Chapter 13: Principles of Ecology

• 13.1: Ecologists Study Relationships

• Objectives: Summarize the levels of organization that ecologists study.

• Describe research methods ecologists use the study the environment.

• Words to Know: Ecology, Community, Ecosystem, Biome, organism, population

What is Ecology?

Ecology is the study of the interactions among living things, and between living things and their surroundings.

Levels of Organization• 1. Organism – an individual species.

– Ex: an alligator.• 2. Population – a group of the same species that lives in one area.

– Ex: alligators in the swamp.• 3. Community – a group of different species that live together in an

area.– Ex: alligators, turtles, birds, fish and plants in the Florida Everglades.

• 4. Ecosystem – includes all of the organisms as well as the climate, soil, water and rocks.– Ex: Florida everglades with all of the plants, animals, soil, water and

sun.• 5. Biome – a major regional or global community of organisms.

– Ex: Tropical rainforest, Tundra, Desert• What level of organization describes a flock of pigeons in the park?

Levels of Organization

Ecological Research Methods• Observation• Observation is the act of carefully watching something over time.• This can occur over short or long periods of time.• One type of population observation is surveys.• Direct Surveys are used for species that are easy to follow.

(naked eye, binoculars)• Indirect Surveys are used for species that are difficult to

track. (signs of presence).• Radio Telemetry is used to track animal movement.• Population sampling can also be used.• To monitor plant populations, scientists use Quadrat Sampling.• Scientists focus on the quadrat of plants in a random area

and estimate from there.• How might a scientist use observation to study a population of

mountain goats? Explain your answer.

Ecological Research Methods

• Experimentation• Experiments can be performed in the field

or in the lab.• A lab experiment allows for more control,

but a field experiment gives a more accurate picture of how the organisms interact in a natural setting.

• What is the difference between a lab experiment and a field experiment?

Ecological Research Methods

• Modeling• Modeling is used when a question cannot be

answered by observation or experimentation.• Models are created with the use of real data, but

are lab tools.• Models can be used to: track populations, find

vegetation, predict snow.• How does modeling differ from experimentation?

13.2: Biotic and Abiotic Factors

• Objectives: Identify biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem.

• Describe how a change in one factor in an ecosystem can affect others.

• Warm Up: Picture yourself in the woodlands and then the desert. If I picked up a handful of soil in each place, what differences would you find?

• Words to Know: Biotic, Abiotic, Biodiversity, Keystone Species.

An Ecosystem Includes both Biotic and Abiotic Factors.

• Biotic Factors are living things, such as plants, animals, fungi and bacteria.

• Abiotic Factors are nonliving things, such as moisture, temperature, wind, sunlight, water and soil.

• What is the difference between biotic and abiotic factors?

Biodiversity

• ALL species are affected by changes in biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem.

• Biodiversity is the assortment, or variety, of living things in an ecosystem.

• The amount of biodiversity found in an area depends on many factors, including moisture and temperature.

Keystone Species• The change in a single biotic

or abiotic factor can cause changes that are barely noticeable or cause the extinction of a species.

• A Keystone Species is a species that has an unusually large effect on its ecosystem.

• Ex: the beaver. By felling trees, they create ponds, wetlands, and streams. This can lead to huge changes in an ecosystem.

• See figure 13.6• Explain why the Pacific

Salmon, introduce in section 13.1, could be considered a keystone species.

Keystone Species cont…

13.3: Energy in Ecosystems

• Objectives: Describe the roles of producers and consumers in ecosystems.

• Compare photosynthesis to chemosynthesis.

• Warm Up: 6H2O + 6CO2 C6H12O6 + 6O2• Why does life as we know it depend upon the

formula written above?• Words to Know: Producer, Autotroph,

Consumer, Heterotroph, Chemosynthesis, photosynthesis.

