1. ECOLOGY
Ecology

2. Ecology comes from the Greek
words OIKOS (place where
one lives) and LOGOS (study of).
Then Ecology means to study the
place in which we live.

3. Ecology specifically means:
The study of interactions between organisms and the nonliving components of their environment.

4. Key Theme of Ecology Interconnectedness – No organism is isolated.
An organisms survival depends on the interactions with other organisms in their surroundings and with the nonliving components of the environment.

5. Example of Interconnectedness

6. Two Parts of the Environment
Biotic = all living things that affect an organism in its environment.
Abiotic = nonliving factors (water, soil, etc.)

7. What biotic and abiotic factors are present in this pond ecosystem?

8. A pond has plants, algae, insects, bacteria, and fish (biotic)
A pond has plants, algae, insects, bacteria, and fish (biotic). It also has nonliving components such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, soil, and sunlight
(abiotic).

9. Levels of Environmental Organization
(from complex to simple)
Biosphere
Biome
Ecosystem
Community
Population
Organism

10. What is a Biosphere? The broadest, most inclusive
level of organization.
All organisms are
found within the
biosphere

11. What is a Biome?
An area or region of the world that has a particular climate.
For example: specific types of plants like in the desert or in the rainforest.
A rainforest makes up a
biome.

12. What is an Ecosystem?
An ecosystem includes all living organisms and all nonliving things in one particular place.

13. Two Types of Ecosystems
Terrestrial Biomes - Land
Tundra, Taiga, Deciduous Forest, Temperate grassland, Desert, Savanna, Tropical rainforest
Aquatic Zones - Water
Ocean, Freshwater

14. What is a Community? All the interacting organisms living in one area.
Example: All the fish, turtles, plants, algae, and bacteria living in the pond.

15. What is a Population?
Includes all the members of a single species that live in one place.
Example: A school of fish

16. Populations cannot grow nonstop
because the environment contains
limited resources known as limiting
factors.
The largest population that an
environment can
support is known
as the carrying
capacity.

17. What is an Organism? An organism is the simplest, least
complicated level of organization
in our environment.
Examples: A single
fish or a single
individual.

18. Two Main Types of Species Interactions
Predation
Predator
Prey
Symbiotic
Parasitism
Mutualism
Commensalism

19. Predator and Prey The organism that is eaten is the prey.
The organism that does the eating is the predator.

20. Symbiotic Relationships
Three Types of
Symbiotic Relationships
Parasitism –one organism benefits
while the other is harmed.
Mutualism - both organisms benefit.
Commensalism – one organism
benefits and the other is unaffected.

21. Parasitism The tapeworm attaches to human intestine and
feeds off our digested
nutrients. The worm
benefits while the person is harmed.
The worm is the parasite and the person is the host.

22. Mutualism
The sea anemone and the clownfish.. The fish uses the anemone for protection, and in return, the fish brings scraps of food to the anemone and lures larger fish into the anemone’s tentacles.
Both benefit.

23. Commensalism
The egret rides on the buffalo back feeding on small animals such as insects and lizards that are forced out of hiding as the buffalo moves through the grass.
One benefits, one
does not care.