Ecology

1. Ecology Interactions Among Organisms “Interdependence”

2. The study of the interactions that take place among organisms and their environment

3. ECOSYSTEMS All the organisms living in an area and the nonliving features of their environment Ecosystems can be large or very small They have unclear boundaries

4. PARTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM ABIOTIC FACTORS BIOTIC FACTORS Animals Plants Microorganisms • Temperature • Amount of sunlight • Humidity • Water supply • Soil type • Mineral nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur

5. There is an interdependence that exists in all ecosystems Every species/organism is linked, directly or indirectly, with a multitude of others in their ecosystem. They provide food, mates, and shelter. They are also linked to the abiotic factors. Their ability to adapt to these environmental conditions mean life or death.

6. Interdependence: How plants and animals work together directly or indirectly to support life, and how changing abiotic factors in an ecosystem can enhance or destroy such relationships.

7. Interdependence: Species Interactions Predator – Prey Competition Parasitism Mutualism Commensalism

8. Predator-Prey Relationships One organism kills (predator) and eats another (prey). Prey species limit the population of prey. For this reason, prey have greater number of young. Sometimes they have little effect when there is an abundance of prey species in an ecosystem

9. Predator vs. Prey Predators Use Offensive Tools To Survive Prey Use Defensive Tools To Survive camouflage to hide speed to escape shields or spines to ward off irritating substances to repel • Teeth • Beaks • Claws • venom

10. Competition Competition is a relationship between species in which they attempt to use the same limited resource. Different predators compete for the same prey Prey species can also compete for the same food Plants compete for soil nutrients, water and sunlight Species compete even if they don’t come into contact with one another

11. Symbiotic Interactions Organisms can interact in three main ways: • Mutualism– Both species benefit (Ex – E.Coli in our Large Intestine and Humans.) • Commensalism –One species benefits and the other is not affected (Ex – Barnacles living on a whale. Symbiotic Interactions • Parasitism – One species benefits (parasite) and the other is harmed (host). (Ex –Ticks on dogs.)

12. SYMBIOTIC INTERACTIONS

13. Interactions: WHO EATS WHAT CONSUMERS PRODUCERS Get their energy by eating other organisms Get energy indirectly form the sun by eating producers or from other organisms that eat producers Different types according to what they eat – hawks, deer, fungi, bacteria, wolves • Organisms that make their own food • Also called autotrophs (self-feeders) • Producers get their food directly from the sun through photosynthesis • Grasses, ferns, trees, algae, and some bacteria

14. TYPES OF CONSUMERS Herbivores – Consumers that eat only plants. (Ex – rabbits, deer, squirrel) Carnivores– Eat only other consumers (Ex – lions, fox). Omnivores– Eat plants and animals (Ex – Humans, pigs). Insectivores: Eat only insects (Ex. Some birds, shrew) Detrivores– (Decomposers) Feed off of and break down dead organisms. These are usually bacteria and fungi.