Ecology and evolution

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Ecology and evolution

• Topic 5.1 Communities and ecosystems

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Some useful definitions

• Species A group of organisms that can
  interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
• Eg. a lion or a tiger

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ButA lion and a tiger can reproduce together
and produce a Liger
Is the liger a new species? Are lions and Tigers
the same species?

• No, because the liger is sterile.

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Habitat The environment where a species
normally lives or the location of a living
organism.
Homework Find out What is a niche? How is it
different from a habitat?
A species share of a habitat and the resources in
it. This depends not only where the organism
lives but also what it does.
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Population a group of organisms of the same
species who live in the same area at the same
time.
Whats missing from this graph?
.........It has area
..it has time
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Community a group of populations living and
interacting with each other in an area.
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Ecosystem A community and its abiotic
(non-living) environment
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Ecology The study of the relationships between
living organisms and their relationships with the
environment
Living (biotic) things that affect Ecosystems Non-living (a-biotic) factors that effect Ecosystems



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Autotroph- An organism that synthesises its
organic molecules from simple inorganic
substances.
Autotrophic bacteria
A plant yesterday.
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Heterotroph an organism that obtains organic
molecules from other organisms.
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Saprotroph an organism that lives on or in
non-living matter, secreting digestive enzymes
into it and absorbing the products of digestion.
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What do you call a mushroom that buys you
drinks?
A Fungi to be with!
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Detritivore an organism that ingests non-living
organic material.
A woodlouse
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Food chains
The arrows represent the flow of energy from
eaten to eater!
Tertiary consumer
Producer
Secondary consumer
Primary consumer
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Make food chains with the following organisms

• A)
• Shark
• Minnow
• Zooplankton
• Phytoplankton
• Tuna

• B)
• Lion
• Gazelle
• Grass
• Tick
• Ox-pecker (bird that eats ticks)

What is the initial energy source for both
chains? Make sure the arrows go in the right
direction.
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Food webs
What is the trophic level of the Caterpillar? Rob
in? Owl?
Higher Level question What will happen to the
resilience of a food web if you increase the
complexity?
Primary consumer
2o, 3o, and 4o Consumer
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Homework

• Page 176, Question 5
• Using Clip art make a food web that contains at
  least 10 named organisms (common names are
  acceptable but must be more than big fish or
  tree!)

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Pyramid of numbers
Pyramid of numbers
An ecological pyramid of numbers shows the
population of each level in a food chain in a
pictorial form.
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.but..
Pyramid of numbers for a tree
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so we could use a pyramid of biomass
Pyramid of Biomass
An ecological pyramid of biomass shows what
happens to the amount of biomass at each trophic
level by showing how much living material there
is at each trophic level of a community at a
specific time. Typical units for a biomass
pyramid could be grams per meter2 (gm-2), or
calories per meter2(cal m-2).
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.but
Dead bird
Not every part of an organism is digestable, the
beak and bones of a bird will not pass on to the
next trophic level. This can make a pyramid of
Biomass look like it contains more energy than it
actually does.
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. So we could use a pyramid of productivity.

• An ecological pyramid of productivity is often
  more useful, showing the production or turnover
  of biomass at each trophic level. Instead of
  showing a single snapshot in time, productivity
  pyramids show the flow of energy through the food
  chain. Typical units would be grams per meter2
  per year (g m-2yr-1) or calories per meter2 per
  year (cal m-2yr-1) As with the others, this graph
  begins with producers at the bottom and places
  higher trophic levels on top.
• (Wikipedia - http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecologic
  al_pyramid - 09.10 16th September 2010)

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Energy flows but Nutrients cycle
Light Energy
Heat Energy
Nutrients
An Ecosystem
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Bibliography

• Evolution of man picture http//daily.swarthmore.e
  du/static/uploads/by_date/2009/02/19/evolution.jpg
  
• Lion Picture http//bluepyramid.org/ia/lion.jpg
• Tiger picture http//fohn.net/tiger-pictures-facts
  /tiger-regal.jpg
• Liger picture http//img40.exs.cx/img40/8801/liger
  10jb.png
• Habitat picture http//www.desertlion.info/photos/
  22-wend-1c6.jpg
• Population graph http//www.sustainablescale.org/i
  mages/uploaded/Population/World20Population20Gro
  wth20to202050.JPG
• Community picture http//media-2.web.britannica.co
  m/eb-media/48/6548-004-4D277914.gif
• Ecosystem picture http//www.scienceclarified.com/
  images/uesc_04_img0211.jpg
• Tree Hugger http//www.treehuggersofamerica.org/im
  ages/tree_hugger.jpg
• Autotrophic bacteria http//www.college.ucla.edu/w
  ebproject/micro7/studentprojects7/Rader/pseudomo.g
  if
• A plant yesterday http//mrgrassosclass.com/images
  /autotroph.jpg
• T.rex picture http//www.biblelife.org/evolution-t
  -rex.jpg
• Mushroom picture http//www.topnews.in/health/file
  s/mushroom.jpg
• Woodlice picture http//wpcontent.answers.com/wiki
  pedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Porcellio_scaber_-_male_f
  ront_2_(aka).jpg/250px-Porcellio_scaber_-_male_fro
  nt_2_(aka).jpg
• Food chain
• http//blogs.townonline.com/wellesley/wp-content/u
  ploads/2008/07/cartoon-sun-thumb10088541.jpg
• http//www.selfsufficientish.com/images/appletree.
  gif
• http//bichitomalo.com/images/ist1_1035760_smiling
  _worm_cartoon.jpg
• http//www.teachmecartoons.com/images/bird-cartoon
  .gif