© Katie Garcia

The BIG Idea! All organisms interact with living and nonliving things in their environment. Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and their environments. © Katie Garcia

Objectives At the end of this unit students will be able to… Name and identify the six levels of organization ecologists study. Identify the sources of energy for life processes. Explain and demonstrate how energy is transferred through an ecosystem. © Katie Garcia

___________- the number of different species in an area. Biodiversity Ecosystem: a collection of organisms (community) and their physical environment ___________- the number of different species in an area. Biodiversity © Katie Garcia

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ENVIRONMENT? The environment is made up of two factors: 1) Biotic factors- all living organisms inhabiting the Earth 2) Abiotic factors- nonliving parts of the environment (i.e. temperature, soil, light, moisture, air currents) When I say environment you think what—weather. Well Ok but it it much more than that © Katie Garcia

Ecologists don’t often study a single, individual organism. Ecology can be studied at different levels of organization, each level focusing on different factors. Ecologists don’t often study a single, individual organism. They focus instead on interactions within and between.. © Katie Garcia

Ecologists study The study of ecology ranges from the study of an individual organism (species) to populations to communities to ecosystems to biomes and finally to the entire biosphere bigger bigger bigger © Katie Garcia

biosphere biome ecosystem community population individual © Katie Garcia

Levels Ecologists Study The lowest level is the individual. The organism. Here we see a salmon and a bear as examples of organisms. REMINDER: organisms die, species go extinct © Katie Garcia

Lowest Level: the Organism (any unicellular or multicellular form exhibiting all of the characteristics of life, an individual) The lowest level is the individual. The organism. Here we see a salmon and a bear as examples of organisms. REMINDER: organisms die, species go extinct © Katie Garcia

2nd Level: POPULATION a group of organisms of one species living in the same place at the same time that interbreed Produce fertile offspring Compete with each other for resources (food, mates, shelter, etc.) The next level is a population. A population consists of a single species living together and breeding. Give me an example of a population. Ex. large mouth bass living in Lake Meade. Beetles living under the same log. Here we have salmon spwning and two bears fishing. © Katie Garcia

3rd Level Community All of the different populations in a given area. © Katie Garcia

4th Level: Ecosystem The living (biotic) community and non-living (abiotic) physical environment in a given area. EXAMPLE: This lake ecosystem is made up of all the living things AND the non-living factors such as climate, rocks, water, soil, etc. © Katie Garcia

ECOSYSTEM In an ecosystem, the biotic and abiotic parts interact to form a stable system. © Katie Garcia

a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities. Cover large geographic areas. ex: desert, tropical rainforest, tundra 5th Level: Biome – HOT!! © Katie Garcia

6th Level: BIOSPHERE The portion of Earth in which life exists. The global sum of all ecosystems. The highest level of organization that ecologists study is the entire biosphere itself. © Katie Garcia

3-2 Energy Flow The most important factor in an ecosystem is the amount of energy available. Energy flows from producers to consumers Sunlight is the main energy source for life on Earth © Katie Garcia

Producers Consumers Autotroph Heterotroph __________ -organism that makes its own food. (1st level) EXAMPLES: Plants, some algae, some bacteria Consumers _____________- organism that cannot make its own food Heterotroph EXAMPLES: EVERYTHING ELSE © Katie Garcia

Types of Consumers Herbivore ___________- plant eaters Carnivore ____________- eats animals Omnivore ___________- eat both plant and animals © Katie Garcia

Decomposers They consume (eat) dead plants & animals and decomposes them –reduces them to simpler forms of matter ex: fungus & bacteria © Katie Garcia

Feed on plant and animal remains and other dead matter collectively called detritus. Detritivores - ex. worms & vultures © Katie Garcia

The most important factor in an ecosystem is the amount of energy available. Producers capture energy from the sun. EXAMPLE: Plants, algae Consumers obtain energy by eating others. EXAMPLE: Animals, fungi Decomposers that eat organic waste (feces, leaves) EXAMPLE: Fungi, bacteria © Katie Garcia

Energy Flow and Feeding Relationships Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction Sun  autotrophs  heterotrophs Energy stored by producers can be passed through an ecosystem along a food chain A series of steps in which organisms transfer ENERGY by eating and being eaten © Katie Garcia

Food Chain – a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten. Food chains show the one way flow of energy in an ecosystem. © Katie Garcia

Food webs show how energy flows through an ecosystem © Katie Garcia

A food web is just a bunch of food chains! © Katie Garcia

Trophic Levels Each step in a food chain or food web is called a trophic level. Producers make up the first trophic level. © Katie Garcia

Trophic Levels Consumers make up the second, third, or higher trophic levels. Each consumer depends on the trophic level below it for energy. The decomposers complete the system (food chains/Food Webs), returning essential molecules to the producers. © Katie Garcia

4 3 TROPHIC LEVEL 2 TROPHIC LEVEL 1 Okay, let’s review trophic level What trophic level did I say you could find producers? Okay we know the rest of the trophic levels are filled with consumers (trophic levels 2, 3, & 4) On trophic level 2, what kind of consumer could I find in this level? 4 3 TROPHIC LEVEL 2 herbivores or omnivores TL 2 TROPHIC LEVEL 1 TL 1 © Katie Garcia

What type of consumer can be found on trophic level 4? What type of consumer can be found on trophic level 3? carnivores or omnivores TL 4 TL 3 carnivores or omnivores herbivores or omnivores TL 2 TL 1 © Katie Garcia

TERTIARY CONSUMER SECONDARY CONSUMER PRIMARY CONSUMER Since all the organisms on trophic levels 2, 3, and 4 are consumers, we have a name for each level so you know what level we are referring too. QUATERNARY CONSUMER (if there were a trophic level 5) TERTIARY CONSUMER TL 4 SECONDARY CONSUMER TL 3 PRIMARY CONSUMER TL 2 TL 1 © Katie Garcia

they “automatically” make their own food Review!! Producers are also called WHAT? Autotrophs they “automatically” make their own food © Katie Garcia

Review!! Consumers are also called WHAT? Heterotrophs © Katie Garcia

Ecological Pyramid Energy Pyramid: Shows the relative amount of energy available at each trophic level. Only about 10 percent of the energy available within one trophic level is transferred to organisms at the next trophic level----the rest is lost as heat! © Katie Garcia

.1% 1% 10% 100% How much energy is transferred to the next level? Lost to atmosphere as HEAT How much energy is transferred to the next level? .1% Where does the rest go???? TL 4 1% 10 PERCENT Rule!! TL 3 10% TL 2 100% TL 1 © Katie Garcia