1. Chapter 3: Ecology

2. What is Ecology??
The study of interactions that take place between organisms and their environment.
It explains how living organisms affect each other and the world they live in.

3. Habitat & Niche Habitat is the place a plant or animal lives
Niche is an organism’s total way of life—habitat and its role in environment

4. Niches A niche is determined by a limiting factor.
Limiting factor- any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the existence of organisms in a specific environment.

5. Limiting Factors Examples of limiting factors - Amount of water
Amount of food
Temperature
Amount of space
Availability of mates

6. The Nonliving Environment
Abiotic factors- the nonliving parts of an organism’s environment.
Examples include air currents, temperature, moisture, light, and soil.
Abiotic factors affect an organism’s life.

7. The Living Environment
Biotic factors- all the living organisms that inhabit an environment.
All organisms depend on others directly or indirectly for food, shelter, reproduction, or protection.

8. Abiotic or Biotic?
Biotic

9. Abiotic or Biotic?
Abiotic

10. Abiotic or Biotic?
Abiotic

11. Abiotic or Biotic?
Biotic

12. Levels of Organization in Ecology

13. What are the Levels?
Organism
Population
Community
Ecosystem
Biosphere

14. 1st Level of Organization
Organism: An individual living thing that is made of cells, uses energy, reproduces, responds, grows, and develops

15. 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.

16. 3rd Level of Organization
Community: All the populations of different species that live in the same place at the same time.

17. 4th Level of Organization
Ecosystem: Populations of plants and animals that interact with each other in a given area with the abiotic components of that area.

18. 5th Level of Organization
Biome: A group of ecosystems with similar climates and organisms
Desert
Tundra
Tropical Dry Forest

19. 6th Level of Organization
Biosphere: The portion of Earth that supports life.

20. The Biosphere
Life is found in air, on land, and in fresh and salt water.
The BIOSPHERE is the portion of Earth that supports living things.

21. Human Impact on the Environment

22. Climate vs. Weather: What’s the Difference?
Climate: Long-term averages and patterns of temperature, precipitation, winds, and clouds
Weather: Short-term changes in temperature, precipitation,
winds, and clouds; can change
rapidly

23. Greenhouse Effect
Important parts of the atmosphere are a.) greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, & water vapor), which trap heat on Earth, and b.) the ozone layer, which shields Earth from UV radiation
The greenhouses gases can trap heat from the sun to keep our planet warm; this is called the greenhouse effect.
Changes in the concentration of these
gases (think CO2) can result in more
heat being trapped and our planet being
warmer

24. Greenhouse Effect

25. Pollution
Human activities have affected global ecosystems in ways that harm humans and other species
Human impacts range from local pollution to global change in ecosystems
Example: -Industrial chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) act as catalysts in chemical reactions that break down O3 molecules in the ozone layer.
-Most countries have banned CFCs (Montreal Protocol), and the ozone layer seems to be recovering.

26. Ozone Hole Over Antarctica

27. Global Warming
The correlation of increasing atmospheric CO2 and rising global temperature suggests a cause-and-effect relationship
Many scientists have concluded that increased CO2 levels have caused warmer surface temperatures on Earth
**Graph on next slide**

28. Global Warming