1. Ecology

2. Succession  Succession – the stages a land area goes through

3. Primary Succession  Starting from rock  Happens after a volcanic eruption, glacier movement or over a rocky area  Takes A LONG TIME

4. Primary Succession - stages  Starts with small plants like lichen or moss that have very little nutrient requirements  Slightly more complex plants start to grow which break apart the rock and release nutrients into the rock, eventually forming soil  small plants start to grow  Medium plants start to grow  Larger plants including large trees start to grow

5. Primary succession  Primary Succession Primary Succession

6. Secondary Succesion  Regrowth – occurs after a forest fire or other disturbance that leave the soil in place  Takes much less time than primary succession

7. Secondary Succession  animation animation

8. Food Webs

9. Producers  An organism that uses solar energy (green plant) or chemical energy (some bacteria) to make its food.

10. Primary Consumer (herbivore)  An organism that feeds directly on all or parts of plants.

11. Secondary Consumer (carnivore)  An organisms that feeds only on primary consumers. Most are animals, but some are plants (Venus fly-trap).

12. Tertiary Consumer (carnivore)  Animals that feed on animal- eating animals. Ex. hawks, lions, bass, and sharks.

13. Quaternary Consumer (carnivore)  An animal that feeds on tertiary consumers. Ex. humans.

14. Decomposer (scavenger, detritivore)  An organism that digests parts of dead organisms, cast-off fragments, and wastes of living organisms. Ex. bacteria and fungi.

15. Rule of 10  10% of the energy is transferred from one tropic level to the next trophic level.  Example:  A plant has 30 J. of energy  A cow eats the plant  The cow gets only 10 % of the plant’s energy which is 3 J.

16. Rule of 10 practice  A plant has 100 J. of energy. A prairie dog eats the plant. A fox eats the prairie dog. How much energy does the fox get from the original energy in the plant?

17. Answer:  Plant to prairie dog: 100J. X.10 = 10 J  Prairie dog to fox: 10J x.10 = 1 J  The fox has to eat many animals to get it’s energy. This is why animals higher up in the food chain are often the largest.

18. Roles in the ecosystem  Some plants and animals serve specific roles in the ecosystem.  Keystone species  Foundation species  Indicator species

19. Keystone Species  A species that the entire ecosystem depends on  If this species disappears the entire ecosystem will changes  Example: Sea Otter

20. Foundation Species  Species that changes the ecosystem

21. Foundation species  Elephant:  When elephants move into an area they stomp down much of the vegetation  This changes the habitat of the entire ecosystem  A new ecosystem replaces what used to be there.

22. Indicator species  A sensitive species that shows the evidence of change early than other members of the ecosystem  Amphibians are classic examples of indicator species

23. Life Cycle of a Frog

24. Rivers and Dams  Dams severely impact aquatic ecosystems

25. Fig. 14-13a, p. 317 Provides water for year-round irrigation of cropland Flooded land destroys forests or cropland and displaces people Large losses of water through evaporation Provides water for drinking Downstream cropland and estuaries are deprived of nutrient-rich silt Reservoir is useful for recreation and fishing Risk of failure and devastating downstream flooding Can produce cheap electricity (hydropower) Downstream flooding is reduced Migration and spawning of some fish are disrupted

26. Fig. 14-13b, p. 317 Powerlines Reservoir Dam Powerhouse Intake Turbine

27.  These are dams & reservoirs that feed from the Colorado River all the way to San Diego, LA, Palm Springs, Phoenix & Mexico. Colorado River Basin

28. The Colorado River Basin Figure 14-14

29. Fig. 14-14, p. 318 Dam Aqueduct or canal Upper Basin LOWER BASIN 0100 mi. 0150 km Lower Basin UPPER BASIN IDAHO WYOMING Salt Lake City Grand Junction Denver UTAH NEVADA COLORADO Lake Powell Las Vegas Grand Canyon Glen Canyon Dam Boulder City NEW MEXICO ARIZONA Los Angeles Albuquerque Phoenix San Diego Mexicali Yuma Tucson All-American Canal Gulf of California MEXICO CALIFORNIA Palm Springs Colorado River

30.  The Colorado River has so many dams and withdrawals that it often does not reach the ocean.  14 major dams and reservoirs, and canals.  Water is mostly used in desert area of the U.S.  Provides electricity from hydroelectric plants for 30 million people (1/10 th of the U.S. population). Case Study: The Colorado Basin – an Overtapped Resource