1. Ecology
Terms and Definitions

2. Ecology is:
The study of interactions between living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components in ecosystems

3. The vocabulary is presented in the following colours in this slide show:
Word
Definition
Examples
RED
BLACK
GREEN

4. Biotic Biotic Biotic Abiotic Abiotic Abiotic
Living Together
Biotic
Biotic
There are many things on Earth.
BIOTIC are living things
ABIOTIC means non-living
Sort the following parts:
Biotic
Abiotic
Abiotic
Abiotic

5. Ecology – The study of the relationships between living things and their environment
Ex: people & global warming
salmon & bears
Organism – A single member of a species
Ex: a tree, a horse, a bee, a dog…

6. Every organism needs energy to live
A food chain shows the flow of energy in an ecosystem
A network of food chains is called a food web

7. Producers Make their own food The base of food webs
Capture energy from sunlight
Convert it to food energy (photosynthesis)
Ex: plants

8. Consumers Consumers CANNOT make food for themselves
Several types of consumers
Herbivore
Omnivore
Carnivore
Scavenger

9. Herbivores
Eat only plants
Ex: panda, rabbit, deer, grasshopper

10. Omnivores
Eat BOTH plants and animals
Ex: pig, raccoon, human, bear

11. Carnivores Eat other animals
Ex: bull shark, crocodile, gila monster, piranha

12. Decomposers Consume (eat) dead plants and animals and decompose them
Reduce them to simpler forms of matter
Ex: fungi and
bacteria

13. Nutrient A material that an organism needs to grow and reproduce.
Ex: vitamins, minerals

14. Habitat
The area in which an organism lives, including the space, water and food available, vegetation and soil types
Ex: forest, pond, tree, jungle

15. HABITAT abiotic carnivore biotic omnivore producer herbivore abiotic
Use the definitions from your worksheet to label the following ecosystem:
abiotic
carnivore
biotic
omnivore
producer
HABITAT
herbivore
abiotic
producer
consumer

16. Biodiversity – a wide variety of living things
Ex: rainforest, oceans
Ecosystem – the system of interactions between living things and their environments
Ex: pond, forest, deserts, wetlands

17. Benefit – something that promotes survival
Ex: rain – allows food to grow; sunlight, wind…
Challenge – makes survival difficult
Ex: drought – not enough rain/water; predators

18. Homework
Quiz at end of note (hand in note when finished!)