1. ECOLOGY

2. Founder of Ecology
Ernst Haeckel – “Oikos”

3. A. Introduction
Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their environment; therefore the study of ecology includes biotic, or _____ factors, as well as abiotic
(________) factors.
living
non-living

4. B. Levels of Organization
1. _______ - a group of similar organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring
Species

5. B. Levels of Organization
Population
2. __________ - a group of organisms that belong to the same species and live in one area. The area in which an organism lives is known as its ________.
3. _____________ - many different species of organisms living in the same ___________
4. ____________ - a community and the _______ factors that affect it
5. _______ - a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar ______________
6. ____________ - Earth
habitat
Community
habitat
Ecosystem
abiotic
Biome
communities
Biosphere

6. IV. ENERGY FLOW (pp )
All living things require energy. The ultimate source of energy for the earth is the ____.
A. Autotrophs – “____________”. They are also known as __________. Most producers capture energy from the sun in a process called ___________________.
sun
Self-feeder
producers
photosynthesis

7. animals (other consumers)__ plants & animals dead worms vultures
B. Heterotrophs – Organisms that have to __________ are called heterotrophs or ___________.
obtain food
consumers
There are several categories of consumers:
1. Herbivores – Eat ____________________
2. Carnivores – Eat _______________________
3. Omnivores – Eat ______________________
4. Detritivores – Obtain energy from ________ bodies of plants and animals; for example, _______, __________, _
5. Decomposers – Break down _________ matter. Most decomposers are in Kingdom ____________ or Kingdom _______
plants (producers)__
animals (other consumers)__
plants & animals
dead
worms
vultures
organic
Eubacteria
Fungi_.

9. C. Energy in a Cell
C. Energy in a Cell – All organisms (__________ and _________) must convert _________ energy present in ________ and other food molecules into a usable energy source called _____. Most ATP is produced through the process of __________________.
producers
consumers
chemical
glucose
ATP
cellular respiration

11. IV. ENERGY FLOW – A COMPARISON OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS & CELLULAR RESPIRATION (p. 232)
Function
Use energy from sun to make glucose
Release energy from glucose to make ATP
Cell Location
Chloroplasts
Mitochondria
Occurs In
Autotrophs
Heterotrophs AND Autotrophs
Reactants
CO2 + H2O + energy
C6H12O6 + O2
Products
Overall Reaction
CO2 + H2O + energy → C6H12O6 + O2
C6H12O6 + O2 → CO2 + H2O + energy

12. C. Tracing Energy Flow
A. Trophic Levels - Each step in the pathway of energy flow is known as a ___________. The first trophic level is always a _________. The 2nd trophic level is known as the primary (1o) __________ and may be an __________ or _________. The last step is always a _______________.
1. Food Chains – A food chain illustrates how energy is transferred by showing ___________________ between organisms. The arrows show the direction of ____________ – means “is eaten by”.
trophic level
producer
consumer
herbivore
omnivore
Decomposer
feeding relationships
energy transfer

13. Solar Energy  Producer 
Primary Consumer  Secondary Consumer 
Tertiary Consumer  Quaternary consumer 
Decomposer

14. Typical Food Chain
_Energy (Sun)________ → __Producer____ → _1˚ Consumer (herbivore or omnivore)____ →
_2˚ Consumer (carnivore or omnivore)____ → _Decomposer_
EX: Sun-> Grass->Grasshopper->Snake->Hawk

15. ·Which organism acts as a secondary consumer?
·According to this food chain, which organism could be
described as an herbivore?
·Which organism is the producer?
·What are two terms that could be used to describe the hawk?

16. Food Webs
2. Food Webs – Typically feeding relationships are more complex than illustrated in a food chain. Most
organisms eat ___________ and ______ by a variety of organisms. These interconnected pathways are more accurately shown in a food web.
a variety organisms
are eaten

17. Note that in a food web, an organism can occupy more than one trophic level

18. Food Webs According to this food web . . .
·How many different producers are there?
·Is the grasshopper a producer, primary, or secondary consumer?
·Is the grasshopper an herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore?
·What organism(s) acts as the decomposer?
·Give an example of an organism in this food web that acts as secondary and tertiary consumer.
·If all the squirrels in the community perished, would the hawk be able to survive? Explain.
·If the grass was destroyed, which organism would be most directly affected? Explain.

19. Ecological Pyramids
3. Ecological Pyramids – Although in theory a food ____ or food _____ can consist of unlimited numbers of _______ ______, in actuality this does not take place. On average, only _____of the energy stored in an organism is passed to the next trophic level. _____of the energy is either used by the organism to maintain ____________or lost as ______ to the environment. Because of this, most food chains typically consist of only ______trophic levels. Ecologists use ________ to represent the amount of ______ or _______ _____ __ at each _______________.
chain
web
trophic
levels
10%_
90%
homeostasis
heat
3 or 4
pyramids
energy
Matter (biomass)
trophic level

21. IV. ECOSYSTEM INTERACTIONS (pp. 90-93)
Ecosystems are influenced by a combination of biological and physical factors. Together biotic factors and abiotic factors determine the health of an ecosystem and its _inhabitants_.

22. The Niche
A. The Niche - The role an organism plays in its ____________ is its __________. An organism’s niche is comprised of _______ and _____ factors, for example, the type of food it eats, how it obtains its food, the way it is food for other organisms, how & when it reproduces, its physical living requirements to survive, etc.
niche
community
biotic
abiotic

23. Warbler’s Niche

24. B. Interactions Within a Community
1. Competition – Competition occurs when organisms are attempting to use the same _resources at the same time. Each different species within a community must have its own _niche_.

