Definition of Adaptation

1. Definition of Adaptation • Characteristics that allow an animal to survive in its environment. These characteristics allow the animal to find food, protect themselves, communicate, and mate • Can be physical or behavioral

2. Definition of Symbiosis • When organisms share food and other resources. • In Bird Beak Buffet lab, you were birds that were sharing food and resources. • There are three types of symbiotic relationships: mutualism, commensalism, parasitism.

3. Other Examples of Mutualism (+/+)These guys are “Pals” or “Buddies” • Orchids and Fungi • Orchid benefits because the fungi grows on the root and helps bring in nutrients to plant • Fungi benefits because it ingests food from the plant during photosynthesis • Fruit and Birds • Bird benefits because the fruit provides nutrition for the bird • Fruit benefits because the birds fly around and expel waste which in turn disperses fruit seeds to new areas • Protozoa and Termites • Termites benefit because the protozoa help termite digest cellulose and other large molecules in wood. • Protozoa benefit because they get food and shelter

4. Other Examples of Commensalism (+/0) These guys are “Hitchhikers” • Cattle Egret (bird) & Cattle • Bird benefits because the cattle stir up insects while they graze • Cattle does not benefit from birds being around • Barnacles & Scallops • Barnacles benefit because they attach to scallop as a place to live • Scallops don’t care and are unaffected by the barnacles. • Pseudoscorpions & Beetles • Fake scorpions (have pincers but no sting) benefit by hitchhiking under the wing covers of large beetles. This way they can disperse to large areas quickly and avoid predators • Beetles don’t seem to care that they have a hitchhiker

5. Other Examples of Parasitism (+/-)These guys are “Pickpockets” • Fungus & Trees • Chicken of the woods fungus benefits because it breaks down the tree and gets it nutrients • The tree is harmed because it decays, gets weak, and becomes vulnerable to wicked weather • Fleas & Cats • Flea benefits because it feeds on blood of the cat • Cat is harmed because they lose blood • Ticks & Deer • The tick benefits because it feeds on blood • Deer is harmed because they lose blood and sometimes the tick can be poisonous

6. Vocab we have covered so far… • Physical adaptation • Behavioral adaptation • Migration & Hibernation • Symbiosis- when two organisms have a relationship • Mutualism- both organisms benefit • Commensalism- one organism benefits, the other gets nothing • Parasitism- one organism benefits, the other is harmed • Endangered • Extinction

7. Limiting Factors in an ecosystem • a limiting factor is one that controls a process, such as organism growth or species population size or distribution. The availability of food, predation pressure, or availability of shelter are examples of factors that could be limiting for a species population in a specific area. Climate, space, food, water and predators are limiting factors.

8. Bears in the woods • 1. Write your name on the envelope- please write small! • 2. Line up around the basketball court and put your envelope between your feet. This is your “den”. • 3. You will walk into the forest (basketball court) You may not run! • 4. Gather 1 colored square at a time and return it to your “den”.

9. Bears in the woods

10. Bears in the woods story! • You are now all black bears. All bears are not alike, just as you and I are not exactly alike. Among you is a young male bear who has not yet found his own territory. Last week he met up with a larger male bear in the big bear’s territory, and before he could get away, he was hurt. He has a broken leg. Another bear is a young female who investigated a porcupine too closely and was blinded by the quills. The third special bear is a mother bear with two fairly small cubs. She must gather twice as much food as the other bears.

11. Bears in the woods • 1. Add up the total number on your cards. • 2. Record this next to your name on the envelope. • 3. Stand if you got a total of at least 10 • 4. 80 + YOU SURVIVED! • 5. Bears need at least 80# in 10 days to survive. • 6. Why did so many of you die? Was there enough food?

12. Bears in the Woods • ORANGE- Nuts (acorns, pecans, walnuts, hickory) • BLUE- Berries and fruits (blackberries, elderberries, raspberries, wild cherries) • YELLOW- Insects (grub worms, larvae, ants, termites) • RED- Meat (mice, rodents, peccaries, beaver, muskrats, young deer) • GREEN- Plants (leaves, grasses, herbs)

13. Bears in Arizona • Nuts= 20 pounds (25%) • Berries & fruit= 20 pounds (25%) • Insects= 12 pounds (15%) • Meat= 8 pounds (10%) • Plants= 20 pounds (25%) • Total= 80 pounds (100%)

14. The numbers represent the pounds of food you collected • BLIND: • How many pounds did you collect? • Will you survive? • BROKEN LEG: • How many pounds did you collect? • Will you survive? • MOTHER: • Did you get twice the amount needed to survive? • What will happen to your cubs? • Will you feed your cubs first or yourself? Why? • What would happen to her if she fed the cubs? • What if she ate first? • If the cubs die, can she have more cubs in the future