, shelter, space, etc. in an ecosystem.

4. Carrying Capacity Organisms have the ability to reproduce and infinitely increase their population size, but populations are limited by available resources. The maximum number of a species an ecosystem can support is called the carrying capacity.

8. A population will continue to increase until it reaches the carrying capacity. Once carrying capacity is reaches, the population stabilizes. The population will enter a state of dynamic equilibrium

9. All of the organisms in an ecosystem are connected to each other through competitions. There are many roles that an organism can play in an ecosystem

10. Producer- makes it’s own food Autotroph- makes it’s own food Consumer- EATS other organisms Heterotroph- gets organic nutrients from other organisms Predator- The hunter, relies on prey for food Prey- The hunted, food source for predator Carnivore- Eats MEAT Herbivore- Eats PLANTS Decomposer- Breaks down dead organic matter, recycles nutrients into soil Parasite- steals nutrients from host, disrupts homeostasis

11. Food webs show the transfer of energy in an ecosystem. Food webs always start with producers, who make food energy by photosynthesis The arrows represent the flow of energy. Energy moves in one direction only!

13. Producer---->Herbivore------>Carnivore (predator) Energy is passed along as “organic nutrients,” or chemical energy. ATP IS NEVER transferred.

14. A food web shows how all of the food chains in an ecosystem are connected. An organism can be involved in many food chains

15. Pyramids Pyramids can be used to show the abundance, or amount of organisms in an ecosystem. Producers, or plants are ALWAYS the most abundant. They are ALWAYS at the base of a pyramid.

17. Blue Bird

18. There must ALWAYS be more prey than predators. Prey support the predators.

19. Pyramids also represent the energy available in an ecosystem. As you move up the pyramid, the amount of energy decreases. Organisms use ATP. When ATP is used, it is lost forever.

22. As a result of evolution (natural selection, competition, survival of the fittest), there is a diversity of organisms and roles in ecosystems. Diversity increases the chance that at least some will survive any environmental changes

23. The diversity of life in an ecosystem is called BIODIVERSITY – Diversity of life means there are different types of life Bacteria, fungus, plants, animals Biodiversity increases the stability of the ecosystem

24. The diversity of life in an ecosystem is called BIODIVERSITY – Diversity of life means there are different types of life Bacteria, fungus, plants, animals Biodiversity increases the stability of the ecosystem The greater the food web, the greater the biodiversity

25. The more biodiversity there is, the more genetic diversity there is.

26. Most of our medicines are derived from chemicals that we find in nature. All of our food is derived from the plants and animals we find in nature.

27. Biodiversity keeps ecosystems stable, and allows us to use nature’s resources which may lead to future agricultural or medical discoveries. -Botana curus

28. Why is biodiversity important? Makes ecosystem more stable Increases genetic diversity Future discoveries of medicine Future discoveries in agriculture