Producers• Producers are organisms that get their

energy from nonliving resources.• Producers are also called Autotrophs

meaning “self-nourishment”.• Consumers are organisms that get

their energy by eating other living or once living resources, such as plants or animals.

• Consumers are also called Heterotrophs meaning “different-nourishment”.

• All ecosystems depend on producers because they provide the basis for the ecosystem’s energy.

• Most producers use sunlight to make food, therefore almost all living things depend directly or indirectly on the sun as a main energy source.

• How would a long-term drought affect producers and consumers?

Almost All Producers Obtain Energy from Sunlight.

• Photosynthesis is a two-stage process used by most producers to make food.

• Chemosynthesis is a process in which an organism form carbohydrates using chemical rather than light, as an energy source.

• How do photosynthesis and chemosynthesis differ?

13.4: Food Chains and Food Webs

• Objectives: Describe the structure of a food chain.• Explain how food chains and trophic

levels are related.• Analyze feeding relationships in a food

web.• Warm Up: What do you get from food? How does

energy and matter come from the food you eat? What other way could you get energy for your body?

• Terms to Know: Food Chain, Herbivore, Carnivore, Omnivore, Detritivore, Decomposer, Specialist, Generalist, Trophic Level, Food Web.

Food Chain

• A Food Chain is a sequence that links species by their feeding relationships.

• Rather than describe every potential relationship, this model chain only follows the connection between one producer and a single chain of consumers within an ecosystem.

• Ex: Sun Grass Cottontail Hawk

Types of Consumers• Herbivores are organisms that eat ONLY plants.

– Ex: Deer, rabbits• Carnivores are organisms that eat ONLY animals.

– Ex: Hawks, sharks• Omnivores are organisms that eat BOTH plants

and animals.– Ex: Humans, bears

• Detritivores are organisms that eat detritus, or dead organic matter.

– Ex: Vultures, Hyena• Decomposers are detritivores that break down

organic matter into simpler compounds.– Ex: Bacteria, fungus

• A Specialist is a consumer that primarily eats one specific organisms or feeds on a very small number of organisms.

– Ex: Florida Snail Kite, depends primarily on apple snails.

• Generalists are consumers that have a varying diet.

– Ex: Grey wolf.

Trophic Levels• Trophic Levels are the levels of

nourishment in a food chain.– Ex: Producer Herbivore

Carnivore has THREE Trophic Levels.

– The carnivore is the highest trophic level.

• Energy flows up the food chain from the lowest trophic level to the highest.

• Primary Consumers are herbivores.

• Secondary Consumers are Carnivores that eat Herbivores.

• Tertiary Consumers are carnivores that eat secondary consumers.

• Organisms can fall at different trophic levels based on where they fall in a food chain.

• What is the connection between food chains and trophic levels?

Food Web

• A Food Web is a model that shows the complex network of feeding relationships and the flow of energy within and sometimes beyond an ecosystem.

• At each link in a food web, some energy is stored within an organism, and some energy is dissipated into the environment.

• How might the introduction of a new predator affect the flow of energy through a food web?

Food Web

13.5: Cycling of Matter

• Objectives: Summarize Earth’s hydrologic and biogeochemical cycles.

• Relate cycling of matter to ecosystems.

• Warm Up: As humans, we are made of cells. Where does all that material come from? What would you include on a shopping list of elements that are critical to a human?

• Words to Know: Hydrologic cycle, Biogeochemical cycle, Nitrogen Fixation

Water Cycle

• Matter changes form, but it does not disappear, it is used over and over again in cycles.

• The Hydrologic Cycle (water cycle) is the circular pathway of water on earth from the atmosphere, to the surface, below, ground and back.

• Water Storage (River ) Evaporation (liquid to gas) Condensation (gas to liquid) Precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, hail) Runoff (gravity pulls down) Water Storage

Water Cycle

Elements Essential for Life also Cycle Through Ecosystems.

• A Biogeochemical cycle is the movement of a particular chemical through the biological and geological parts of an ecosystem.

