1. Ecology

2. ORGANISMS INTERACT WITHIN ECOSYSTEMS
Scientists often examine organisms within their natural setting to better understand living things.
Ecology combines two Greek Words:
OIKES – meaning “the place where one lives” and LOGOS – meaning “study of”
ECOLOGY – describes the study of how organisms interact with each other.

3. Ecological studies can begin at the level of a single organism.
It is designed to determine how the individual interacts with its environment, and how factors in the environment affect its:
growth
Feeding habits
reproduction

4. ABIOTIC Factors Non-living factors or influences on organisms.
EXAMPLES:
Sunlight
Temperature
Strength and direction of wind

5. BIOTIC Factors
Factors caused by the presence and roles of other living things.
POPULATIONS – all of the members of the same species, living in the same ecosystem or habitat.
ex: all the salmon in a lake
Since there is usually
more than one species
in an ecosystem, there
is also more than one
population.

6. COMMUNITY
A community is a collection of all the populations of all the species in an ecosystem or habitat.
EXAMPLE: all the organisms found in the lake
(Pike, perch, tadpoles, mosquito larvae, algae…
Ecologists can extend their
study beyond the community
of organisms to the physical
environment.

7. When studying a community, an ecologist would look as how biotic factors affect each population. An example would be how plants and animals interact in a specific area.

8. Ecologists can also extend their studies to include an entire ecosystem which may include looking at the physical environment and the community of living things.
Ex: effects of sunlight on the forest floor

9. ECOTONES
Ecosystems rarely, but sometimes, have distinct boundaries, and organisms can move back and forth from one ecosystem to another.
Transition areas or ECOTONES contain species from both bordering ecosystems, so they often contain greater biodiversity (more species) than either ecosystem.

10. Question to Consider
When could an ecotone have a sharp/straight boundary line? Can it happen naturally?
Ans: a clear cut forest, a mountain side, a farmers field….

11. Ecosystems with greater biodiversity tend to be less fragile.
This is true as a predator would have many alternate sources of prey which could reduce the risk of relying on a single species for a food source.

12. Question to Consider
Would you expect to find more species in a forest, an open field, or the forest-grassland ecotone between them? Explain your prediction.