Ecology – Honors Biology

2010

Hierarchy of Organization

• Biosphere: combined portions of the planet in which all life exists – land, water & atmosphere

• Biome: group of ecosystems with same climate and similar dominant communities

• Ecosystem: collection of all organisms in a particular place together with physical environment

• Community: Assemblages of different populations living in same area

• Population: group of individuals belonging to same species living in the same area: (Species) Group of organisms that can breed together.

Energy flow

• Energy power’s life processes

• Ultimate source

Nuclear fusion from sun

Flow of Energy – Food Chain

Producers/Autotrophps

Primary consumer,

Heterotroph/Herbivore

Secondary consumer

Carnivore/Omnivore

Nutrients Recycle

10% transfer from one trophic level to next

Energy Pyramid

Biomass Pyramid

Numbers pyramid

What is a species niche?

• Place on the food web

• Types of food an organism eats, how it obtains the food

• Abiotic factors needed to survive: sunlight, water, temperature

• When and how it reproduces

• No two species can share the same exact niche – “competitive exclusion principle”

What is a species niche?

• Place on the food web

• Types of food an organism eats, how it obtains the food

• Abiotic factors needed to survive: sunlight, water, temperature

• When and how it reproduces

• No two species can share the same exact niche – “competitive exclusion principle”

What is happening to the population of one species of beetles when forced to share the same niche as another species?

Two closely related species of flour beetles grown together and forced to use same exact resources:

Define the following terms:

• Symbiosis

• Mutualism

• Commensalism

• Parasitism

• Predation

• Competition

Common dog tick: What relationship?

Barnacles on whale tail: What relationship?

What relationship?

What relationship?

Carbon Cycle

1. How does Photosynthesis cycle carbon into living biomass?

2. How does Respiration cycle carbon into the atmosphere?

3. What are geological sources of carbon?

4. How does burning of some of #3 add carbon to the atmosphere?

Nitrogen cycle

1. What three processes are bacteria involved in getting nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form usable by plants?

2. What form must nitrogen be in to be usable by plants?

3. How is nitrogen cycled from the soil back into the atmosphere?

Water Cycle

1. What role do plants play in the cycling of water?

2. How does water that enters the soil return to atmospheric water cycling?

3. How would increasing air temperatures affect the water cycle?

Ecological Succession

1. What is the difference between primary and secondary succession?

2. How are new plants/animals able to colonize the area?

3. What are “pioneer species”?

4. What adaptations do shade plants have in a forest ecosystem?

Environmental Concerns

• Biomagnification of pollutants

• Global warming

• Ozone depletion

• Habitat destruction

• Invasive Species

Biomagnification

Persistant toxins –

Mercury, TCDD

Pesticides -DDTs

Complete Biomagnification WS

High mercury levels in sushi

Global Warming

Rise in global temperature due to human activity

Causes of Global Warming:• Greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide

• Absorbs heat, prevents sunlight from radiating back into space

Ozone Depletion

Thinning of ozone layer (O3) at poles – “holes in ozone layer”

Ozone layer absorbs harmful UVB rays

Increase in skin cancer?

Cause: Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) – chemically reacts with ozone

Habitat Destruction

Main cause of loss in species diversity/ Main cause of extinction

Invasive SpeciesNUTRIA