Ecology The study of interactions among organisms and

Ecology

The study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment.

Biosphere

• the combined portions of the planet in which life exists, including land, water, and air or atmosphere.

Species

• a group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring

Population

• groups of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area.

Community

• assemblages of the different populations that live together ina defined area

Ecosystem

• a collection of all the organisms that live together in a particular place as well as their nonliving or physical environment.

Biome

• a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities. Desert Tropical rain forest

Autotroph

• use energy from the environment to fuel assembly of simple compounds into complex organic molecules. • Also called Producer • harness the power of the sun through photosynthesis • use chemical energy to make carbohydrates.

Heterotrophs

• Organisms that rely on other organisms for their energy and food. • Also called Consumers • Can be herbivores, carnivores or ominivores

Herbivores

• obtain energy by eating plants.

Carnivore

• Organisms that eat other animals.

Omnivore

• Organisms that eat both plants and animals.

Detritovores

• Organisms that feed on the remains of plants, animals and other dead matter. bacteria fungi

Decomposers

• Organisms that breaks down organic matter. • Fungi • Bacteria • Recycle carbon back into the environment

Food Chain

• a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating or being eaten. • Each step in a food • chain is called a trophic • level. Producers make • up the first step, • consumers make • up the higher levels.

Food Webs

• show the complex interactions within an ecosystem. • Each step in a food web is called a trophic level. Producers make up the first step, consumers make up the higher levels.

Competition

• When there are more than one organism utilizing the same environment and resources. One usually becomes dominant

Symbiosis

• Two or more species interact in permanent relationships. - mutualism - parasitism - commensalism

Mutualism

• Interactions between organisms that benefits both. • Ex: Flowers and their pollinators

Commensalism

• One species does not harm or help another Ex: barnacles on a whale

Parasitism

• Beneficial to the parasite , but harms the host. Ex: Tapeworm in cattle

Coevolution

• Long term evolutionary adjustments of species to one another. Ex. A flower pollinated by a bat

Ecological Pyramid

• a diagram that shows the relationship amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a food web or food chain.

Energy Pyramind

• 10% of the energy available within one trophic level is transferred to organisms at the next trophic level. Trophic levels

Succession

Primary Succession the development of plant and animal life in an area without topsoil; the development of biotic communities in a previously uninhabited and barren habitat with little or no soil. Secondary succession the series of community changes which take place on a previously colonized, but disturbed or damaged habitat. Examples include areas which have been cleared of existing vegetation (such as after tree-felling in a woodland) and destructive events such as fires.