Individual Population Community

Ecology

• Ecology- The study of the relationships between different species in a given area.
• Biosphere- Sphere of the Earth in which all living things exist. Is found from the atmosphere all the way into the lithosphere.

• Individual

• Population

• Community

• Ecosystem

Energy and Matter Flow

• Both Energy and Matter flow through an ecosystem
• Energy flows into and out of the ecosystem
• Matter is usually recycled

Energy

• All energy from an ecosystem comes from the sun, originally
• Plants convert sunlight into chemical energy
• Other organisms eat plants and each other for that stored sunlight energy

Energy Pyramid

• Less energy is transferred to the next trophic level.
• This is due to some energy lost due to metabolic activities
• Only about 10% of energy is available (in the form of body structure)
• to the next trophic level

Food Chain/Web

• Food chains and webs show the food (and therefore energy) relationship between species in an ecosystem.

Cycles of Matter

• Water cycle- Water, through evaporation and condensation, cycles through ecosystems
• Carbon Cycle- Carbon travels through ecosystems by photosynthesis and respiration
• Nitrogen Cycle- Nitrogen travels through ecosystems by chemical processes
• Nitrogen fixation- Bacteria and fungi take nitrogen from the atmosphere and change it to a form useful to plants
• Denitrification- Other bacterial convert the soil nitrogen back into a gas

Limiting Nutrients

• Some nutrients are in short supply in an ecosystem
• These nutrients are called limiting nutrients
• E.g. water in a desert ecosystem

Ecological Relationships

• Predation- One organism eats another, usually smaller, organism
• Symbiosis- Two organisms live very closely together
• Mutualism-Type of symbiosis where both organisms benefit
• Commensalism- Type of symbiosis where one member benefits, the other is unaffected
• Parasitism- Type of symbiosis where one member benefits at the expense of the other

Secondary Succession