1. Ecology:
The study of the interactions among living things, and between living things and their surroundings.

2. Levels of Organization

3. Organism
An individual living thing
an alligator

4. Population Group of the same species that live together in one area
Lots of alligators!

5. Community Group of different species that live together in one area
All the plants and animals in the swamp…

6. Ecosystem
All the organisms plus the abiotic factors such as the soil, water, rocks, climate, and other nonliving things in a given area
The organisms in the swamp and the nonliving things…

7. Ecology Vocabulary Biotic: Factors that are living
Ex. plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria
Abiotic: Factors that are nonliving
Ex. water, sun, soil, wind, temperature

8. Producers vs. Consumers
Producers: organisms that make their own food
Also called autotrophs
Consumers: organisms that get their energy from eating other living or once-living things
Also called heterotrophs

9. Types of Consumers Herbivores: eat only plants
Carnivores: eat only animals
Omnivores: eat both plants and animals
Decomposers: eat dead plants and animals and help break down organic matter into simpler compounds

11. Community Ecology

12. What is a community?
Community: All the organisms that inhabit a particular area; an assemblage of populations of different species living close enough together for potential interaction.
Community ecology: The study of how interactions between different species affect community structure and organization.

14. Species Interactions
The most well know is predation, but there are others…

16. Competition between lions and hyenas

17. Figure 53.x2 Parasitic behavior: A female Nasonia vitripennis laying a clutch of eggs into the pupa of a blowfly (Phormia regina)

18. Figure 53.9 Mutualism between acacia trees and ants

19. Figure 53.x3 Commensalism between a bird and mammal

20. What is this?

24. Food Chains Trophic structure: feeding relationships between organisms
Food chain: transfer of food energy
Trophic levels: the “links” in the food chain
Usually no more than 4 or 5
Food chains are not isolated units - they are linked to form food webs

25. Marine Food Web

26. Figure 53.6 Aposematic (warning) coloration in a poisonous blue frog

27. Figure 53.x1 Deceptive coloration: moth with "eyeballs"

28. Figure 53.7 Batesian mimicry

29. Figure 53.8 Müllerian mimicry: Cuckoo bee (left), yellow jacket (right)