Ecology

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Ecology

• Chapters 50-55

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Review of Ecology Vocab

• Population
• Community
• Ecosystem
• Biosphere
• Habitat
• Niche

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Population Ecology

• The study of growth, abundance, and distribution
  of populations.
• Size
• Density
• Dispersion

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Size

• Total number of individuals in the population.
• How are populations counted?
• Random Sampling

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Dispersion

• 3 Distribution Types
• Clumped
• Uniform
• Random

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Age Structures

• What is it?
• What are the types?
• www.campbellbiology.com
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• 7th Edition
• Chapter 52
• 52.6 Graph It Age Pyramids and Population Growth
• Answer questions Email results to me
  kcsmith_at_rvrhs.com

7
Survivorship Curves

• Type I
• Curves describe species in which most individuals
  survive to middle age followed by high mortality
  rate.
• Type II
• Curves describe organisms in which the length of
  survivorship is random.
• Type III
• Curves describe species in which most individuals
  die young with few surviving beyond reproductive
  age.

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How do Populations grow?

• Biotic Potential
• The maximum growth rate of a population under
  ideal conditions, with unlimited resources and
  without any growth restrictions.
• Factors that Contribute to the biotic potential
  of a species
• Age at reproductive maturity.
• Clutch size ( of offspring produced at each
  event)
• Frequency of reproduction.
• Reproductive lifetime
• Survivorship of offspring to reproductive
  maturity.

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How is population growth limited?

• Carrying capacity
• Limiting Factors
• Density-dependent
• Density-independent
• Predation factors

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Patterns of Population Growth

• Exponential Growth
• Reproductive rate is greater than 0.
• J-shaped curve
• R-selected species opportunistic species
• Logistic Growth
• Limiting factors restrict the size of the
  population to carrying capacity.
• S-shaped or sigmoid curve
• K-selected species population size remains
  constant.

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Human Population Growth

• What are the 4 factors that made exponential
  growth possible?
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• Chapter 52 Activity Human Population Growth

12
Community Ecology

• Interactions of populations.
• 3 Forms of interactions
• 1. Interspecific competition
• 2. Predation
• 3. Symbiosis

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Interspecific Competition

• Competitive Exclusion Principle
• Resource Partitioning
• Character displacement
• Realized Niche

