INTRODUCTION TO THE ECOLOGY UNIT WHAT IS ECOLOGY

INTRODUCTION TO THE ECOLOGY UNIT

WHAT IS ECOLOGY? • Ecology (Def. ): The study of interactions that take place between organisms and their environment

• Organism (def. ) – An individual living (ONE) thing

What are the characteristics of an organism (living things)?

• All living things have an organized structure: composed of one or more cells.

• All living things need energy

All living things reproduce.

All living things grow and develop.

All living things adjust to changes in the environment. • Ex. Trees adjust to cold, dry winter weather by losing their leaves.

Living things adapt and evolve.

• Review: What does bio- mean? • Biotic (Def. ) Factors: Are all the living parts of the environment. • Example: Animals, plants, bacteria • The prefix ‘a-’ means opposite of • Abiotic (Def. ) Factors: Are all the non -living parts of the environment. • Example: Dirt, Rock, Water, Air

• Habitat (def. ): a place where an organism lives out its life • Ex: lawn, bottom of a stream, forest, pond • Niche (def. ): strategies and adaptations a species uses in its environments – how it meets its specific needs for food and shelter, how and where it survives, and where it reproduces

• Population- a group of individuals of a single species that occupy the same general area. • Community-interacting populations that live in the same area. • Ecosystem- made of 1 or more communities; an environment of biotic and abiotic factors. • Biosphere: ALL ecosystems put together

POPULATION

WE ARE A POPULATION TOO SCHURZ POPULATION

COMMUNITY

ECOSYSTEM

BIOSPHERE

POSTER Organism Population Community Ecosystem

POPULATION DYNAMICS (WHAT SHAPES & CHANGES THE POPULATION) • Characteristics of Dynamics • Size • Immigration • Emigration • Births • Deaths • Survivorship

• What can cause a population to decline?

LIMITING FACTOR • Anything that restricts the number of individuals in a population. • Includes biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) features of the ecosystem

POPULATION SIZE IS LIMITED BY: DENSITY-DEPENDENT DENSITY-INDEPENDENT FACTOR • • • Disease Competition Predators Parasites Food Crowding (space) • • • The greater the population, the greater effect these factors have. Most are BIOTIC factors Volcanic eruptions Temperature Storms Floods Drought Flooding are ABIOTIC factors

• What kind of factor do you think influenced the deaths of these cows? • Was it density-dependent or Independent? Explain.