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
