Ecology, Ecosystems, and Population Dynamics

1. Ecology, Ecosystems, and Population Dynamics

2. ECOLOGY: the study of the interactions between living things and their environments

3. Ecological Hierarchy

4. Population • A group of individuals that interbreed and therefore share the same gene pool • A population can evolve as the individuals’ offspring undergo changes in phenotype and genotype

5. Community • A group of populations that live in a particular environment that interact with one another in many different ways

6. Niche • The way an organism lives in its environment, including its nesting behavior, what type of food it eats, and where it hunts • Competition between populations in similar niches drives evolution

7. Community Roles • Producers: have all of the raw building blocks to make their own food; convert light energy to chemical energy via photosynthesis • Consumers: forced to find their energy sources in the outside world; digest the carbs of their prey to make organic substances • Decomposers: break down organic matter into simple products; fungi and bacteria serve as the “garbage collectors” of the environment

8. Ecosystem: Self contained region that include both living and nonliving factors; there is an exchange of materials between the components of an ecosystem

9. Carbon Cycle: the way carbon is recycled through an ecosystem

10. Biomes • Massive areas that are classified on the basis of their climates and plant life; usually arranged along particular latitudes

11. Types of Biomes Tundra • Northernmost regions • Grasses/wildflowers; few trees • Contains permafrost • Arctic foxes, snowy owls, reindeer

12. Types of Biomes Taiga • Northern forests • Wind blown conifers, stunted in growth with spikes • Very cold long winters • Caribou, wolves, moose, bears, rabbits, and lynx

13. Types of Biomes Temperate Deciduous Forrest • Northeast and Mideast US, Western Europe • Deciduous trees that drop their leaves in winter • Moderate precipitation, warm summers, cold winters • Deer, wolves, bears, small mammals, birds

14. Types of Biomes Grasslands • Midwest. US, Eurasia, Africa, South Africa • Grasses • Hot summers, cold winters; unpredictable rain • Prairie dogs, bison, ferrets, grouse, lizards

15. Types of Biomes Deserts • Western US • Sparse, includes cacti, drought-resistant plants • Arid, low rainfall, extreme diurnal temperature shifts • Owls, kangaroos, snakes

16. Types of Biomes Tropical Rainforests • South America • High biomass, diverse plant life • High rain and temperatures, impoverished soil • Snakes, monkeys, birds, leopards, insects

17. Biosphere • The entire part of the earth where living things exist, including soil, water, light and air • Relatively small in comparison to overall mass of earth

18. Food Chain • Tertiary consumer- eat everything • Secondary consumer: feed on primary consumers and producers • Primary consumers: feed directly on producers • Producers (Autotrophs): produce all available food; possess the highest biomass (total weight of all the organisms in an area) and the greatest numbers • Decomposers are not considered part of food chain; can decompose ANY organism

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21. The 10% Rule • Only about ten percent of the energy is transferred from one level to the next, with other 90 percent being used for respiration, digestion • In an ecosystem, tertiary= least energy, producers = most energy

22. Ecological Pyramid: Represents the energy flow, biomass, and numbers of members within an ecosystem; higher up pyramid = less biomass and energy

23. Symbiotic Relationships Mutualism: both organisms benefit Commensalism: one organism lives off another with no harm to the host Parasitism: the organism actually harms its host

24. Population Ecology: the study of how populations change, looking at size, density, distribution patterns, and age structure

25. Survivorship Curves • Graphs showing number of individuals living to different ages, indicating probability of an individual living to an age • R= (births – deaths)/ N, where R is the reproductive rate, N is population size

26. Life History Strategies R-selected organisms: live in unstable environments and multiply before competitors arrive to produce a lot of offspring; e.g. dandelions and mice K-selection: stable environments; produce only a few offspring; equipped to deal with competition; e.g. redwood trees and human beings

27. Exponential growth Ideal, unrestricted growth because of unlimited resources

28. Logistic growth In actuality, at some point the population size becomes restricted by limited resources

29. Carrying Capacity The maximum population size that a particular environment can sustain

30. Limiting Factors: a factor that control’s a populati on growth Limiting Factors • Density Independent: affects the population regardless of density of population; e.g. severe storms, extreme climates • Density Dependent: depends on population density; e.g. resource competition/depletion and predation

31. ECOLOGICAL SUCCCESSION: The predictable procession of plant communities over a relatively short period of time

32. Primary Succession: the process of ecological succession where no organisms previously existed Sere: entire sequence of different plant communities Pioneers: make the area more habitable, setting the stage for other organisms Climax community: the final community

33. Secondary Succession: when a new community develops where another community has been destroyed or disrupted (e.g. after a fire)

34. HUMAN IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT Greenhouse Effect: increases atmospheric competition of carbon dioxide through burning of fossil fuels and forests; causes warming of earth Acid Rain: burning of fossil fuels produces sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, which react with water in clouds to produce rain that lowers pH of aquatic ecosystems and soil

35. HUMAN IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT Desertification: when land is overgrazed by animals Deforestation: clearing of forests causes erosion, floods, weather pattern changes

36. HUMAN IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT Pollution: as toxins move up tropic levels, they become more concentrated by biomagnification Reduction in biodiversity: different habitats are destroyed, causing plants and animals to become extinct; ecosystem becomes more vulnerable to changes and threats

37. http://www.tutorvista.com/content/biology/biology-iv/organisms-environment/organism-and-environment.phphttp://www.tutorvista.com/content/biology/biology-iv/organisms-environment/organism-and-environment.php • http://eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/cycles6.htm • http://vcebiology.edublogs.org/category/population/ • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Survivorship_Curves.jpg • http://worldslife-nisha.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html • http://www.greenbusgroup.com/human-ecology.html • http://ocw.tufts.edu/Course/21 • http://laurenyoung3b.edublogs.org/2012/04/27/levels-of-organization-in-an-environment/ • http://fitz6.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/producers-and-consumers/ • http://cikgurozaini.blogspot.com/2011/09/ecosystem.html • http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/biome_main.htm • http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/tundra.htm • http://www.plantsystematics.org/reveal/pbio/biome/lec35a.html • http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/tempded.htm • http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/grasslands.htm • http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=identifying-biomes • http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?Category=Planets&IM_ID=9683 • http://www.kidsgeo.com/geography-for-kids/0162-food-chains.php • http://www.transtutors.com/homework-help/biology/living-organism-and-environment/commensalism.aspx • http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/ExamplesOfParasitism.htm • http://math.tutorvista.com/algebra/exponential-growth.html • hann1900.tripod.com • http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/competition/competition.html • http://www.icarda.org/HomePageStory/Desertification.htm • Princeton Review: AP Biology Exam 2012