1. PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGY
Chapter 2

2. Organisms & Their Environment
Ch. 2, Sec. 1

3. What is Ecology?
Ecology = study of interactions between organisms & their environment

4. Disruptions to the environment can ripple throughout the entire ecosystem

5. Biosphere
Biosphere = parts of Earth and its atmosphere that support life, from the sky down to the bottom of the ocean

6. Biotic Factors = the living parts of an ecosystem
Abiotic Factors = the nonliving parts of an ecosystem (sun, temperature, pH, gasses, water) that are part of an organism’s life

7. Levels of Organization
1. Biosphere

8. 2. Ecosystem = the biotic & abiotic parts of an environment found in a particular place
The biosphere is made up of many different ecosystems

9. 3. Communities = all the interacting living organisms in an area, all the different species

10. 4. Populations = all members of the same species living in one place, at one time

11. 5. Organism = the individual organism

12. Organisms in Ecosystems
Habitat = the place where an organism lives out its life
Niche = all strategies & adaptations a species uses in its environment; a species’ role
What food they eat
What kind of shelter used
Where they reproduce

13. Having a specific role in an environment helps reduce competition

14. Survival Relationships (2 kinds)
A. Symbiosis = organisms living closely together; 3 types of symbiosis

15. 1. Mutualism = 2 species of organisms benefit from each other

16. 2. Commensalism = one species benefits & the other is neither harmed nor benefited

17. 3. Parasitism = one species benefits at the expense of another species

18. B. Predation = a predator eats another organism for food

19. http://www. cstephenmurray

20. Practice
Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and allow them to raise their chick usually at the expense of the offspring of the other species.
What would happen to a forest community if the cowbird population increased?