Ecology

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Ecology

• the study of how organisms interact with each
  other and their environments

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• Ecology- scientific study of interactions between
  organisms and their environment.

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How Everything Fits Together

• The study of how the living and nonliving things
  fit together in nature is the science of ecology

How are this bee, the flowers, and the sun
interacting?
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Like a set of nesting dolls

• We can think about the interactions and types of
  living things by organizing them into groups,
  smallest to largest.
• A species (individual) includes only one type of
  organism.
• Example pigeon
• A population includes all members of one species
  that live in the same area.
• Example all the pigeons in Denton

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bigger and bigger groups!

• A community includes all of the different species
  that live in the same area.
• Example all the pigeons, ants, maple trees,
  dogs, etc. that live in Denton
• An ecosystem includes both the community and the
  abiotic factors.
• Example the Denton community plus the cars,
  buildings, rocks, air

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Levels of Organization
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Levels of Organization

• Individual
• Population
• Community
• Ecosystem
• Biome
• Biosphere

Make a sentence using the first letters of each
level to remember the order!
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The organisms in a habitat can be organized in
the following way
ecosystem
community
Species/ organism
population
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Ecosystem

• Groups of animals live in specific habitats.
• There are two factors included in every habitat
• Biotic factors
• Living things, like?
• Abiotic factors
• Nonliving things, like?

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Abiotic Vs. Biotic Factors

• Abiotic Factors
• The nonliving environment
• Ex. air currents, temperature, light, moisture,
  and soil
• Determine which species survive in a particular
  environment

• Biotic Factors
• The living organisms that inhabit an environment
• Ecologists study how biotic factors affect
  different species

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Habitat vs. Niche

• Each species occupies a particular position
  within the community, both in a spatial sense
  (where it lives, referred to as its habitat) and
  a functional sense (how it lives, its niche).
• A number of species may occupy a particular
  habitat but the niches of those species differ to
  avoid competition.

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Habitats

• A habitat is the place where an organism lives
  out its life
• Organisms use a variety of different strategies
  to live and reproduce in their habitats
• Habitats can change or disappear from an area
  through both natural and human causes

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Niches

• How an organism meets its needs for food and
  shelter, how it survives, and how it reproduces

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Niches

• A species niche includes all of its interactions
  with the biotic and abiotic parts of its habitat
• It is an advantage to have a unique niche in an
  environment
• This reduces competition

What niche does this lizard occupy?
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Niches

• In the coastal habitat in Florida there are a
  number of species of wading birds, each with a
  unique niche

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Niches

• These species differ in their beak depth. Beak
  depth corresponds to the size of seed the bird
  eats.
• On two islands, only one of these species is
  found. Note that there is a difference in beak
  depth when the species is alone compared to when
  it is with the other two species. In the presence
  of these other species, beak depth differences
  have evolved that reduce competition.

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Biomes
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Biome

• Major communities that occur over wide areas on
  land
• Scientists have divided the Earth into 7-9 major
  biomes
• Climate temperature and precipitation.
• Climate dictates biomes.

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Major Biomes of the Earth
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Biomes
Terrestrial Tropical rainforest Temperate
rainforest Temperate deciduous forest Tiaga
(boreal forest) Tundra Desert Temperate
grassland Savannah Chaparral/Steppe Urban
Marine Open ocean Antarctic ocean (edge of the
ice) Estuary Coral Reef Barrier Island Shallow
ocean/bay Mangrove forests Freshwater River Lake
Pond Wetlands (Swamps, marshes, etc.)
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Taiga
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Tiaga (Boreal Forest)
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Animals of the Taiga

• Rodents, snowshoe hares, lynx, caribou, bears,
  wolves, birds in summer

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Deciduous Forest

• A forest biome with many kinds of trees that lose
  their leaves each autumn

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Temperate Deciduous Forest
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Animals of the Deciduous Forest

• Wolves, deer, bears, and a wide variety of small
  mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and insects

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Tropical Rain Forest

• A hot, humid biome near the equator, with much
  rainfall and a wide variety of life

equator
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Tropical Rainforest
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Animals of the Tropical Rain Forest

• More species of insects, reptiles, and amphibians
  than any place else monkeys, other small and
  large mammals, including in some places
  elephants, all sorts of colorful birds

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Desert

• A sandy or rocky biome, with little precipitation
  and little plant life

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Desert
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Animals of the Desert

• Rodents, snakes, lizards, tortoises, insects, and
  some birds. The Sahara Desert in Africa is home
  to camels, gazelles, antelopes, small foxes,
  snakes, lizards, and gerbils

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Tundra

• A cold biome of the far north the ground is
  frozen even in summer

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Animals of the Tundra

• Musk oxen, migrating caribou, arctic foxes,
  weasels, snowshoe hares, owls, hawks, various
  rodents, occasional polar bear.

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Arctic Fox
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Grassland

• A biome where grasses, not trees, are the main
  plant life. Prairies are one kind of grassland
  region.

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Grassland animals

• American Grasslands Prairie dogs, foxes, small
  mammals, snakes, insects, various birds

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Marine Biomes
Open Ocean
Coral Reefs - Barrier Islands - Shallow Marine
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Name the Biome
Temperate Forest
Desert
Tundra
Grasslands
Tropical Rainforest
Tiaga