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Ecology Rain Forest damp, dark raining, dripping, steaming monkey, jaguar, frog, anaconda climbing, stalking, slinking furry scaled endangered.
Ecology Rain Forest damp, dark raining, dripping, steamingmonkey, jaguar, frog, anaconda climbing, stalking, slinking furry scaled endangered.
What is ecology?
Is this ecology?
Or this?
Ecology is study of interactions between • non-living components in the
environment…– light – water– wind– nutrients in soil– heat– solar radiation– atmosphere, etc.
Biotic factors- all living organisms inhabiting the Earth
AND
Origin of the word…”ecology”
• Greek origin• OIKOS = household• LOGOS = study of…
• Study of the “house/environment” in which we live.
What Makes Up An Ecosystem?
Geo physics
Shaping the Land Mass
Topography influencing habitats
The four main abiotic factors that affect both land topography and animal survivability.Weather - rain, cloud cover, sun, wind etc.
Temperature – how warm, hot or cold the climate is.
Soil – what are the components of the soil? Nutrient rich or poor.
Light – how much light is available for the organism. What about caves?
Water cycle
There are four main abiotic reservoirs
Carbon cycle
90% of Earth’s O2 production
14
Nitrogen Cycle
Abundant phosphorus stimulates plant and algal productivity.Major component of water pollution.
Reduced levels of dissolved oxygen.
Phosphorus Cycle
Organization of Life
OrganismsPopulations
CommunitiesEcosystemsBiosphere
Organism- any unicellular or multicellular form exhibiting all of the characteristics of life, an individual.•The lowest level of organization
Population-a group of organisms of one species living in the same place at the same time that interbreed and compete with each other for resources (ex. food, mates, shelter)
Ecosystem- populations in a community and the abiotic factors with which they interact (ex. marine, terrestrial)
Biosphere- life supporting portions of Earth composed of air, land, fresh water, and salt water.•The highest level of organization
Habitat • The place in which an organism lives –provides the kinds of food and shelter, the temperature, and the amount of moisture the organism needs to survive
Feeding RelationshipsProducer- all
autotrophs (plants), they trap energy from the sun
• Bottom of the food chain
Feeding RelationshipsConsumer- all heterotrophs:
they ingest food containing the sun’s energy
• Herbivores• Carnivores• Omnivores
• Decomposers
Feeding RelationshipsConsumer-
Herbivores–Eat plants
• Primary consumers
• Prey animals
Feeding RelationshipsConsumer-Carnivores-eat
meat• Predators–Hunt prey-Other animals for food.
Feeding RelationshipsConsumer- Carnivores- eat
meat• Scavengers–Feed on carrion, dead animals
Feeding Relationships
Consumer- Decomposers
• Breakdown the complex compounds of dead and decaying plants and animals into simpler molecules that can be absorbed
Food ChainA food chain is a simple
model of the feeding
relationship in an
ecosystem.
Trophic Levels Producer: (autotrophs) anchor of
chain; produce all organic matter for other organisms
Primary consumer: directly consume producers = herbivores
Heterotrophs (consumers)
Secondary consumer: consume herbivores Tertiary & Quaternary consumers: consume secondary & tertiary consumers, respectively
Terrestrial Food Web
Marine Food Web
RULE OF 10• Only 10% of energy is transferred
from one trophic level to the next.• Example:– It takes 100 kgs of plant materials
(producers) to support 10 kgs of herbivores
– It takes 10 kgs of herbivores to support 1 kg of 1st level predator
Numbers Pyramid
• 2nd Law of ThermodynamicsWhen converting energy, the system will always lose some energy as heat
Tropical Rainforest
Desert
Mediterranean Woodland
Mid-latitude Grassland
Mid-latitude Deciduous Forest
Tundra
Biomes of the world
NichesA niche is the way an organism interacts with other living
things and with its physical environment. Or a plant's or animal's ecological niche is a way of life that
is unique to that species.
How would you describe the niche of the following slide?
