Ecology

The interaction of all living and non-living things

Basic Needs of Living Things

Water – to transport material and maintain temperature

Shelter – what would need to leave Earth? Air – What is in Air? What gas to animals need?

Plants? Do we need Nitrogen? Minerals – N, P, K, Fe, Zn, Mg, Mo Food – carbohydrates, fats, proteins Decomposers – recycle sewage and dead stuff.

What if there weren’t any? Space – too many in one place uses up food, water,

Ecosystems

Ecosystems – living organisms and non-living substances interacting in a specific area of nature. Major ecosystems are often called biomes

Habitat – place where an animal lives Niche – the role of an animal

Energy Flow - Producers

The energy from the sun is trapped by producers and turned into food

Even the most efficient can only STORE 10% of the sun’s energy

The rest is used in metabolic processes

Energy Flow – Producers Cont.

Producers turn the energy from the sun into sugar, starch, fat etc.

Plants, algae, diatoms

Energy Flow - Consumers

Consumers eat producers and get energy from the food made by producers

There should always be more producers than consumers

Primary Consumers = Herbivores (deer) Secondary Consumers = Carnivores (mountain

lions). Consumers get 10 % of the energy from the sun

which was stored by producers They can only STORE 10% of what they eat (1% of

the sun)

Energy Flow - Decomposers

Fungi, bacteria and worms Digest dead plants and animals Break complex molecules into simple

compounds– Sugar (C6H12O6) into water (H2O) and carbon

dioxide (CO2)

Recycle fixed amounts of matter

Energy Flow

Producers– 100 %

Primary consumers (herbivores)

– 10 % Secondary consumers

(carnivores)– 1%

Tertiary Consumers (top level carnivores)

– 0.1 %

The Sun

The Ultimate Source of Energy However, not all of it is put to work

– Photosynthesis 0.08%– Wind and Waves 0.2%– Evaporation and precipitation 22%– Heat 47%– Reflected 31%

Law of Conservation of Matter

Matter can neither be created or destroyed The chemical elements (atoms) that make up

living and non-living ecosystem components are recycled.

Example: the atoms that make up your body use to make up the bodies of the plants and animals you have eaten. Some day these atoms will be returned to the soil and be available to other organisms.

Law of Conservation of Energy

Energy can neither be created or destroyed, it can only be transferred

Energy cannot be recycled; it can only flow through a system.

Energy Flow

Every time energy is transferred some of the useable energy is lost as heat energy

With each transfer the amount of useable energy goes down

This means as energy moves up trophic levels less energy is available.

You can support more humans with grain than with meat from animals eating the grain.

Only 10% of the energy gets transferred from one trophic level to another.

Energy Flow

2nd Law of Thermodynamics (Simplified)

– Energy is lost at each trophic level

Trophic Level– Feeding position in a

food chain– Producer, Consumer

(herbivore/carnivore), Decomposer

The Ecosystem Cycle

Levels of Organization

Organisms – any living thing Populations – a group of the same type of

organism Communities – a group of populations living

in a given area Ecosystems – you know this now Ecosphere – the global system

Relationships

Mutualism: Both species benefit. The two organisms help each other. An example would be a honey bee and a dandelion. The honey bee gets to eat the pollen from the flower. The dandelion uses the bee to spread its pollen to another flower.

Commensalism: One species benefits. The other species is unaffected. A common example is an animal using a plant for shelter. An American Robin benefits by building its nest in a Red Maple tree. The tree is unaffected.

Parasitism: Ones species benefits. The other species is harmed. An example would be a deer tick and a White-tailed Deer. The tick gets food from the deer without killing it. The deer is harmed by losing blood to the tick, and possibly by getting an infected wound.

Neutralism: Neither species benefits or is harmed. Both organisms are unaffected. An American Goldfinch is a bird that eats mostly seeds. It may share a tree with a Great Crested Flycatcher, which eats mostly insects. Neither affects the other.

What makes Earth unique?

Write 3 things that make Earth unique.

Write 3 things that the Earth shares with other planets.

Escape to Mars

If the world were to end and we had to escape to Mars, what are the top ten most important things we will need to bring from Earth to Mars?

What would life be like there after ten years?

Escape to Mars Facts

Earth– 1 AU from the sun– 365.25 days/year– 24 hours/day– Gravity 1– Atmosphere

78% N, 21% O, 1% Argon, 0.04% CO2

– Temperature range -130 to 130 Average 57 F

Mars– 1.5 AU from the sun– 687 days/year– 24 hours 20 minutes/day– Gravity .38– Atmosphere

95% CO2, 3% N, 1.6% Argon, 0.1% O

– Temperature range -190 to 98 Average -81 F

Other places on Earth that can help us understand Mars include:

Death Valley, California, where Ubehebe crater and "Mars Hill" have geologic features similar to those on Mars

Mono Lake, California, which is a 700,000-year-old evaporative lake that compares to Gusev Crater, a basin on Mars where water once was likely

Channeled Scabland in Washington, where catastrophic floods swept through the land much like what happened long ago in the Ares Vallis flood plain where Mars Pathfinder landed

Permafrost in Siberia, Alaska and Antarctica, where subsurface water-ice and small life forms exist

Volcanoes in Hawaii, which are like those on Mars, though much smaller

Google Earth, Google Mars

Ecology Issues

Invasive Species Reduction in predators Reduction in prey Habitat loss Habitat fragmentation Hunting Pollution Tourism

Climate change Wildfire prevention Restoration http://

ed.fnal.gov/help/prairie/Prairie_Res/index.html

Refuges

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/student_activities_menu.htm