EcologyIntroductions to

Ecology Concepts and Terminology

Welcome to Ecology

• Ecology is the study of living organisms and how they interact with their environment– Sub science of environmental scienceEnvironmental science is the study of how

human’s affect the environment with the goals of solving environmental problems.

Ecology is the science we use to understand and assess what’s going on in a particular problem.

Interdisciplinary Science

• Ecologist need to have a background in many sciences including, but not limited to:– Biology-study of living organisms– Chemistry- study of matter and

transformations– Geology-study of the lithosphere– Hydrology-study of water– Meteorology-study of climate and weather – Engineering-how structure effects function

In order to assess problems scientist must also look at other influences such as:

• Population growth• Economics• Culture• Law• Politics

Observations

• Making observations and inferences is crucial in Ecology

• Observation attaining information about a situation with any/all of your senses, sometimes using instruments to gather data

• Inference the act or process of reaching a conclusion about something from known facts or evidence

Making Observations Activity

1. Go to a lab bench with one partner of your choosing. No more than 4 people to a table please!

2. All you need with you is a pen/pencil

Ecology is a System Science

• System- A group of interacting, interrelated or interdependent components that form a complex and unified whole.

• You cannot change one part of a system without affecting the other parts.

Ecosystem All the organisms living in an area together within their physical environment

What exactly is a System?

• A system is a group of interacting parts that are dependent on each other.

• A system can be simple as in the water cycle or a system can be complex as in the entire earth system

• System science is the “wave” of the future, realizing that everything on Earth is connected

How do Ecologists use System Science?

• Ecologists study cause and effect loops.

• Study how a changing variable affects another variable.

• Examples– Water changes– Population changes– Nutrient changes

Simple Climate Change Cause and Effect

Steps in System Science

1. Identify the components of your system

2. Identify how they relate to each other3. Identify the consequences of changes4. Identify if positive or negative

consequence5. Adjust system to keep natural

More on Ecosystems

• Scale:– Can be large scale such as regional or global– Can be small scale such as a puddle,

backyard, pond, lake , etc.

Biotic Factors All living/once living parts in a system

Abiotic Factors Non living components of a system

In an Ecosystem, interactions include

how energy is cycled in the system

Biotic Factors include:

• Predator /prey• Decomposers• Population• Biodiversity• Human impact• Reproduction

Abiotic Factors include:

• Pollution• Water

– Temp, rainfall, amount

• Nutrient cycles• Air• Sunlight• Temperature

Initial problem

• Industrial Revolution– Large scale

production of goods– Use of artificial

substances to replace natural choices.

– Increase use of energy

– Increase waste– Increase

transportation.– Increase population– Increase in growth

Biggest Problems

1. Resource depletion:Natural resource any natural resource used by humansRenewable Resource a source that can be replaced relatively quickly

Example: water, soil and air

Non-renewable Resource forms at a very slow rate compared to consumption, can be millions of years

Example: fossil fuels, metals, uranium, salt, sand, clay

2. Pollution an undesired change in air, water, or soil that adversely

affects the health, survival or activities of humans or other organisms.

Examples: Oil spill, sewage, smoke, toxic spills, agricultural waste, landfills, chemical spills,

industrial runoff etc.

3.Loss of Biodiversity

• Biodiversity is the number and variety of species that live in an area.

• Species are lost by extinction– Extinction is when the species no longer

exists.– Reasons for extinction include, but are

not limited to:–Loss or degradation of habitat: food,

water, shelter and space–Loss of genetic diversity–Loss of reproductive population

What is causing these problems?

1. Human population growth as population increases, demands are placed on the natural ecosystem for homes, food and space.

2. Consumption of resources People are using up, wasting, or polluting many natural resources faster than they can be replaced or cleaned up

But how did it all start?

World’s Population

• 1750......790 million• 1800......980 million• 1850...1.3 billion• 1900...1.65 billion• 1950...2.6 billion• 2000...6.08 billion• 2013…7.06 billion• Today…7.2 billion• Industrial revolution

begins around the mid-1700s

Countries With Greatest Population

Overpopulation

SustainabilitySustainability is the process where by resources

are used in a way

that future generations are not compromised or impacted

Tragedy of the Commons Lab

1. Once you are assigned your group, go get a blank piece of paper and draw a bird’s eye view of a pond/water body (name it if you want)

2. Listen CAREFULLY to Mrs. Pozzetti’s instruction (if you don’t you will not understand what to do)

3. I will put a certain amount of gold fish in your pond. Once I do, count the amount and write it under “Number of fish in the ocean to start” in the data table. DO NOT EAT ANYTHING YET!

