1. © Katie Garcia

2. The BIG Idea!
All organisms interact with living and nonliving things in their environment.
Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and their environments.
© Katie Garcia

3. Objectives At the end of this unit students will be able to…
Name and identify the six levels of organization ecologists study.
Identify the sources of energy for life processes.
Explain and demonstrate how energy is transferred through an ecosystem.
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4. ___________- the number of different species in an area. Biodiversity
Ecosystem: a collection of organisms (community) and their physical environment
___________- the number of different species in an area.
Biodiversity
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5. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ENVIRONMENT?
The environment is made up of two factors:
1) Biotic factors- all living organisms inhabiting the Earth
2) Abiotic factors- nonliving parts of the environment (i.e. temperature, soil, light, moisture, air currents)
When I say environment you think what—weather. Well Ok but it it much more than that
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6. Ecologists don’t often study a single, individual organism.
Ecology can be studied at different levels of organization, each level focusing on different factors.
Ecologists don’t often study a single, individual organism.
They focus instead on interactions within and between..
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7. Ecologists study
The study of ecology ranges from the study of an individual organism (species) to populations to communities to ecosystems to biomes and finally to the entire biosphere
bigger
bigger
bigger
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8. biosphere biome ecosystem community population individual
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9. Levels Ecologists Study
The lowest level is the individual. The organism. Here we see a salmon and a bear as examples of organisms. REMINDER: organisms die, species go extinct
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10. Lowest Level: the Organism (any unicellular or multicellular form exhibiting all of the characteristics of life, an individual)
The lowest level is the individual. The organism. Here we see a salmon and a bear as examples of organisms. REMINDER: organisms die, species go extinct
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11. 2nd Level: POPULATION
a group of organisms of one species living in the same place at the same time that interbreed
Produce fertile offspring
Compete with each other for resources (food, mates, shelter, etc.)
The next level is a population. A population consists of a single species living together and breeding. Give me an example of a population. Ex. large mouth bass living in Lake Meade. Beetles living under the same log. Here we have salmon spwning and two bears fishing.
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12. 3rd Level Community All of the different populations in a given area.
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13. 4th Level: Ecosystem
The living (biotic) community and non-living (abiotic) physical environment in a given area.
EXAMPLE: This lake ecosystem is made up of all the living things AND the non-living factors such as climate, rocks, water, soil, etc.
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14. ECOSYSTEM
In an ecosystem, the biotic and abiotic parts interact to form a stable system.
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15. a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities. Cover large geographic areas.
ex: desert, tropical rainforest, tundra
5th Level: Biome –
HOT!!
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16. 6th Level: BIOSPHERE
The portion of Earth in which life exists. The global sum of all ecosystems.
The highest level of
organization that ecologists
study is the entire biosphere
itself.
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17. 3-2 Energy Flow
The most important factor in an ecosystem is the amount of energy available.
Energy flows from
producers to consumers
Sunlight is the main energy source for life on Earth
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18. Producers Consumers Autotroph Heterotroph
__________ -organism that makes its own food. (1st level)
EXAMPLES: Plants, some algae, some bacteria
Consumers
_____________- organism that cannot make its own food
Heterotroph
EXAMPLES: EVERYTHING ELSE
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19. Types of Consumers Herbivore ___________- plant eaters Carnivore
____________- eats animals
Omnivore
___________-
eat both plant and animals
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20. Decomposers
They consume (eat) dead plants & animals and decomposes them –reduces them to simpler forms of matter
ex: fungus & bacteria
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21. Feed on plant and animal remains and other dead matter collectively called detritus.
Detritivores -
ex. worms & vultures
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22. The most important factor in an ecosystem is the amount of energy available.
Producers capture energy from the sun.
EXAMPLE: Plants, algae
Consumers obtain energy by eating others.
EXAMPLE: Animals, fungi
Decomposers that eat organic waste (feces, leaves)
EXAMPLE: Fungi, bacteria
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23. Energy Flow and Feeding Relationships
Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction
Sun  autotrophs  heterotrophs
Energy stored by producers can be passed through an ecosystem along a food chain
A series of steps in which organisms transfer ENERGY by eating and being eaten
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24. Food Chain – a series of steps in
which organisms transfer energy by
eating and being eaten. Food chains
show the one way flow of energy in an
ecosystem.
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25. Food webs show how energy flows through an ecosystem
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26. A food web is just a bunch of food chains!
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27. Trophic Levels
Each step in a food chain or food web is called a trophic level.
Producers make up the first trophic level.
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28. Trophic Levels
Consumers make up the second, third, or higher trophic levels.
Each consumer depends on the trophic level below it for energy.
The decomposers complete the system (food chains/Food Webs), returning essential molecules to the producers.
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29. 4 3 TROPHIC LEVEL 2 TROPHIC LEVEL 1 Okay, let’s review trophic level
What
trophic level did I say you could find producers?
Okay we know the rest of the trophic levels are filled with consumers (trophic levels 2, 3, & 4)
On trophic level 2, what kind of consumer could I find in this level? 4 3
TROPHIC LEVEL 2
herbivores or omnivores
TL 2
TROPHIC LEVEL 1
TL 1
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30. What type of consumer can be found on
trophic level 4?
What type of consumer can be found on
trophic level 3?
carnivores or omnivores
TL 4
TL 3
carnivores or omnivores
herbivores or omnivores
TL 2
TL 1
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31. TERTIARY CONSUMER SECONDARY CONSUMER PRIMARY CONSUMER
Since all the organisms on trophic levels 2, 3, and 4 are consumers, we have a name for each level so you know what level we are referring too.
QUATERNARY CONSUMER (if there were a trophic level 5)
TERTIARY CONSUMER
TL 4
SECONDARY CONSUMER
TL 3
PRIMARY CONSUMER
TL 2
TL 1
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32. they “automatically” make their own food
Review!!
Producers are also called WHAT?
Autotrophs
they “automatically” make their own food
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33. Review!!
Consumers are also called WHAT?
Heterotrophs
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34. Ecological Pyramid
Energy Pyramid: Shows the relative amount of energy available at each trophic level.
Only about 10 percent of the energy available within one trophic level is transferred to organisms at the next trophic level----the rest is lost as heat!
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35. .1% 1% 10% 100% How much energy is transferred to the next level?
Lost to atmosphere as HEAT
How much energy is transferred to the next level?
.1%
Where does the rest go????
TL 4 1%
10 PERCENT Rule!!
TL 3
10%
TL 2
100%
TL 1
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