EcologyEcology

State StandardsState Standards

WHAT IS ECOLOGY?WHAT IS ECOLOGY?

• Ecology – The study of interactions of organisms and their environment

WHAT IS AN ECOSYSTEM?WHAT IS AN ECOSYSTEM?

• Ecosystem – Interaction of Biotic and Abiotic things

• Biotic – LIVING organisms

• Abiotic – NON-LIVING organisms

• What is abiotic and what is biotic in these pictures?

IMMUNITY CHALLENGEIMMUNITY CHALLENGE• Put your name on your paper!• YOU will each individually create a water cycle by

filling in the following terms on the drawing I have given to you.

• You must also draw the arrows in the direction of water flow. All work is handed in as a tribe, in the folder

• PRECIPITATION TRANSPIRATION• EVAPORATION INFILTRATION• RUNOFF• WATER VAPOR• CONDENSATION

WatershedsWatersheds

• http://www.fieldscope.us

• Enter school address in search window: 500 Mt. Sidney Road, Lancaster, PA

• Check boxes: watershed boundaries, and boundaries & places

• Change Terrain Map dropdown to: Street Map

• Click on Compute Flow path

SpeciesSpecies

• Group of organisms that are physically similar and can mate with each other and produce offspring that can also mate and reproduce.

CommunityCommunity

• All of the plants and animals in an area

• Plants, Animals, Fungi, Protists, and Monerans

• What community do these organisms live in – Pond, Desert, Forest,

HabitatHabitat

• The place an organism is usually found in a community

• Provides food, shelter, and other resources an organism needs to survive

• The resources are both biotic and abiotic

BIODIVERSITYBIODIVERSITY

• Diversity of life on Earth.

• Including all animals, plants, fungus, bacteria you can see and can’t see

IMPORTANCE OF IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITYBIODIVERSITY

1. PLANT COMMUNITIES PROVIDE MANY VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR OUR PLANET

2. MEDICALLY IMPORTANT

3. ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT

4. PASSING ON TO OUR CHILDREN AND THEIR CHILDREN, ETC.

PLANT COMMUNITIESPLANT COMMUNITIES

• VALUABLE FOR:– GIVE OXYGEN– SHADE AND

MOISTURE– ANCHORS IN SOIL;

PREVENTING MUDSLIDES, ETC.

– REMOVE GREENHOUSE GASES (CARBON DIOXIDE)

MEDICALLY IMPORTANTMEDICALLY IMPORTANT

• PENICILLIN AND OTHER ANTIBIOTICS PRODUCED FROM BACTERIA AND FUNGUS

• PACIFIC YEW TREE PRODUCES COMPOUNDS HELPFUL FOR CANCER PATIENTS

ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANTECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT

• TOURISM• HUNTING, FISHING• PRODUCING MANY

GOODS WE USE ON A DAILY BASIS

GENERATIONSGENERATIONS

• PASSING OUR WORLD ON TO NEXT GENERATIONS

• MUST TAKE CARE OF IT NOW…OR WHAT WILL WE SEE IN 25, 50, 75 YEARS?

MAJOR CONCERNSMAJOR CONCERNS

• FISHING • Catching aquatic

animals (fish, clams, oysters, crabs, etc.) faster than they can reproduce

MAJOR CONCERNSMAJOR CONCERNS

• ANIMAL TRADE• Demand for leather,

furs, skins, etc.• Supply is diminishing

due to increased amounts of trading

• Supply vs. demand

MAJOR CONCERNSMAJOR CONCERNS

• HEALTHY SOIL• In the past 40 years,

1/3 of our soil has been washed down stream

• Chesapeake Bay

MAJOR CONCERNSMAJOR CONCERNS

• DEFORESTATION– Cutting down the trees

to make paper, homes, firewood, lumber, etc.

– Rain forests to your back yard

– Supply vs. Demand

MAJOR CONCERNSMAJOR CONCERNS

• TOXIC CHEMICALS• Phosphates in many

household cleaners – eutrophication

• Fertilizers – nitrogens washed down into local stream – how does it get to the ocean?

• Oil spills

MAJOR CONCERNSMAJOR CONCERNS

• GREENHOUSE GASES

• CARBON DIOXIDE, METHANE GAS – RELEASED FROM CARS, FACTORIES, COWS

• GLOBAL WARMING

INVASIVE SPECIESINVASIVE SPECIES

• A species that was not originally found in a specific habitat, but now is a part of that habitat

• Trade, pets, tourism• Invasive species in

PA – Zebra mussels, purple loosestrife, chestnut blight

NicheNiche• Every organism has a specific spot in the

ecosystem it lives in• No two organisms will have the same niche!

Why?What is the niche of these organisms?

Producer?

Consumer?

Decomposer?

Types of Consumers:

Herbivore

Carnivore

Omnivore

NICHENICHE

1. PRODUCERS • Organisms that can

make their own food

NICHENICHE

2. CONSUMERS– HERBIVORE:

PLANT EATERS– CARNIVORES:

MEAT EATERS– OMNIVORES: EAT

PLANTS AND ANIMALS

– SCAVENGERS: EATS DEAD ORGANISMS

NICHENICHE

3. DECOMPOSERS• Organisms that break

down dead organisms into simpler substances putting nutrients back into the ground

Predator vs. PreyPredator vs. Prey

• Predator – Animal that captures other animals for food

• Prey – Animals eaten by a predator

Green tiger beetle attacking wasp

Symbiotic RelationshipsSymbiotic Relationships

• Mutualistic Relationship – relationship where each organism benefits

• Commensalism Relationship – relationship where one organism benefits and the other is not harmed Shark and Remora Fish

Sea Anemone and Clown Fish

Symbiotic RelationshipsSymbiotic Relationships

• Parasitic Relationships – A relationship where one organism lives off of and hurts the host

PopulationPopulation

• All the members of one species in a particular area

• Carrying capacity: A habitat can only sustain a certain range of organisms

AdaptationsAdaptations

• Behaviors and physical adaptations that allow an organism to survive in its environment

• What are these animals adaptations?

Natural SelectionNatural Selection

• Animals that have the characteristics and adaptations suited for a particular environment survive and produce offspring

SELECTIVE BREEDINGSELECTIVE BREEDING

• Choosing the “best” genes for offspring

• Weeding out the undesired characteristics

• Usually domestic breeding

Food ChainFood Chain

• Pathway of food and energy through an ecosystem

What is wrong with this food chain? Hint: The grasshopper is not an autotroph.

Food WebsFood Webs

• Complex network of feeding relationships – made up of many interconnected food chains

Energy PyramidEnergy Pyramid

• Chart showing the flow of energy through the food chain

• 10% of energy is lost per level as you move up pyramid

• Always needs to be more producers than consumers