EcologyIt is the scientific study in which the

relationships among living organisms and the interaction the organisms have

with the environment are studied

Part 1: Organisms and Their RelationshipsPart 2: Flow of Energy in an EcosystemPart 3: Cycling of Matter

Biotic and Abiotic Factors

Biotic• The living or once living factors in an

organism’s environment

Abiotic• The nonliving (never alive) factors in an

organism’s environment

Bio Abio

Part 1: Organisms and their Relationships

Biotic and Abiotic Factors

How would something be classified as “Biotic”?

1. They must be composed of cells.

2. Complex organization patterns are found in all living organisms (i.e., cell tissue organ…)

3. Living organisms use energy.

4. Living organisms must maintain a state of homeostasis.

5. All organisms develop and change over time.

6. All organisms have the potential to reproduce, either sexually or asexually.

Part 1: Organisms and their Relationships

Levels of Organization

Just to review, let’s start with the atom…

Cell Tissue Organ

Organism Population

Community Ecosystem

Biome Biosphere

Atom Molecule Organelle

Part 1: Organisms and their Relationships

Ecological Levels of Organization

• Organism: An individual• Population: Individual

organisms of a single species that share the same geographic location at the same time.

• Community: A group of interacting populations that occupy the same area at the same time.

Part 1: Organisms and their Relationships

Levels of Organization

• Ecosystem: A biological community and all of the abiotic factors that affect it.

• Biome: A large group of ecosystems that share the same climate and have similar types of communities.

• Biosphere: All biomes together; the Earth

Part 1: Organisms and their Relationships

Three Types of Ecosystems

• Terrestrial• Freshwater• Marine

• What is the NC main ecosystem?

Types of Biomes

• Freshwater (ponds, lakes, streams, rivers, wetlands)

• Marine (oceans, coral reefs, estuaries)• Desert (hot, dry, semiarid, coastal, cold)• Forest (temperate, tropical, boreal forest(taiga))• Grassland (savannas, temperate)• Tundra (Artic and Alpine)

Ecosystem Interactions

• Habitat: An area where an organism lives• Niche: The role or position that an

organism has in its environment

Part 1: Organisms and their Relationships

Habitat vs. Niche

“The ecological niche of an organism depends not only on where it lives but also on what it does.

“By analogy, it may be said that the habitat is the organism's ‘address’, and the niche is its ‘profession’, biologically speaking.”

Odum - Fundamentals of Ecology

Part 1: Organisms and their Relationships

Habitat vs. Niche

A niche is determined by the tolerance limitations of an organism, or a limiting factor.

Part 1: Organisms and their Relationships

Limiting factor: Any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the existence of organisms in a specific environment.

Examples of limiting factors-

Limiting FactorsPart 1: Organisms and their Relationships

Amount of water, food, shelter, space.

http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep12a.htm

Left-side IntNB Reflection

• Differentiate between a local organism’s habitat and niche found in your community.

– Refer to your notes and neighbors if you need help!

Part 1: Organisms and their Relationships

Feeding Relationships

There are 3 main types of feeding relationships

1. Producer Consumer

2. Predator Prey

3. Parasite Host

Part 1: Organisms and their Relationships

Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem

• Autotroph: An organism that collects energy from sunlight or inorganic substances to produce food. (Producer)

• Heterotroph: An organism that gets its energy requirements by consuming other organisms. (Consumer)

Part 1: Organisms and their Relationships

Different types of Heterotrophs

• Herbivore: Eats only plants• (Deer, rabbits, grasshoppers, etc.)

• Carnivore: Prey on other heterotrophs• (Wolves, lions, cats, etc.)

– Scavengers feed on carrion (dead animals)• (Hyenas, vultures, some crabs, etc.)

• Omnivore: Eat both plants and animals• (Bears, humans, mockingbirds, etc.)

– Detritivores: Eat fragments of dead matter• (Earthworms, millipedes, etc.)

• Decomposers: Chemically breaks down dead matter

• (Bacteria and fungi)

Part 1: Organisms and their Relationships

Symbiotic relationships• Mutualism: When both

organisms benefit – Lichens

• Commensalism: One organism benefits, while the other is neither helped nor harmed.– Epiphytes (i.e., Bromeliads)

• Parasitism: One organism benefits at the expense of the other.– Parasitoid wasp eggs on a

tomato hornworm

Part 1: Organisms and their Relationships

Create and Fill in this table in the left side of your IntNB

Type of Relationship

Species harmed

Species benefited

Species neutral

Mutualism

Commensalism

Parasitism

= 1 species

Part 1 Reflection: Organisms and their Relationships

Community Interactions

• Competition: More than one organism uses a resource at the same time.

• Predation: The act of one organism consuming another organism for food.

• Symbiosis: The close relationship that exists when two or more species live together.

Part 1 Review: Organisms and their Relationships

Niche competition

Carnivore

Mutualism

Models of Energy Flow

• Trophic Levels: Each step in a food chain or food web.– Autotrophs always make up the first trophic

level in ecosystems.– Heterotrophs make up the remaining levels

Part 2: Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem

Models of Energy Flow

• Food chains: A simple model that shows how energy flows through an ecosystem

Part 2: Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem

Models of Energy Flow

• Food webs:

A model representing the

many interconnected

food chains and pathways in which

energy flows.

