Ecology: the study of how organisms interact with their environment.

Ecosystem: Any group of living and nonliving things interacting with each other Ecosystems vary in size. They can be as small as a puddle or as large as the Earth itself. Includes biotic and abiotic factors.

Abiotic: non-living factors in an ecosystem that affect the organisms that live there  

Some Abiotic Factors sunlight temperature soil water pollutants

Abiotic factors are limiting factors Limiting Factors: determine the types and numbers of organisms in an ecosystem.  limiting factors restrict the growth of populations. Example: Deserts lack water. Only organism that have adapted to dry areas live there. Cactus doesn’t lose water to the dry environment

Biotic factors the living things and their materials This would include organisms, their presence, interaction, and wastes.  Some Biotic Factors parasitism disease predation (one animal eating another)

Limiting factors: biotic and abiotic

Carrying capacity: the maximum number of organisms the resources of an ecosystem can support.  

The carrying capacity is limited by the abiotic and biotic resources (limiting factors) Ex. Food, water, space, mates as well as the ability of the environment to recycle the dead organisms through the activities of bacteria and fungi.

Energy Flow Energy flows through ecosystems in one direction It begins with the Sun goes through photosynthetic organisms (autotrophs) to herbivores (animals that eat plants) to carnivores (eat other animals) and finally the decomposers. 

Producers Autotrophs are also called producer organisms Producer: capture solar energy to make sugars in the process of photosynthesis.   Autotroph = producer = photosynthesis Producers are the first step in the food chain. They make the energy of the sun usable to other organisms. Without producers, all life on the planet would end.

Primary consumers Herbivores are primary consumers Primary consumer: consume producer organisms for energy. They are the second step in the food chain.

Secondary consumers Carnivores are secondary consumers Secondary consumer: eat the primary consumers as their source of food.   They are predators.

Tertiary consumers Tertiary consumer: carnivore at the topmost level in a food chain that feeds on other carnivores; feeds on secondary consumers

Omnivores Omnivores: organisms that eat plants and animals They act as both primary and secondary consumer. Humans are examples of omnivores.   Most bears and raccoons too.

Decomposers The last stop in the food chain. Decomposer: recycle dead organic material so that other organism can reuse the materials Recycle carbon and nitrogen. Creates fertile soil for plant growth Worms and larvae also feed on organic soil

In the space provided on your note packet. Draw a producer Draw a primary consumer Draw a secondary consumer Draw a tertiary consumer Draw a decomposer.

Types of decomposers Bacteria Fungus

All consumers are examples of heterotrophic organisms, This includes decomposers. Heterotroph: can not make their own food using the sun, They consume other organisms to get nutrition.

Label the producer, primary and secondary consumers.

Food chain Food web Energy pyramid Three ways to represent the energy flow in an ecosystem Food chain Food web Energy pyramid

1. Food Chains   food chain: shows the flow of energy through an ecosystem.   When a predator eats the prey, the energy is transferred from one organism to another. Food chains show this transfer of energy

Note: arrows in the food chain point to the organisms doing the eating.   The arrows in the food chain represent the flow of energy through the ecosystem.

In nature, the flow of energy is more complex than a food chain 2. food web: a series of interrelated food chains More accurate picture of an ecosystem, More than one thing will usually eat a particular species

Energy flow in a food web also starts with the producer organisms. Then it moves through each level of consumer and ends with the decomposer.

3. Energy pyramid: pyramid shaped graph that shows the biomass and energy transfer at each level in an ecosystem

Biomass: the total mass of living matter in an area Biomass: the total mass of living matter in an area. Includes all living things. Producers have the greatest biomass on the planet Next is the primary consumers, then secondary, and up the pyramid.    

2. 90% of the energy is lost as heat from one level to the next. Energy pyramids show: 1. Energy in the bonds of living things is transferred from one trophic (eating) level to another.  2. 90% of the energy is lost as heat from one level to the next.   *Only 10% is used by the next level

Because most energy is lost as heat, a continuous input of energy from sunlight keeps the process going.

Water cycle Carbon-oxygen cycle Material that cycle All molecules on Earth cycle among the living and nonliving components of the biosphere Water cycle Carbon-oxygen cycle

Water Cycle: journey water takes through the biosphere as it circulates from the land to the sky and back again. Biosphere, every living thing on and in the earth, including its atmosphere. The steps in the water cycle are:

Water Cycle: 1. Evaporation: change of water from the liquid to the gas state. 2. Transpiration: water lost to the atmosphere by the activities of plants (as water vapor).   3. Condensation: This water vapor condenses to form clouds, 4. Precipitation: water is returned to the earth as rain or snow.   This process is called the water cycle.   

Water Cycle

2. Carbon-Oxygen cycle: Is the movement of carbon and oxygen between the atmosphere, oceans, plants, animals and the ground

Carbon dioxide molecules are used in the process of photosynthesis to make sugar    Animals eat the plants and return the carbon to the environment by cellular respiration Oxygen is used in the process to break sugar into energy. Plants release oxygen as a waste product when they make sugar.

