1. “Study of (natures) house”
Ecology
Means “study of”
Means “house”
This presentation is very customized for a sequence of local activities. Before using this in your class, I suggest you make modifications to suit your needs. This is designed for use with note-taking sheets and New England Coast coloring sheet.
Run through the entire presentation before using it in class so that you know what’s coming next! It helps to print the outline and notes to have with you while presenting so that there are no surprises. –JessB.org
“Study of (natures) house”
The scientific study of interactions that take place between organisms and their environment.
© J Beauchemin 2006

2. Levels of Organization

3. What are the Simplest Levels?
Atom
Molecule
Cell
Tissue
Organ
Organ System
Organism

4. Levels of Organization
Ecologists have organized the interactions an organism takes part in into different levels according to complexity.

5. 1st Level of Organization
Organism a.k.a. species : An individual living thing that is made of cells, uses energy, reproduces, responds, grows, and develops
A single zebra

6. 2nd Level of Organization
Population: A group of organisms, all of the same species, which interbreed and live in the same place at the same time.
A group of zebras

7. 3rd Level of Organization
Community: All the populations of different species that live in the same place at the same time.
All the zebras & wildebeest

8. 4th Level of Organization
Ecosystem: Populations of plants and animals that interact with each other in a given area along with the abiotic components of that area.
BIOME: A group of ecosystems with the same climate & dominant communities
All the animals plus the non-living components (i.e. rocks, weather, water etc.)

9. 5th Level of Organization
Biosphere: The portion of Earth that supports life.
Life is found in air, on land, and in fresh and salt water.

10. What level of organization?
Organism

11. What level of Organization?
Community

12. What level of Organization?
Population

13. ECOSYSTEMS ECOSYSTEM BASICS:
Interactions between the biotic and abiotic components of an environment

14. The Living Environment
BIOTIC
THE LIVING PARTS of an organisms environment.
All organisms depend on others directly or indirectly for food, shelter, reproduction, or protection.

15. The Nonliving Environment
ABIOTIC
THE NON-LIVING PARTS of an organism’s environment.
Examples include air currents, temperature, moisture, light, and soil.
Abiotic factors affect an organism’s life.

16. Abiotic or Biotic?
Biotic

17. Abiotic or Biotic?
Abiotic

18. Abiotic or Biotic?
Abiotic

19. Habitat & Niche HABITAT: is the place a plant or animal lives
EX: a birds habitat is its nest, essentially, its “address”
Includes biotic & abiotic factors
NICHE :is an organism’s TOTAL way of life; its “occupation”
Includes its place in a food web
The range of temperature it needs to survive
The type of food it eats
When and how it reproduces

20. ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY!
Here are some important terms that will help you describe interactions in a food chain & web.

21. Eat or be eaten PRODUCER a.k.a. (Autotroph) Auto= self
Troph= nutrition
Organism that can “self” feed, i.e. make its own food
Use photosynthesis or chemosynthesis to produce glucose
Auto= self; autograph, automatic, automobile, autobiography…how many can your students think of?
troph= feeding

22. Mmmmm…delicious. CONSUMER a.k.a (heterotroph) Hetero= other/different
Troph= nutrition
- Organism that must consume “others” because it can not make its own food
There are several words that describe consumers…
Prey: the hunted
Predator: the hunter
Herbivore: eats plants
Carnivore: eats animals
Omnivore: eats both plants and animals
hetero= different; heterogeneous, heterosexual
troph= feeding

23. Hey, you gonna eat that? DECOMPOSER: Breaks down dead organisms
Examples: bacteria, maggots, fungi, worms
Complete the circle of life by returning nutrients to the soil
Decomposers are important parts of the food web that are not always represented well in textbook diagrams. Check to see how your textbook incorporates decomposers.

24. Jus gimmie the left overs!
SCAVENGER: an organism who feeds on refuse (trash) or carrion (dead, decaying matter)
Play an important role in the ecosystem by contributing to the decomposition of dead animal remains.
Dung beetle
Vulture

26. FOOD CHAIN
Definition- Traces the path of nutrients and energy from producer to top consumer
Show’s “who eats who”
Arrows indicate the flow of energy “FROM” what is consumed “TO” the consumer
Secondary Consumer
Primary Consumer
Producer

27. Definition- show more complex feeding interactions between organisms
Food webs
Definition- show more complex feeding interactions between organisms
Food webs show “what eats what”
Several “food chains” interacting with each other
Ask students to describe the interactions shown in the food web.

