4/29/2014 Draw a food chain that includes the sun, a producer, 2 consumers, and a decomposer.

Today’s Goal: I can describe the relationships in an ecosystem.

Today’s Plan: Energy Pyramid Symbiotic Relationships Science Poems 

Food Webs… Decomposer Consumer Producer

Producer Secondary Consumer Primary Consumer Tertiary Consumer Decomposer Tertiary Consumer Secondary Consumer Primary Consumer Producer

Wolf Sheep Grass

Whale Krill Algae

Barn Owl Field Mouse Wheat

Human Duck Small Fish Algae

Which category of organisms will receive least energy from their food? 2,000 mL energy 200 mL energy 20 mL energy 2 mL energy 0.2 mL energy Which category of organisms will receive least energy from their food? What happens to the 1,800 mL of energy the wheat DOES NOT absorb? Why can’t a food chain have an unlimited number of links?

Other Ecological Relationships

Definition: One Species feeds on another Predator-Prey Definition: One Species feeds on another

Predator – An animal that lives by capturing and eating other animals. Prey – An animal hunted or caught for food.

Rodent populations increase when owl numbers drop

Definition: two species need the same resource Competition Definition: two species need the same resource

Introduced Kudzu vines killed trees

Bandicoots and Rabbits Bandicoots are nearly extinct because rabbits have eaten their food sources after being introduced to Australia

Wolves and Coyotes When wolves have been reintroduced to an area coyote numbers drop and kit fox numbers may increase because of overlapping prey

Symbiosis – a close ecological relationship between species There are 3 different types of symbiosis Mutualism Commensalism Parasitism

Definition: association in which both species benefit Mutualism Definition: association in which both species benefit

Clownfish and Anemones The Clown Fish are protected from predator fish by the stinging tentacles of the anemone. The anemone receives protection from polyp-eating fish.

Oxpecker on Impala

Lichens contain an algae and a fungus which cannot live separately

Ants, Caterpillars and Acacia Trees

Water Buffalo and Cattle Egrets

Definition: one species benefits, the other is unaffected Commensalism Definition: one species benefits, the other is unaffected

Bromeliads and Orchids growing on tree branch

Tree frogs in trees

Parasitism Definition: one species benefits, the other is harmed

Host – The animal or plant on which another organism lives Parasite – An organism that feeds on a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host. Difference between predator-prey: the parasite wants the host to stay ALIVE

Strangler Fig uses another tree for support, then smothers it

Wasp eggs on caterpillar

Practice Match each of the following with the type of ecological relationship that they represent

1. A water lily flower gets pollinated by bees and the bees eat nectar from the flower

2. A dove uses a branch to build its nest without damaging the tree.

3. Lizard captures and eats an insect

4. Native pronghorns and introduced oryx both eat the same vegetation in New Mexico

5. Heartworms survive by living in a dog’s heart

6. Mosquito getting proteins from human blood

7. African Fish Eagle catching a fish

8. Cleaner Wrasse and Moray Eel

9 & 10. Lions and Hyenas Lions chase or kill hyenas because they hunt the same prey animals