Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Week of Sept. 22 Indoor lab – bring calculator Week of Sept. 29 Oct. 3 Exam 1 Wet outdoor lab – wear closed-toed shoes Week of Oct. 7 Indoor lab – bring calculator Week of Oct. 14 No labs – Fall Break

Outline The biome concept Survey of the biomes Variability in Connecticut

Microclimate – climatic variation on a scale of a few kilometers, meters, or centimeters

Coniferous forest Deciduous forest Wetlands, Water Residential, commercial Lawn and turf

Environmental variability Applied Ecological Issues Structure of course Environmental variability Organisms Ecosystems Populations Species interactions Communities Applied Ecological Issues

What do organisms need to survive and reproduce? Outline for organisms Introduction What do organisms need to survive and reproduce? How do organisms cope with variability?

Organism – fundamental unit of ecology; an individual living being bounded by a covering which separates it from its environment Organismal approach – focus on how the organism interacts with its environment to survive and reproduce

Questions organismal ecologists ask How does an individual’s form, physiology, and behavior help it to survive in its environment? Why is the distribution of an organism limited to certain environments? Why do related organisms in different environments have different characteristics?

What do organisms need in order to survive and reproduce? energy water nutrients

Why do organisms need energy??

Fig. 2.8 All organisms use energy given off in oxidation reactions Difference is where they get the reduced compounds

Organisms have two different methods to gain energy autotrophs - organisms that gain energy from either sunlight (photosynthesis) or inorganic compounds (chemosynthesis) heterotrophs - organisms that use organic materials (other organisms) as a source of energy

Types of heterotrophs - herbivores - eat autotrophs carnivores - eat other heterotrophs detritivores - eat dead organic matter - omnivores - eat more than one of the above

Why do organisms need water?

Fig. 2.8 Fig. 2.8

Fig. 2.9 Fig. 2.9

Why do organisms need nutrients?

Fig. 2.22 Fig. 2.22

INPUTS = STORAGE + OUTPUTS Consumption = Metabolism + Egestion + Excretion + Growth + Reproduction INPUTS = STORAGE + OUTPUTS

Sooty tern - nest on bare sand in very hot climate eat squid and fish from local area - nests are tended all of the time Shearwater - nest on bare sand or in burrows eat squid and fish from far away surface nests are often abandoned because parents get too hot

Fig. 2.24

Niche: ecological role of a species in the community - determines the range of conditions an organism can tolerate, how it feeds, how it escapes enemies, etc. - no two species have the same niche

Habitat: the physical setting in which an organism lives

Introduction and review of adaptation Outline for organisms Introduction and review of adaptation What do organisms need to survive and reproduce? How do organisms cope with variability?

How do organisms cope with variability? physiological adaptations behavioral adaptations developmental adaptations

Why do organisms have to cope with variability? i.e., why does variability matter?

Fig. 9.4

behavioral - organisms can alter their behavior to stay within range of environmental conditions required to survive and reproduce

physiological - the physiology of an organism can change such that the range of environmental conditions it can tolerate changes - reversible - acclimation

Figure 9.9

Figure 9.10 blue = grown at 20 C orange = grown at 40 C

developmental - particular traits of an organism may be affected by the environmental conditions under which it develops - irreversible