28. FOOD CHAIN & TROPHIC LEVELS
A TROPHIC LEVEL is the position occupied by an organism in a food chain.
Trophic levels can be analyzed on an energy pyramid.

29. ENERGY PYRAMID Energy Decreases
RULE OF TEN: ONLY 10% OF PREVIOUS ENERGY IS AVAILABLE FROM ONE LEVEL TO THE NEXT
90% LOST AS HEAT!
LEAST
ENERGY HERE
ENERGY PYRAMID
Energy Decreases
MOST ENERGY HERE

30. Energy in Ecosystems
Every level you go up, you divide the amount of energy by “10”
RULE OF TEN: ONLY 10% OF PREVIOUS ENERGY IS AVAILABLE FROM ONE LEVEL TO THE NEXT
90% LOST AS HEAT!

31. Every level you go up you divide the amount of energy by 10
Rule of 10
Every level you go up you divide the amount of energy by 10
0.2 Joules
2 Joules
20 Joules
200 Joules

32. 0.2 Joules
2 Joules
20 Joules
200 Joules

33. Ecological Pyramids Pyramid of Numbers SHOWS THE NUMBER OF
INDIVIDUALS AT EACH
TROPHIC LEVEL
Energy Pyramid
SHOWS THE AMOUNT OF
ENERGY AVAILABLE AT
EACH TROPHIC LEVEL.
Organisms use about
10% of this energy for life
processes.
The rest is lost as heat.
Biomass Pyramid
SHOW THE AMOUNT OF
“LIVING” MATTER AT EACH
TROPHIC LEVEL.
The MOST biomass is at
the bottom of the pyramid

34. Biomass Pyramids Bio=life Mass=how much matter
Bio + Mass = how much of living matter within an ecosystem.
Energy is sometimes considered in terms of biomass, the mass of all the organisms and organic material in an area.
MORE biomass at trophic level of PRODUCERS (There are more plants on Earth than there are animals.)
LESS biomass at trophic level of CONSUMERS

35. BIOMASS PYRAMID
LEAST
BIOMASS
BIOMASS DECREASES
MOST BIOMASS

36. Biomass Biomass does NOT always follow the rule of 10.
Instead the boxes are drawn bigger to show bigger amounts and smaller to show smaller amounts.

37. Biomass Analysis Question
What happens with the phytoplankton that lets it have the most energy but the smallest biomass?
ANSWER: It makes new phytoplankton very quickly, so even though it gets eaten quickly it also regenerates quickly

38. Pyramid of Numbers
Pyramids of Numbers tell you how many of each organism there are
QUESTION: Will there always be more producers than consumers?

39. Pyramid of Numbers
Pyramids of Numbers tell you how many of each organism there are
Will there always be more producers than consumers?
No!
Here there are only 200 trees but 150,000 insects can live in those trees!

40. Biological Magnification
toxins in any trophic level effects the other levels.
The tiny primary consumers eat a little bit of the toxin.
Most toxin
Least toxin
The secondary consumers eat many of the 1st consumers so they eat more of the toxin
The tertiary consumers eat many of the 2nd consumers so they eat even more of the toxin
At every level the amount of toxin increases!
What would a pyramid for this look like?

41. PUT IT ALL TOGETHER
LET’S REVIEW

42. Energy Flow ORGANISMS THAT CAN MAKE THEIR OWN FOOD
At the base of EVERY food chain/web
MOST energy
MOST biomass
Energy Flow
Producers
(AUTOTROPH)
1000J

43. HERBIVORE= “Plant Eater”
ORGANISM THAT FEEDS OF OTHER ORGANISMS BECAUSE THEY CANT MAKE THEIR OWN FOOD
HERBIVORE= “Plant Eater”
Energy Flow
Primary consumer
(HERBIVORE)
100 J

44. OMNIVORE= “Plant & Meat Eater”
ORGANISM THAT FEEDS OF OTHER ORGANISMS BECAUSE THEY CANT MAKE THEIR OWN FOOD
LEAST ENERGY
LEAST BIOMASS
CARNIVORE=
“Meat Eater”
OMNIVORE= “Plant & Meat Eater”
Secondary Consumer
(CARNIVORE OR
OMNIVORE)
10 J
Energy Flow

45. Heterotrophs Scavenvers Decomposers Primary consumer 100J Producers
Secondary Consumer
10J
Heterotrophs
Primary consumer
100J
Producers
1000J
Autotrophs
Decomposers