Intro to Ecology

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Intro to Ecology

• Biology

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By completing this lesson, you will learn about

• The scope of Ecology
• Ecological Organization
• Energy Flow
• Feeding Relationships
• Chemical Cycles

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Studies in Ecology Concept Map
Biology
Conservation Ecology
Ecology
Community Ecology
Population Ecology
Ecosystem Ecology
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Energy Flow Concept Map
Energy Flow
Chemical Cycles
Feeding Relationships
Nitrogen Cycle
Carbon Cycle
Trophic Levels
Phosphorous Cycle
Water Cycle
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The Scope of Ecology

• Introduction
• Ecological Organization
• The Branches of Ecology

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What is Ecology?

• ECOLOGY The study of interactions between
  organisms and environments.

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Ecological Organization

• Ecological relationships range from an individual
  organism to the entire biosphere.

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A single living thing
Organism
A group of organisms of the same species that
live together.
Population
Community
A group of Populations that live together
Communities and their physical environments
Ecosystem
A group of ecosystems that have the same climate.
Biome
Biosphere
All the biomes on Earth. Thus, all the living
areas of the planet.
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Organism
Population
Community
Ecosystem
Biome
Biosphere
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Branches of Ecology
Population Ecology Study of how populations grow
Community Ecology Study of how populations
interact with each other
Conservation Ecology Study of how to preserve And
create a healthy, Lasting biosphere
Ecosystem Ecology Study of how populations
interact with their physical environment
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Question Levels of Organization
Match the terms on the left with the definitions
on the right
Population Ecology
Example of a biome
Biome
Study of group growth
Tundra
Areas of same climate
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Question Levels of Organization
Match the terms on the left with the definitions
on the right
Population Ecology
Example of a biome
Biome
Study of group growth
Tundra
Areas of same climate
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Energy Flow 1 Feeding Relationships

• Overview
• Trophic levels
• Food Webs

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Overview Energy Flow
Ecosystem
Most ecosystems are driven by energy from sunlight
Level of ecological study that includes
all organisms in a given area along with the
factors with which they interact. A community
and its physical environment.
Energy flow and chemical cycling are two
interrelated processes that occur by transfer of
substances through the feeding levels of
ecosystems.
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Key Concept
One of the ways in which energy flows through an
Ecosystem is by feeding. Different living
organisms eat each other, and the food is energy
moving from one organism to the next.
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What is a Food Web?

• The feeding relationships in an ecosystem. Also
  called a food chain.

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Example of a food web
snake
mouse
rabbit
grasshopper
grass (seeds)
decomposers
Bacteria Fungus
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What are Trophic levels?

• Trophic level each feeding level in a food web
  or chain.

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Trophic level organisms Producers
Producers are the backbone trophic level
Producers are autotrophs which gets energy from
the sun using photosynthesis. Plants,
algae phytoplankton
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Trophic level Consumers
Consumers is a trophic level of heterotrophs
Consumers are heterotrophs which eat other
organisms for energy, such as snails and pigs.
There are many trophic levels of consumers.
Herbivores eat plants only. (cows) Carnivores
eat animals only. (sharks) Omnivores eat plants
and animals.(humans, mice) Decomposers break
down dead, rotting remains.
( bacteria, mushrooms)
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Trophic levels of food webs
PRODUCERS Autotrophs
Herbivores
Carnivores
CONSUMERS (Heterotrophs)
Omnivores
waste and remains
detritivores
decomposers
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Trophic level Pyramid
Tertiary Consumer
Secondary Consumer
Primary Consumer Heterotrophs Herbivores
Producers Autotrophs
Uses the suns energy to make its own food-
photosynthesis
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Trophic level Pyramid
Tertiary Consumer
About 10 of available NRG is passed up
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Secondary Consumer
100
Primary Consumer Heterotrophs Herbivores
1000
Producers Autotrophs
Uses the suns energy to make its own food-
photosynthesis
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Trophic level Pyramid
Tertiary Consumer
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About 10 of available NRG is passed up
The rest is lost as Heat and Waste
Secondary Consumer
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Primary Consumer Heterotrophs Herbivores
1000
Producers Autotrophs
Uses the suns energy to make its own food-
photosynthesis
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Primary Productivity
The rate at which light energy is converted to
the chemical energy of organic compounds by
autotrophs in an ecosystem.
primary productivity is limited by a variety of
factors that depend on
the specific ecosystem as well as change in
season.
Usually only about 10 of the chemical energy
available at one trophic level appears at the
next.
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Question Trophic Levels

