1. Ecological Relationships

2. Important Vocabulary Biotic Factors: living things
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Important Vocabulary
Biotic Factors: living things
Abiotic Factors: nonliving, physical things such as:
Temperature, sunlight, precipitation, soil
Habitat- The place in which an organism lives.
Niche: An organism’s role in the ecosystem
Abiotic Factors
Biotic Factors
COMMUNITY
ECOSYSTEM

3. Five Species of Warblers and Their Niches
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Five Species of Warblers and Their Niches
No two species can share the exact same niche in a habitat.
Shaded areas show where each species feeds (one factor that defines a niche).
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4. Descriptions of a Niche Include:
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1. Its place in the food web
2. Conditions Needed for Survival
a. Temperature Range it has adapted to
b. Dependance on water
3. When and how it reproduces
Top Carnivore
The red legged frog mates from January to March but the yellow legged frog mates from late March to May
Red Legged frog
Yellow Legged frog

5. Community Interactions: Competition
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Competition: occurs when organisms of the same or different species try to use the same resource at the same time and place
Resource: any necessity for life
EX: water, nutrients, light, food, or living space
Uniform spacing: less competition
Clumped: more competition

6. Competition can help define the niche.
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Competition can help define the niche.
Barnacle Species A
Barnacle Species B

7. Symbiosis
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Symbiosis: close relationship between 2 organisms, in which at least one of the organisms involved benefits.

8. Symbiosis: Parasitism 
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Parasitism: One organism benefits,  and the other is harmed (host). 
Filled with blood
Ticks feed on the blood of the host in which they live. The closer together organisms live, the easier these parasites can spread through the population.

9. Symbiosis: Commensalism 
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Symbiosis: Commensalism 
Commensalism: One organism benefits,  and the other is neither helped nor harmed. 
Barnacles live & grow on the bodies of ocean organisms like whales. However, they do not help or cause any harm to them.

10. Symbiosis: Mutualism 
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Symbiosis: Mutualism 
Mutualism: Both organisms benefit  from the relationship.
This bird eats insects found on the zebras’ body. The bird is high above the ground and has food, the zebra is removed of pests.
Bees receive food (nectar), while the flower’s pollen is spread for reproduction.

11. Aphids feed on sugary sap from the plant.
Aphids are herded and protected by the ants because the ants feed on sugary excretions the aphids produce.
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-Parasitism
-Mutualism

12. Predator-Prey Relationships
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Predator-Prey Relationships
1. Predation: interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism
2. Predator: organism that does the killing and eating
3. Prey: organism that is eaten (food)
Who is the predator?
Lynx
Who is the prey?
Hare

13. Ecological Succession
1. Occurs when an area becomes devoid of vegetation because of a disturbance.
2. Pioneer species: the first to grow in an area.
Which species is the pioneer species?
Annual grasses
Which community has the greatest biodiversity and why?
Hardwood forest; has the most niches

14. Primary verses Secondary Succession
Primary succession the initial colonization of land that has never been colonized before. This might include areas after a volcanic eruption or after a glacier recedes. In either case, there is no starting soil.
Secondary succession is the
re-colonization of areas after a disturbance such as a fire or abandoned farm land or even when a large tree falls (such as in the tropical rainforest). Soil is already in place in the area.