Habitat and Niche

Habitat Habitat (Home): A place where a living thing lives is its habitat. It is a place where it can find food, shelter, protection and mates for reproduction. It is the physical environment that surrounds a species population

Habitat Habitat (Home): A place where a living thing lives is its habitat. It is a place where it can find food, shelter, protection and mates for reproduction. It is the physical environment that surrounds a species population

Habitat Habitat (Home): The habitat is the physical area where a species lives. Physical =Abiotic Factors Temperature Rainfall Sunlight Soil Rock

Niche Niche (Job): A niche is the role a species plays in the ecosystem. How an organism “makes a living.” How it fits in the ecosystem (biotic and abiotic) Crocodile and plover bird- The plover picks meat from the crocodile's mouth. This cleans the crocodile's teeth and prevents infection while providing a somewhat scary meal for the hungry bird. Crocodile and plover bird- The plover picks meat from the crocodile's mouth. This cleans the crocodile's teeth and prevents infection while providing a somewhat scary meal for the hungry bird.

Niches and Competition : Get in Where you Fit in A niche includes: How an organism gets food What it eats (prey) What eats it (predators) How it interacts with other organisms

Competition 2 different organisms will compete if they are in the same space. Complete competitors cannot exist. One must leave or die out. Intraspecific competition is competition among members of the same species  Interspecfic comptetion is competition among different species

Work Time Continue Food Web project. Have I written down the names of the organisms in my web? Have we written 3 food chains that have a producer, a consumer and a decomposer? Have I figured out how to draw the food chains into the food web? Do I know what materials I want to use?  Do I have them or do I need to go get them?  If so, where and when will I do this?

Food Web Checklist Food Chains within the Food Web _________________________ In these food chains, the arrows show that……

1. ____________________________________________________________ Food Web Poster Rubric Group # ___________   Yes No Notes Does the food web begin with a producer? Do all species live in the same ecosystem? Does the food web include a decomposer? Are arrows used to model the flow of energy? Are all arrows in the food web in the correct direction? Is the flow of energy accurate between organisms? Can your group correctly identify all individual food chains in their food web? Food Chains within the Food Web 1. ____________________________________________________________ 2. ____________________________________________________________ 3. ____________________________________________________________ 4. ____________________________________________________________

Closing An organism’s home is called its ………………………. habitat The role or job an organism has is called its …………… niche

Types of Consumers Herbivore - plant eater Carnivore – meat eater Scavenger – consumes dead tissue Decomposers – break down compounds and release nutrients from dead matter e.g. fungi bacteria

Relationships between species

Everything on Earth doesn't exist in its own little bubble Everything on Earth doesn't exist in its own little bubble. Species interact every day. That interaction is a vital part of how organisms develop and change over time. When the Tom Hanks image displays, make sure you talk about how, even he, is interacting with the organisms around him.

Think about it, just today, how many organisms have you interacted with? Could you live, grow and develop without these interactions?

Interactions between organisms Predation Competition Symbiosis Commensalism Mutualism Parasitism

Feeding Relationships Predation: a feeding relationship where one animal hunts, kills and consumes another animal. The hunter/eater is called the PREDATOR  The hunted/eaten animal is called the PREY

Herbivory: a feeding relationship where an animal eats a plant Herbivory: a feeding relationship where an animal eats a plant. Unlike predation, herbivory does not usually result in the death of the organism that is consumed.

Competition A relationship where organisms compete for resources (food, light, water, shelter, mates, etc).

Symbiotic Relationships A symbiotic relationship is a long-term, physically close relationship between separate species where at least one organism benefits.

Commensalism: (+/0) a symbiotic relationship where one species benefits and the other is not affected either positively or negatively

Parasitism: (+/-) a symbiotic relationship where one species benefits and the other is harmed

Why do organisms live in symbiotic relationships? For food Resources Habitat Protection Transportation Cleaning http://www.morning-earth.org/Graphic-E/Interliv-Two.html

Coevolution Coevolution: occurs when species in an ecological relationship evolve in response to changes in each other. Coevolution can result from feeding relationships and/or symbiotic relationships