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Predation

• True Predator
• Parasite
• Parasitoid
• Herbivore

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Symbiosis

• Mutualism
• Commensalism
• Parasitism

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Bottle GentianGentiana andrewsii The "bottle
gentian" (or "closed gentian") is an unusual
woodland flower -- its common name derives from
the fact that its petals never open!   Mature
flowers look just like large buds.   Although
these flowers produce a rich source of pollen and
nectar, most insect pollinators are not able to
get inside. Bottle gentians are pollinated
almost exclusively by large bumblebees that are
strong enough to force.
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The Torsalo (or "human bot fly") is native to the New World tropics where it is regarded as a pest because its larvae burrow under skin and live within warm-blooded animals.   Torsalos are the only species of bot fly that invade humans.
An adult torsalo is a rather large insect (10-15 mm) with a bluish-black body, brown wings, and yellow markings on the face and legs.   It is a loud, buzzing flier that tends to attract attention to itself. Ordinarily, such a large, obnoxious insect would have difficulty approaching a large animal to lay eggs.   But female torsalos overcome this problem by catching smaller flies (like mosquitoes) and gluing eggs to the underside of the captive's body.   The captive is released unharmed, carrying the torsalo's eggs until it lands on a warm-blooded host.   Body heat from the host triggers rapid hatching of the torsalo's eggs.   The tiny maggots burrow quickly into the skin (even through clothing) and begin development as internal parasites.
ENTOMOLOGY FOR EDUCATORS, www.cals.ncsu.edu/course
/ent591k/symbiosis.html
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The Light-Organ Symbiosis of Vibrio fischeri and
the Hawaiian squid, Euprymna scolopes
During the day the bobtailed squid, Euprymna
scolopes, remains buried in the sand of shallow
reef flats. As the sun sets, the nocturnal animal
emerges from its safe hiding place and searches
for food. In the moonlit night, the squid would
appear as a dark silhouette when it swims through
the water and would be easily detected by
predatory fish from below. It is thought that the
squid camouflages itself by projecting light
downward from its light organ. Inside the light
organ are luminescent bacteria, Vibrio fischeri,
that produce the light.
ENTOMOLOGY FOR EDUCATORS, www.cals.ncsu.edu/course
/ent591k/symbiosis.html
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An example of mutual symbiosis is the
relationship between clownfish of the genus
Amphiprion (family, Pomacentridae) that dwell
among the tentacles of tropical sea anemones. The
territorial fish protects the anemone from
anemone-eating fish, and in turn the stinging
tentacles of the anemone protect the anemone fish
from its predators (a special mucus on the
anemone fish protects it from the stinging
tentacles).
Wikipedia, http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiosis
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Goby fish sometimes lives together with a shrimp.
The shrimp digs and cleans up a burrow in the
sand in which both the shrimp and the goby fish
live. The shrimp is almost blind leaving it
vulnerable to predators when above ground. In
case of danger the goby fish touches the shrimp
with its tail to warn it of imminent danger. When
that happens both the shrimp and goby fish
quickly retract into the burrow. Wikipedia,
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiosis.
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A famous land version of symbiosis is the
relationship of the Egyptian Plover bird and the
crocodile. In this relationship, the bird is well
known for preying on parasites that feed on
crocodiles which are potentially harmful for the
animal. To that end, the crocodile openly invites
the bird to hunt on his body, even going so far
as to open the jaws to allow the bird enter the
mouth safely to hunt. For the bird's part, this
relationship not only is a ready source of food,
but a safe one considering that few predator
species would dare strike at the bird at such
close proximity to its host. Wikipedia,
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiosis.
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Hermit crabs use gastropod shells to protect
their body. www.afsc.noaa.gov/kodiak/
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Photo www.life.uiuc.edu/.../ Images/orchid_on_ba
rk.jpg Epiphytic plants (such as many orchids)
which grow on tall trees, in order to gain better
access to light. Wikipedia, http//en.wikipedia.o
rg/wiki/Symbiosis
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Some birds, like this owl, live in holes in
trees.
photo www.punchstock.com/.../
medio/cd_4800115.html
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zentelligence.blogspot.com/ remora.jpg
Remoras travel attached to a shark and share
scraps of food missed by their host. The shark
doesnt even seem to notice.
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The oxpecker rids the warthog of ticks and
obtains food in the process.
www.worldwildlife.org/ windows/images/warthog.jpg
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Chalcids are tiny, dark-coloured wasps, often
metallic blue or green with complex sculpturing
on the body. They are also recognized by the
characteristic reduced wing venation. In a few
species the larvae feed inside seeds and stems.
Generally beneficial to humans as a group,
chalcids keep crop pests under control, and many
species have been imported to control insect
pests. Wikipedia, http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cha
lcid
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A large Australian Garden Orb Weaver Spider. It
has captured a bee in its web and has spun it
into a coccoon.
Wikipedia, http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageGard
en_orb_weaver05.jpg.
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Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants whose
prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity
filled with liquid. Insects such as flies are
attracted to this cavity, often by the red-purple
color and by the nectar within. The liquid
contained within the pitcher traps and gradually
dissolves the body of the insect. This may occur
by bacterial action, or be due to enzymes
secreted by the plant itself. Furthermore, some
pitcher plants contain insect larvae, which feed
on trapped prey, and whose excrement the plant
absorbs. Whatever the mechanism of digestion, the
prey items are converted into a 'soup' of amino
acids, peptides, phosphate, ammonium and urea,
from which the plant obtains its mineral
nutrition (particularly nitrogen and phosphorus).
Like all carnivorous plants, they occur in
locations where the soil is too poor in minerals
and/or too acidic for most plants to be able to
grow.
Wikipedia, http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcher_pl
ant.
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photo http//www.entm.purdue.edu/wildlife/coyote
_pictures.htm Coyotes attack, kill and eat
sheep.
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Both hyena and buzzards feed from abandoned
carcasses.
Photo w3.dwm.ks.edu.tw/.../ 51/images/ch51c5.jpg
.
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Primary Succession