• Just as water changes states, so may other chemicals as they pass though cycles.

The Oxygen Cycle

• Plants, animals, and most other organisms need oxygen for cellular respiration.

• Plants release oxygen as a waste product of photosynthesis.

• In turn, humans and other organisms take in this oxygen and release it as carbon dioxide through cellular respiration.

• Explain how deforestation might affect the oxygen cycle?

The Oxygen Cycle

The Carbon Cycle

• Carbon is the building block of life – it is key to the structure of all organisms on our planet.

• Carbon exists in several forms: CO2 gas, bicarbonate dissolved in water, fossil fuels, limestone and organic matter in soil.

• The simplest transfer of carbon occurs between plants and animals.

• Plants use energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide from the air into organic material that becomes a part of the plant’s structure.

• Carbon then moves through the biotic world as one organism eats another.

• Carbon is returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide by respiration or decomposition.

The Carbon Cycle

The Nitrogen Cycle

• 78% of the Earth’s atmosphere is made of nitrogen gas.• Certain types of bacteria convert gaseous nitrogen into

ammonia (NH3) in a process called Nitrogen Fixation.• Some nitrogen fixing bacteria live on nodules (bumps)

on the roots of bean and pea plants.• Nitrates release by soil are taken up by plants, that

convert them into amino acids and proteins.• Animals then eat the plants and get the nitrogen.• When decomposers break down animal excretions or

dead animal and plant matter, nitrogen is returned to the soil through ammonification.

• Denitrifying bacteria use nitrate as an oxygen source and release nitrogen gas into the atmosphere.

The Nitrogen Cycle

The Phosphorus Cycle• Most of the phosphorus cycle takes place at and

below ground level.• Phosphate is released by the weathering of

rocks.• Plants and some fungus are able to take up

phosphate.• Phosphorus moves to consumers through the

food chains and webs.• When living things die and are decomposed,

phosphorus is released back into the Earth.• Choose one of the biogeochemical cycles, and

list the key processes involved in the cycling of elements.

The Phosphorus Cycle

13.6 Pyramid Models

• Objectives: Trace the flow of energy through an ecosystem, using an energy pyramid.

• Relate energy pyramids to food chains and trophic levels.

• Compare and contrast a biomass pyramid and a pyramid of numbers.

• Warm Up: How is food energy measure? What do Calories measure?

• Words to Know: Biomass, Energy Pyramid

Energy Pyramid

• Ecosystems get their energy from sunlight. That energy then flows through food chains.

• Some energy gets lost in the process in the form of heat, so each level in a food chain contains much less energy than the group before it.

Loss of Available Energy

• Biomass is a measure of the total dry mass of organisms in a given area.

• When an organism consumes biomass a great deal of energy is given off as heat and waste.

• Scientists use the “Rule of 10”.– Each level in a food chain

only gets 10% of the available energy from what it eats.

Energy Pyramids• An Energy Pyramid is a diagram

that compares energy used by producers, primary consumers, and other trophic levels.

• Producers ALWAYS make up the bottom layer of the pyramid (they have the most energy).

• Sections become progressively smaller as you go up the pyramid since the amount of usable energy sharply decreases.

• RULE: As you move up the energy pyramid, the amount of available energy goes down.

• Draw an energy pyramid for the desert food chain introduced in section 13.4. Use arrows to illustrate the flow of energy.

Other Pyramid Models

• A Biomass Pyramid is a diagram that compares the biomass of different trophic levels within an ecosystem.

• The pyramid shows the mass of producers needed to support primary consumers, the mass of primary consumers required to support secondary consumers and so on.

• A Pyramid of Numbers shows the numbers of individual organisms at each trophic level in an ecosystem.

• If a scientist wanted to compare the exact number of organisms at each trophic level within a desert ecosystem, which pyramid model would he or she use? Explain.

Other Pyramid Models

Biomass Pyramid Pyramid of Numbers