1. Unit 8 Lesson 1 Introduction to Ecology
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2. The Web of Life How are living things connected?
Unit 8 Lesson 1 Introduction to Ecology
The Web of Life
How are living things connected?
Organisms need energy and matter for life.
Interactions between organisms allow the exchange of energy and matter.
Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with one another and with the environment.
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3. How are living things connected?
Unit 8 Lesson 1 Introduction to Ecology
How are living things connected?
Biodiversity is the variation of living organisms.
Organisms are connected to all other organisms because each individual organism has a role to play in the flow of energy and matter.
A biotic factor, such as an organism and how it interacts, is a living part of the environment.
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4. How are living things connected?
Unit 8 Lesson 1 Introduction to Ecology
How are living things connected?
All organisms rely on the nonliving environment for survival.
An abiotic factor, or nonliving part, of an environment includes water, nutrients, soil, sunlight, rainfall, and temperature.
Abiotic factors determine where organisms can survive.
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5. Unit 8 Lesson 1 Introduction to Ecology
Stay Organized!
What are all the levels of organization in the environment?
The environment can be organized into different levels that range from a single organism to all of the organisms in an area.
An individual is the smallest level of organization.
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6. What are all the levels of organization in the environment?
Unit 8 Lesson 1 Introduction to Ecology
What are all the levels of organization in the environment?
A population is a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same place.
A species includes organisms that are closely related and can mate to produce fertile offspring.
Individuals within a population often compete with each other for food, shelter, and mates.
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7. What are all the levels of organization in the environment?
Unit 8 Lesson 1 Introduction to Ecology
What are all the levels of organization in the environment?
A community is made up of all the species that live and interact in an area.
The species in a community depend on each other for many things, such as shelter and food.
Just like the members of a population, the organisms in a community compete with each other for resources.
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8. What are all the levels of organization in the environment?
Unit 8 Lesson 1 Introduction to Ecology
What are all the levels of organization in the environment?
An ecosystem is a community of organisms and their nonliving environment.
In an ecosystem, energy and other resources are exchanged between organisms and the environment.
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9. Home Sweet Home What determines where a population can live?
Unit 8 Lesson 1 Introduction to Ecology
Home Sweet Home
What determines where a population can live?
Organisms that live in the same area play different roles to get the resources they need to survive.
Ecologists use the terms habitat and niche to describe where an organism lives and its role in the environment.
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10. What determines where a population can live?
Unit 8 Lesson 1 Introduction to Ecology
What determines where a population can live?
Habitat is the place where an organism usually lives.
Abiotic factors such as temperature often determine whether a species can live in a certain place.
Biotic factors, such as other organisms that live in an area, also determine whether a species can live in a certain place.
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11. What determines where a population can live?
Unit 8 Lesson 1 Introduction to Ecology
What determines where a population can live?
A population’s niche is the role the population plays in the ecosystem, such as how it gets food and interacts with other populations.
In general, two populations cannot occupy exactly the same niche.
Small differences in habitats, roles, and adaptations can allow similar species to live together in the same ecosystem.
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12. Unit 8 Lesson 1 Introduction to Ecology
Lizard Invasion
The habitat of South Florida’s green anoles was invaded by a similar lizard, the brown anole.
The lizards avoid occupying the same habitat by the way they share a tree. Green anoles move to the higher branches, and brown anoles occupy the ground branches.
Competition exists between the anoles. Brown anoles eat the young of the green anoles.
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