Study of environment How living and nonliving things affect each other

1. Study of environment How living and nonliving things affect each other Nonliving things Dirt, air, water, sun, rocks Ecology: the study of how things interact with each other and their environment.Abiotic factor: nonliving things that can affect living organisms.Biotic factor: living things that can affect other living things.Habitat: the place where a population obtains food, water, shelter, and other things needed to survive.Niche: The particular role that the population serves in its environment. living things Worms, trees, plants, dogs, birds, mushrooms, grass Where you live home Role job

2. Living thing Biotic factor Two or more of the same species. Organism: any living thing. Population: All of the members of one species living in a given area or region at a certain time. Community: All of the different populations in a specific area or region at a certain time. Ecosystem: all the living (biotic factors) and nonliving (abiotic factors) things that interact in a community. Biome: groups of ecosystems that have similar plants and animals and are determined mainly by climate. Two or more different populations Living and nonliving factors together Biotic and abiotic factors together Two or more ecosystems Similar plants, animals, and climate

3. Trophic level: the level at which an organism feeds (eats). Food Chain: a series of events in which one organism eats another organism and obtains energy. Food web: many overlapping food chains in an ecosystem that show who consumes whom or what. Energy pyramid: a pyramid that shows how energy moves from one trophic level to the next. The amount of energy decreases as you move up the pyramid. Feeding level Energy role (i.e. producer, consumer, decomposer) Straight chain Overlapping food chains Energy decreases as you move up

4. Landslides -when rock, earth, or debris flows on slopes due to gravity. Wildfires –a fire that naturally occurs due to lightning strikes or when humans start them accidentally or intentionally. Floods- an unusually high water stage in which water overflows its natural or artificial banks onto normally dry land. Natural hazard Falling rock or land Caused by floods, rain, earthquakes. Natural hazard Out of control fire Caused by lightning strikes Caused by humans intentionally or unintentionally Natural hazard Water overflows natural bank Flash flood – water rises quickly Regular flood – water rises slowly

5. Births: when a new organism is born; the main way that organisms are added to a population. Deaths: when an organism dies; the main way that organisms leave a population. Immigration: when organisms move in from another environment. Emigration: when part of the population leaves the environment. increases population size New organism is born Decreases population size organism dies Increases population size New organism enters a population Decreases population size When an organism leaves a population

6. Limiting factors: things that prevent a population from increasing. Climate:thetemperature and the amount of rainfall in a particular area. Carrying capacity: the maximum number of organisms that can live in the environment. Population density: the number of organisms per unit area. Food, water, shelter Prevents population from increasing Temperature Amount of rain Max. number of organism an environment can support Number of organisms/area

7. Soil profile: all the layers or horizons found in soil. Composition: what soil is made of. Texture: how the soil feels and looks based on the amount of sand, silt, and clay that makes up the soil. Particle size: how big the soil particles are. Permeability: how freely water flows through soil pH: how acidic or basic the soil is. Soil layers Topsoil, subsoil, bedrock What’s in soil Air, water, minerals, organic material How the soil feels and looks How big the soil is How fast the water flows thru soil Acid or base

8. Groundwater: water that soaks into the ground. Zone of saturation: the area where the water has filled all the space in the soil. Water table: the top area of the zone of saturation. Zone of aeration: the area of soil above the water table that has space available to accept water. Under ground water Ground that is completely filled with water Water line Top of zone of saturation Ground that is not full of water

9. Surface-water: water that has not soaked into the ground. Divide: the area of high ground between two drainage basins. Drainage basin: the area of land that holds all of the water sources (tributaries) that feed a river. Run off High ground (hills, mountains, etc.) Separates two or more drainage basins watershed