1. Principles of Ecology Unit 2 Chapter 2

2. What is ecology?  Ecology: study of interactions that take place between organisms and their environment

3. Biosphere  the portion of the Earth that supports living things  Ex: ocean, forest, atmosphere.

4. Abiotic vs. Biotic factors  Abiotic = nonliving parts of the environment  Ex: light, air, temperature, soil  Biotic = living parts of the environment  Ex: bacteria, protist, fungus, plant, animal

5. Levels of organization from smallest to largest  Individual  Population  Community  Ecosystem

6. Individual  made of cells, uses energy, reproduces, responds, grows, and develops

7. Population  group of organisms all of the same species, which interbreed and live in the same area at the same time

8. Community  interacting populations in a certain area at a certain time

9. Ecosystem  interacting communities and abiotic factors

10. Habitat vs. Niche  Habitat: place where organism lives  Niche: role or position a species has in its environment

11. Habitats are capable of changing. What can lead to changes in habitats?

12. Symbiosis: interactions between two species  Mutualism: both benefits  Commensalism: one benefits, the other unaffected  Parasitism: one benefits, one is harmed

13. Mutualism Clownfish is protected, while providing a lure for the anemone. Some say that this relationship can be commensalistic.

14. Commensalism Volcano sponge using the crinoid sponge as a “lift” for increased filtration but the crinoid sponge is unaffected.

15. Parasitism Head lice

16. How organisms obtain energy  Autotroph (producer): photosynthetic or chemosynthetic, makes own food  Heterotroph (consumer): “eat” other organisms, cannot make own food  Decomposer: breaks down dead or decaying organisms, recycles matter

17. Autotroph

18. Heterotrophs - scavengers  Scavengers: feed off of dead or decaying living things but do not recycle matter back into the ecosystem

19. Heterotrophs - herbivores  consume only vegetative matter  mostly primary consumers.

20. Heterotrophs - carnivores  obtain energy from eating other consumers  Secondary and tertiary consumers

21. Decomposers Typical examples: fungus and bacteria

22. Food chain  shows how matter and energy move through an ecosystem (one route) berries → mice → black bear

23. Food web  shows interactions between organisms (all possible routes)

24. Energy pyramid  Shows how much energy is available at each trophic (energy) level Pyramid of Energy Heat 0.1% Consumers 1% Consumers 10% Consumers Parasites, scavengers, and decomposers feed at each level.

25. Autotrophs First-order heterotrophs Third-order heterotrophs Second-order heterotrophs Decomposers

26. Four cycles in nature  Water cycle  Carbon cycle  Nitrogen cycle  Phosphorus cycle

27. Water cycle

28. Carbon cycle

29. Nitrogen cycle Nitrogen cycle

30. Phosphorus cycle