Introduction to Ecology Chapter 18 Table of Contents Section 1 Introduction to Ecology Section 2 Ecology of Organisms Section 3 Energy Transfer Section 4 Ecosystem Recycling

Standards SPI Predict how population changes of organisms at different trophic levels affect an ecosystem. SPI Interpret the relationship between environmental factors and fluctuations in population size. SPI Determine how the carrying capacity of an ecosystem is affected by interactions among organisms. SPI Make inferences about how a specific environmental change can affect the amount of biodiversity. Chapter 18 Introduction to Ecology

Section 1 Introduction to Ecology Chapter 18 Objectives Identify a key theme in ecology. Describe an example showing the effects of interdependence upon organisms in their environment. Identify the importance of models to ecology. State the five different levels of organization at which ecology can be studied.

Section 1 Introduction to Ecology Chapter 18 Interdependence: A Key Theme in Ecology Organisms and Their Environments –Species interact with both other species and their nonliving environment. –Interdependence is a theme in ecology—one change can affect all species in an ecosystem.

Section 1 Introduction to Ecology Chapter 18 Ecological Models Ecological models help to explain the environment.

Chapter 18 Making an Ecosystem Model Section 1 Introduction to Ecology

Chapter 18 Levels of Organization Ecologists recognize a hierarchy of organization in the environment: biosphere, ecosystem, community, population, and organism.

Chapter 18 Levels of Organization Section 1 Introduction to Ecology

Chapter 18 Levels of Organization, continued The Biosphere –The broadest, most inclusive level of organization is the biosphere, the volume of Earth and its atmosphere that supports life.

Section 1 Introduction to Ecology Chapter 18 Levels of Organization, continued Ecosystems –The biosphere is composed of smaller units called ecosystems. –An ecosystem includes all of the organisms and the nonliving environment found in a particular place.

Section 1 Introduction to Ecology Chapter 18 Levels of Organization, continued Communities, Populations, and Organisms –A community is all the interacting organisms living in an area. –Below the community level of organization is the population level, where the focus is on the individual organisms of a single species.

Section 2 Ecology of Organisms Chapter 18 Objectives Compare abiotic factors with biotic factors, and list two examples of each. Describe two mechanisms that allow organisms to survive in a changing environment. Explain the concept of the niche.

Section 2 Ecology of Organisms Chapter 18 Ecosystem Components Biotic and Abiotic Factors –Both biotic, or living, factors and abiotic, or nonliving, factors influence organisms. Examples of abiotic factors are climate, sunlight, and pH.

Section 2 Ecology of Organisms Chapter 18 Organisms in a Changing Environment Acclimation –Some organisms can adjust their tolerance to abiotic factors through the process of acclimation.

Section 2 Ecology of Organisms Chapter 18 Organisms in a Changing Environment, continued Control of Internal Conditions –Conformers are organisms that do not regulate their internal conditions; they change as their external environment changes. –Regulators use energy to control some of their internal conditions.

Section 2 Ecology of Organisms Chapter 18 Organisms in a Changing Environment, continued Escape from Unsuitable Conditions –Some species survive unfavorable environmental conditions by becoming dormant or by migrating.

Section 2 Ecology of Organisms Chapter 18 The Niche A niche is a way of life, or a role in an ecosystem.

Section 3 Energy Transfer Chapter 18 Objectives Summarize the role of producers in an ecosystem. Identify several kinds of consumers in an ecosystem. Explain the important role of decomposers in an ecosystem. Compare the concept of a food chain with that of a food web. Explain why ecosystems usually contain only a few trophic levels.

Section 3 Energy Transfer Chapter 18 Producers Most producers are photosynthetic and make carbohydrates by using energy from the sun.

Section 3 Energy Transfer Chapter 18 Producers, continued Measuring Productivity –Gross primary productivity is the rate at which producers in an ecosystem capture the energy of sunlight by producing organic compounds. –The rate at which biomass accumulates is called net primary productivity.

Section 3 Energy Transfer Chapter 18 Consumers Consumers obtain energy by eating other organisms and include herbivores, omnivores, carnivores, detritivores, and decomposers.

Section 3 Energy Transfer Chapter 18 Energy Flow Food Chains and Food Webs –A single pathway of energy transfer is a food chain. –A network showing all paths of energy transfer is a food web.

Chapter 18 Food Chain in an Antarctic Ecosystem Section 3 Energy Transfer

Chapter 18 Food Web in an Antarctic Ecosystem Section 3 Energy Transfer

Chapter 18 Energy Flow, continued Energy Transfer –Ecosystems contain only a few trophic levels because there is a low rate of energy transfer between each level.

Chapter 18 Energy Transfer Through Trophic Levels Section 3 Energy Transfer

Section 4 Ecosystem Recycling Chapter 18 Objectives List four major biogeochemical cycles. Summarize three important processes in the water cycle. Outline the major steps in the carbon cycle. Describe the role of decomposers in the nitrogen cycle. Summarize the major steps of the phosphorus cycle.

Section 4 Ecosystem Recycling Chapter 18 The Water Cycle Key processes in the water cycle are evaporation, transpiration, and precipitation.

Chapter 18 Water Cycle Section 4 Ecosystem Recycling

Chapter 18 The Carbon Cycle Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are the two main steps in the carbon cycle.

Chapter 18 Section 4 Ecosystem Recycling Carbon Cycle

Section 4 Ecosystem Recycling Chapter 18 Nitrogen Cycle Nitrogen-fixing bacteria are important in the nitrogen cycle because they change nitrogen gas into a usable form of nitrogen for plants.

Chapter 18 Nitrogen Cycle Section 4 Ecosystem Recycling

Chapter 18 Phosphorus Cycle In the phosphorus cycle, phosphorus moves from phosphate deposited in rock, to the soil, to living organisms, and finally to the ocean.