• What type of organisms
• consume wastes?
• 1.______________
• 2.______________
• The food web is organized by
• __________ levels.

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Question Trophic Levels

• What type of organisms
• consume wastes?
• 1. Detritivores
• 2. Decomposers
• The food web is organized by
• Trophic levels.

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Energy Flow II Chemical Cycles

• Overview
• Carbon Cycle
• Nitrogen Cycle
• Water Cycle
• Phosphorous Cycle

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Another way in which energy flows through an
ecosystem is by the cycling of chemical materials.
Chemical materials are energy, which move as
they cycle from one location to another.
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Overview Chemical Cycles
Biogeochemical cycles_________________
The various material circuits, which involve both
the nutrient and physical components of an
ecosystem.
Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Water are
needed by every organism on Earth. C is needed
to build organic molecules. N is needed for
nucleic acids. P is needed for energy molecules.
Water is needed to maintain life. How does every
organism on Earth have access to these
limited resources?
Chemical Cycling
Carbon cycle
Nitrogen cycle
Phosphorous cycle
Water cycle
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Carbon Cycle
The Carbon cycle reflects the connected
processes of photosynthesis and cellular
respiration.

• Producers convert inorganic carbon dioxide
• into organic molecules.
• Consumers eat the producers.
• Consumers breathe out CO2 which is reused by the
  autotrophs.

Since photosynthesis generates oxygen, the oxygen
cycle is coupled with the carbon cycle.
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Nitrogen cycle
Certain prokaryotes fix Nitrogen in the
atmosphere into ammonia which other bacteria
convert into nitrites and nitrates.
Plants absorb ammonia and nitrates and convert
them into proteins that can be passed onto the
food chain.
Detritivores reduce dead plants, animals and
their products into ammonia which can be reused
by plants or deposited in the soil.
Nitrogen in the soil is returned to the
atmosphere in the form of free nitrogen by
denitrifying bacteria for prokaryotes to
fix again.
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Phosphorous cycle
Phosphorous from rocks leaks into the soil by
sediment runoff.
Phosphorous is added to the soil as phosphate.
The oceans deposit the phosphorous onto rocks.
Plants absorb the phosphate.
Consumers excrete feces or decomposers break
down the wastes, which drains by run-off to the
oceans.
Animals eat the plants.
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Water cycle
Water lands into the oceans. It also lands on
soil, and runs-off into the oceans after use by
living things.
Rain precipitates water onto the Earth.
Water from the ocean evaporates into the air.
Water in the air condenses into clouds
Water moving through a plant is called
Transpiration
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Questions Chemical cycles
Which cycle has a chemical which become
deposited on rocks?
Which cycle provides the basis of organic
molecules?
Which cycle requires the help of bacteria?
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Questions Chemical cycles
Which cycle has a chemical which become
deposited on rocks?
Phosphorous cycle
Which cycle provides the basis of organic
molecules?
Carbon cycle
Which cycle requires the help of bacteria?
Nitrogen cycle
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What you have learned..
Chemical cycles circulate raw materials for
organisms to use. Four major cycles Carbon,
Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Water
Feeding relationships circulate energy from the
sun to producers to consumers.
Ecology is the study of interactions
between organisms and environments.
Ecology can be studied at the organism,
population, community, ecosystem, biome and
biosphere level.
Energy flow is how the earth circulates energy to
support life. Two types of energy flow
include feeding relationships and chemical cycles.