What is Ecology?

2

Ecology ! • The scientific study of relationships between

organisms and their environment

• life histories, distribution, and behavior of individual species, populations, communities, ecosystems, and landscapes

• think holistically about interconnections that make whole systems (its more than just the sum of their individual parts)

• how and why materials cycle between the living and nonliving parts of our environment

• Coral reefs

Figure 50.17 A coral reef in the Red Sea

CORAL REEFS

Land masses warm and cool faster than water.

The spin of the earth, and the temperature differences lead to currents and winds.

Climate and Terrestrial BiomesClimate has an impact on the distribution of organisms

Desert Temperate grassland Tropical forest

Temperatebroadleafforest

Coniferousforest

Arctic andalpinetundra

Annual mean precipitation (cm)

Ann

ual m

ean

tem

pera

ture

(ºC

)

100 200 300 400

30

15

0

15

ECOSYSTEM TYPES OF THE WORLD

Bodies of Water• Oceans and their currents, and large lakes

– Moderate the climate of nearby terrestrial environments

SUMMER DAY CYCLES

(WINTER IS REVERSE WHEN THE OCEAN IS WARMER THAN THE

LAND )

Coolerair sinksover water.

3

Air cools athigh elevation.

2 1 Warm airover land rises.

4 Cool air over watermoves inland, replacingrising warm air over land.

Hot air holds more water than cold air, so air masses forced over mountain ranges are forced to

drop their water.

ECOSYSTEM TYPES OF Western Washington

• Lakes

Figure 50.17An oligotrophic lake in Grand Teton, Wyoming

A eutrophic lake in Okavango delta, Botswana

LAKES

– Are sensitive to seasonal temperature change– Experience seasonal turnover

Lakes

In spring, as the sun melts the ice, the surface water warms to 4°Cand sinks below the cooler layers immediately below, eliminating thethermal stratification. Spring winds mix the water to great depth, bringing oxygen (O2) to the bottom waters (see graphs) andnutrients to the surface.

2In winter, the coldest water in the lake (0°C) lies justbelow the surface ice; water is progressively warmer atdeeper levels of the lake, typically 4–5°C at the bottom.

1

In autumn, as surface water cools rapidly, it sinks below thethe water until the surface beginsto freeze and the winter temperature profile is reestablished.

4 In summer, the lake regains a distinctive thermal profile, with warm surface water separated from cold bottom water by a narrowvertical zone of rapid temperature change, called a thermocline.

3

Winter Spring

High

Medium

Low

O2 concentration

O2 (mg/L)

Lak

e de

pth

(m)

0 4 8 12

8

16

24

8

16

24

Lak

e de

pth

(m) O2 (mg/L)

O2 (mg/L)

Lak

e de

pth

(m)

0 4 8 12

8

16

24

O2 (mg/L)

Lak

e de

pth

(m)

0 4 8 12

8

16

24Autumn Summer

4C4

44

44

4C4

44

20

4C4

44

44

4C

68

1820

22

5Thermocline

0 4 8 12

Levels of organization - Terms

• Population – one species live in one place at one time

• Community – All populations (diff. species) that live in a particular area.

Habitat: Place or type of place an organism lives (it’s location)

Niche: The role of a species in an ecosystem (its “occupation”)

Niches include all physical, chemical , and biological conditions a species needs to live and reproduce in an

ecosystem

Living interactions• Ecology views each place as an integration of many

interdependent parts that function as a “living” unit.

Nonlivingdead organic matternutrients in the soil and water.

Producers green plants

Consumers herbivores and carnivores

Decomposersfungi and bacteria

Each species has …

an ability/or not to tolerate certain environmental conditions.

What are those conditions?

•The Physical Environment

•The Biological Environment

Ecology is study of interactions between • non-living components in the environment…

– Sun light – water– wind– nutrients– temperature– gases– ph, etc.

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Tolerance Limits

Each environmental factor (temperature, nutrient supply, etc.) has both minimum and maximum levels beyond which a species cannot survive or is unable to reproduce.

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• For many species the interaction of several factors, rather than a single limiting factor, determines biogeographical distribution.

Competitive Exclusion Principleecological niche

fundamental nicherealized niche

West Duwamish Greenbelt Salamander pond

Fungus threatens state's frogs, salamandersDead frogs rarely tell tales. The delicate corpses usually decompose or are gobbled up so quickly researchers never find them. .By Sandi Doughton

Seattle Times science reporter           

Plants have a lot of interesting chemistry predators have to

deal with

Most insects can only eat leaves of one or a few related plant species; for example:

Spruce Budworm Moth lays eggs on leaves

Spruce Budworm larvae

The Yucca Moth transfers pollen while laying her eggs

on the Yucca Plant

Yucca moth larvae feed on developing seeds

This is a co-evolutionary relationship

Resource Partitioning in shoreline birds

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Speciation

Reed warbler

Cowbird egg

Reed Warbler eggs

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• Organism (species)• Population• Biological • Community• Ecosystem• Biosphere

Energy & Matter in the Environment

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Photosynthesis is the

beginning of the energy

cycle

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Energy Exchange in an Ecosystem

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Mangroves in Central America = lots of Primary

Production

An Elm dying from Dutch Elms Disease: the fungus is a Primary Consumer

Hispine Beetles as Primary Consumers feeding in Panama

A 2nd order consumer feeding on a Primary consumer

Food webs are more interactive than food chains

50

Food Web: Cross-connected Food Chains

51

AntarcticMarine FoodWeb

Complexity - the number of species at each trophic level and the number of trophic levels in a community

52

Relative biomass accumulation of major world ecosystems.

ADD FIG. 3.29

THE 10% RULE

Each time food moves up a trophic level, only 10% of the energy remains (90% is lost as heat or wastes)

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Most energy in most ecosystems is stored in the bodies of primary producers. Only about 10 percent of the energy at one energy level passes to the next highest trophic level.

Energy Pyramid

ADD FIG. 2.18

Vegetarians eat lower on the food chain

Toxics dissolve and store in fats, and concentrate up the food chain

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The Water Cycle

ADD FIG. 2.19

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The Carbon Cycle

ADD FIG. 2.20

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The Nitrogen Cycle

ADD FIG. 2.21

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The nodules on the rootsof this plant contain bacteria that help convertnitrogen in the soil to a form the plant can utilize.

Nitrogen Fixation

61

The Phosphorous Cycle

ADD FIG. 2.23

62

The Sulfur Cycle

ADD FIG. 2.24