Some carbon is also returned to the environment by the decomposition of dead organisms.    

Role of Decomposers: break down dead organism to recycle the nutrients. The number of organisms any environment can support is the carrying capacity   

Carrying capacity is limited by the available energy, water, oxygen, and minerals, It’s also limited by the decomposers ability to recycle dead organisms Decomposers include bacteria and fungi.

Organism Relationships Feeding Relationships Organisms interact with each other. One example is the producer- consumer relationship.   A producer any organism capable of making its own food, usually sugars by photosynthesis.   Ex: Plants and algae.  

A consumer any organism which eats another organism.   types of consumer organisms    Herbivore: consumer which eats primarily plant material.  A deer is an example of a herbivore.   Carnivore: consumes primarily animal material.   Omnivore: eats both plant and animal matter.   Humans are examples of omnivorous organisms.

A predator is a type of carnivore that hunts and kills its food.   The organism the predator feeds upon is called its prey.    A wolf and rabbit would provide an example of a predator/prey relationship.   

Scavengers feed upon organisms that other organisms have killed.    A crow feeding off dead animal on the highway is an example of scavenger. 

Symbiotic Relationships: Close living associations Types of Symbiosis 1. parasitism: the parasite benefits at the expense of the host 2. mutualism: both organisms benefit from the association. Ex: flower and butterfly 3. commensalisms: one organism is benefited and the other is unharmed. Ex: mushroom on tree

Example of Parasitism:  parasite feeds upon another organism, Usually does not kill the organism this would destroy its food supply.   Host: The organism the parasite feeds.  Other examples: fleas on a dog or athlete's foot fungus on a human.

Biodiversity As a result of evolution, nature is filled with diversity Biodiversity refers to the differences in living things in an ecosystem.  As biodiversity increases, there is an increase the ecosystem becomes more stable. it provides for more genetic variation among species.   The more diversity a species has, the higher chance that some will survive when the environment changes, keeping the species alive.

  Monoculture involves planting one variety of a species over a huge area.   This is one example of human activity that has decreased biodiversity. leaves this area more vulnerable to disease and the loss of many species

biodiversity ensures the availability of a rich variety of genetic material This may lead to future agricultural or medical discoveries with significant value to humankind. As diversity is lost, we are losing resources. 

Succession: The environment may be harmed through human activities or by natural disasters, such as climate changes and volcanic eruptions.  The result may be long-term changes in ecosystems.  ecological succession: attempt of the ecosystem to reach a natural balance after the change.  Its a gradual long term changes in an altered ecosystems

Ecosystems tend to change with time until a stable system is formed.   A Typical New York State Succession

succession

Pioneer organisms the first organisms to reoccupy an area which has been disturbed.   Typical pioneers in a succession include grasses in a plowed field or lichens on rocks.  These pioneer organisms change their environment, eventually creating conditions which are less favorable for themselves but establishing conditions under which more advanced organisms can live. 

Over time, the succession occurs in a series of plant stages which leads to a stable final community. very similar to the plant community which was there before it was disrupted.   This final stable plant community is called a climax community.   It could remain stable for for hundreds or thousands of years.

2. They may remain dead for a while. 1. Forests burn to the ground some times. Or humans chop them down for money. 3. and then comes a spark of life.

5. The competition for survive begins. Who will have best suited traits? Time will tell. 4. Things begin to grow.

6. Eventually that ecosystem is thriving with life 6. Eventually that ecosystem is thriving with life. All seems happy, but the competition for life never ends.

Pond succession

A Pond Succession Sequence

There are many roles in an ecosystem (niche), Niche: a specific area where a species lives and how it makes its living. Niche include its home, mating, eating, hiding, living, surviving. Only one species occupies any given niche. If there's more than one, they compete and only one will win.

competition between species results in only one species occupying a niche at any one time. Often, organisms with similar needs will divide resources to reduce competition (ex: birds eat insects during the day, bats eat them at night). 

Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on earth. As habitats are lost and species become extinct, biodiversity is reduced.

Loss of biodiversity is bad because 1) ecosystems with low diversity take longer to recover from environmental changes and 2) we use organisms for many things such as food and medicine; by reducing biodiversity we are losing potentially valuable resources. 

Know the following terms Habitat: The area or environment where an organism or lives a marine habitat Population: All the organisms that make up a specific group or occur in a specified habitat. Ex: Deer population 

community: A group of plants and animals living and interacting with one another in a specific region under similar environmental conditions. Ecosystem: A community of organisms together with its environment, functioning as a unit.

Biosphere: All the regions of the earth and its atmosphere in which living organisms are found or can live. Pollution: undesirable state of the natural environment being contaminated with harmful substances as a consequence of human activities

renewable resource: any natural resource that can replenish itself naturally over time ex: wood, coal, fresh water etc.