Ecology Ecology Study of the Interactions between Organisms
Ecology
Ecology • Study of the Interactions between Organisms and the Nonliving Components of their Environment
Levels of Organization • Organism- a single life form
Population • Population- all the organisms of the same species living in one place at one time
Community • Community- all of the populations in one area at one time
Habitat • Habitat- the physical location of the community
Ecosystem • Ecosystem- All the living and the non-living things in an area • (as small as your back yard or as big as the world).
Diversity • Diversity- measure of the number of different species there are in an area • (Ecosystems flourish more with more diversity)
Niche • Niche- an organism’s role in the community (like a job) • (ex. How it gets food, how it finds shelter, etc)
Generalist • Generalists- species with broad niches, who can tolerate many conditions (ex cats, roaches)
Specialists • Specialists- Species that have narrow Niches, who can only tolerate certain conditions. (ex. Koala and Panda)
Abiotic Factors • Abiotic factors- non-living factors in the ecosystem • Ex. Sunlight, Climate, Chemicals, etc
Biotic Factors • Biotic factors- living components of an ecosystem • Interactions between organisms can affect the ecosystem
Competition • competition- two species or organisms struggling for the same resource (- and -) • (ex. lions and hyenas. )
Mutualism • Symbiosis- organisms living in a close relationship • mutualism- two species cooperating (+ and +) • (ex. bees and flowers, hippos and fish)
Commensalism • commensalism- one species benefits from another, the other species is not affected (+ and no affect) • ex. Sea anemones and clown fish
Predation • predation- one species hunting and eating another (+ and -) • leopards and gazelles
Parasitism • parasitism- one species benefits from another, the other species is harmed (+ and -) • (dogs and ticks, humans and tape worms)
- Slides: 18