Part 2: Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem

How many connections can we make?

Models of Energy Flow

• Ecological pyramids: A diagram that can show the relative amounts of energy, biomass, or numbers of organisms at each trophic level in an ecosystem.– Biomass: The total mass of

living matter at each trophic level

Part 2: Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem

Activity: Deadly Links(On the left-hand side of your

IntNB, write the following)• Objective: To understand how food

(energy) moves through an ecosystem• My role is ____________________.• I am a/an herbivore, omnivore or carnivore

(Circle one)

Part 2: Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem

Part 2: Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem

What does your graph tell you?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Wate

r

Plankt

on

Sheepsh

ead M

innow

Picke

rel

Needle

fish

Mer

ganser

duck

Cormora

nt

DDT in ppm

Cycling of Matter

• Cycles in the Biosphere– Natural processes cycle matter through the

atmosphere– The exchange of matter through the

biosphere is called the biogeochemical cycle.• Bio: Involves living things• Geo: Geological Processes• Chemical: Chemical Processes

Part 3: Cycling of Matter

Cycling of Matter

The Water Cycle

Solar Energy Movement of clouds by wind

Precipitation PrecipitationEvaporation

Transpiration from plants

Percolation in soil

Part 3: Cycling of Matter

The Water Cycle• Most precipitation falls into the ocean• Over land

– approximately 90% of the water evaporates– 10% transpires from plants

• Only about 2% of water is retained in a reservoir – i.e., a glacier, ice cap, aquifer or lake

Cycling of MatterPart 3: Cycling of Matter

Cycling of Matter

Carbon and Oxygen CyclesCO2 in atmosphere

Photosynthesis

Plants, Algae & Cyanobacteria

Primary Consumer

Higher level Consumers

Detritus

Detritivores(soil microbes &

others)

Cellular Respiration

Burning

Wood & Fossil Fuels

Part 3: Cycling of Matter

Cycling of Matter

Carbon and Oxygen Cycles• Short term cycle

– Autotrophs use CO2 for ____________.

– Heterotrophs produce CO2 during ________ __________.

Photosynthesis

CellularRespiration

Part 3: Cycling of Matter

Cycling of Matter

Carbon and Oxygen Cycles

1. Long term cycle: Fossil Fuels– Organic matter is buried underground and

converted to peat, coal, oil or gas deposits.– 5.5 billion tons are

burned each year and 3.3 billion tons stay in the atmos-phere, the rest dissolves in sea water*

http://www.ucar.edu/ (The National Center for Atmospheric Research)

Part 3: Cycling of Matter

Cycling of Matter

Carbon and Oxygen Cycles

2. Long term cycle: Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3)

– Marine animals are able to use Carbon to build their skeletal material

– These organisms fall to thebottom of the ocean floor,creating limestone rock.

Part 3: Cycling of Matter

Part 3: Cycling of Matter

Cycling of Matter

Carbon and Oxygen Cycles• Oxygen is found in the atmosphere at a stable

concentration of approximately 21%. – Because it is a very reactive element, it can quickly

combine with other elements and disappear from the atmosphere.

– Some of the atmospheric oxygen (O2) finds itself lofted high into the upper reaches of the atmosphere called the stratosphere, where it is converted into Ozone (O3)

• Ozone serves to absorb biologically damaging ultra-violet (UV) radiation from the sun.

Cycling of Matter

Carbon and Oxygen Cycles• Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas and

traps heat in the atmosphere. • Humans have burned so much fuel that there is

about 30% more Carbon Dioxide in the air today than there was about 150 years ago.

• The atmosphere has not held this much Carbon for at least 420,000 years according to data from ice cores.

http://www.ucar.edu/ (The National Center for Atmospheric Research)

Part 3: Cycling of Matter

Cycling of Matter

Nitrogen CycleNitrogen in atmosphere

Nitrogen – fixingbacteria in rootnodules oflegumes

Nitrogen – fixing bacteria in soil

Decomposers (aerobic & anaerobic

bacteria and fungi)Ammonification

Ammonium (NH4+) Nitrites (NO2

-)

Nitrifying bacteria

Nitrates (NO3

-)

Denitrifying bacteria

AssimilationPlants

Part 3: Cycling of Matter

Cycling of Matter

Nitrogen Cycle• Nitrogen comprises the bulk of the atmosphere

(approximately 78%). • Most of it is unusable.

– A molecule of nitrogen gas is made up of 2 atoms very tightly bound together.

– It takes tremendous amounts of energy, such as produced by lightning or fires, to break the bond.

• Bacteria can release nitrogen from organic material– These bacteria also release nitrogen from organic material back

into the atmosphere. • Nitrogen is the one element found almost entirely in the

atmosphere—there's very little on land or in the sea. • Nitrogen is essential to life, a key element in proteins

and DNA.

Part 3: Cycling of Matter