Ecology

1
Ecology
2
Define Ecology
3
Define Ecology

• study of the interactions that take place among
  organisms and their environment

4
Describe each of the following terms

• Biosphere
• Biotic
• Abiotic

5
Describe each of the following terms

• Biosphere - part of Earth that supports life,
  including the top portion of Earth's crust, the
  atmosphere, and all the water on Earth's surface
• Biotic - living
• Abiotic non-living

6
Describe each of the following terms

• Biome

7
Describe each of the following terms

• Biome - large geographic areas with similar
  climates and ecosystems
• Includes
• TUNDRA
• TAIGA
• DESERT
• TROPICAL RAINFOREST
• TEMPERATE RAINFOREST
• DECIDUOUS FOREST
• DESERT
• GRASSLAND

8
Describe each of the following terms

• Organism
• Population
• Community

9
Describe each of the following terms

• Organism one of any living thing
• Population - all the organisms that belong to the
  same species living in a community
• Community - all the populations of different
  species that live in an ecosystem

10
Describe each of the following terms

• Ecosystem
• Habitat
• Niche

11
Describe each of the following terms

• Ecosystem - all the living organisms that live in
  an area and the nonliving features of their
  environment
• Habitat - place where an organism lives and that
  provides the types of food, shelter, moisture,
  and temperature needed for survival
• Niche - in an ecosystem, refers to the unique
  ways an organism survives, obtains food and
  shelter, and avoids danger

12
Describe each of the following terms

• Limiting factor
• Carrying capacity

13
Describe each of the following terms

• Limiting factor - anything that can restrict the
  size of a population, including living and
  nonliving features of an ecosystem, such as
  predators or drought
• Carrying capacity - largest number of individuals
  of a particular species that an ecosystem can
  support over time

14
Describe each of the following terms

• Producer
• Consumer
• Decomposer

15
Describe each of the following terms

• Producer - organism, such as a green plant or
  alga, that uses an outside source of energy like
  the Sun to create energy-rich food molecules
• Consumer -  organism that cannot create
  energy-rich molecules but obtains its food by
  eating other organisms
• Decomposer consume wastes and dead organisms

16
Describe each of the following terms

• Predator
• Prey

17
Describe each of the following terms

• Predator an animal that hunts and kills other
  animals for food. A predator is a consumer
  carnivore or omnivore
• Prey an animal that is hunted and caught for
  food. Prey is a consumer it may be a herbivore,
  omnivore, or carnivore.

18
Describe each of the following terms

• Carnivore
• Herbivore
• Omnivore

19
Describe each of the following terms

• Carnivore eat omnivores or other carnivores
  other consumers
• Herbivore eat producers
• Omnivore eat producers and consumers

20
Describe each of the following terms

• Adaptations of consumers
• Carnivore - meat-eating animal with sharp canine
  teeth specialized to rip and tear flesh
• Herbivore - plant-eating mammal with incisors
  specialized to cut vegetation and large, flat
  molars to grind it
• Omnivore - plant- and meat-eating animal with
  incisors specialized to cut vegetables, premolars
  to chew meat, and molars to grind food

21
Review food chains, herbivores, carnivores,
omnivores, decomposers

• http//www.planetpals.com/foodchain.html

22
Describe each of the following terms

• Energy flow through an ecosystem

23
Describe each of the following terms

• Energy flow through an ecosystem - the movement
  of energy through an ecosystem through food webs.
  The transfer of energy from one organism to
  another.

24
Review the flow of energy through plants and
animals here

• http//www.ftexploring.com/me/me2.html

25
Describe each of the following terms

• Food chain
• Food web

26
Describe each of the following terms

• Food chain - chain of organisms along which
  energy , in the form of food passes. An organism
  feeds on the link before it and is in turn prey
  for the link after it.
• Food web - Complex network of many interconnected
  food chains and feeding relationships a group of
  interconnecting food chains

27
Review food chains here

• http//www.vtaide.com/png/foodchains.htm

28
Describe each of the following terms

• Energy pyramid

29
Describe each of the following terms

• Energy pyramid a way of showing energy flow.
  As the amount of available energy decreases, the
  pyramid gets smaller. Each layer on a pyramid is
  called a trophic level.

30
Describe each of the following terms
31
Review energy pyramids here

• http//www.ftexploring.com/me/pyramid.html

32
Describe each of the following terms

• Mutualism
• Commensalism
• Symbiosis
• Parasitism

33
Describe each of the following terms

• Mutualism - a type of symbiotic relationship in
  which both organisms benefit
• Commensalism - a type of symbiotic relationship
  in which one organism benefits and the other
  organism is not affected
• Symbiosis - any close relationship between
  species, including mutualism, commensalism, and
  parasitism
• Parasitism -a type of symbiotic relationship in
  which one organism benefits and the other
  organism is harmed

34
Describe each of the following terms

• Succession
• Primary succession
• Secondary succession

35
Describe each of the following terms

• Succession - natural, gradual changes in the
  types of species that live in an area can be
  primary or secondary
• Primary succession takes where no soil exists
• Secondary succession takes place where soil is
  already present

36
Describe each of the following terms

• Pioneer species
• Climax community

37
Describe each of the following terms

• Pioneer species - a group of hardy organisms,
  such as lichens, found in the primary stage of
  succession and that begin an area's soil-building
  process
• Climax community - stable, end stage of
  ecological succession in which the plants and
  animals of a community use resources efficiently
  and balance is maintained by disturbances such as
  fire.

38
Review succession here

• http//library.thinkquest.org/17456/succession1.ht
  ml

39
List the types of biomes
40
List the types of biomes

• Tundra
• Taiga
• Desert
• Tropical rain forest
• Temperate rain forest
• Grasslands
• Freshwater
• Saltwater

41
Describe each biome

• Taiga - world's largest biome, located south of
  the tundra between 50 N and 60 N latitude has
  long, cold winters, precipitation between 35 cm
  and 100 cm each year, cone-bearing evergreen
  trees, and dense forests

42
Describe each biome

• Tundra - cold, dry, treeless biome with less than
  25 cm of precipitation each year, a short growing
  season, permafrost, and winters that can be six
  to nine months long

43
Describe each biome

• Temperate rainforest - biome with 200 cm to 400
  cm of precipitation each year, average
  temperatures between 9C and 12C, and forests
  dominated by trees with needlelike leaves

44
Describe each biome

• Tropical rain forest - most biologically diverse
  biome has an average temperature of 25C and
  receives between 200 cm and 600 cm of
  precipitation each year

45
Describe each biome

• Grasslands - temperate and tropical regions with
  25 cm to 75 cm of precipitation each year that
  are dominated by climax communities of grasses
  ideal for growing crops and raising cattle and
  sheep

46
Describe each biome

• Desert - driest biome on Earth with less than 25
  cm of rain each year has dunes or thin soil with
  little organic matter and plants and animals
  specially adapted to survive extreme conditions

47
Describe each biome

• Deciduous forest - biome usually having four
  distinct seasons, annual precipitation between 75
  cm and 150 cm, and climax communities of
  deciduous trees

48
Describe each biome

• Freshwater - flowing water such as rivers and
  streams and standing water such as lakes, ponds,
  and wetlands

49
Describe each biome

• Saltwater - oceans, seas, a few inland lakes,
  such as the Great Salt Lake in Utah, coastal
  inlets and estuaries

50
Review biomes here

• http//www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/
  biomes.html

51
More information on biomes can be found here

• http//mbgnet.mobot.org/