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

What is Ecology? The study of the interactions of organisms with one another and with their physical environment. Biotic Factors  Organisms that are living (or WERE living at one time….paper, steak) ex- animals, plants, bacteria, fungus Abiotic Factors  Physical Environment (non-living) ex- water, air, dirt, rocks Ch 52

Can we go smaller ? IndividualCommunity BiomeEcosystem PopulationBiosphere All Category A + B B only 1 Species 1

BIOSPHERE

*self-sustaining

Major Biological communities that occur over wide areas on land are called Biomes. Distribution Climate Life/OrganismsHuman Impact Ch 55

FYI… Latitude (shown as a horizontal line) is the angular distance, in degrees, minutes, and seconds of a point north or south of the Equator. Lines of latitude are often referred to as parallels. Longitude (shown as a vertical line) is the angular distance, in degrees, minutes, and seconds, of a point east or west of the Prime (Greenwich) Meridian. Lines of longitude are often referred to as meridians.

Climate Patterns determine an area’s water and energy Ch 55 Fig 55-1 CLIMATE: The average course or condition of the weather at a place usually over a period of years as exhibited by...? Temperature Precipitation Wind velocity CLIMATE

TUNDRA Distribution Climate Life/OrganismsHuman Impact

Boreal/Taiga Coniferous Distribution Climate Life/OrganismsHuman Impact

Deciduous Forest Distribution Climate Life/OrganismsHuman Impact

Grasslands Distribution Climate Life/OrganismsHuman Impact Savannas, pampas, prairies, steppes

Tropical Rain Forest Distribution Climate Life/OrganismsHuman Impact

Desert Distribution Climate Life/OrganismsHuman Impact

Biomes

BIOMES Ch 54

Distribution Climate Life/OrganismsHuman Impact

AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS ? Salinity, Water depth, Temperature, pH, presence/absence of waves/currents

Key Points of a Flowing Freshwater Ecosystem: (Streams, Rivers) Greatly different conditions from source to mouth Headwater streams –shallow, clear, fast….high or low O 2 ? 99% of energy from? Adaptions for living? Downstream- wider, slower, deeper, cloudy. More producers for energy Human Impact? *Less than 2% of Earth’s surface is freshwater p FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM Source

Key Points of a Standing Freshwater Ecosystem: (Ponds, Lakes) Zonation: Littoral, Limnetic, Profundal Most Productive? Depth of the Limnetic zone? Zone with primarily Phytoplankton and Zooplankton? Mineral Richest Zone? Why? O 2 Levels? p FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM

Thermal Stratification Thermocline Enrichment: Human Impact? [O 2 ] in the deepest part of a lake- higher in an enriched or an unenriched lake? p

ESTUARIES: Salt Marshes, Mangroves  Where fresh water and salt water meet  Among the most fertile of ecosystems- why?  Tides/circulation  Land minerals  Shallow/light  Many Plants/detritus  Subject to changes in:  Salinity  Water Levels (Tides)  Temperature *Stressful to live  Human Impact?

MARINE ECOSYSTEMS Three Primary Zones: Intertidal Adaptions to Living in the intertidal Zone? Benthic Sea Grasses, Kelp beds Coral Reefs Pelagic p1204

Species Richness: The number of different species in a community. Species Diversity: a measure of both species richness and the relative abundance of each species. A community with the same species richness can be less diverse if, on average, there is much greater abundance of some species over others. Ch 53#11: How is species richness of a community related to (1) geographic isolation; (2) the structural complexity of the habitats? p1208 Fig 55-25