Basic EcologyCommunity Interactions

Topics *1011 *1012 *1019

Basic EcologyCommunity Interactions

Topics *1011 *1012 *1019

Ms. Morris

Interactions Within a CommunityInteractions Within a Community

• Food Chains – Food “links” between living organisms in a community

• Food Webs – Intertwined food chains

Food Chain

Image: www.cas.psu.edu

Food WebFood Web

Image:

www.bigelow.org

DietsDiets

• Herbivore – Only eat vegetative material– Deer, cattle, rabbits

• Carnivore – Only eat meat material– Lions, wolves, cats

• Omnivore – Eats both meat and vegetative material– Bears, pigs, humans

Images:

en.wikipedia.org

Herbivore

Omnivore

Carnivore

What do teeth have to do with it?

What do teeth have to do with it?

HerbivoreHerbivoreImage: www.skullsite.co.uk

Female Red Deer - Cervus elaphus

                                                                 

          

OmnivoreOmnivore

Kinkajou - Potos flavus

Image: www.skullsite.co.uk

CarnivoreCarnivore

Cougar – Felis concolor

Image: www.skullsite.co.uk

Interactions Within a CommunityInteractions Within a Community• Producers – Photosynthetic organisms –

meaning?– Autotrophs– ALL PLANTS!!– Not fungi (mushrooms)

• Consumers – Rely on producers or another consumer for food– Heterotrophs– Different levels

• Primary• Secondary• Tertiary

• Decomposers – Break down dead organic matter– Not only feeds them, but releases

nutrients into the environment to start cycle again

– Fungi (mushrooms)

– Maggots

– Worms

Interactions Within a CommunityInteractions Within a Community

What’s missing on this diagram?

Where do they fit in?

Image: www.anselm.edu

Energy FlowEnergy Flow• 1st Law of Thermodynamics –

Energy can be neither created or destroyed

• 2nd Law of Thermodynamics – When energy is converted from one form to another, energy is always lost (used)

Less energy available to each trophic levelLess energy available to each trophic levelImage:

www.mhhe.com

Why is energy lost at each

level?

Why is energy lost at each

level?

Biomass How much matter does

it take to feed each species

Biomass How much matter does

it take to feed each species

Image: www.bbc.co.uk

QuestionsQuestions• Give two NEW (don’t use the ones I gave)

examples of each:– Herbivore– Carnivore– Omnivore

• Explain what would happen if there were no decomposers on Earth

• What happens to energy at each tropic level?

• Turn in to Ms. Morris by the end of the day (10 Points)