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