Principles of Ecology

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Principles of Ecology

• Define Ecology
• It is the study of the interactions of organisms
  with one another and their surroundings.
• Ecology is Greek for oikos which means house or
  household.
• Biosphere is the part of the earth in which life
  occurs.

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• What is a population?
• of a specific species in a given area.
• What is a community?
• All the populations in a given area.
• Ecosystem consists of biotic and abiotic
  factors that surrounds organisms and affects
  their way of life.
• Organism ? Population ? Communities? Ecosystems?
  Biosphere (pg. 59)

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Ecosystem

• What are some examples of abiotic factors?
• Precipitation, sunlight, weather, temp., ect.
• What are some examples of biotic factors?
• Animals, plants, fungus, algae, bacteria

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• What is a habitat?
• A physical area in which an organism lives.
• If you destroy or change the habitat an organism
  lives in, then you affect the organism itself.
• Niche the way of life of a species
• Ex. A birds beak for cracking seeds or tearing
  meat are niches for birds.

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Producers Consumers

• What are producers?
• Organisms able to make their own food.
• These are autotrophs (plants)
• What is a consumer?
• Organisms that get their energy either directly
  or indirectly from producers.

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3 types of consumers

• 1. Primary consumer ? Herbivores
• 2. Secondary consumer ? Carnivores
• 3. Tertiary consumers ? Top Carnivores (feed on
  secondary consumers)
• Omnivores eat consumers producers.
• Scavengers feed on dead organisms.

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• Decomposers obtain their energy from non-living
  organic matter.
• Trophic levels are feeding levels that each
  organism is categorized into.
• 1st trophic level ? producer
• 2nd trophic level ? herbivore
• 3rd trophic level ? consumer

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Food Chain

• What is a food chain
• A specific sequence in which organisms obtain
  energy in an ecosystem.
• Usually only 4 to 5 levels
• The 1st level has the most energy and energy is
  lost as it keeps moving up energy levels.
• Make your own food chain

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Food Web

• What is a food web?
• It is an interrelated sequence of food chains.
• More than 1 species of can eat different species.
• This occurs more frequently
• Make your own food web.

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3 types of Ecological Pyramids

• An ecological pyramid is used to represent the
  energy relationships among trophic levels.
• 1. Energy Pyramid
• Shows the total amount of incoming energy at each
  trophic level.
• 2. Biomass Pyramid
• Shows the total mass of living tissue at each
  level.

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• 3 Numbers Pyramid
• Illustrates the total number of organisms at each
  trophic level.
• 3 Biogeochemical Cycles
• 1. Water cycle
• 2. Nitrogen cycle
• 3. Carbon cycle

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Ch. 4 - Ecological Succession

• This is where an existing community is gradually
  replaced by another community.
• 2 types of successions
• 1. Primary an area that has never supported
  life before.
• Ex. Volcanic island, retreating glaciers
• 2. Secondary an area that has supported
  previous life. Ex. Abandoned farmland

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• Climax community is a relatively stable
  collection of plants and animals.
• A balance in nature
• Ecological successions will usually lead to a
  climax community.
• Ex. An abandoned plowed field will eventually
  grow back to prairie grassland, which is what the
  field was originally.

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2 Main Types of Biomes

• 1. Terrestrial Biomes Land
• 2. Aquatic Biomes Water
• What is a Biome?
• It is an environment that has a characteristic
  climax community.

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Terrestrial Biomes

• 1. Polar Biome ice
• Surround North and South poles.
• Mainly penguins
• Coldest biome little if any precipitation
• 2. Tundra
• Nearly treeless area that is covered by mosses,
  lichens, and grasses
• Permafrost soil a layer of permanently frozen
  subsoil

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• Undergoes a freezing and thawing cycle. This
  stunts any plant growth.
• Caribou, reindeer, wolves, polar bears, ducks,
  geese.
• 3. Taiga (Coniferous forest)
• Dominated by conifers(pines, firs, spruce)
• Occurs in many of the higher elevations of many
  mountain ranges in the U.S.

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• Cold winters, but mild enough winters to allow
  many plants and animals to reproduce.
• Moose, elk, bears, mountain goats, ect.
• 4. Deciduous Forest
• Along the eastern coast of the U.S. and southern
  coast of Canada.
• Known for its changing seasons (autumn)

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• Humus soil layer has an abundance of organic
  nutrients from decaying leaves. Very fertile
  soil.
• Mountain lions, chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons,
  opossums, foxes, deer
• 5. Grassland (4 main types)
• 1. Plains Prairies North America
• 2. Steppes Soviet Union
• 3. Veldt South America
• 4. Pampas - Argentina

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• Characteristics of the Prairie
• Hot summers and cold winters
• Heavily farmed
• A variety of grasses and leafy plants
• Grazing mammals gopher, deer, mice, rats,
  rabbits, turtles, buffalo, skunks
• 6. Desert
• Little rainfall less than 10 inches/year

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• Usually hot and dry
• Little vegetation
• Lizards, scorpions, snakes
• 7. Rain Forest (Tropical and Temperate)
• Lots of rainfall 75 to 150 inches/year
• Warm and humid
• Most diverse biome with various plants animals.
  Many organisms unnamed.

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• Temperate rainforests occur from central
  California to southern Alaska.
• Redwood forest and spruces.
• Rains a lot in Washington and Oregon.

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Aquatic Biomes (3 types)

• 1. Marine
• Ocean water habitats
• 2 main zones
• 1. Photic zone where light penetrates (about
  200m deep)
• 2. Aphotic zone where light doesnt penetrate
  (more than 200m deep)

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• Most organisms in the marine biome live in the
  intertidal zone. The intertidal zone grows and
  shrinks as the tides move in and out with high
  low tides.
• 2. Freshwater Biome
• Rivers, streams, lakes
• Use for drinking for organisms and life for
  organisms.

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• 2 types of lakes and ponds
• 1. Eutrophic lakes
• Rich in organic matter vegetation.
• 2. Oligotrophic lakes
• Little organic matter. Clear water
• 3. Estuaries
• It is a mixture of freshwater and salt water.

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• Where would estuaries be found?
• Great for fish, shrimp, and crabs.
• As young mature they journey out into the open
  sea and then return to the estuaries to lay their
  young.

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