ECOLOGY Ecowhat Ecology The study of interactions between

ECOLOGY

Ecowhat? • Ecology – The study of interactions between organisms and their environment and between one another • Biosphere – Parts of the planet where life exists – Includes land, water and air

Ecological Organization • Species – Organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring. • Populations – Same species that live in the same area • Communities – Different populations that live in the same area.

Ecosystem • Ecosystem – Living and nonliving things that occupy an area

Biotic… Abiotic… Biotic… Abi • Biotic – Organisms such as plants and animals • Abiotic – Nonliving factors such as precipitation, temperature, soil type etcetera. • Habitat – Address

Energy in an Ecosystem • Sunlight – Main energy source of life • Producers (Autotrophs) – Make their own food from the sun • Consumers (Heterotrophs) – Rely on other organisms for food

Types of Consumers • Herbivores – Eat plants • Carnivores – Eat meat • Omnivores – Eat plants and meat • Detrivores – Eat decaying matter • Decomposers – Turn decaying matter into usable nutrients

Feeding Relationships • Food Chain – One way flow of energy through an ecosystem (simple) • Food Web – Complex feeding relationships made up of many food chains (complex)

Trophic Levels • Trophic Level – A step in the food chain or food web • 1 st Trophic Level – Producers • 2 nd, 3 rd, + Trophic Levels – Consumers Trophic Level Producer/Consumer Plant/Herbivore/Carnivore Example Fifth Decomposers Fungi & Bacteria Fourth Tertiary Consumer Larger Carnivore Mountain Lion Third Secondary Consumer Carnivore Weasel Second Primary Consumer Herbivore Gopher First Producer Photosynthetic Green Plant Wild Mustard

Ecological Pyramids • Ecological Pyramid – Diagram showing the amounts of energy in each trophic level. • Energy Pyramid – Shows the amount of energy available at each trophic level. – 10% of energy in a level is passed to the next level. • Biomass Pyramid – Looks at amount of living organic matter or tissue at each level • Pyramid of Numbers – Shows the number of individual organisms at each trophic level.

Biogeochemical Cycles • 4 Biogeochemical Cycles 1. 2. 3. 4. Carbon cycle Nitrogen cycle Phosphorus cycle Water cycle

Carbon Cycle Living tissue contain carbon, because they contain proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The carbon in these (living or dead) tissues is recycled in various processes. ADDING CARBON: - Burning fossil fuels - Respiration (animals release CO 2) - Decomposers (release carbon from dead plants/animals) REMOVING CARBON: - Photosynthesis (plants absorb CO 2) - Consumers eat plants taking in carbon and passing onto rest of food chain - Dead animals that are buried transform into fossil fuels

Nitrogen Cycle Nitrogen forms about 78% of the air on earth. But plants do not use nitrogen directly from the air. This is because nitrogen itself is unreactive, and cannot be used by green plants to make protein. 1 - Nitrogen added to soil by precipitation 2 – Fertilizers also add nitrogen into the soil 3 – Plants use nitrates absorbed in soil to build proteins 4 – Animals use nitrogen in plants to create protein as well 5 -6 – Animal poop/pee/carcasses are all broken down by decomposers and reintroduce nitrogen into the soil 7 – Nitrates in soil also broken down by bacteria/released into the air

Phosphorus Cycle

Water Cycle

Ecological Succession • Ecological Succession – Predictable changes that occur over time. • Primary Succession – Newly exposed surfaces. – Example: no soil after a volcano or glacier • Secondary Succession – Soil is present (after primary succession) – Example: Fire occurs • Pioneer Species – The first species to populate an area in primary succession. – Example: Lichen grown on rocks and breaks them apart creating soil.

Forest Ecosystem • Tree Population Density – How many trees are there and what species? • DBH (Diameter at Breast Height) – A consistent way to measure tree size.

Forest Ecosystems & Beetle Kill Use the http: //www. beetles. mt. gov/ website as well as the resources you were given to answer these three questions. 1. Why is there beetle kill and how widespread of a problem is it? 2. Why is it a bigger problem now than in the past? 3. What can be done?

