Interactions In Ecosystems

Notebook pages 24-25

Adapting to the Environment

• Change to survive• Survival of the fittest• An ecosystem can only support a certain

amount of life and different factors affect who and how many survive– Carrying capacity– Limiting factor– Co-evolution– Adaptation– Niche

Answer this under the KQ on 24:

• Risley Middle School is an ecosystem. What is the job of the following:

• Principal• Guidance• Media

• What do you think would affect the carrying capacity of this school?

Carrying Capacity

• The perfect (optimum) number of a certain species an ecosystem can support.

• Different factors affect the carrying capacity…• What do you think affect carrying capacity?

Limiting factors

• Factors in an environment or ecosystem that affect the carrying capacity

• Resources that organisms compete to get:• Ex:WATER FOOD SPACE

Co-evolution

• So, to get these resources, organisms do certain things:

• They change:– Change over time of two independent organisms

at the same time which benefit each other

Adaptation

• They adapt…

• CHANGE that helps an organism to survive in its environment.

Niche

• They have a role to fill…

• The role of an organism in its environment.– Type of food an organism eats– How it obtains food– Acts as Food for other things– When and how an organism reproduces– Physical conditions it needs to survive

Interactions

• They interact…

• Different ways organisms act and interact with each other in their environment

• 3 types:

1. Competition

• They compete…

• Struggle between organisms to survive as they attempt to use the same limited resource

• Which organisms will survive?

• In the next slide, think about what the different birds must compete for. How do they adapt to compete?

• Would you survive out in the wilderness?

2. Predation

• The relationship between organisms who hunt and kill for food and the animals who are hunted. • Relationship between predator and prey • HUNTER AND HUNTED

Predation

• How is this predation?

• Who is the predator? The prey?

• Any other examples?

• What if the snake eats too many mice?

Predation• Predator Adaptations– Ways that a predator is/has changed in order

to catch prey– Jellyfish tentacles, claws, speed– Can you think of others?

• Prey Adaptations– How prey avoids being caught– Camo, copying– We will talk about a couple

• Think about your neighborhood… Is there any predator/ prey?

a. camouflage

• An adaptation that lets an animal hide by blending into its environment

Leaf?Or

Bug?

r

b. mimicry

• An adaptation where an animal copies the appearance of another animal.

SNAKES??????

Pine Cone?

c. symbiosis

• Last type of interaction• 3 types

• Relationship between 2Species where at least1 benefits

More symbiosis next…