Introduction to Ecology (Ch. 3)

Why should I learn about Ecology?

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How are living things organized?

• Organisms: individuals such as a whitetail deer

• Populations: Group of organisms of one species

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How are living things organized?

• Community: Collection of interacting populations

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How are living things organized?

• Ecosystem: Interactions within a community plus the physical surroundings

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How are living things organized?

Biome: A group of ecosystems that share similar climates and typical organisms

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How are living things organized?

• Biosphere: The entire planet – living and nonliving

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What are the parts of an environment?

• Biotic Factors: The living (plants and animals)

• Abiotic Factors: The nonliving ( rocks, air, soil, water)

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Where do organisms live?

• Habitat: Where an organism lives– Fish in a pond, fox in a forest

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What do organisms do in the environment?

• Niche: The role a species plays in a community– Wolf eats dying or weak animals

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How do organisms get their energy?

• Plants: sunlight is used by a plant to make food for itself

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Feeding Relationships

• Producers– Autotrophs: use solar or chemical energy to

manufacture food

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Feeding Relationships• Consumers

– Heterotrophs: An organism that must find its food

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How do organisms get their energy?

• Animals: eat other organisms– there are many

different types of eating styles

• Herbivores• Carnivores• Omnivores• Scavengers• Decomposers

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Herbivores

• “herb” means grass• Herbivores are plant eaters

Carnivores

“carn” means fleshCarnivores are meat eaters

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Omnivores

• “omni” means all• Omnivores eat both plants and animals

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Scavengers• Feed on carrion, refuse and most

anything edible

Decomposers

Feed by breaking down and absorbing nutrients from dead organisms. Create detritus.

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Detritivores

• Feed on detritus particles. They will often digest decomposers that live on the material they eat.

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Consumers• First level (primary) consumers

– Herbivores

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Consumers

• Second level consumers– Eat first level consumers

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Consumers

• Third level (Tertiary) consumers– Carnivores that mainly eat 2nd level

consumers

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Food Chain• Shows how matter and energy move

through an ecosystem• Each organism represents a different

trophic level

Quaternary Consumer

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Food Webs

• Shows all of the possible feeding relationships in a community

• Several chains

put together

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How does energy flow through an ecosystem?

• Energy Pyramids: shows energy decreasing at each succeeding trophic level

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Biomagnification

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How do organisms interact with each other?

• Symbiosis: close relationship between different species

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Mutualism

• Both species benefit from the relationship

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Commensalism

• One species benefits, the other is not harmed or benefits

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Parasitism

• One species benefits at the expense of the other– Ticks, tapeworm

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PredationOne species benefits at the expense of the other. The other organism will lose its life because of the relationship.

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The Water Cycle

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