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Ecology

Ecology. Ecology. The branch of biology that deals with the interactions between organisms and the relationship between organisms and the environment. Levels of organization. Species. A group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Ex: Homo sapiens (humans)

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Ecology

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  1. Ecology

  2. Ecology • The branch of biology that deals with the interactions between organisms and the relationship between organisms and the environment.

  3. Levels of organization

  4. Species • A group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. • Ex: Homo sapiens (humans) • Acer rubrum (red maple) • Urcus arctos (grizzly bear) • Felis domesticus (domestic cat)

  5. Population • Includes all the members of a species found in a given area. • Ex: waterlillies in a pond

  6. Community • Includes all the populations in a given area. • Ex: all waterlillies, plants, animals, etc. that make up a pond community

  7. POPULATION GROWTH Steady State Carrying Capacity # of Organisms Average growth rate is zero Population at the steady state TIME WHAT FACTORS CONTROL POPULATION GROWTH?

  8. POPULATION GROWTH Population growth is controlled by: Density-Dependent Limiting Factors Density-Independent Limiting Factors Competition Crowding Predation Parasitism Natural disasters Weather Usually BIOTIC FACTORS ABIOTIC FACTORS

  9. Ecosystem • Includes all the members of the community plus the physical environment in which they live in. • Structural unit studied in ecology

  10. Ecosystem • Includes all the members of the community plus the physical environment in which they live in.

  11. Biosphere • The portion of the earth in which life exists. • Composed of many complex ecosystems that include water, soil, and air.

  12. (A) Requirements for a Stable Ecosystem Certain requirements must be met for a stable ecosystem to exist: • There must be a constant supply of energy (sunlight for photosynthesis). • There must be living organisms (autotrophs)that can incorporate the radiant energy into organic compounds (food). • There must be a recycling of materials between organisms and the environment. (You need decomposers!)

  13. (B) Abiotic Factors • Nonliving factors. • Includes the physical and chemical factors that affect the capacity of an organism to live and reproduce. These factors are: 1. Intensity and duration of light 2. Temperature range 3. Amount of moisture 4. Type of substrate 5. Availability of inorganic substances and gases 6. pH

  14. Limiting Factors • Determines the types of organisms which may exist in that environment. • Examples are: • A low temperature common to northern latitudes determines in part what species of plants can exist in that area. • The amount of oxygen dissolved in a body of water will help determine which species of fish will exist there.

  15. (C) Biotic Factors • Living factors • These factors directly or indirectly affect the environment. • These interactions include: 1. Nutritional relationships 2. Symbiotic relationships

  16. 1.Nutritional Relationships • In terms of nutrition, organisms are either autotrophs (can make their own food from sunlight) or heterotrophs (can’t make their own food).

  17. Types of Heterotrophs • Saprophytes- include heterotrophic fungi, and bacteria which feed on dead organisms. Ex: mushrooms 2. Herbivores- animals that feed on plants. Ex: deer 3. Carnivores- animals that consume other animals. Two types: a) predator – which kills and consume their prey. b) scavenger- which feed on the remains of animals they did not kill. 4. Omnivores- animals that consume both plants and animals (humans).

  18. Types of Heterotrophs

  19. 2. Symbiotic Relationships • Different organisms may live together in a close association. • This is known as symbiosis. • There are three types: 1. Commensalism 2. Mutualism 3. Parasitism • KEY: + = benefits - = harmed o = not affected

  20. Commensalism • (+ , o) • In this relationship, one organism benefits and the other is not affected. • Ex: barnacles on a whale.

  21. Mutualism • (+ , +) • In this relationship both organisms benefit from each other. • Ex: Bacteria that live in the human intestine and produce vitamins.

  22. Mutualism • (+ , +) • In this relationship both organisms benefit from each other. • Ex:

  23. Parasitism • (+ , - ) • In this relationship, the parasite benefits at the expense of the host. • Ex: athlete’s foot fungus on humans tapeworm and heartworm in dogs.

