1. Intro to Ecology (The last unit of the year!!)

2. What Is Ecology?

3. Ecology = Study of Home –Ecos = home –ology = study of This includes: –Plants –Animals –Decomposers –Microorganisms –Interactions with abiotic and biotic factors!

4. Interdependence

5. All organisms interact with other organisms in their surroundings and non-living portions of their environment

6. Organization

7. Biosphere –The thin volume of Earth and its atmosphere that supports life. Ecosystem –Smaller units which include all the organisms and the non-living environment found in a specific place. Community –All the interacting organisms of an area. Population –All the members of a species that live in one place at one time. Organism – An individual member of the population.

8. Ecosystem Components

9. Biotic Factors –All living things that affect an organism Abiotic Factors –All non-living things that affect an organism Physical and chemical characteristics of the environment Organisms can live within a limited range of environmental conditions –Temperature, pH, salinity, etc –Some animals can acclimate (adjust within their lifetime) –Some animals will go dormant –Some animals might migrate

10. The Niche

11. Niche is the specific role of a species within its environment. –Includes the range of conditions, the resources used, the methods of obtaining resources, number of offspring, time of reproduction and all other interactions. Generalists – broad niches Specialists – narrow niches

12. Biodiversity “Biological diversity is the key to the maintenance of the world as we know it.” E.O. Wilson

13. Biodiversity Variety of forms of life in an area –Species diversity Richness is the number of species. Evenness is the number of individuals. –Genetic diversity Amount of variation in the genetic material within all members of a population.

14. Environmental Issues

15. Ozone Thinning Global Warming Acid Precipitation Land and Water Pollution

16. Environmental Solutions

17. Conservation –Seek,protect and manage natural areas with biodiversity Restoration –Restoring extreme cases of ecosystem damage Biodiversity Hotspots Ecotourism