Louisiana heronwades into waterto seize small fish
Black skimmerseizes small fishat water surface
Ruddy turnstone
searches under shells and
pebblesfor small
invertebrates
Avocet sweeps bill through mud and surface water in search of small crustaceans, insects, and seeds
Brown pelican dives for fish, which it locates from the air
Dowitcher probesdeeply into mud insearch of snails,marine worms, andsmall crustaceans
Herring gullis a tirelessscavenger
Flamingo feeds onminute organismsin mud
Scaup and other divingducks feed on mollusks,crustaceans, and aquaticvegetation
Piping plover feeds on insects and tiny crustaceans on sandy beaches
Knot (sandpiper)picks up wormsand small crustaceansleft by receding tide
Oystercatcher feeds onclams, mussels, and othershellfish into which itpries its narrow beak
Mutualism
Both species benefit from the interaction.
Flowers and their Pollinators (examples: Bees and hummingbirds gather nectar and spread pollen.)
What is the benefit here?
Mutualism
Sloth Algae Moth
Commensalism Commensalism is a relationship
between two living organisms where one benefits and the other is neither harmed nor helped.
The clownfish lives among the forest of tentacles of an anemone and is
protected from potential predators.
Grey squirrels are well established in England and Wales with an estimated population of 2.5 million while red squirrels have retreated to the north.
The questions is why.
Grey squirrels weigh twice that of red squirrels and native to the US. Intro. 100yr ago.Also have a tendency to be more aggressive and have a longer life span.They forage on the ground where Red squirrels forage in the canopies (more food available.
Introduced Species Competition
Predator - Prey Relationship
Predator/Prey Relationship
PREDICTING POPULATION GROWTH, Two modes of population growth.
The Exponential curve occurs when there is no limit to population size. This is a J curve
The Logistic curve shows the effect of a limiting factor (in this case the carrying capacity of the environment).
Human Population
Survival Curves• Survivorship is the percentage of remaining
survivors of a population over time; usually shown graphically.
• Type I survivorship curve: most individuals live out their life span and die of old age (e.g., humans).
• Type II survivorship curve: individuals die at a constant rate (e.g., birds, rodents, and perennial plants).
Type III survivorship curve: most individuals die early in life (e.g., fishes, invertebrates, and plants).
Survivorship curves show how death rates vary with age
Num
ber o
fsu
rviv
ors
1,000
100
10
1
Age
veryyoung
veryold
Type I - highmortality in old age
Type II - constantmortality rates
Type III - high infantor juvenile mortality
A grass species
This is your world
This is an example of a J curve
Desertification due to increase in World temperatures
Ice sheets world wide melting due to increase in World temperatures
Bioaccumulation = Biomagnification
The Real Ecology
How our planet is in trouble
A peat forest felled in Indonesia Poisoned elephants near
a palm oil plantation.
Shark fins only
Your strawberries
Vultures poisoned near lake Tagalala in Selous Park Tanzania November 2009
In Botswana vultures are targeted by poachers who want to get rid of them because they attract the authorities to their kills. Farmers also lace meat to target hyenas and this often results in vulture kills as well.
World Deforestation
World Population Growth
How big is the problem?• The world marine catch is nearly 100 million
tones per year.• 27 million tones of by-catch (almost 1/3 of
total catch) is thrown back dead into the ocean
Larger shrimps fetch a higher price, there is an incentive for discarding smaller fish as shown left.
Types of Species Interactions
• Neutral – two species do not interact • Mutualism – both benefit • Commensalism – one benefits, other neutral • Parasitism – one benefits, one harmed
but not killed • Predation – one benefits, other killed
ECOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
• INDIVIDUAL – individual organisms• POPULATION – organisms of same species in
same area (biotic factors)• COMMUNITY – several populations in same
area (biotic factors) • ECOSYSTEM – community plus abiotic factors • BIOSPHERE – all ecosystems on earth
ECOLOGY OF INDIVIDUALS
• Homeostasis – delicate balance • Components –Physiological Ecology –Temperature and Water Balance– Light and Biological Cycles–Physiological Ecology and Conservation
Food Webs
food web: interconnected food chains; all trophic interactions in community
Energy Flow Between Trophic Levels
Why such low efficiency?
Three Reasons:
1) Escape behavior/protective coloration/unavailable material
2) Indigestible material3) Cellular respiration
• Nonliving–dead organic
matter–nutrients in the
soil and water. • Producers – green plants
Tundra
