1. What is meant by: Everything in nature is connected?
E C O L O G Y
What is meant by:
Everything in nature is connected?

2. PLEASE read about the 1995 experiment in your handout

3. C O N C L U S I O N
In nature, things that we would never think were connected— mice, acorns, ticks, & humans---can be linked to each other in a complex web

4. THE ORGANIZATION OF LIFE
ECOSYSTEM: all the organisms living in an area together with their physical environment.
Examples: oak forest, coral reef, vacant lot

5. ECOSYSTEMS
MICONCEPTION: often ecosystems are viewed as isolated from each other
BUT
Ecosystems DO NOT have clear boundaries
Things move from one ecosystem to another
Soil washes from mountain into lake
Birds migrate from Canada to Mexico
Pollen blows from a forest into a field

6. REAL – LIFE CONNECTION COMPLEX SYSTEMS SAN DIEGO EXAMPLE---PLEASE READ
What are some other problems that the city faced?

7. THE COMPONENTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM
For survival ecosystems need 5 basic components:
1. ENERGY (mostly from sun)
2. MINERAL NUTRIENTS
3. WATER
4. OXYGEN
5. LIVING ORGANISMS

8. ARE YOU UNDERSTANDING ALL THINGS IN NATURE ARE CONNECTED?
ANOTHER EXAMPLE…………
THINK ABOUT HOW A CAR WORKS?
The engine is made of 100s of parts that all work together. Even if 1 part breaks, the car might not run.
If one part of an ecosystem is destroyed or changes, the entire system may be affected

9. THE COMPONENTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM
Jot down all the things you need for survival
OXYGEN, WATER, FOOD, SHELTER
What types of ecosystems might produce these necessities?

10. THE COMPONENTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM
An ecosystem is composed of both LIVING & NONLIVING things
BIOTIC FACTORS: the living & once living parts of an ecosystem.
Including: dead organisms, dead parts of organisms (leaves), & organism’s waste products
ABIOTIC FACTORS: the nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
Including: air, water, rocks, sand, light, & temp.

11. LEVELS OF ECOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
WILDEBEEST

12. LEVELS OF ECOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION

13. LEVELS OF ECOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION

14. LEVELS OF ECOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
AFRICAN SAVANNA

15. LEVELS OF ECOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION

16. LEVELS OF ECOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
ORGANISM ↓
POPULATION
COMMUNITY
ECOSYSTEM
BIOSPHERE

17. LEVELS OF ECOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
ORGANISM: an individual living thing
Species: group of organisms that are closely related & that can produce fertile offspring.
Example: humans--- Homo sapiens
POPULATION: all the members of the same species that live & in the same place at the same time.
Example: field mice in a corn field
COMMUNITIES: a group of various species that live in the same place & interact with each other.
Example: Pond Community; includes all the populations of plants, fish, & insects that live in and around the pond.
All living things in an ecosystem belong to 1 or more
Difference btwn. communities is the types of species. (PLANTS-often determine what species live in community)
HABITAT: The place an organism lives
Example: howler monkey- rain forest cactus--- desert waterlily—pond
Every habitat has specific characterisics that the organisms that live there need to survive.
If any of these factors change, then the habitat changes