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Intro to Ecology
Ecology• scientific study of the interactions between
organisms and the environment• interactions determine distribution of
organisms and their abundance
Organisms and the Environment
• The environment of any organism includes:– Abiotic, or nonliving, components
• Temperature• Water• Sunlight• Wind• Rocks and soil
– Biotic, or living, components• Interactions with other species• Predation• Competition
• Environmental components affect the distribution and abundance of organisms
Subfields of Ecology• Organismal ecology studies how an organism’s
structure, physiology, and (for animals) behavior meet environmental challenges
Subfields of Ecology
• Population ecology focuses on factors affecting how many individuals of a species live in an area
Subfields of Ecology
• Community ecology deals with the whole array of interacting species in a community
Subfields of Ecology
• Ecosystem ecology emphasizes energy flow and chemical cycling among the various biotic and abiotic components
Subfields of Ecology• Landscape ecology deals with arrays of
ecosystems and how they are arranged in a geographic region
Climate
• Four major abiotic components of climate: temperature, water, sunlight, and wind
• Global climate patterns are determined largely by solar energy and the planet’s movement in space
• Sunlight intensity• Oceans and their currents and large lakes• Mountains
Biomes
• major ecological associations that occupy broad geographic regions of land or water– determined by combinations of abiotic and biotic
factors
Aquatic Biomes
• Major aquatic biomes:– Lakes– Wetlands– Streams and rivers– Estuaries– Intertidal zones– Oceanic pelagic biome– Coral reefs– Marine benthic zone
Terrestrial Biomes
• Major terrestrial biomes:– Tropical forest– Desert– Savanna– Chaparral– Temperate grassland– Coniferous forest– Temperate broadleaf forest– Tundra
LE 50-19
Temperate grassland
Tropic ofCancer
30°N
Tropic ofCapricorn
30°S
Equator
Tropical forest
DesertSavanna
Key Chaparral
Coniferous forestTemperate broadleaf forest
TundraHigh mountainsPolar ice