Ecology

Ecology Ecology is the study of organisms’ interactions with each other and their environment

Ecology Ecology is concerned with ecosystems. Ecosystems are all the living and non-living things in an area. Ecology can study things very large ecosystems, like the African Savannah, or very small ecosystems, like your bellybutton.

Ecosystems In every ecosystem there are living and non-living things. Non-living things in an ecosystem are called abiotic factors. Living things in an ecosystem are called biotic factors

Abiotic Factors The sun Climate (the average weather conditions in an area) Temperature Water Soil Atmosphere (the gases around the earth)

Biotic Factors Plants Bacteria Fungi Animals People!

Thinking question: Where do viruses fit in?

Eco-journal #1 What kinds of abiotic and biotic factors are there in the environment around you? In what ways do you observe abiotic factors affecting biotic factors? In what ways do you observe biotic factors affecting other biotic factors?

Energy in Ecosystems Bell-ringer: Why do you eat food?

Energy How do different organisms get their energy?

Energy Producers- organisms that get energy from their environment to make energy Consumers- organisms that eat other organisms to get their energy What are examples of producers and consumers?

Consumers There are different types of consumers: Herbivores- eat plant matter only Carnivore- eat other animals only Omnivores- eat both

We can show how energy moves through an ecosystem with a food web

Energy Pyramid Food webs show us where energy goes but it doesn’t tell us how much transfers Energy pyramids show the amount of energy that transfers to each level The levels or steps are called trophic levels So an energy pyramid can also be called a trophic pyramid

Rule of 10% Approximately 10% of energy transfers to the next trophic level This means that for the owl to get 1 calorie of energy, there must be 1,000 calories of grass

Law of Conservation of Energy The energy pyramid gets smaller towards the top. Not all energy transfers to each level. Some is lost. However, energy is not created or destroyed. So where does the energy go?

Energy Pyramid Now draw your own energy pyramid that includes at least three levels. Show how much energy transfers to each level. Label the organisms producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, etc.

Organism Relationships What are examples of abiotic factors we studied that affect an ecosystem?

Organism Relationships Just like humans have particular relationships to each other, so do animals Symbiosis- a long-term close relationship between two species What are some ways in which animals and plants interact?

Animal interactions Mutualism- a symbiotic relationship where both species benefit Parasitism- a symbiotic relationship where one species benefits and the other species is harmed Commensalism- a symbiotic relationship where one species benefits and the other species is neither helped nor harmed What is the pattern here?

“Good Buddies” Game Rules Deal out all cards The person to the dealer’s left starts the game by taking a random card from the person to left’s hand If a person makes a match, he must say the type of symbiosis that exists between the two organisms before laying down the set of cards and his turn is over. Play continues until one player is out of cards. The person with the most correct matches laid down during the game is the winner! (The person with the “good buddy” card loses!)

Habitat A place where an organism lives is its habitat Habitat can refer to a whole area, like the tundra, or a smaller area, like the human large intestine (colon). Both are habitats to different creatures. Habitat

Niche Think about the job you’d like to have one day. What will be your role in the community? Just as humans play specific roles in their communities, organisms in the natural world have roles they play in their ecosystem

Niche A niche is the role or job an organism plays in its environment. An organism’s niche includes where it lives, what it eats and how it interacts with other organism

Honey Badger What is the honey badger’s niche? Who does it interact with? What does it eat? Where does it live? Overall, what role does it have on the ecosystem?

The Red Honey Badger

The Red Honey Badger The red honey badger eats all the same foods as the regular honey badger It lives in the same parts of Africa It also have a mutualism with the honey guide bird It is similar in every way except it is a different species that is red Can both species survive?

Competitive Exclusion Principle Two species cannot inhabit the same niche at the same time So how do similar species get along in the same ecosystem?

Resource Partitioning Usually organisms evolve to have slightly different niches Resource Partitioning

The Red Honey Badger What things could we change about the red honey badger’s niche so it could co-exist with the regular honey badger?

Limiting Factors

Competition A population is a group of the same species living in an area at the same time Every organism needs certain things to survive, and often times there is a limited amount of those things. This causes competition.

Limiting factors When something limits how many organisms can live in a habitat, it is called a limiting factor. For example, the amount of light that gets into a forest limits the number of trees that can grow there

Carrying Capacity The maximum number of individuals an ecosystem can support is called the carrying capacity

Our population Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14