1. ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES CHAPTER 19

2. What is Ecology? The study of interactions between organisms and the living and non-living components of their environment. Root: oikos (household), same as economics “economy of nature”

3. BIOSPHERE “thin film of life covering an otherwise lifeless planet” http://www.planet-earth.org/images/bluemarble.jpg

4. ECOSYSTEM Includes all of the organisms (biotic) and the non-living factors (abiotic) of an environment found in a particular place

5. Biotic factors All living things that affect the organism: Shelter (Cover from plants) Competition Predation Parasites Available food supply (plants and animals) Symbiotic relationships (“partnerships”)

6. Abiotic factors All non-living things that affect the organism: Oxygen concentration Precipitation Humidity Temperature pH Amount of sunlight Available nitrogen Pollutants

7. COMMUNITY All of the interacting organisms living in an area (biotic factors) danny.oz.au/travel/ new-zealand/p/1266-estuary.jpg

8. POPULATION All of the members of a species that live in one place at one time http://www.bionet.nsc.ru/booklet/images/imagesLaboratories /Kushnir3Big.jpg http://www.buddycom.com/animal/special/elephant/elephwater. jpg

9. ORGANISM Simplest level of organization that focuses on individual adaptations (variations in a group that make the individual MORE FIT!) http://131.183.60.23/brenda/brazil/organisms.jpg

10. BIOSPHERE ECOSYSTEM COMMUNITY ORGANISM POPULATION

11. Interconnectedness and Disturbance http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/atlas/images/big05.gif

12. Ecological Niche (NICH) Where it lives? When is it active? What it eats? www.vancouver.wsu.edu/.../ holbrook06-2003.html

13. Niche The range of environmental conditions in which an organism can survive. There are two kind: –Fundamental Niche –Realized Niche

14. Niche Types Fundamental Niche: What the organisms is able to do What it could eat Where it could live When it could be active Realized Niche: What the organism actually does Due to competition Due to preference Due to a lack of options Usually “Most highly adapted to”

15. The Competitive Exclusion Principle What do you think this term means? No two organisms can occupy the same niche One organism will “out-compete” the other Those organism which are more poorly suited will either die or have to find a new niche where they can survive

16. Niche Differences Generalists Broad niches Tolerate a wide range of conditions Able to adjust easily to disturbances Jack-of-all-trades Specialists Narrow niches Very specific needs Vulnerable to disturbances Really good at what they do