Introduction

• Ecology


  The study of relationships among organisms and between organisms and their environments
• Ecology


  • How is life interacting with living things (biotic factors and abiotic factors)
  • Biotic- living organisms-related
  • Abiotic- non living organism (sunlight and air)
  • It is studying a bigger system that is complex
• Levels of ecology


  • Organisms
  • Population
  • Community
  • Ecosystem
  • Biosphere
• Evolution


  A process by which populations change over time
• Population ecology


  Centered on factors influencing population structure and process where a population is a group of individuals of a single species inhabiting a defined area
• Biosphere


  • What role does concentration of atmosphere CO2 play in the regulation of global temperature
  • Meta ecosystem, all ecosystems enclosed (the whole earth)
  • Encompasses the entire Earth, including all living organisms and their interactions with the atmosphere
• Ecosystem


  • How does fire affect nutrient availability in grassland ecosystems
  • All the living and NONliving things in the area (abiotic factors)
  • Focus on the flow of energy and recycling of nutrients
• Community


  • What factors influence the number of large mammal species living together in African grasslands?
  • All the living things that live in the area (different organisms and all the life)
  • Focus on the interactions between population and how there interactions shape the community
• Individuals


  • The most basic level of ecological organization, focusing on a single organism
  • Examines the life processes, adaptations, and behaviors of the individual organism
• Individual


  One organism and is also one type of organism (e.g., human, cat, moose, tree)
• Population


  • A group of individuals that belong to the same species
  • Are geographically based, living in a particular area
• Communities


  • Are made up of all the populations of different species in a given area
  • It involves multiple populations of all the different species in the given area and how these species interact with each other
• Ecosystems


  Not only looking at the populations and species in the given area but also the physical environment and non-living or abiotic conditions, and not just what they are, but how they impact the organisms
• Abiotic Components


  • Climate
  • Soil
  • Geology and Topography
  • Water
  • Sunlight
• Biotic components


  • Producers
  • Consumers
  • Herbivores
  • Carnivores
  • Omnivores
  • Detritivores
  • Decomposers
• Trophic levels


  These represent the hierarchical levels within a food chain or food web. The primary producers occupy the first trophic level, followed by herbivores (primary consumers), carnivores (Secondary consumers) and so on
• Food chain


  Food chains depict the linear transfer of energy and nutrient from one organism to another in an ecosystem
• Ecosystem


  Includes all the living organisms in an area and all the non-living things that affects it
• Ecosystem


  • A group of organisms interacting among themselves and with environment
  • Abiotic and biotic organisms are interdependent/ interelated with one another
• Components of ecosystem


  • Biotic
  • Abiotic
• Biotic


  The living organisms or living members in an ecosystem collectively form its community
• Abiotic


  The non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of ecosystems
• Ecology


  The scientific study of the interactions between different organisms and between organisms and their environment or surroundings
• Levels of ecological organization

  • Species
  • Population
  • Communities
  • Ecosystem
• Species


  Individual living things
• Population


  Many of the SAME Kinds of species that live in the same area and compete for food, mates, water, and space
• Community


  Many groups of populations that interact in an area
• Community examples


  • A forest: population of trees, mushrooms, and birds
  • A lake: population of insects, fish, and algae
• Ecosystem examples


  • Forest ecosystem: grass, soil, wind, sunlight, animals
  • Ocean ecosystem: fish, coral, rock at the bottom, temperature
• Biosphere


  The part of the Earth that supports all organisms, made up of all the Earth's ecosystems
• Biosphere examples


  • Water, land, living things, air, lithosphere, hydrosphere
• Biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem are always interdependent
• Roles of biotic components

  • Producers
  • Consumers
  • Decomposers
• Producers


  Organisms that produce their own food, make their own in a form of glucose
• Producers


  • Use light or chemical energy to make food
  • Photosynthesis uses light energy to convert CO2 and H2O into C6H12O6 and O2
  • Chemosynthesis performed by bacteria, uses chemical energy to produce carbohydrates
• Plants form organic matter called glucose
• Photosynthesis


  Sunlight + carbon -> glucose + oxygen
• Chemosynthesis


  Bacteria make organic matter by reducing sulfide or oxidizing methane
• Consumers


  Organisms that cannot make their own food, obtain energy by eating other organisms
• Types of consumers


  • Primary consumers (herbivores)
  • Secondary consumers (primary carnivores)
  • Tertiary consumers (secondary carnivores)
  • Omnivores
  • Scavengers