Principles of Ecology

1
Principles of Ecology

• Chapter 2

2
Ecology

• Branch of biology that describes relationships
  between organisms and the environments in which
  they live
• -eat different foods
• -seek different shelter
• -different environment for young

3
Law of Conservation of Matter

• Applies to everything that exists
• Most organisms use only those materials that make
  up their food supply
• Little waste is generated
• Most waste is recycled through natural processes
• Human waste is not this way

4

• We may change them to make them more compatible
  with the environment, but it never goes away
• Properly dispose of all waste
• Use fewer materials that are disposable by
  recycling

5
Industrial waste pollution

• Include harmful chemicals, poisonous metallic
  compounds, acids, and other caustic materials
• Pollute surface water (rivers, streams, ponds,
  and lakes)
• Aquatic plants and animals cant survive

6
Effort to reduce

• Water treatment plants
• Special equipment in smokestacks
• Burn combustible portion of solid waste as an
  energy source
• Trap pollutants when burned (expensive and use
  limited)

7
Pesticide pollution

• Insecticide used to kill insects
• Herbicides used to control plants
• Rodenticide used to poison rodents

8
Petroleum

• An oily, flammable liquid that occurs naturally
  in large underground deposits
• -AKA- crude oil
• -when they leak or spill, it damages land and
  water
• -law says that underground tanks must regularly
  be inspected for leaks

9
Laws of Energy

• Energy the ability to do work or to cause
  changes to occur
• The power or force that enables animals to move
  or the tide to flow
• Energy cant be recycled but it can be stored for
  later

10
Energy example

• Solar energy (sunlight) captured by plants
  stored as molecules of sugar and starch eaten
  by animal energy released and allowing animal
  to do work or stored as fat, carbs, or protein
  until needed animal dies energy stored in the
  form of fossil fuels or eaten by decomposers

11
First law of energy

• States that energy cant be created or destroyed,
  but it can be converted from one form of energy
  to another
• Exp Radiant energy (sun) to chemical energy
  (sugars and starches) by photosynthesis

12
Second Law of Energy

• States that every time energy is converted from
  one form to another, some is lost in the form of
  heat
• Heat lost is not destroyed but is not available
  for later use

13
Carbon Cycle