ECOLOGY
Jan 11, 2016
ECOLOGY
Ecology
Ecology - the study of relationships between organisms and their environment. How the environment determines what
organisms live in an ecosystem How organisms affect the environment. How organisms interact with each other.
Careers
EmployersExamples of available work
Federal, state, and local government agencies EPA DEP
Universities Environmental
consulting firms
Forestry Land use planning Waste management Fish and Game
commission Environmental law Research Many others
Terms:
Biosphere – the area of the earth where life exists. most life exists within a few meters of the
earth’s surface contains ecosystems
Ecosystem – ecological unit that contains all of the interacting parts of an environment biotic factors – living components abiotic factors – nonliving components
http://www.paherps.com/herps/frogs-toads
://www.paherps.com/herps/snakes
http://www.paherps.com/herps/turtles
http://www.batmanagement.com/Batcentral/batspecs.html
Trophic level – feeding level
Primary Producers
Autotrophs – make their own food Include plants, algae, and
photosynthetic bacteria.
Primary Consumers
Also called first level consumers Eat producers Herbivores
Secondary consumers Also called second level consumers Eat primary consumers Carnivores can be secondary
consumers
Tertiary consumers
Also called third level consumers Carnivores can be tertiary consumers
Related Terms
Omnivores – eath both producers and consumers.
Teeth of different trophic levels
Related terms
Scavengers – feed on organisms that have recently died.
Related terms
Decomposer – break down dead tissues and wastes into nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus, and other elements and compounds.
Food chain
Specific order in which organisms obtain energy from in an ecosystem.
Food web
Shows feeding relationships of an entire ecosystem.
Shows how food chains in an ecosystem overlap.
Ecological PyramidsThe amount of available energy, numbers of organisms, and amount of biomass change with trophic level.
Energy pyramid – the amount of available energy decreases with trophic level. Most of the energy in an ecosystem is locked up in producers.
This is because the transfer of energy from one trophic level to the next is not complete.
Numbers pyramid Most numbers pyramids resemble energy
pyramids. As trophic levels increase numbers of organisms
usually decrease.
Brd
bird
There are times when the numbers pyramid is not followed.o Ex. One large tree may support thousands of
caterpillars.
Biomass Pyramid Biomass- the total dry weight of the organisms in the ecosystem.
Follow both regular and inverted pyramid forms.