• Begins in area with no life
• Pioneer organism such as lichen grow on bare rock
  and produce acids which corrode the rock
  (freezing and thawing of water may help break
  down rocks)
• Mosses begin to anchor in primitive soil and
  decompose to add to fertility of the soil
• Ferns, grasses and shrubs may appear
• Gradually trees may become dominant (climax
  stage)
• Each species changes the environment to some
  degree that may enable or inhibit other species
  to thrive in the area

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Lichens are Pioneer Species
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Secondary Succession

• Occurs when community has been cleared by a
  disturbance such as a fire
• Often area begins then ends into something like
  its original state
• The earliest plants to recolonize are often plant
  species that grow from windblown or animal-borne
  seeds
• Woody shrubs may later replace the herbaceous
  species, and forest trees replace most of the
  shrubs

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Secondary Succession
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Abiotic Factors

• Abiotic factors physical environmental
  factors such as water, temperature, soil and
  light, that influence the composition and growth
  of an ecosystem.

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Cycling of Materials

• Matter (materials) must be recycled if an
  ecosystem is to continue to function
• Many nutrient cycles exist in an ecosystem
• carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, water cycle etc.
• Although matter can be recycled, energy is not
  cycled and the energy lost is constantly replaced
  by the energy of sunlight

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Water

• All organisms need water for example, water is
• a medium in which many organisms live, move, and
  reproduce
• an important component of cytoplasm
• a reactant needed for photosynthesis
• a limiting factor which determines which
  organisms inhabit an area

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Nitrogen cycle

• Nitrogen in the atmosphere is in an unusable
  form Nitrogen Gas.
• Nitrogen fixing bacteria change the nitrogen into
  a usable form. Soil and on plants.
• Nitrogen returns to the atmosphere by a process
  denitrification (bacteria)
• Animals get nitrogen by eating plants.

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Carbon cycle

• Plants take in carbon through the process of
  photosynthesis.
• Animals eat the plants (consumption) and use the
  energy to perform cellular respiration.
• Factories and cars use fossil fuels (decomposed
  dead animals) and burn them.

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Phosphorus Cycle

• Reservoirs
• Rocks
• Assimilation
• Plants absorb inorganic phosphate from soils.
• Animals obtain organic phosphate when the consume
• Release
• Decomposition.
• Excretion

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Trophic Levels

• Trophic structure / levels feeding steps
  (relationships) in an ecosystem
• Primary producers the trophic level that
  supports all others autotrophs
• Primary (first-order) consumers eat producers
  herbivores (ex cow grazing on grass mouse
  eating grain)
• Secondary (second-order) consumers carnivores
  (ex. snake eating a mouse)
• Tertiary (third-order) consumers eat secondary
  consumers (owl eats snake)

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Food Chain
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An Aquatic Food Web

• Food webs interconnected feeding relationship in
  an ecosystem organisms may participate in more
  than one food chain.

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Energy Pyramid

• Pyramid of Energy
• diagram of the transfer of energy in a food
  chain that shows the energy levels within an
  ecosystem

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Greenhouse Effect

• Cause
• Burning of fossil fuels and forests increase CO2
• Effect
• Average global temps are rising.
• Possibility of rising sea levels
• Decrease agriculture output by affecting weather
  patterns.

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Ozone Depletion

• Cause
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC)
• Effect
• More UV radiation penetrates and can reach the
  Earths surface.
• Damage to DNA of plants and animals

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Acid Rain

• Cause
• Caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide, and
  nitrogen dioxide.
• Effect
• React with water to create sulfuric acid and
  nitric acid.
• Can lower pH and kill plants, animals

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Desertification

• Cause
• Overgrazing of grasslands
• Effect
• Decrease in Agricultural output

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Deforestation

• Cause
• Clear-cutting of forests for agriculture.
• Effect
• Greenhouse

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Pollution

• Cause
• Biological Magnification
• Algal blooms
• Eutrophication
• Effect
• Fish Kills

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Reduced Biodiversity

• Cause
• Destruction of habitats
• Invasive species
• Effect
• Extinction rate increases