4. When I say “GO”, each person reaches into the pond ONCE and grabs as many fish as he/she wants. YOU CAN ONLY REACH IN ONCE!

5. Once everyone has grabbed what they want, record in the data table what each person took. Then record the total caught.

6. There will be 4 “seasons”. I will come around after each seasonto repopulate your pond if conditions allow it.

7. After round one, you will answer the questions right after the data table.

8. We will do a 2nd round after

Ecological Footprint• Ecological footprint

shows the productive area of the Earth needed to support one person in a particular country

• It estimates the land used for crops, grazing, forest products and housing

The Earth’s Systems/Sphere

sSystem ScienceEarth Systems

What are The Earth’s Systems?

• Geosphere All rocky part of Earth– Includes lithosphere (crust)

• Hydrosphere All water– Includes Cryosphere (ice sheets)

• Biosphere All life• Atmosphere All gaseous part of Earth• The Earth is a closed system due to the fact

that only the sun gives incoming energy.• All existing elements are cycled

continuously.

Geosphere• Geosphere Solid

portion of Earth includes the lithosphere or Earth’s crust where nutrients, elements an gasses are exchanged.

How Matter is Cycled in the Geosphere

• Volcanoes eject gasses and water into the atmosphere.

• Cause succession• Erosion- releases

elements and nutrients.

• Rocks store elements

• Plate tectonics change environment

Atmosphere• All the gasses

surrounding our planet.• Exchanges gasses with

water, rocks, plants and animals.

• Responsible for climate• Extends to about 550

km above Earth• Major layer is the

troposphere where all weather occurs and stratosphere (50km) where ozone layer exists

Major Components of the Atmosphere

• Nitrogen (78%)• Oxygen (21%)• Carbon dioxide• Argon• Methane• Water vapor• Nitrogen oxide• Sulfur oxide• Atmospheric dust

How the Atmosphere Influences Climate

• The atmosphere acts as a protective bubble surrounding our planet

• Protects against gamma rays and UV rays

• Protects us from large temperature changes with the green house gasses.

• Also causes our sky to be blue by refracting sunlight

• Causes the water cycle.

Green House Effect

Hydrosphere• Includes all the

water on the Earth 73%– Oceans– Lakes– Ice caps (cryosphere)– Soils– Rock layers– Clouds– Water vapor– Rivers – wetlands

The Earth’s Water Supply

Water is cycled from Atmosphere to Geosphere to

Biosphere

Water Cycle Terminology

• Evaporation: process of liquid water is heated and rises into atmosphere

• Condensation: process of which water vapor condenses and yields precipitation

• Precipitation: large droplets of water, snow, sleet or hail.

Water Moves Through Everything

Cryosphere

• Cryosphere describes the portion of the Earth where water is in its solid form

• Includes Sea Ice, glaciers, lake ice, snow etc.

• Wide overlap with the hydrosphere.

Biosphere

• All of the living components of the earth

• Goes from below sea level to 9 km above earth.

• Energy flows in the biosphere from the sun to all organisms.

• Energy from the hydrosphere, atmosphere and geosphere are all exchanged within the biosphere

How the Biosphere Cycles Materials Naturally

• Energy: through food chains• Nutrients through consumption and

decomposition.• Gasses through respiration and

photosynthesis.• Population levels by predator / prey

relationships.• Succession through special fire

resistance and perpetuating species.

Every Sphere is Connected

Humans are Part of the Biosphere

• Humans have shaped all aspects of the cycle including– Altering nutrients by causing erosion– Over consumption of resources– Altering energy by disrupting food chains and

predator prey relationships. – Altering climate by altering gasses in

atmosphere– Altering water by over using and polluting– Altering landforms through dam, levy ,

dredging, road construction and housing.– Destruction of ozone layer using CFCs

Deforestation

Earth’s Sphere’s Collage

•With one other person, use the magazines to make a collage of the Earth’s Spheres•Find 3 – 4 pictures and describe for each picture which spheres are represented.•Also, describe how each sphere is connected to the other in each picture