  24. (II) Energy Flow Relationships • Energy flows through an ecosystem, starting with the sun, and flows from producer to herbivores to carnivores. The food chain is a path along which food is transferred from one trophic or feeding level to another. Only about 10% of E is transferred at each level.

  25. (A) Food Chains • Green plants and other photosynthetic organisms (Producers) are the organisms in an ecosystem that can convert radiant energy from sunlight into food. • Only about 10% is passed on to each trophic level.

  26. (B) Food Webs . • Various food chains in a community are interconnected forming a food web.

  27. Predator/Prey Relationships!

  28. Predator/Prey Relationships

  29. There are three basic classes of organisms in a food web: 1)Producers 2)Consumers 2a) Primary consumers 2b)Secondary consumers 3)Decomposers

  30. There are three basic classes of organisms in a food web: • Producers- include green plants and other photosynthetic organisms that convert radiant (light) energy into chemical bond energy in food.

  31. There are three basic classes of organisms in a food web: • Consumers- include all heterotrophic organisms. Organisms that feed on green plants are primary consumers, or herbivores. Secondary consumers, or carnivores, feed on other consumers.

  32. There are three basic classes of organisms in a food web: Decomposers – are bacteria and fungi that break down wastes and recycle nutrients back to the soil to nourish plants.

  33. (C) Pyramid of Energy • Most energy is at producer level. • A pyramid of energy can be used to illustrate the loss of usable energy at each feeding level.

  34. Carbon-Cycle • Cell respiration (by animals) and bacterial decomposers adds CO2 to the air and removes O2. • Photosythesis removes CO2 and adds O2 • Burning of fossil fuels Adds CO2 to air

  35. Water Cycle • Water evaporatees from the earth, forms clouds, and rains over the oceans and land. • / Know evaporation and condensation. • Some rain percolates through the soil and makes its way back to the sea. Some evaporates from the land, but most evaporate from plants by transpiration.

  36. Nitrogen Cycle • Nitrogen is needed by all living things because it is part of the structure of amino acids and proteins. • In this cycle, nitrogenous wastes and the remains of dead organisms are converted by decomposers and soil bacteria into compounds that can be used by autotrophs. • The Nitrogen cycle includes the following reactions: 1. Atmospheric nitrogen is converted into nitrates by the nitrogen-fixing bacteria. 2. Nitrates are used by plants for the synthesis of proteins. 3. Animals feed on plants and convert plant proteins to animal proteins.

  37. 4. Nitrogenous wastes and dead organisms are decomposed and ammonia is released. 5. Ammonia is converted to nitrates by nitrifying bacteria. 6. Denitrifying bacteria break down nitrogen compounds and release nitrogen gas into the atmosphere.

  38. (IV) Ecosystem Formation • Ecosystems tend to change over a long period of time until a stable ecosystem is formed.

  39. (A) Ecological Succession • The replacement of one kind of community with another is called ecological succession. • The kind of stable ecosystem that develops in a particular geographical area depends on climate. • Pioneer organisms- are the first plants to populate an area. Lichens and algae may be pioneer organisms on bare rock. • Climax Communities- Succession ends with the development of a climax community in which the populations of plants and animals exist in balance with each other and the environment.

  40. (B) Competition • Different species living in the same environment, or habitat, may require the same resources. When the resources are limited, competition occurs among the species. • Competition- is the struggle between different species for the same limited resources. The more similar the needs of the species, the more intense the competition. • Each species occupies a niche in the community. A niche is the role the species plays, and includes the type of food it eats, where it lives, where it reproduces, and its relationships with other species.

  41. Graphs showing competition between two species of Paramecium. Since each population alone prospers (top two graphs), when they are in a competition situation one species will win, the other will lose (bottom graph).

  42. (C) Biomes • The earth can be divided into broad geographic regions by climate. • The kind of climax ecosystem that develops in these regions are called biomes. • Biomes can be terrestrial or aquatic.

  43. Tundra • Permanently frozen subsoil. • Plants consist of lichens, mosses, and grasses. • Examples of animals consist of caribou and snowy owls.

  44. Taiga • Long severe winters. • Summers with thawing subsoil. • Major plants are conifers. • Animals consist of the moose and black bear.

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