Ecology

1
Ecology

• The Scientific Study of the interactions of
  organisms and the environment at levels in and
  between an organism and the entire Earth.

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Ecological Research

• Organismal ecology
• An organisms structure,
• physiology, behavior w/environment
• Population Ecology
• Analyzes factors that affect population size, how
  why it changes through time
• Community Ecology
• Examines interactions between species affect
  community structure and organization.
• Ecosystem Ecology
• Energy Flow and chemical cycling
• Landscape Ecology
• Exchanges in energy, materials, and organisms
  across multiple ecosystems
• Global Ecology
• Regional exchanges of energy materials
  influence the functioning distribution of
  organisms in the biosphere.

3
Interactions between organisms and the
environment limit the distribution of species.
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Interactions between

• Abiotic nonliving, chemical, physical
  components of an environment
• Biotic living components of an environment

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Biogeography

• Study of the past present distribution of
  individual species.

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Dispersal

• The dispersal of organisms refers to their global
  geographic distribution.
• Abiotic Factors temperature, water, sunlight,
  wind, composition of the rocks soil
• Biotic factors parasites, pathogens, presence of
  pollinators, food species

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Climate

• Temperature
• Water
• Light
• Wind

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Biomes

• Major types of ecosystems that occupy very broad
  geographic regions

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Tropics

• Receive greatest amount of sunlight annually
• Receive the least amount of solar variation
  throughout the year.

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Microclimate

• Small-scale, environmental variations
• Ex Under a log

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Abiotic Biotic Factors Influence the Structure
Dynamics of Aquatic Biomes
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Aquatic Biomes

• Largest part of the biosphere
• 75 Earths surface
• Freshwater
• Marine

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Vertical Stratification

• Aquatic biomes display vertical stratification
• Photic Enough light for photosynthesis
• Aphotic Very little light penetrates

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Thermocline

• Narrow layers of fast temperature change that
  separate a warm upper layer and cold deeper
  waters.

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Benthic Zone

• Located at the bottom layer of all aquatic
  biomes
• Made up of sand and organic and inorganic
  sediments, detritus

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Benthos

• Organisms that live in a benthic environment

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2 Freshwater Environments

• Standing Bodies
• Moving Bodies

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Littoral Zone

• Well lit shallow waters near the shore of lake
  communities
• Contain rooted and floating aquatic plants

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Limnetic Zone

• Well lit open surface waters farther from shore
• phytoplankton

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Oligotrophic lakes

• deep lakes
• nutrient poor
• oxygen rich
• Sparse phytoplankton

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Eutrophic Lakes

• Shallower
• High nutrient content
• Low oxygen content
• High concentration of phytoplankton

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Streams Rivers

• Major physical attribute Current
• Diversity of organisms inhabits unpolluted
  streams rivers
• Distributed in vertical zones
• Headwaters to Mouth

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Wetlands

• Areas covered with water deep enough to support
  aquatic plants.

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Estuaries

• Freshwater streams or rivers merge with the ocean

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Intertidal Zone

• Marine (saltwater) community where land meets
  water.

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Neritic Zone

• Beyond the intertidal zone where shallow water
  covers the continental shelves.

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Oceanic Zone

• Past the continental shelves
• Any open water is called the pelagic zone
• Benthic zone bottom of the oceans floor

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Abyssal Zone

• Very deep benthic communities

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Coral Reefs

• Inhabit the neritic zone
• Biome created by a group of cnidarians that
  secrete hard calcium carbonate shells, which vary
  in shape
• Support the growth of other corals, sponges,
  algae

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Climate largely determines the distribution and
structure of terrestrial biomes.
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Savannas

• Grasses
• Some trees
• Dominant herbivores are insects, such as ants and
  termites
• Fire is dominant abiotic factor
• Many plants adapted to fire
• Plant growth is quite substantial during the
  rainy season
• Larges grazing mammals must migrate during
  regular seasons of drought.

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Desert

• Marked by sparse rainfall
• Desert plants and animals are adapted to conserve
  and store water
• CAM plants
• Plants w/ adaptations to prevent animals from
  consuming them
• Temperature is usually extreme ( hot or cold)

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Chaparral

• Dominated by dense, spiny, evergreen shrubs
• Coastal areas with mild rainy winters
• Long, dry summers
• Plants are adapted for fires

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Temperate Grasslands

• Marked by seasonal drought with occasional fires
• Large grazing mammals
• Factors that prevent significant growth of trees
• Rich in nutrients
• Good for agriculture

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Temperate Broadleaf Forest

• Dense strands of deciduous trees that require
  sufficient moisture
• More open and less tall than tropical rainforests
• Stratified top layer contains 1 or 2 strata of
  trees
• Beneath trees are shrubs
• Under shrubs are grasses and herbaceous stratum

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Canopy

• Canopy refers to the upper layer of trees in a
  forest
• These trees drop their leaves in the fall
• Many trees hibernate
• Bird species migrate to warmer climates

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Coniferous Forests

• Dominated by cone bearing trees such as pine,
  spruce, fir.
• Conical shaped trees adapted to prevent snow from
  accumulating breaking branches.

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Tundra

• Marked by permafrost
• Very cold temperatures
• High Winds
• Little rainfall
• Supports no trees or tall plants
• Accounts for 25 of Earths terrestrial surface

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Tropical Forest

• Pronounced vertical stratification
• So dense that little light breaks through
• Marked with epiphytes (plants that grow on other
  plants instead of land)
• Rainfall varied
• Biodiversity is the greatest of all terrestrial
  biomes

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Images

• http//images.google.com/imgres?imgurl
• http//www.sons.ecu.edu.au/staff/photos/chanson-Ds
  c0105520web.jpg
• http//www.forestinfo.org/Discover/images/eco-dive
  rsity.gif
• http//ic.ucsc.edu/kholl/envs160/abiofig.jpg
• http//www.nearctica.com/ecology/habitats/world.gi
  f
• http//brianhayes.com/images/migratory-flu-flyways
  .gif
• http//www.meteorologyclimate.com/climate-varition
  -factors.gif
• http//www.msad40.org/mvhs/library/images/BIOMES.G
  IF
• http//www.bonsaiprimer.com/suitable/tropics.gif