Lesson Overview

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Lesson Overview

• 3.1 What Is Ecology?

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Studying Our Living Planet

• What is ecology?
• Ecology is the scientific study of interactions
  among organisms and
• between organisms and their physical environment.

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Studying Our Living Planet

• The biosphere consists of all life on Earth and
  all parts of the Earth in which life exists,
  including land, water, and the atmosphere.
• The biosphere extends from about 8 km above
  Earths surface to as far as 11 km below the
  surface of the ocean.

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The Science of Ecology

• Ecology is the scientific study of interactions
  among and between organisms and their physical
  environment.
• Interactions within the biosphere produce a web
  of interdependence between organisms and the
  environments in which they live.

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The Science of Ecology

• Organisms respond to their environments and can
  change their environments, producing an
  ever-changing biosphere.

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Ecology and Economics

• Economics is concerned with interactions based
  on money.
• Economics and ecology share the same word root.
  Indeed, human economics and ecology are linked.
  Humans live within the biosphere and depend on
  ecological processes to provide such essentials
  as food and drinkable water that can be bought
  and sold for money.

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Levels of Organization

• Ecological studies may focus on levels of
  organization that include the following
• Individual organism
• On bison represents
• an individual organism

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Levels of Organization

• Ecological studies may focus on levels of
  organization that include the following
• Populationa group of individuals that belong to
  the same species and live in the same area

A herd of bison (called a gang scientifically)
represents a population of bison in an area.
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Levels of Organization

• Ecological studies may focus on levels of
  organization that include the following
• Communityan assemblage of different populations
  that live together in a defined area

The bison and elk (along with many other animals
that live in Yellowstone Park) make up the
community of organisms.
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Levels of Organization

• Ecological studies may focus on levels of
  organization that include the following
• Ecosystemall the organisms that live in a
  place, together with their physical environment

The animals, plants, soil, air and water in
Yellowstone Park are all part of the Yellowstone
ecosystem.
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Levels of Organization

• Ecological studies may focus on levels of
  organization that include the following
• Biomea group of ecosystems that share similar
  climates and typical organisms

Where we live in Wallace is part of the
coniferous forest biome that stretches around the
globe (see the light pink areas on the diagram at
right).
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Levels of Organization

• Ecological studies may focus on levels of
  organization that include the following
• Biosphereour entire planet, with all its
  organisms and physical environments

YOU ARE HERE!
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Biotic and Abiotic Factors

• What are biotic and abiotic factors?

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Biotic and Abiotic Factors

• What are biotic and abiotic factors?
• The biological influences (living things) on
  organisms are called biotic factors. Physical
  components of an ecosystem (non living things)
  are called abiotic factors.

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Biotic Factors

• A biotic factor is any living part of the
  environment with which an organism might
  interact, including animals, plants, mushrooms
  and bacteria.
• Biotic factors relating to a bullfrog might
  include algae it eats as a tadpole, the herons
  that eat bullfrogs, and other species competing
  for food or space.

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Abiotic Factors

• An abiotic factor is any nonliving part of the
  environment, such as sunlight, heat,
  precipitation, humidity, wind or water currents,
  soil type, etc.
• For example, a bullfrog could be affected by
  abiotic factors such as water availability,
  temperature, and humidity.

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Biotic and Abiotic Factors Together

• The difference between abiotic and biotic
  factors is not always clear. Abiotic factors can
  be influenced by the activities of organisms and
  vice versa.
• For example, pond muck contains nonliving
  particles, and also contains mold and decomposing
  plant material that serve as food for bacteria
  and fungi.

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Biotic and Abiotic Factors Together

• In addition, trees and shrubs affect the amount
  of sunlight the shoreline receives, the range of
  temperatures it experiences, the humidity of the
  air, and even the chemical conditions of the
  soil.
• A dynamic mix of biotic and abiotic factors
  shapes every environment.

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Ecological Methods

• What methods are used in ecological studies?

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Ecological Methods

• What methods are used in ecological studies?
• Regardless of their tools, modern ecologists use
  three methods in their work observation,
  experimentation, and modeling. Each of these
  approaches relies on scientific methodology to
  guide inquiry.

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Observation

• Observation is often the first step in asking
  ecological questions.
• Questions may form the first step in designing
  experiments and models.

What kind of questions might be asked if you came
upon this scene while studying a river?
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Experimentation

• Experiments can be used to test hypotheses.
• An ecologist may set up an artificial
  environment in a laboratory or greenhouse, or
  carefully alter conditions in selected parts of
  natural ecosystems.

After finding the dead fish in the river, you
might take samples of the water and test them for
chemicals.
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Modeling

• Many ecological events occur over such long
  periods of time or over such large distances that
  they are difficult to study directly.
• Ecologists make models to help them understand
  these phenomena.

You might set up an aquarium that simulated the
conditions in the river and change things to see
how it affects the fish.