1. What is Ecology? The study of the interactions between organisms and their environment  Interactions between organisms is not simply who eats who but varied, some good some bad

2. Organization in the Environment Organism Populations Communities Ecosystems Biomes Biosphere Single animal Group of the same animal Different populations in the same area Includes the abiotic factors Geographic area characterized by certain types of plant and animal communities Earth where life exists

4. 2 parts of ecology Biotic factors  The living part of the environment  Animals, plants, insects, humans Abiotic factors  The non-living part of the environment  Water, soil, light, temperature

6. Habitat vs. Niche Habitat – the environment in which an organism lives  When things like deforestation, building of roads and buildings occur, habitats are being destroyed Niche – organisms way of life in the ecosystem  Includes its habitat, food, predators, competitors and abiotic factors

7. Niche of the Gray Wolf Consumers  Carnivores, eating moose, deer, reindeer, sheep and small animals such as birds and snakes Social Structure – hunt in packs Nurture and teach their young Important in population control

8. Producers Make their own food/energy Use the sun to go through the process of photosynthesis Includes plants, algae and some bacteria

9. Consumers Can’t make their own energy, get it by eating producers or other consumers Herbivore – eats only plants Carnivore – eats only animals Omnivores – eats both plants and animals

10. Scavenger vs. Decomposer Scavengers eat dead animals for energy  Examples include turkey vultures Decomposers get energy by breaking down the remains of dead organisms  Recyclers, bacteria and fungi

12. Predation Prey – the organism that is eaten Predator – the organism doing the eating Adaptations  Predator – speed or ambush prey  Prey – run away, camouflage, poisonous, bright colors, groups

14. Competition Can occur among individuals within a population or between populations Competition for resources, mates, space

15. Symbiosis Long term, association between two or more species

16. Mutualism Both organisms benefit

17. Commensalism One organism is benefiting and the other is unaffected

18. Parasitism One organism is harmed and the other is benefiting

19. Limiting factors Populations cannot grow indefinitely because the environment contains only so much food, water, living space and other resources When one or more becomes scarce, it becomes a limiting factor

20. Carrying Capacity The largest population that a given environment can support over a long period of time When the population gets larger than carrying capacity, limiting factors will cause the population to get smaller

22. Food Chains and Webs Food chains represent how energy flows from one organism to the next  Rare in nature because animals usually eat more than one organism Food webs represent many pathways that energy flows in an ecosystem

24. Energy Pyramids Represents the loss of energy by each organism in a food chain or web

25. Coevolution Long term change that takes place in two species because of their close interactions with each other Herbivores evolving with the plants they eat Flowers and their pollinators