1. How do you fit into your community?
What’s your job?
How do you fit into your community?

2. Niche
NICHE - An organism’s role in its community
Its job!

3. Niche CAN BE BASED UPON WHERE THEY GET ENERGY
Autotroph – use energy from the sun to make their own food
PLANTS!!!!
Heterotroph – relies on autotrophs for their source of nutrients
ANIMALS!!!

4. CAN BE BASED UPON WHAT THEY EAT
Herbivore – eats autotrophs (plants)
Carnivore - eats other heterotrophs; kills for food
Omnivore – eats both autotrophs and heterotrophs

5. CAN BE BASED UPON WHAT THEY EAT
Scavenger – eats other heterotrophs that are already dead
Decomposers – organisms who break down and absorb nutrients from dead organisms

6. Niche
PREDATION – one organism (called predator) kills and eats another (called prey)
* what is an example of a
predator/prey relationship?

7. Niche
COMPETITION – two or more organisms trying to obtain the same limited resource
Both organisms are at a loss because they spent energythe organism who eats simply replaces some of the energy

8. COMPETITION
Intraspecific: 2 or more organisms in the same species are competing
(intra = within)
Interspecific: 2 or more organisms from different species are competing
(inter = between)

9. Symbiotic Relationships
SYMBIOSIS – close, long-lasting physical relationship between two different species
Why isn’t predation and competition considered symbiosis?

10. Symbiotic Relationships
Commensalism – one species benefits and the other is neither harmed nor benefited
Mutualism – both species benefit
Parasitism – one organism benefits at the expense of the other
(tends to harm and not kill)

11. Commensalism Clown fish live in sea anemones
Protects the clown fish from other fish but doesn’t affect the sea anemone

12. Commensalism
The bird finds a place to build a nest (benefits), while the tree neither gains nor loses

13. Mutualism
A bee moves pollen from one flower to another, thus fertilizing the flowers. At the same time, the bee satisfies its need for food by feeding on nectar produced by the flower

14. Parasitism
Fleas on a dog would be an example of parasitism.

15. Food Chain
ALWAYS moves from autotroph to heterotroph & eventually decomposers
autotroph
1st-order heterotroph
2nd order heterotroph
decomposer
Grass to deer to bear to bacteria

16. Arrows represents the direction of energy flow

17. Levels of Organization
Organism

18. Levels of Organization
Population- all members of a single species that live in one place at one time
Covers terms such as herd, flock, grove, swarm, pod, pride, school

19. Levels of Organization
Community- several populations living together & interacting

20. Levels of Organization
ecosystem - a community and its abiotic factors

21. Levels of Organization
biome - areas with a similar physical appearance

23. Levels of Organization
biosphere - the entire area of the earth where life exists

24. Make your own biosphere

25. Ecology Report Report on a ecological situation
Problem/solution
An Animal’s life cycle
Use at least 10 ecological terms
Highlight or underline the term
Define the term in your paper