Ecology
The scientific discipline that is concerned with relaationships between organisms and their living environments
Ecosystem
Community + Abiotic environment
Biosphere
Life + Sphere
Population
A group of individuals of the same species that lives in a particular area & can interbreed
Species
A group of oranisms that can breed to produce fully fertile offspring
Community
All the populations in an area
Abiotic Factors
The non living parts of the environment
Biotic Factors
The living parts of the environment
Biodiversity
All of the species found in an area and the interactions between those species
Habitat
The characteristics of the type of environment where an organism normally lives
Energy Flow
Energy moves through the ecosystem
Nutrient Cycling
Chemical elements recycled in the ecosystem
1st Law of Thermodynamics
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be converted in form
2nd law of thermodynamics
When energy changes form some energy is always lost in the form of heat
Solar energy
The sun
Autotrophs
Make their own food from inorganic molecules
Definition of photosynthesis
Sunlight energy used to form c-c bonds in the form of sugar (glucose)
Heterotrophs
Obtain their energy from eating/ consuming other organisms
ATP
Supplies most of the energy that drives metabolism in living things
Cellular Respiration
The process that releases energy by breaking down glucose and other food molecules in the presence of oxygen
What is ATP
The main form of energy produced
Herbivores
Heterotrophic organisms who eat primarily plant material
Carnivores
Heterotrophic organisms who eat other animals
Omnivores
Heterotrophs that eat both producers (plants) and other consumers
Detritivores
Heterotrophic organisms who ingest dead organic matter
Saprotrophs
Organisms who secrete digestive enzymes onto dead organism matter and absorb the digested material
Fructivores
Fruit eating
Insectivores
Insect eating
Food chains
Organisms linked by energy and nutrient flow
Trophic Level
The feeding level of an oganism in a food chain
10% rule
Only about 10% of the total enery is transferred to this level to be used by these consumers
Energy pyramid
Graphical representation of energy transference in food web
Biogeochemical Cylces
Pass the same molecules around again and again within the biosphere
Recycling
Circular Flow of Chemicals
Water
H20
Carbon
C
Nitrogen
N
Phosphorus
P
Sulfur
S
Water cycle
Movement of water through biological, geological, and atmospheric processes
Hydro carvon
Fossil Fuels
Examples of reservoirs
Atmosphere, Ocean, Organisms
Atmospheric Fixation
Lightening or sunlight; NO3 as precipitation
Biological fixation
Soil and water bacteria; NH3 legumes and root nodules
Eutrophication
Increase in nutrient Content of lakes
Source
Supplies of nutrients to other habitats
Sink
Holder of nutrients from other habitatts
Transformer
Takes nutrients in one form and gives them up as another
Energy flow can be represented by
Food chain
Trophic level
Feeding level
Food chain
Series of steps in an ecosystem in which organisms transfer energy by eating and by being eaten
Ecological pyramids
Is a diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a food chain or food web
Food webs
Many food chains combined together
Biomass
Life + How much
Definition of Biomass
The total mass of living tissue at each trophic level
What are Biomass pyramids measured in
KG
What is energy measured in
Calories
Niche
All the roles that an organism plays in its enviornment
Example of a Niche
Sunflower
Competition
Populations are going for the same resources
Intraspecific
Within species/ Individuals within a species going for the same resources
Interspecific
Between species/ Other species fighting for resources
The Competitive Exclusion Principle
Two species in the same niche, one of them has to go
Separate Niches
No overlap of niches. So coexistence is possible
The niche as a two dimensional shape
Niche represented by a 2 dimensional area
Overlapping niches
Interspecific competition occurs where the niches overlap
Specialization avoid Competition
Evolution and natural selection towards separate niches
Total Exclusion
Species A has a bigger niche it is more generalist. Species E has a smaller niche it is more Specialist
Specialist
Tend to avoid competition
Competitive Exclusion
Very heavy competition leads to a species that must go
Neutralism
2 species interact, but neither has an effect on the success of the other
Predation
Predator kills and consumes the prey
Symbiosis
Together + Life
Definition of Symbiosis
Members of two different species having some sort of ecological interaction that affects both populations
Mutualism
Two organisms living together and both benefiting from each other
Obligate Mutualism
Both organisms rely on this relationship; they would die out without it
Protocooperation
Both populations benefit but they could still survive separate from each other
Parasitoidism
The parasitoid lives in the host and eventually kills it at the point of metamorphosis from one life cicle stage to another