Introduction to Ecology

1 notepad, 1 pencil Put your initials by your answers First time around: -List 1 thing you want to do this year in science class. ___________________________________ Second time around: -List 1 other thing you want to do this year in anything (socially, a different class, vacation, etc.)

ECOLOGY The study of the interactions that take place among organisms and their environment

1. Organism – an individual living thing

2. Population All the organisms in an ecosystem that belong to the same species

3. Community All the populations in an ecosystem

4. Ecosystem All the organisms living in an area AND the nonliving features of their environment

organism population community ecosystem

Within An Ecosystem… Habitat- provides shelter and resources so that animals can survive Niche- the role of an organism in its ecosystem- how does it survive?

Producers & Consumers Producer: makes its own energy through photosynthesis (aka autotroph) Consumer: must consume other organisms to gain energy (aka heterotroph) Energy is constantly being transferred between organisms and their environments!

Factors in an Ecosystem Organisms depend on biotic and abiotic factors for survival –Biotic: living –Abiotic: nonliving Biotic & abiotic factors influence what organisms can live in a certain area *Limiting Factor- any resource that limits how large a population can grow

Find as many biotic and abiotic factors as you can!

Community Interactions Powerfully affect an ecosystem! Include: –Competition –Predation –Symbiosis

Competition Organisms attempt to use an ecological resource at the same place and the same time –Resource  anything necessary to survive Food, water, space, mate, shelter, oxygen, sunlight, etc –Plants and animals compete –Winner and losers

Predation Interaction where a consumer captures and feeds on another consumer Predator (consumer) –Organism that does the killing and eating Prey (consumer) –Organism that is being killed and eaten (victim)

Symbiosis Any close relationship between two species Symbiosis literally means “living together” 3 types: –Mutualism (+/+) –Commensalism (+/0) –Parasitism (+/-)

Mutualism Both species benefit from the relationship A Happy couple (+/+)

Mutualism How do both species benefit?

Who is helping who?

Ants and Aphids Aphids provide honeydew to the ants, while the ants will take the aphids into their nests at night to protect them from predators and escort them back to a plant the next morning. The ants collect the aphid's eggs and place them in their nests to survive the cold winter months!

Commensalism One member of the relationship benefits while the other is neither harmed nor helped One-sided (+/0) Usually for food or shelter

Parasitism One organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it (+/-) Parasite obtains all or part of its nutrients from the other organism Host –Organism that is harmed in relation ship; the one that provides the nutrients to the parasite Parasite –Organism that gets its nutrients from the host Do they want to kill their host? –No, because they need them…they will weaken or hurt the host in some way

Can You Answer These? What is Ecology? Study of interactions between organisms & environment What are 3 relationships in ecosystems? Competition, Predator-Prey, Symbiosis What are 3 types of symbiosis? Mutualism, Commensalism, Parasitism What is the difference between an ECOSYSTEM and a BIOME? Ecosystem- all living & nonliving factors of an environment; Biome- large geog. area w/similar climate & organisms