Ecology Eco = house Logy= study

Ecosystem: A community of organisms and their environment Biosphere: the largest ecosystem (Ecosystems are threatened by pollution) Ecosystem: A community of organisms and their environment Biosphere: the largest ecosystem (Ecosystems are threatened by pollution)

Environmental factors Abiotic factors: non-living factors that can determine what type of organism can live in an environment. Abiotic factors: non-living factors that can determine what type of organism can live in an environment. – Air and atmosphere Plants need CO 2 for photosynthesis. Plants need CO 2 for photosynthesis. Animals need oxygen for cellular respiration Animals need oxygen for cellular respiration – Water Freshwater vs salt water Freshwater vs salt water – Soil Not all soil types are the same; some are rocky and others are sandy. Not all soil types are the same; some are rocky and others are sandy.

Environmental factors – Sunlight Some plants need a lot of sun; some need a lot of shade Some plants need a lot of sun; some need a lot of shade – Temperature This is influenced by elevation and latitude This is influenced by elevation and latitude – Climate The long-term weather conditions in a place. The long-term weather conditions in a place. Biotic factors: living features of an Biotic factors: living features of anenvironment. Usually, what types of animals and plants live in a place.

Cycles in nature Nothing is ever created or destroyed; it only changes form. We have several cycles to show how materials move through the earth – Rock cycle – Water cycle – Nitrogen cycle – Carbon cycle

Energy Flow Energy moves through the earth as well. It is never created or destroyed but changes form often. – It can move through different animals as well Food Chains and Food Webs

Food Chains Matter and Energy pass between organisms in the Earth and are constantly changed and recycled. Neither matter or Energy are destroyed or created; they are continually changing form. – Food chains begin with a producer – Primary consumers eat producers – Secondary consumers eat primary consumers Sun  producers  1 st consumers  2 nd consumers

Other Terms Producers can also be called autotrophs Consumers can be called heterotrophs Herbivores are animals that eat plants Carnivores are animals that eat other animals Omnivores are animals that eat both plants and animals.

Lets practice making a food chain Make a food chain with the following organisms. Label each organism as a producer, 1 st consumer or 2 nd consumer: – Grass, sheep, wolf – Flower, hummingbird, snake – Algae, fish, bear

Lets practice making a food chain Roll the dice to choose the animals to include in your food chain Roll 3 times. Choose one animal/plant from each category Roll Producers grasstreegrassalgaeflowergrassflowergrassalgaetree 1 st Consumers cowsheepelephantmousefishbeegiraffebirdchipmunkskunk 2 nd Consumers lionwolfhawkeaglebearwaspsnakevulturebacteriamushroom

Food Webs Food chains don’t work well with more than 3 or four individuals in them For more complex interactions we use a food web

Lets practice making a food web Roll the dice to choose the animals to include in your food chain Roll 7 times. Choose one animal/plant from each category Roll Producers gras s Apple tree grassalgaehibiscusgrassflowersgrassalgaetree Consumers cowsheepelephantmousefishbeegiraffeSong bird chipmunkskunk 2 nd consumers lionwolfhawkeaglebearwaspsnakevulturebacteriamushroom

Energy Pyramid Whenever energy is transformed, part of it is lost as heat and entropy When a mouse eats a seed the energy stored in the seed is transformed into usable energy by the mouse and some of it is released as heat. There was more energy stored in the seed than can be used by the mouse because some was lost as heat when the energy was converted in the mouse. – This means that you always have to have more producers than consumers. Otherwise there wouldn’t be enough energy for the consumers.

Ecology Quiz 1.Define producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, autotrophs, heterotrophs, ecosystem, biosphere, carnivores, herbivores, omnivores. 2.Give an example of each of the above terms 3.Make a 3-organism food chain. Label the producer, primary consumer and secondary consumer. 4.Make a 6 organism food web. Label the producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers 5.Grass  sheep  wolf Explain what would happen to the wolf and grass population if a disease killed off a lot of sheep 6. What would happen to the grass population if there were very few wolves?

Biodiversity Biodiversity is the variety of life in an ecosystem It is measured in species per area Biodiversity increases the closer you get to the equator

Why is biodiversity important? Biodiversity gives us genetic diversity Biodiversity gives us genetic diversity – Species have a greater chance of adapting – Hybrid vigor: individuals that have more variety in their genes are healthier Biodiversity helps the stability of an ecosystem by giving enough variety to prevent extinction Biodiversity helps the stability of an ecosystem by giving enough variety to prevent extinction

Extinction Mass extinction is when millions of plants and animals die from a global catastrophy Extinction is when a single species dies off Endangered animals are in the process of becoming extinct Threatened animals are in the process of becoming endangered Threatened  endangered  extinct

What causes extinction Most modern extinctions are occurring because of humans – Divided habitats: humans build roads that go through habitats – Habitat loss: humans build on top of animal habitats and the animals must relocate – Introduced species: global travel has introduced species from other parts of the world into habitats. Sometimes the exotic species are better adapted than the native species and the native species dies.

Human pollution Human pollution creates all the following environmental problems that can contribute to extinction: Human pollution creates all the following environmental problems that can contribute to extinction: – Acid rain – Global warming – Ozone depletion

Population Ecology Lab GenerationNumber of predators at start Number of prey caught Number of predators in next generation trial SpoonsForksKnives redblackwhitespotredblackWhiteSpotRedBlackWhitespot 1 2 3