1. Ecology Revisited

2. Ecology Vocabulary
Producers/Autotrophs-make their own food

3. Ecology Vocabulary
Primary Consumer/First Level Consumer: Herbivore-plant eater, heterotroph

4. Ecology Vocabulary
Secondary/Tertiary Consumer (2nd or 3rd Level Consumer): Carnivore-meat eater

5. Ecology Vocabulary
Secondary of Tertiary Consumer: Omnivore-both plants and animals

6. Ecology Vocabulary
Scavenger-doesn’t kill own food, eats carrion (dead bodies/road kill)

7. Ecology Vocabulary
Detritivores-feed on detritus (parts of dead organisms, wastes)

8. Ecology Vocabulary
Decomposer-recycles nutrients by breaking down wastes

9. Ecology-Definition
Study of how organisms interact with one another (biotic) and nonliving environment (abiotic-water, nutrients, air, etc)

10. Level of Ecological Organization
1. Organisms-any form of life
Cells are the basic unit of life
Prokaryotic-no nuclear bound DNA (ex. Bacteria)
Eukaryotic-distinct nucleus and membrane-bound organelles

11. Species Species can mate and produce fertile offspring
million estimated species on earth (mostly insects)
1.8 million species identified
Each year approx. 10,000 new species identified per year

12. Not a Species
Liger

13. Level of Ecological Organization
2. Population-consists of a group of interacting individuals of the same species

14. Level of Ecological Organization
3. Community-made up of populations of different species occupying a particular place

15. Level of Ecological Organization
4. Ecosystem-community of different species interacting with one another AND the abiotic environment

16. Energy Flow Through An Ecosystem
Food chain: how energy and nutrients move from one organism to another
Leaf caterpillar robin hawk
****arrows show the direction of energy flow!

17. Trophic (Feeding) Levels
a) first level -- producers
b) second level-primary consumers
c) third level—secondary consumers
d)fourth level – tertiary consumers

18. Food Web
Interconnected food chains/better representation of the ecosystem

19. Biomass
Dry weight of all organic matter contained in its organisms (chemical energy stored in biomass is transferred in food chains/food webs

20. Ecological Efficiency
At each level approximately only 10% of energy is transferred
What law of thermodynamics??
90% is lost as heat

21. Ecological Efficiency
Energy pyramid: pictorial of amount of energy at each level

22. Ecological Efficiency
Explains why there are few top predators
Explains why the earth would support more people:
Grain Human
Versus
Grain steer human

23. Pyramid of Numbers Temperate Forest
Summer-a few large producers support many small primary consumers

24. Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)
Rate at which producers use photosynthesis to make more plant material (biomass)

25. Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)
Highest in:
tropical rainforest littoral zone

26. Net Primary Productivity (NPP)
Amount of biomass left over after producers grow, respirate, reproduce, etc.
Biomass that is available for consumers
NPP is a limiting factor (any abiotic factor that limits the growth of a species-can be too much or too little of something)

27. Biodiversity (renewable resource)
Genetic diversity-variety of genetic make-up among individuals of a species

28. Biodiversity (renewable resource)
Species diversity-variety of species found in different habitats on the planet

29. Biodiversity (renewable resource)
Ecological diversity-variety of biological communities such as coral reefs, forests, wetlands, deserts, etc

30. Biodiversity (renewable resource)
Functional diversity-biological and chemical processes or functions such as energy flow and matter cycling needed for survival.

31. Abiotic Environment
Physical and chemical factors that influence organisms on land (terrestrial) ecosystems and aquatic ecosystems

32. Abiotic Environment Terrestrial ecosystems (key factors) Sunlight
Temperature
Precipitation
Wind
Latitude (distance from equator)
Altitude (distance above sea level)
Fire frequency
soil

33. Abiotic Environment Aquatic ecosystems (key factors) **salinity**
Light penetration
Water currents
Dissolved nutrients
Suspended solids

34. Range of Tolerance populations can only exist in certain range of physical/chemical properties

35. Law of Tolerance
The existence, abundance, and distributions, of a species in an ecosystem are determined by whether the levels of one or more physical or chemical factors fall within the range of tolerance for that species

36. Law of Tolerance
Most individuals are least tolerant during juvenile or reproductive stages

37. Law of Tolerance
Highly tolerant species can live in a wide variety of habitats with a wide variety of physical properties

38. Final Vocab Habitat-a place where an organism lives
Niche-the role an organism plays in its environment
Habitat versus niche is like where an organism lives versus what it does for a living