Unit 1 Impressive Interactions (Interactions & Ecosystems)

Who Interacts With Whom? Examine your identity card What are you? Where might you live? Move around the classroom and find 4 different organisms you think your organism interacts with What does it mean to INTERACT? Write down your connections & HOW they connect Draw in a line connection your organisms on the class mural Return your identity card to Miss Robertson

How would YOU feel if the organism shown was the last one of its kind left on Earth? What might be some of the consequences?

Needs of Living Things What are the basic needs of a wolf? What are the basic needs of a tree?

ALL living things share the same basic needs Food Provides energy Organisms have to make it or obtain it (eating) Water Exchange of gases Oxygen ↔ Carbon dioxide Habitat Suitable living conditions Climate, landscape, shelter Interactions ALL living things share the same basic needs

Ecosystems Sketch/draw/write what you think is a representation of an ecosystem WHY do you think it is an ecosystem? How would you define an ecosystem?

An Organism’s World Species Population Single type of organism that reproduces with its own kind Population Members of the same species that live in a specific area

Community Populations of different species live in the same area

Ecosystem Where living things interact with other living and non-living things in a shared environment

Living = Non-living = Other examples? Biotic Abiotic

How can an ecosystem be studied? Transect Line Study specific area along a single line Quadrat Study specific area contained within a grid

Groups of 3-4 Practice a Transect Lay your transect line down straight across the floor Count the population of everything you find under the line at each meter Mark the location of everything on your results sheet Practice a Quadrat Lay your quadrat down Count the population of everything you find in the quadrat

What were some of the benefits of using the transect? The quadrat? What were some of the drawbacks of using the transect? Was the transect reliable? Why? If you only used this data to describe your classroom, would it be useful? Why or why not? Which method do you think would be most beneficial when studying an ecosystem? Why?

Laboratory Activity 1: Quadrat Study

Case Study 1: The Wolves of Yellowstone What interactions are present? Between what organisms? How were the interactions affected by changes in the ecosystem?

Yellowstone Before & After Reintroduction of the Wolf

Wolves are a keystone species Hold the ecological balance together in an ecosystem Maintain the structure and integrity of the community Wolves are a bio-indicator species The presence or absence of wolves indicates whether or not the environment is healthy

Last wolf was killed in 1926 By the mid 1930’s all the willow, aspen and poplar were stunted to below knee height near water bodies How are wolves connected to the healthy and survival of Willow and Aspen trees?

Without natural predators, elk population dramatically increased Elk forage on Willow and Aspen tree leaves & young shoots Large herds travelling along river banks destroyed young trees

The ecosystem collapsed Beaver disappeared from Yellowstone by the mid 1930’s Song birds & waterfowl were disappearing Species of flower were disappearing Fewer scavenger species

Between 1994-1996 wolves were captured from Northern Alberta and Yoho National Park and were re-introduced to Yellowstone The wolf population increased with an abundance of food sources

Beaver started to return to Yellowstone after only 1 year of wolves being present Why?