General Ecology Terms 1. Biotic Factor of or relating to life; caused or produced by living beings. Ex. plants, animals, any organism. 2. Community all the populations of organisms living in a given area. 3. Consumer There are two kinds: Primary consumers are organisms that eat plants. Secondary consumers are organisms that eat animals that eat plants. Also called carnivores. 4. Decomposers An organism that feeds on dead material and causes its mechanical or chemical breakdown. For example: Fungi and bacteria are decomposers. 5. Ecosystem All the living organisms interacting with each other and the non-living characteristics of an area. 6. Habitat A native environment of an animal or plant which provides food, water, shelter and space suitable to its needs. 7. Limiting factor The condition which inhibits the expansion of a species. 8. Populations individuals of one species that occupies a particular geographic area 9. Producer Green plants that produce their own food from soil and sunlight. 10. Succession The gradual change of one community by another.

More Ecology Terms 11. organic Pertaining to compounds containing carbon plus hydrogen. Also refers to living things or the materials made by living things. 12. inorganic Not containing carbon and hydrogen in combination. Not from living things. Ex., minerals, water, oxygen, carbon dioxide etc. 13. biosphere The portion of the earth and its atmosphere in which living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life. 14. heterotroph "eats others." An organism that must consume other organisms to fuel its metabolism 15. autotroph "self eater." Organisms capable of producing their own food. 16. Niche the way in which an organism uses its environment. 17. Detritus particles of organic material that provide food for organisms at the base of a food web Ex: leaf litter 18. Abiotic Factor physical, or nonliving, factor that shapes an ecosystem.

Ecology branch of science concerned with the interrelationship of organisms and their environments.

Photosynthesis & Chemosynthesis Producer Green plants that produce their own food from soil and sunlight autotroph "self eater." Organisms capable of producing their own food.

Food Chain food chain/food web All the interactions of predator and prey, included along with the exchange of nutrients into and out of the soil. These interactions connect the various members of an ecosystem, and describe how energy passes from one organism to another.

Food Web

Ecological Pyramids Ecologist use ecological pyramids to represent the energy relationships among trophic levels. There are 3 types of ecological pyramids.  

Pyramid of Energy A pyramid of energy the total amount of incoming energy at each successive level. Notice that energy (in the form of heat) is lost going from one trophic level to another.

Pyramid of Biomass A pyramid of biomass show the total mass of living tissue at each level. This pyramid of biomass shows for example, that a large amount of grass is needed to feed a single rabbit and a large number of rabbits is needed to nourish a single hawk.

Pyramid of Numbers A pyramid of numbers illustrates the total number of organisms at each level In a grassland, for example, a large amount of grass (producers) is needed to support the herbivores (primary consumers). 2000 grass plants 25 voles 1 barn owl “However”

Pyramid of Numbers pyramids of numbers do not always appear as pyramids. Look at this one If the producer (in this example an oak tree) is a large plant, then the number of primary consumers which feed on the producer (caterpillars in this example) will be much larger in numbers.

Water Cycle

Carbon and Oxygen Cycle

Phosphorus cycle

Nitrogen Cycle Denitrification: When nitrogen in compounds is released into the air 79% of the air is nitrogen Nitrogen fixation the assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen by soil bacteria and its release for plant use Nitrification the oxidation of ammonium compounds in dead organic material into nitrates and nitrites by soil bacteria (making nitrogen available to plants)

Biogeochemical Cycles All of the matter that cycles through the earth and living things. Ex. Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Water, etc. The difference between matter and energy flow is that energy can flows in one direction but matter (or nutrients) is neither created nor destroyed it gets recycled.

Biological Magnification The process by which concentrations of a harmful substance increases in organisms at higher trophic levels in a food chain or food web. It affects the entire food web but top-level carnivores are at highest risk. 1962 Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring about the dangers of a pesticide called DDT, which was banned in 1970. One effect of DDT was to make the eggs of large fish eating birds so fragile that they could not survive intact.

Biotic Factors Biotic relating to, or caused by living organisms Biotic factor Factors such as parasitism, disease, competition and predation (one animal eating another) would also be classified as biotic factors.

Abiotic Factors refers to nonliving objects, substances or processes. : The abiotic factors of the environment include light, temperature, and atmospheric gases.

Symbiosis - Organisms and their interactions with other organisms Parasitism-relationship in which one species, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host

Symbiosis- Mutualism An association between organisms of two different species in which each member benefits

Symbiosis - Commensalism relationship between two organisms of different species in which one derives some benefit while the other is unaffected.

Succession The gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem brought about by the progressive replacement of one community by another until a stable climax community is established.   * Lichens*

Pond Succesion

Mount St. Helens 1982 1982 2002

Growth of Populations To study the relationships between organisms, ecologists need to know how organisms change over time. How many individuals are born? How many die? How many organisms live in an area at any given time? To answer these questions, ecologist study populations.

Exponential growth Growth is accelerating. When introduced into a favorable environment with an abundance of resources, a small population may undergo geometric, or exponential growth.

Logistic Growth When growth encounters environmental resistance, (competition, predation, parasitism, crowding and death due to natural disasters) populations experience an S-shaped or logistic growth curve.

Limiting Factors

Density Dependent Factors Become limiting only when the population density (the number of organism per unit area) reaches a certain level. These factors operate most strongly when a population is large and dense They do not affect small, scattered populations greatly. Predation

Density Independent Factors Affect all populations in similar ways, regardless of the population size Unusual weather, natural disasters, seasonal cycle, and certain human activities, such as damming rivers and clear-cutting forests are all examples of density-independent limiting factors Tsunami

Using Your Conservation Project Answer the following Questions. Identify four different populations. Identify four biotic factors. Name one primary consumer. Identify two autotrophs. Identify two heterotrophs. Identify four abiotic factors. Identify four organic items. Name one secondary consumer.

9. Identify two producers. 10. Identify four inorganic items. 11. Identify two decomposers. 12. Using 4 organisms illustrate a basic food chain. 13. Using 10 organisms illustrate a basic food web. 14. Using 4 organisms illustrate a energy pyramid. 15. Explain the problem that is causing your environment to be destroyed. (at least 20 words)