Chapter 2 - Ecology Ecology Study of organisms and their interactions with each other and the environment All living things require a supporting environment including other things. No organism lives in isolation. What evidence do you have that living things require/need each other? Biosphere Portion of the earth that supports life Landmasses, bodies of freshwater and saltwater, and all locations below the earth’s surface that support life.

Chapter 2 - Ecology Abiotic vs. Biotic Factors Biotic – living factors in an organism’s environment (other animals, plants, micro organisms) Abiotic – Nonliving factors in an organism’s environment (temperature, air, water currents, sunlight, soil) Organisms adapt to these factors in their environment.

Chapter 2 - Ecology Levels of Organization After cells are molecules then atoms! Since we are all made of atoms, technically speaking, chemists are atoms that study atoms!

Chapter 2 - Ecology Energy Flow Autotrophs vs. Heterotrophs Autotrophs – collects energy (from sunlight or inorganic materials) to produce food (plants) Heterotrophs – gets energy from consuming other organisms Herbivore – eats plants Carnivore – eats meat Omnivore – eats everything Detritivore – eats fragments of dead matter

Chapter 2 - Ecology Food Chain Simple model that shows how energy flows through an ecosystem

Chapter 2 - Ecology Food Pyramid A diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy, biomass, or numbers of organisms at each trophic level. Trophic level – each step in a food chain

Chapter 2 - Ecology Transpiration – trees return water to the atmosphere (clouds) Precipitation – rain Evaporation – water becomes gas

Chapter 2 - Ecology Carbon-Oxygen Cycle Plants take in CO2 and release O2 Animals take in O2 and release CO2

Chapter 2 - Ecology Nitrogen Cycle Harmful forms of nitrogen are released in the soil by decomposers Certain bacteria “fixes” the harmful N converting it to a non harmful form.