Beetle Kill Q’s Read the article then go to: http: //ngm. nationalgeographic. com/2015/04/pine-beetles/rosner-text Click on the link on the left side – Death by a Thousand Bites 1. Make a timeline of how a beetle affects trees Click on the next link – Chronology of an Epidemic/watch the animation 2. What is the trend in beetle kill in North America over the last 23 years? Use the article 3. Even though the pine beetle is native to North America, it has created an epidemic that is unprecedented. Write a paragraph to explain in your own words why this is occurring. 4. How can the spread of pine beetles be controlled? 5. What occurs in an ecosystem after trees are killed by pine beetles?

Why is there beetle kill and how widespread is it?

IMPORTANCE OF BARK BEETLES • Insects account for 90% of tree mortality in U. S. • 60% of insect losses attributed to scolytids • MPB losses in U. S. since 1865 est. to be 1. 5 billion bd-ft/yr. (typical ponderosa pine is 150 bd-ft = 10 million trees)

HISTORICAL ROLE OF BARK BEETLES IN FOREST SYSTEMS • Along with fire, mistletoe, and root disease, a common way for old forests to die and start over (i. e. , a catalyst to succession) • Provide dead trees upon which many other organisms depend • Interval between epidemics is quite cyclic and variable (every 20 -50 years for MPB, maybe 100 -300 years for SB). In general about as predictable as the weather.

BARK BEETLES AND FUNGI ambrosia beetle tunnels with stain bluestain introduced by “regular” bark beetle • • Basically all bark beetles have fungal associates Staining fungi often called “bluestain” In some cases this is “obligate”, in others inadvertant Our understanding of these associations is evolving

RESISTANCE TO ATTACK • A FUNCTION OF: – TREE VIGOR – STAND SITE CONDITIONS – # OF ATTACKING BEETLES

Why is it a bigger problem now than in the past? • Warmer temperatures – you need three consecutively cold winters to keep the pine beetle population in check. • Trees are stressed – warmer temperatures = less water = trees that can’t protect themselves (they normally “sap-out” predators)

What can be done? • Biofuel – Pros – Less Carbon from burning slash piles – Cons – Cost, environmental impacts of logging wood to use as biofuel • Leave it – Pros – No cost, natural, no logging impact – Cons – Fire and recreational hazard • Burn it – Pro’s – eliminating fire and recreational hazards – Pollution and cost • Log it for lumber – Can make money turning it into something useful – Cost and pollution

Niche • Niche – An organisms occupation (job) • Includes – What it does in the food web. – What temperature it thrives in. – How does it get its food? – How does it reproduce?

Competition Exclusion Principle • Competition Exclusion Principle – 2 species can not occupy the same niche at the same time in the same place.

Predator-Prey Relationships Lots of Prey = an increase in predators = reduction in prey

Symbiotic Relationships • Symbiosis – • Organisms living together Types of Symbiosis 1. Mutualism – Both species benefit from the relationship 2. Commensalisms – One member benefits and the other doesn’t benefit or suffer from the relationship. 3. Parasitism – One organism suffers from the relationship.

Biomes • Biome – – A geographical region that has a certain group of plants and animals. Determined by 2 things: 1. 2. Temperature Precipitation

Population Density • Number of organisms in a species in a given area • Example: Number of wolves/mile in Yellowstone

Limiting Nutrients • Limiting Nutrient – A nutrient in short supply will limit an organism's growth. – Example: • If one batch of cookies requires 2 cups of flour and you have plenty of other ingredients but only 2 cups of flour then you can only make one batch of cookies and your flour is your limiting nutrient.

Types of Limiting Factors • Density Dependent Limiting Factors – Factors that affect population and are changed based on the population density (biotic) – Examples: Availability of food, disease • Density Independent Limiting Factors – Factors that affect population but are changed by abiotic factors – Examples: Natural disasters such as flooding

Invasive Species • A species that is not native to an environment. http: //www. defenders. org/sites/default/files/publications/montana. pdf