25. Effect on Organism 1
Effect on Organism 2

26. Predation
2. Predation – The organism that does the killing and eating is the _predator and the food organism is the _prey_.

27. Effect on Organism 1
Effect on Organism 2

28. 3. Symbiosis – A relationship in which two organisms _live very closely together is described as symbiosis.
There are three main types of symbiotic relationships:
a. Mutualism – Both organisms _benefit. For example, virtually all plant roots have mycorrhizae – a Fungus that resides within the plant roots. Fungus enhances absorption of water and nutrients in roots; plant provides protection for the fungus.

29. Effect on Organism 1
Effect on Organism 2

30. Commensalism
b. Commensalism – In commensalism, only one organism benefits, but the other organism _is not affected___.
For example, barnacles are small _animals__ that often attach themselves to whales. They do not harm the whales, and the barnacles benefit from the _movement of water as whale swims – provides food for barnacles___.

31. Effect on Organism 1
Effect on Organism 2

32. Parasitism
c. Parasitism – In parasitism, only one organism benefits and the other organism is _harmed__ by the relationship. The organism that is harmed is known as the _host__. Examples of parasites include _tapeworms, hookworms, ticks, lice.

33. Effect on Organism 1
Effect on Organism 2

34. V. NUTRIENTS IN AN ECOSYSTEM (pp. 74-80)
Unlike energy from the sun, nutrients are only available to an ecosystem in specific quantities and must be
________ within and between ecosystems. Nutrients may become a ________________when they are depleted.
Organisms require nutrients to _________________, ______________etc. Although all nutrients, including ___________, are re-cycled, there are a few nutrient cycles that are especially important.
recycled
limiting factor
build biomolecules
cells, tissues,
water

35. A. Water Cycle

36. B. Carbon Cycle
Organisms require carbon to make _____________, _______, ___________, and___________. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is taken up by _____ and ____ for _____________. (Algae are autotrophic, unicellular organisms with cell walls made of cellulose and chloroplasts that belong to kingdom _________).
carbohydrates
proteins
lipids
nucleic acids
plants
algae
photosynthesis
Protista

37. B. Carbon Cycle cellular respiration
They produce glucose for _________________. Humans and other __________ eat plants & algae, or they eat other organisms who have eaten plants & algae. The carbon from glucose is returned to the atmosphere as _____, a waste product of cellular respiration. In addition, erosion, burning of __________, and _______________ recycle carbon.
consumers
CO 2
fossil fuels
decomposition

38. Carbon Cycle

39. Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen Cycle – Organisms require nitrogen to build ____________________.
The ____________ is mostly nitrogen, but only _______ produce the _______ needed to convert nitrogen from the atmosphere to a useable form, a process known as __________________. After nitrogen fixation is carried out by bacteria in soil, the nitrogen compound in the soil is then absorbed by ________ and used to make ____________& ____________.
proteins
and nucleic acids
atmosphere
bacteria
enzymes
nitrogen fixation
plants
proteins
nucleic acids

40. Nitrogen Cycle
When other organisms _____________________, they can re-use the nitrogen to build their own ________ and ____________. When organisms die, ____________ return the nitrogen to the soil where it may be taken up by ______ again or returned to the atmosphere by other _________.
eat plants and algae
proteins
nucleic acids
decomposers
plants
bacteria

41. Nitrogen Cycle

42. Nutrient Limitation
When nutrients are scarce in an ecosystem, they are described as _limiting factors_.
This imposes restrictions on the number of organisms in an ecosystem.
Carrying capacity is the number of individuals an environment can support because of scarcity of nutrients.

43. Limits to population growth

44. If the number of limiting nutrients changes, the carrying capacity can increase or decrease accordingly.
For example, run-off from fertilized fields can trigger algae blooms in aquatic systems.

46. A. Density-Dependent Limiting Factors
The limited availability of nutrients can impose restrictions on the number of organisms and organisms’ growth (determines carrying capacity)
They are considered ____________________ limiting factors—factors whose effects are dependent on population density.
Other examples: For example, _____________ and availability of ____, ________, and ____________.
density - dependent
competition
food
water
sunlight

47. B. Density-Independent Limiting Factors
B. Density-Independent Limiting Factors– These are factors that affect all populations the same way, regardless of size.
Examples include _unusual weather, natural disasters__, and human activities such as_cutting down trees, damming rivers, etc__

48. VIII. ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION (pp. 94-97)
Ecosystems are constantly changing in response to natural and human disturbances. As an ecosystem changes, older inhabitants gradually die out and new organisms move in, resulting in further changes in the community. Ecological
succession refers to a series of _____changes that occur in a ____________________over time.
slow
physical environment

49. A. Primary Succession
A. Primary Succession – Occurs following destruction of an__________; for example, after Volcanic
eruption, glaciers melting:
First species to populate area known as _______species
Lichens are the most common pioneer species after a volcano because they are capable of growing on bare rock. A lichen is a fungus and cyanobacteria living together. Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic bacteria. In a lichen, the cyanobacteria provides food for the fungus and the fungus provides water and protection for the cyanobacteria.
ecosystem
pioneer

51. B. Secondary Succession
B. Secondary Succession – Occurs when a disturbance of some kind changes an existing community without removing the soil; for example,_________, clearing land,________________.
wildfire
plowing for farming

52. Primary Succession

53. Secondary Succession

54. C. Climax Community
C. Climax Community– A climax community is a _stable community with very little population
growth or decline. Each ecosystem has a _carrying capacity_, a certain number of organisms that can exist _successfully_. When the carrying capacity is exceeded, resources become a _limiting factor_, and population numbers _decline_.