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UNIT 1 RAMSEY, S.L. c2012
ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES
NOTE PACKET AND STUDY GUIDE
KEY LEARNING(S): ALL LIVING THINGS ARE INTERDEPENDENT WITHIN AN EVER
CHANGING ECOSYSTEM
CONCEPT PREVIEW:
1) Ecology
2) Population Dynamics
3) Flow of Energy
4) Materials cycle
5) Succession
6) Invasive, Endangered and Keystone Species
DIRECTIONS:
A. As notes are given, students should fill in blanks and label diagrams.
B. After notes are given, students should review their notes and fill in the questions which are
asked throughout the packet.
C. Use this packet to study for quizzes and exams.
D. Be able to answer the essential questions presented for each concept
E. You should be able to define, apply and explain by example the vocabulary in the packet.
F. At the end of the unit, this packet will be collected for points. It is required.
This packet belongs to: ______Pd ______
CONCEPT 1: Organization of Living Earth
LESSON ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How are living things arranged on Earth?
KEY WORDS (11 words)
abiotic biome biodiversity ecology habitat species
biosphere biotic community ecosystem population
BIOSPHERE
______
-it is highly organized
– most fragile layer of the earth
– 10 miles thick (5 miles up into atmosphere, 5 miles down into ocean)
– ecosystems exist within the biosphere
COMPONENTS OF A BIOME
Biomes are large geographic areas defined by:
-______
-______
-______
(plants determine animals)
Which division of the Biosphere contains all other divisions? ______
From looking at the picture above, write a definition of a community:
______
______
Biome terms
• Temperate-distinct seasons
• Tropical-consistently warm
• Deciduous-plants shed leaves
• Coniferous-leaves are year round
• ECOSYSTEM: ______
______
– energy is processed through the biotic components
– interrelationships create stability
– populations are the basis of ecosystems
BIOTIC: ______ (plants and animals)
ABIOTIC: non-living (water, minerals, soil…)
POPULATION: the number of organisms of the same species
SPECIES: organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring
Microclimates
HABITATS
• ______
______
• must include essential abiotic components
• BASIC REQIREMENTS: food, shelter, water, space, air
Habitat is the ______
• varies in size
• habitats overlap between different species
• varieties of habitats increase diversity
• BIODIVERSITY: ______
DIVERSITY = STABILITY
• survival of the ecosystem is dependent on its diversity
• the greater the diversity, the more likely an ______could survive a cataclysmic event (like
an extinction, volcano…)
EDGES ARE VERY STABLE
• the edge habitat (place where 2 habitats overlap) has the greatest diversity of plants and animals
• edge is usually more stable than either of the 2 habitats it divides
• edge shares species from both habitats as well as supporting edge only species
WHAT DO YOU KNOW? Concept 1 Quickie Quiz
_____ 1. The plant life that is characteristic of a biome depends upon:
A. the type of soil C. the amount and pattern of precipitation
B. the range of temperatures D. all of the above
_____2. The canopy created by the mature trees of a forest:
A. places for animals to hide from predators
B. produces shade that is a limiting factor for some tree species
C. produces both food and cover for some forest species
D. all of the above
_____ 3. The region of planet Earth that supports life is known as the:
A. biome C. ecosystem
B. biosphere D. edge
_____4. What is the biggest difference between an ecosystem and a community?
A. ecosystems do not include the biotic components
B. communities do not describe the abiotic components
C. ecosystems are less organized than communities
5. What are the 3 components which define a biome? ______
______
6. What are Pennsylvania’s 6 nature symbols?
Animal = flower= fish=
Tree= insect= bird=
CONCEPT 2: POPULATION DYNAMICS
LESSON ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How do limiting factors affect population dynamics?
KEY TERMS (16 terms)
carrying capacity intraspecific competition limiting factor resource partitioning
commensalisms interspecific competition mutualism S-curve population
critical number invasive parasitism J-curve population
dynamic equilibrium
POPULATION DYNAMICS
• ______
• Based on the idea that resources are limited (CARRYING CAPACITY)
• All species (plants and animals) must have the BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF LIFE
– -FOOD, SHELTER, WATER, SPACE, AIR
– AND OF COURSE THE RIGHT CLIMATE
POPULATIONS
• Members of the same species
• Populations are limited in “range” by _____, ______, ______and ______
within their habitat
• Tends to be maintained within the ______and ______
LIMITING FACTORS
• ______
1. Food 6. Lack of any requirement of life
2. Competition 7. Climate
3. Predation 8. Disease
4. Geology/geography/topography
5. Human influences
CARRYING CAPACITY: ______
(provide basic requirements)
Example: The pond can support 25 frogs. What may limit the number of frogs? ______
______
Consequences (of breaking CC)
• breaking the carrying capacity will cause ______
• may lead to ______
• may reduce ______
• may just reduce numbers long enough for the habitat to ______
Can Carrying Capacity Change?
