Ecology

the study of living things and their

environment

Living Things are Organized

Organism

Population

Community

A HABITAT

• A place where a plant or animal lives in the community• Organisms are affected by the

things in their environment.Biotic Factors- living things

Ex. Predators and PreyAbiotic Factors- Nonliving

things Sunlight, rain, snow, etc…

An organism lives in its habitat and has a job there too.

• An organism’s role in the community is called its NICHE

• There are 3 main roles an organism can play in a community.

1. PRODUCERS

Autotrophs (a.ka. Plants) Photosynthesis• Converts CO2 and H2O into Sugar

• Give off Oxygen as bi-product

2. CONSUMERS

• Heterotrophs• eat other organisms to acquire

energyHERBIVORE:

Eats Plants Primary Consumer

CARNIVORE: “Meat Eater”Secondary Consumer

3. DECOMPOSERS

• Decomposers break down dead materials• Examples:

Fungi Bacteria

• Decomposers have a very important job they break materials into simpler chemicals.

The Food Chain

• A pathway of energy and materials through a community.

• ARROWS INDICATE WHICH WAY THE ENERGY FLOWS

A Food Web

• Interconnected food chains of a community

• Again, arrows show flow of energy

Less than 1%

of the sun’s energy is converted into chemical energy by producers!

Energy in the Community

The ultimate source of energy is the sun.

Energy FLOWS through a community. Producers have the most

energy At each step of the food chain

less and less energy is available. Only 10% of energy is

transferred to the next level.

Ecological Pyramids

• A diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a food chain or food web

• There are 3 different kinds of pyramids:

1. Energy Pyramids2. Biomass Pyramids3. Pyramids of Numbers

Energy Pyramid 

• Shows the relative amounts of energy available at each trophic level.

• “The Rule of Ten” Only about 10% of the energy available within

one trophic level is transferred to organisms at the next trophic level.

90% of an organism’s energy is used for: Movement Respiration Reproduction Lost as heat

Energy Pyramid Example

Pyramid of Numbers 

We know what a happens to energy in

trophic levels…So what happens to

TOXINS?

• The accumulation of a contaminant or toxin in or on an organism from all sources (e.g., food, water, air)

• Compounds accumulate in living things any time they are taken up and stored faster than they are broken down (metabolized) or excreted.

BioaccumulationBioaccumulation

BiomagnificationBiomagnification• the increase in

concentration of toxin as it passes through successive levels of the food web

• toxins accumulates at higher levels in organisms that are higher in the food chain