1. Principles of Ecology
Chapter 15 and 16

2. What would an ecologist study or look for in the environment?
What is Ecology?
Ecology: the study of interactions among organisms and living and nonliving components of their environments.
Reveals relationships among living and non-living parts of the world
Observed both in the lab and the environment
What would an ecologist study or look for in the environment?

3. Aspects of Ecological Study
Biosphere: portion of the earth that supports life.
Includes:
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere:
Oceans and Lakes
Lithosphere:
Terrestrial Earth
Ecosphere:
All living organisms

4. Non-Living Environment
Abiotic Factors: non-living parts of an organism’s environment
Examples:
Air & Water Temperatures
Moisture & Precipitation
Light
Soil
Wind
Why are abiotic factors important in ecology?
How do they effect living organisms?

5. Importance of Water! Why introduce water as something we should study?
Because all living things need water!
We will be studying how the properties of water effects what can live there.

6. Where’s all the water? Oceans: 97.2 % Icecaps and Glaciers: 2.0 %
Groundwater: 0.62%
Atmosphere: 0.001%
Freshwater: %
Rivers: %
Can’t Use!
Useable Freshwater

7. Living Environment
Biotic Factors: all the living things that inhabit an environment.
Examples: look familiar?
Animals
Plants
Fungi
Protists
Bacteria

8. Levels of Ecological Organization
Biosphere (most diverse)
Ecosystem
Community
Population
Individual (single organism)

9. Levels of Ecological Organization
Individual:
Made of cells
Uses energy (food)
Reproduces
Responds and adapts
Grows and develops
What do we know these as?

10. Levels of Ecological Organization
Population:
A group of organisms that:
Are all the same species
Interbreed
Live in the same area at the same time
Members of a population may compete with each other for:
food, water, mates, or other resources

11. Levels of Ecological Organization
Community:
Made of interacting populations in a certain area at a certain time
In a community a change in one population may cause changes in other populations
How can one population influence other populations?

12. Levels of Ecological Organization
Ecosystem:
Is made up of interacting populations in a biological community and the community’s abiotic factors
2 kinds:
Terrestrial
Forest, desert, grassland, tundra, mountains
Aquatic
Pond, lake, river, deep ocean, reef, estuary

13. What level is this?

14. Organisms in Ecosystems
Habitat: the place where an organism lives out its life
Examples: grasslands, trees, muddy banks
Niche: the role and position a species has in its environment
How it meets the needs for survival
Includes all interactions with the biotic and abiotic parts of its habitat

15. Niche
Examples:
On forest floor there is competition for food and space:
Millipedes – eat decaying leaves
Centipedes – eat beetles and other animals
Ants – eat dead insects
Earthworms – take organic nutrients from the soil
Fungi – take nutrients from decaying organic material

16. Living Relationships
Some species increase their chance of survival by developing relationships with other organisms
Some interactions are harmful to one species, others are beneficial

17. Relationships cont. Predator – Prey relationship
Predator: animals that consume other animals
Prey: animals that are consumed
Examples:
Lions & wildebeests
Symbiosis: “living together”
relationship in which there is a close and permanent association between different species

18. Relationships cont. Commensalism
relationship in which one species benefits, while the other species is neither benefited nor harmed
Examples:
Sea anemone & clownfish
Shark & remora fish

19. Relationships cont. Mutualism: Parasitism:
Both species benefit from the relationship
Examples:
Ants and acacia trees
Hammerhead sharks & cleaner fish
Parasitism:
One species benefits while the other is harmed
Fleas and dogs
Ticks and deer
Tapeworms and humans