Welcome to the Biosphere

Introduction to Ecology

• We are all shaped by the world around us

• The planet controls many of the everyday functions of humans

• Understanding how the planet works allows us as humans to adapt to our planet

Introduction to Ecology

• Ecology is the study of the interactions between living and non living components in the environment– From the Greek word oikos, which means home

• It is a broad science that includes many different types of observation

Introduction to Ecology

• Ecologists are scientists that study ecosystems

• This branch of science requires many skills and an open mind

• It requires knowledge of all areas of science and an idea of how living and non living factors interact

Organisms and Interdependence • All organisms are

considered interdependent

• Interdependence means that organisms rely on interactions with their environment

• Interactions can include other organisms or non living factors in the environment

Organisms and Interdependence • This means that no

organism can survive without its environment

• What would happen to a wolf if you took away all of its water?

• What would happen to a tree if you took away all of the carbon dioxide?

• What would happen to a shark if you took away all of its food?

Organisms and Interdependence

• Since organisms rely on each other, it is possible that organisms can affect other organisms

• This means that a change in the number of one organism can affect many other organisms

Effects of Interdependence

• A good example of this are Oak trees

• Every three of four years oak trees produce large numbers of acorns

• These acorns feed more mice, deer and other organisms

Effects of Interdependence

• With more mice and deer, there is a situation that allows more carnivores – More hawks, foxes and

cats can be supported in the area

• More parasites can now be introduced into the system as well– More ticks can be

supported

Effects of Interdependence

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUctxmz3zOY

Dead or Alive?

• The environment can be broken up into to large groups of interacting factors

• The easiest to recognize are the biotic factors

• Biotic factors include all of the living factors that are involved in the environment

Dead or Alive?

• The second group of factors are the non living factors that can influence the environment

• The abiotic factors are often times more important, however then can be tricky to identify

Levels of Organization

• There are different levels of organization in our environment

• This helps ecologists understand the environment and how it interacts

• Each level of the environment gets larger and more inclusive

Levels of Organization

• Organism – an organism is a singular living being

• This is how most people view their impact on the planet

• One single organism can impact its environment in some cases

Levels of Organization• Population – A population

is a group of a given species in a local area

• Populations can be used to describe the number of squirrels in Annandale

• Populations can be used to describe the number of bears on the East coast

Levels of Organization

• Community – a community is a group of living and interacting organisms in a local area

• All of the bacteria, algae, plants, fish, turtles and birds that live in a pond would be a community

Levels of Organization• Ecosystem – all of the

living and non living organisms in an area

• Ecosystems have all of the interacting factors in an area

• A forest would be an ecosystem because it has living (trees, insects and birds) and non living (heat, moisture and type of soil) factors interacting

Levels of Organization

• Many times ecosystems boarder each other and will interact

• A change in ecosystem can cause changes in other ecosystems

• Landscapes are interacting groups of ecosystems that are in a localized area

Levels of Organization

• Biosphere – The biosphere includes all of the interacting ecosystems in a given area

• Our planet is the best example of a biosphere– It includes all of the

ecosystems

Biomes• While the levels of

organization appear around the world there are striking similarities around the world

• The forests in New Jersey greatly resemble the forests in China

• Deserts in the Middle East Resemble deserts in Navada

Biomes

• Estuary• Wetlands• Tropical Forest• Desert• Savanah• Coral Reefs

• Temperate forest• Coniferous Forest• Artic Tundra• Chaparral• Temperate Grassland

• Biomes are major types of ecological zones that occupy broad geographic regions• Your book wants you to learn 11 of them