1. Ecology Notes 2.1.3

2. Objectivs
Identify and describe symbiotic relationships such as mutualism and parasitism. (middle school review)
Exemplify various forms of communication and territorial defense including communication within social structure using pheromones(Examples: bees, ants, termites), courtship dances, territorial defense (Example: fighting fish).
Explain patterns in predator /prey and competition relationships and how these patterns help maintain stability within an ecosystem with a focus on population dynamics.

3. Levels of Organization
Species/organism- lowest level or organization
Group of similar animals that can breed together and make a viable offspring

4. Levels of Organization
Population – group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area
Example: the alligator population of Greenfield Lake

5. Levels of Organization
Communities – groups of populations that live together in a defined area
Example: the Cape Fear River community

6. Levels of Organization
Ecosystem
Organisms and nonliving environment they inhabit

7. Levels of Organization
Biome – group of ecosystems with the same climate and similar communities.

8. The Biosphere (largest)
The portion of the planet in which all life exists
Land
Water
Air
8 km above Earth’s surface
11 km below the surface of the ocean

9. Carrying Capacity
The largest number of organisms an environment can support
Constantly changes as conditions and organisms change.
What could cause the carrying capacity to increase?

10. 3 Ecological Methods Observing- using your senses to gather data
Experimenting- Changing variable to measure results
Modeling- using observation and experimenting to make predictions

11. Which method? Experiment Observation Modeling
Burning a pine forest to see which plants regrow first.
Taking pictures of elephants from a distance.
Using data, making a graph showing possible bacterial growth in salt water.
Experiment
Observation
Modeling

12. What shapes an Ecosystem?
Biotic Factors: living influences on organisms (ex. Trees, insects….)
Abiotic Factors: physical, or nonliving factors
Ex: weather

13. Ecosystem
Niche: Organisms “occupation” (where it lives, its place in the food web etc.)

14. Community Interrelationships
Competition: compete over resources, both suffer
predation: one organism feeds on another, one benefits, other dies
Symbiosis: any relationship where 2 animals live closely together

15. Types of Symbiosis Mutualism: both species benefit
Ex. Flowers & insects
Commensalism: one member benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed
ex. Barnacles
3. Parasitism: one organism lives on or in another and harms it.
ex. tapeworms

16. Crash course Ecology

17. Ecosystem Stability
Ecosystems are made of many living and nonliving factors.
Because of all these influences ecosystems are both stable and fragile to change

18. Importance of Predation/competition
Predator/prey relationships helps control both populations
If one population grows too fast, the other slows it down
Competition also keeps all populations stable and keeps one population from controlling a resource.

19. How ecosystems are stable…
Predator/prey relationship
keeps most populations in balance
Symbiosis
allows organisms to rely on each other to exist
Biodiversity
Many different types of organisms balance each other out

20. How ecosystems are fragile…
Bioaccumulation/biomagnification
When a toxin builds up in a ecosystem
Ex; Mercury in fish
Invasive/non-native species
Have no predator and reproduce without limit
Ex: Kudzu in NC
Humans affects biodiversity
Deforestation
Habitat loss
Non-sustainable use / over harvest

21. Social Behavior Communication within a population
Common with insects such as bees, ants, and termites. Used to define social standing (queen vs worker bees)
Pheromones- chemicals secreted by an organism that triggers a response in organism of same species
Food trail pheromones
Alarm pheromones
Sex pheromones

22. Communication
Animals may use visual, sound, touch or chemical signals to communicate
Ex. Dolphins
Cuttlefish- change colors

23. Courtship
Occurs when an individual send out stimuli (sounds, visual displays, chemicals) in order to attract a mate

24. Courtship Dances
Animals use a sequence of “Dance” moves to attract or signal a mate that its time to reproduce
Common in birds, insects, and some fish
Dance normally performed by male
Sometimes accompanied by “song” sounds and the release of pheromones
Courtship video and quiz

25. Competition and Aggression
Some animals are territorial
Use aggression to defend territory and family
Ex. Fighting
Fish

26. Territorial defense
Territorial- animals that actively defend their territory
Few species are territorial, common in birds and large mammals
Used to protect food, water, or reproductive purposes
How?
Mark their boundary using scent, sounds, or visual marks
Deer scrape bark off trees, grunt, and urinate on the ground.

27. Predator Prey Patterns
Predator eats prey
Predator populations follow the change in prey populations.
This keeps any one population from growing or shrinking too rapidly
Competition also limits population sizes

28. Ocean Symbiosis