Review
ECOLOGY
ECOLOGY
Ecology is the
study of how
living things and
their environment
interact with one
another.
•If you study how leaf-eating
insects affect a tree's growth
rate, you're studying an aspect
of ecology.
Studying Ecology
•Some other examples are if you
study how:
-Spraying insecticides to
control mosquitoes affects
local frog populations
-Weather patterns influence the
timing of bird migration.
-Traffic noise from a busy
highway affects squirrel
nesting habits.
Gypsy Moth Caterpillars
Abiotic
The non-living factors of the Earth which
affect the ability of living organisms to
survive in an environment.
Include both physical and chemical
factors.
•
Examples of physical abiotic factors are
soil, weather, and the availability of
consumable water.
•
Examples of chemical factors include
the amount of sunlight and the pH level
of the soil.
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Abiotic
Biotic
The living things that exist in the ecosystem.
The Earth’s Four Spheres
http://i39.tinypic.com/2n0kegg.jpg
Lithosphere= LAND
The dynamic
outer portion of
the solid Earth.
•Extends to about 100
km.
•Includes crust and
uppermost part of
mantle.
•Comprised of tectonic
“plates”.
•Source region of
earthquakes and
volcanoes.
http://3-b-s.org/layers-of-lithosphere-p-507624.html
Hydrosphere = WATER
The part of the Earth composed of water including clouds,
oceans, seas, ice caps, glaciers, lakes, rivers, underground water
supplies, and atmospheric water vapor.
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/images/modules/everglades/FEwetlands1PICT2.gif
Atmosphere= Gases Around the Earth
Gases that surround the
Earth which acts in many
different ways that are
needed for organisms to
survive.
•The atmosphere has are layers.
•The layers interact, heat up, and
interact with the top layer of the
Earth's crust.
•Sometimes you feel the atmosphere
as a cool breeze.
•Sometimes it's a really hot and humid
day that seems to push on you from
all sides.
http://www.english-online.at/geography/atmosphere/layers-of-the-atmospheretroposphere.gif
Biosphere- the part of the earth that supports life.
http://image.wistatutor.com/
content/environment/biosphereillustration.jpeg
The
biosphere is
the one place
where all of
the other
spheres of the
planet work
together.
The land interacts with the water (hydrosphere). The land interacts with the air (atmosphere and
climates). The land even interacts with forces deep inside the Earth and the energy coming to the
Earth from space. All of those forces work together to create our living world.
http://www.geography4kids.com/files/land_intro.html
Changes in One Impact the Others
Image: http://mlugerner.com/graphics/biome.gif
Biome
A biome is a large geographical area of distinctive plant and animal
groups, which are adapted to that particular environment. The climate
and geography of a region determines what type of biome can exist in
that region. The biosphere is said to be the collection of all the biomes.
Ecosystem
An ecosystem consists of:
• The living members (biotic) of a natural community of plants
and animals.
• The non-living (abiotic) environment of these organisms, such
as soil, water, light, and heat.
• The living and non-living, are inseparably interrelated, and
interact with one another.
Biome vs Ecosystem
http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/ecosystems.htm
There is confusion when it comes to the words ecosystem
and biome. There are a couple different thoughts on this:
•
•
•
There is a slight difference between the two words. An
ecosystem is much smaller than a biome. An ecosystem
can be as large as the Sahara Desert, or as small as a puddle
or vernal pool. A biome can be thought of many similar ecosystems
throughout the world grouped together. Or, they may be thought of as the same. It depends on who
you are talking to.
Community
All living things in a certain area make up a community.
The living
organisms in
this soil food
web makes
up a
community.
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/soil/
SoilBiology/soil_food_web.htm
Population
A group of organisms of the same kind, living in the
same area is called a population.
Asclepias purpurascens, purple milkweed
Species
•All the populations of the same kind of organisms form a species.
•A species is defined as a group of organisms similar in structure,
function, behavior and which can inter breed among themselves.
• Scientific names are a two word naming system (binomial
nomenclature).
• The first word names the genus (a group of similar species).
• The second word (the species) might tell you something about the
organisms: what it looks like, where it was found, or who discovered it.
• Names are in Latin so everyone uses the same language.
Asclepias purpurascens, purple milkweed
Iguana Example
• A lizard may be called
an iguana, but it could
be two different animals.
• For instance, these are
two different types of
iguanas.
• The scientific name
helps to distinguish
them.
http://www.rit.edu/~rhrsbi/GalapagosPages/LandIguana.html
Habitat
Habitats are the places organisms
normally live.
•
•
•
The Herring Gull's habitat is along
coasts, especially in harbors and
around garbage dumps, and also on
lakes and rivers.
The habitat of beech trees is moist,
deciduous forest and for the
chipmunk it is a pile of rocks.
Some important habitats are
forests, grasslands, deserts, and
marshes.
Niche (rhymes with “rich”)
A niche is an organism's "job" in nature.
•
•
Species often compete with each other for food and water.
•
No two species can occupy exactly the same niche. They all
have their own jobs or niche in the community.
•
The niche is organism’s role or job it plays in a habitat,
community, or ecosystem.
The only way that they can all live together is if they occupy
slightly different niches or hold different "jobs" in the
community.
Niche (rhymes with “rich”) Example
“...it may be said that the habitat is the organism's
"address", and the niche is its "profession",
biologically speaking.”
Here is an example to help you understand what is
meant by "ecological niche":
•Oak trees live in oak woodlands. The oak woodland is
the habitat.
•What do oak trees do? If you can answer that question
you know the oak trees "profession" or its ecological
niche.
http://www.purchon.com/ecology/niche.htm
Oak Tree Niche
Oak trees:
1. Absorb sunlight by photosynthesis;
2. Absorb water and mineral salts from the soil;
3. Provide shelter for many animals and other plants;
4. Act as a support for creeping plants;
5. Serve as a source of food for animals;
6. Cover the ground with their dead leaves in the autumn.
These six things are the "profession" or ecological niche of the oak tree; you
can think of it as being a kind of job description. If the oak trees were cut
down or destroyed by fire or storms they would no longer be doing their job
and this would have a disastrous effect on all the other organisms living in the
same habitat.
By analogy, it may be said that the habitat is the organism's "address", and
the niche is its "profession", biologically speaking.