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Biosphere

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What is Ecology?

copyright cmassengale

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Organisms and Their

Environment


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What is Ecology??

• The study of interactions that take place between organisms and their environment.

• It explains how living organisms affect each other and the world they live in.


• Biosphere

• Ecosystems

• Community

• Population

ECOSYSTEM LEVELEucalyptus forest

COMMUNITY LEVELAll organisms ineucalyptus forestPOPULATION LEVEL

Group of flying foxes

ORGANISM LEVELFlying fox

ORGAN SYSTEM LEVELNervous system

ORGAN LEVELBrain

Brain Spinal cord

Nerve

TISSUE LEVELNervous tissue

CELLULAR LEVELNerve cell

MOLECULAR LEVELMolecule of DNA

Figure 1.1

Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

• A Hierarchy of Interactions

SUMMARY OF KEY CONCEPTS

Visual Summary 18.1

Organism ecology

(individual)

Population ecology

(group of individuals)

Community ecology

(all organisms in a particular area)

Ecosystem ecology (all organisms and

abiotic factors)


• A community

KEY PROPERTIES OF COMMUNITIES

– Is an assemblage of species living close enough together for potential interaction

Figure 19.2

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Habitat & Niche• Habitat is the place

a plant or animal lives

• Niche is an organism’s total way of life


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The Nonliving Environment

• Abiotic factors- the nonliving parts of an organism’s environment.

• Examples include air currents, temperature, moisture, light, and soil.

• Abiotic factors affect an organism’s life.


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/Lightning_in_Arlington.jpg�

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The Living Environment

• Biotic factors- all the living organisms that inhabit an environment.

• All organisms depend on others directly or indirectlyfor food, shelter, reproduction, or protection.


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Abiotic or Biotic?

Bioticcopyright cmassengale

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Abiotic or Biotic?

Abioticcopyright cmassengale

13

Abiotic or Biotic?

Abioticcopyright cmassengale


• Inter-specific interactions are interactions between different species.

INTER-SPECIFIC INTERACTIONS IN COMMUNITIES


• Behavioral defenses:

– Alarm calls

– Mobbing

Figure 19.8


• Distraction displays:

– Direct the attention of the predator away from a vulnerable prey to another prey that is more likely to escape

Figure 19.9


• Camouflage, or cryptic coloration:

– Is a passive defense that makes a potential prey difficult to spot against its background

Figure 19.10

Impala

Photo by Art Wolfe, Audubon March-April 1999

Casque-headed Chameleon


White-tailed Ptarmigan


© James D. Watt

Pygmy Seahorse on octocoral (Indonesia)

Photo by Jim Watt/Pacific Stock; Defenders, Summer 19

Sea Dragon


• In Batesian mimicry:

– A palatable or harmless species mimics an unpalatable or harmful model

Figure 19.12


• In Müllerian mimicry:

– Two or more unpalatable species resemble each other

Figure 19.13

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Abiotic or Biotic?

Bioticcopyright cmassengale

Biotic factors• interactions with other organisms– Negative:

predation or competition

– Positive: facilitation (e.g., pollinators

urchin barrens

Fig. 50.9

Biotic and abiotic factors: adaptations

Predation - Aposematic coloration

Dry conditions - cacti

Predation – Cryptic coloration

Dry conditions – spring annuals

Abiotic factors• water availability

- too little water (desiccation)- Deserts, saltwater

- too much water (anaerobic)

Organ pipe cacti, desert shrubs

Mangroves

Presenter

Presentation Notes

These are some extremes

Abiotic factors• temperature

– high temperature cause cell membranes to leak and enzymes to stop working

– low temperature causes freezing

- some animals have antifreezes that allow them to survive below freezing temperatures.

Cool arctic fish (spp.?)

Thermophilic bacteria, Nevada

Abiotic factors• Sunlight

- Competition, shade tolerance for plants

- Photic zone, different wavelengths for aquatic organisms

Abiotic factors

• Wind– exacerbates the effects

of temperature and water loss

– also exerts forces on organisms (waves act in the same manner)

Abiotic factors• rocks and soil

– substratum type– nutrient availability– pH

• The trophic structure of a community concerns the feeding relationships among the various species making up the community

Trophic Structure

Examples of terrestrial and marine food

chains

Quaternary,

tertiary,and secondary consumers

Tertiary and

secondary consumers

Secondary andprimary consumers

Primary consumers

Producers (plants)


• Biomes:

– Are named for major physical or climatic features and for their predominant vegetation

Figure 19.33


Figure 19.34a

• Tropical forest


Figure 19.34b

• Savanna


• Desert

Figure 19.34c


• Chaparral

Figure 19.34d


Figure 19.34e

• Temperate grassland


Figure 19.31f

• Temperate deciduous forest


Figure 19.34g

• Coniferous forest


• Tundra

Figure 19.34h

Biodiversity

16 June 2010 45

• Variety of living things, number of kinds

• Ecological diversity– different habitats, niches,

species interactions• Species diversity

– different kinds of organisms, relationships among species

• Genetic diversity– different genes &

combinations of genes within populations

Benefits of Biodiversity

• Ecosystem functions• Ecosystem services

• Cleaning water,• Cleaning air,• Habitat & breeding

areas for wildlife, …• Aesthetic and

cultural benefits

16 June 2010 Biodiversity.ppt 46

Natural Resources• Vital economic natural resources

– Renewable• Forests (plants, wildlife) • Soils • Fresh water (lakes, rivers)• Wildlife and fisheries• Rangeland

– Nonrenewable• Minerals • Fossil Fuels


Threats to Biodiversity

• Extinction and population reductions– Hunting and overharvesting

• Tiger• Dodo• Whales• Sharks

– Habitat loss


Threats to Biodiversity

• Extinction and population reductions– Pollution– Climate change– Invasive species


Protecting Biodiversity


• How can we protect biodiversity– Stop overharvesting

• Sustainable yield• Hunting & fishing laws

(every state ?)– in developing nations ?

– Protect habitat • Refuges, parks, preserves

– Endangered Species Act

Protecting Biodiversity


• Biodiversity “hotspots”– Protection of habitat

• Increases in the human population result in more people consuming resources and dumping pollutants into the biosphere

Figure 18.28

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