Chapter 3 IN PEARSON book

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Welcome to Ecology!

• Chapter 3 IN PEARSON book
• The trouble with ecology is that you never know
  where to start because every thing affects
  everything else. Robert Heinlein Farmer in
  the Sky

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As an area of scientific study, ecology
incorporates the hypothetico-deductive approach,
using observations and experiments to test
hypothetical explanations of ecological
phenomena ecologists face extraordinary
challenges in their research because of the
complexity of their questions, the diversity of
their subjects and the large expanse of time and
space over which studies must be conducted.
Ecological questions from a continuum with those
from other areas of biology, including genetics,
evolution, physiology and behavior, as well as
those from other sciences, such as chemistry,
physics, geology and meteorology.
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Brainstorm session

• What does bio mean? What does eco mean? What
  do you think we are going to study in ecology?
• What were some examples of ecology concepts in
  the movie The Future of Food?

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Ecology

• Ecology is the study of the relationships between
  organisms and their physical and biotic
  environment
• Organisms respond to their environments and can
  also change their environments, producing and
  ever changing, dynamic biosphere. pg 65

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Learning Goals for this Unit

• Recognizing the various levels of ecological
  organization
• Explain matter and energys interdependence in
  nature.
• Understanding how organisms get the energy the
  need to survive looking at food chains and food
  webs
• Describing how nutrient availability relates to
  the primary productivity
• Understanding a producers means of obtaining
  energy through photosynthesis
• Explaining how ATP is useful in cells

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Ecological Levels of Organization

• Living organisms can be studied at different
  levels of complexity.
• From least to most complex, these levels are (in
  an ecological context)
• Individual
• Population
• Community
• Ecosystem
• Biome
• Biosphere

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Biosphere
Biosphere
Ecosystems
Communities
Populations
Organisms
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First Level

• Organism A living thing.

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Second Level

• PopulationA group of organisms, all of the SAME
  SPECIES

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Third Level

• CommunityMade up of different species living in
  the same place at the same time.

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Fourth Level

• Ecosystem Made up of different species AND the
  abiotic factors of that habitat

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Fifth Level

• BiomeA group of ecosystems that share similar
  climates and types of organisms. (biomes share
  similar climates B before C)

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Sixth Level The Biosphere

• The biosphere is the region within which all
  living things are found on Earth.
• It is the narrow belt around the Earth extending
  from the bottom of the oceans to the upper
  atmosphere.

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What level of Organization?
Population
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What level of Organization?

• A community is a naturally occurring group of
  organisms living together as an ecological
  entity the biological part of the ecosystem.

A nudibranch snail feeding on rock encrusting
organisms
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What level of organization?
Organism
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What level of Organization?
Ecosystem
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Components of an Ecosystem

• An ecosystem encompasses the physical environment
  and the community.

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Ecosystem
Physical environment
Community
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Ecosystems
Still water habitat
Fast flowing water habitat

• An ecosystem includes
• all of the organisms(the community)
• and their physical environment.
• There are many different sorts of ecosystems from
  natural to artificial, and they range in size
  from large to small.

Stream bank habitat
Rock habitat
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What level of Organization?
Population
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A Hierarchy of Interactions

• Ecology can be divided into four increasingly
  comprehensive levels

• Organismal ecology
• Population ecology
• Community ecology
• Ecosystem ecology

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Hierarchy of Interactions
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• Organismal Ecology

• Is concerned with the evolutionary adaptations
  that enable individual organisms to meet the
  challenges posed by their abiotic environments

Figure 18.4a
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• Population Ecology

• Is concerned with populations, groups of
  individuals of the same species living in the
  same area
• Concentrates mainly on factors that affect
  population density and growth

Figure 18.4b
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• Community Ecology

• Is concerned with communities, assemblages of
  populations of different species
• Focuses on how interactions between species
  affect community structure and organization

Figure 18.4c
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• Ecosystem Ecology

• Is concerned with ecosystems, which include all
  the abiotic factors in addition to the community
  of species in a certain area
• Focuses on energy flow and the cycling of
  chemicals among the various abiotic and biotic
  factors

Figure 18.4d
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Ecology vs. Environmental Science

• The science of ecology can provide understanding
  behind some environmental problems or concerns
  BUT does not involve the decision making process
  on solving those problems.
• Doesnt include politics, economics, and ethical
  views to environmental problems
• Example Global climate change
• ECOLOGY INVOLVED how animals change to adapt to
  different changes in climate
• OTHER FACTORS How have humans influenced this
  change in climate and what can we do to slow
  change?

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Two environmental components when studying
ecology

• ABIOTIC FACTORS
• BIOTIC FACTORS

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Abiotic or Biotic?
Biotic
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Abiotic or Biotic?
Abiotic
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Abiotic or Biotic?
Abiotic
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Abiotic factors to consider

• Sunlight
• Solar energy powers nearly all ecosystems
• Water
• Aquatic organisms face problems with water vs
  salt ions balance
• Terrestrial organisms main water problem is
  dessication
• Wind
• Organisms such as plants depend on wind to
  disperse pollen and seeds (or nutrients blown to
  them).
• Temperature
• Its effect on an organisms metabolism

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Environments

• The physical environment refers to the physical
  surroundings of any organism, including
• the medium, e.g. water
• substrate, e.g. soil
• climatic (atmospheric) conditions
• light
• and other physical properties.

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• What is the connection between abiotic factors
  and distribution of species (biotic)?
• Range of tolerance
• Every organism/population thrives in an optimal
  range of abiotic factors
• Outside of this range, less numbers of the
  organism

Figure 18.8
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Energy, Producers, and Consumers

• When do you use energy?

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Primary Producers
AUTOTROPHS
plants, certain bacteria, algae
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Where do Primary Producers get their energy?

• CHEMOSYNTHESIS
• Discovered 35 yrs ago when investigating volcanic
  vents in total darkness.

• PHOTOSYNTHESIS