1. Ecology

2. Ecology is….  The study of interactions among organisms (critters) and their environment or…..their surroundings

3. “Houses of Nature”  Largest is the Biosphere every part of earth where life is http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002600/a002648/

4. How to study ecology  Lets look at Ecology as an ecological house divided into rooms or levels of organization  -Largest group is….. –Biomes based on climate conditions and plant communities that thrive there.  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Laboratory/Biome/ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Laboratory/Biome/  http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/index.php http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/index.php

5. Ecosystem includes all the following  Abiotic  Rocks  Water  Soil  Climate  Biotic  Critters (organisms) –Biodiversity Size can range from log to grassland

6. A community is…  every living thing that lives in the house with you or  A group of different species that live together

7. Population  Group of the same species

8. Organism  Individual living thing

9. Biodiversity  Keystone species

10. Cycling of Matter  Vocabulary –Biogeochemical cycle –Hydrologic cycle –Oxygen cycle –Carbon cycle –Nitrogen cycle (nitrogen fixation)

11. Biogeochemical cycle  The movement of a particular chemical through the biological (living) and geological (nonliving) substances can change states as it travels through the cycle

12. Hydrologic cycle  Pathway of water from the atmosphere to the surface, below ground, and back to the atmosphere water changes states alternating between solid,liquid, and vapor

13. Oxygen cycle

14. Carbon cycle

15. Nitrogen Cycle

16. Phosphorus cycle

18. Energy in Ecosystems (Next test)  Producers-autotrophs –primary productivity –Limiting nutrient  Biogeochemical cycle –Almost all producers obtain energy from sunlight ….but some use Chemosynthesis CO2+H20+H2S (hydrogen sulfite) +O2---  sugar and sulfuric acid Chemosynthesis  Consumers- heterotrophs  classzone.com satellite evidence of producers classzone.com