• ______
• ______
– Decrease in abusive population
– Better weather promoting good food
• ______
– Increase in populations above carrying capacity
– Cataclysmic event (volcano)
– Changes in climate (global warming?)
Critical Number
• ______
– Set by nature to maintain genetic diversity
– Prevents in-breeding and passing on “bad genes”
Populations may stabilize
• Stable populations will fluctuate between the ______and the ______.
• Most species with proper limiting factors will function along these lines
• This is called DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM
• These are called S-Curve populations
After hearing the explanation of Dynamic Equilibrium, write your own definition.
______
______
S-curve Populations
(draw your own)
causes of stabilization
• Emigration
• Immigration These are
• Death limiting factors!
• birth
• predator-prey
• disease
J-curve Populations (draw your own)
• Are not stable populations
• Usually crash after they break carrying capacity
• Due to lack of limiting factors or it has a special
reproductive strategy
– -many young with lack of parental
care such as fish
• May be an invasive species (gypsy moth)
Species Interact with each other to maintain energy and population balances
Predator-Prey relationships
How are the moose and the wolves limiting factors on each other?______
______
Competition
• ______
• limits population size between competitors
Categories of Competition
• Interspecific:______
List some examples---
• Intraspecific:______
-competition between members of the same species
-usually for mates or nesting habitat or territory
List some examples---
Interspecific competition shows how competition can be avoided by ______(RESOURCE PARTITIONING). This guarantees that all species survive and increase diversity
Parasitism: ______
-often host specific
-generally causes harm or death of host in extreme situations
List some examples---
Mutualism: ______
-symbiosis arises through coevolution
List some examples---
Commensalism
– one member of the relationship benefits
– one member of the relationship gains nothing, but is not harmed
example: lichens growing on the tree benefit from the tree, but the tree is not harmed or helped by the lichen
WHAT DO YOU KNOW? Concept 2 Quickie Quiz
1. A lichen is an organism which grows on trees and rocks. It comes in many colors and styles. It is actually 2 organisms which live together. An algae which photosynthesizes, produces food for the main mass of the organism, a fungus. The fungus keeps the algae moist. Together they form the Lichen. Sometimes the lichen will grow on a tree. It does not hurt the tree, but it gains a place higher up in the forest for photosynthesis. In the space below, describe the species interactions that are going on.
______
2. DIVERSITY = STABILITY Explain this equation using vocabulary.
3. Explain the relationship between carrying capacity, critical number and dynamic equilibrium.
CONCEPT 3: FLOW OF ENERGY
UNIT ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How does the environment transfer energy in different forms through food webs.
KEY TERMS
autotroph detritovore food web omnivore
biomass decomposer heterotroph parasite
carnivore energy pyramid herbivore scavenger
chemosynthesis food chain niche trophic level
FLOW OF ENERGY
Energy is processed
Feedback
input energy ecosystem output energy
-this allows the ecosystem to maintain an energy balance
NICHE = JOB
• the way an organism makes a living in their habitat
• niche describes how the organism gets it energy
– producer (autotrophs and herbivores)
– consumer (carnivores, scavengers)
– decomposers
NICHE / WHAT THEY EAT / TYPES OF ORGANISMSAutotroph / Plants (the green guys)
Herbivore / Bunnies, deer, bees
Carnivore / Lions, anteaters, fox, bass
Predator / Lions, anteaters, fox, bass
Parasite / Ticks, tapeworms, fleas
Omnivore / Bears, people, skunks
Scavenger / Vultures, crows, crayfish
Detritivore / Beetles, fungus
Decomposer / Bacteria, fungus
THE SUN IS THE SOURCE OF ENERGY FOR ALL LIVING THINGS (ALMOST)
– photosynthesis in autotrophic organisms converts sunlight energy into carbohydrates called
– they use ______to accomplish this
– organisms are called photosynthetic ______(plants and algae)
BIOMASS: ______
• It accumulates in the food chain as processed energy
• Energy can be “lost”
CHEMOSYNTHESIS (exception to the rule about the sun)
– organisms make carbohydrates out of carbon dioxide, water and inorganic compounds (like
sulfur and nitrates)
– organisms are called chemosynthetic autotrophs (deep ocean bacteria)
FOOD CHAINS
• ______
• This process coverts one form of biomass to another
• these levels are called TROPHIC LEVELS
TROPHIC LEVELS
• ______
• ______
• ______
• After secondary you can call them “higher consumers” by referring to their trophic level (3rd consumer, 4th consumer…..)
Food Chains
• always contain: ______, ______, ______
– primary producer are autotrophs
• the arrow points ______
• always flows in one direction
• reads as “is eaten by”
examples (draw the arrows in )
sun carrot rabbit bacteria
sun acorns squirrel hawk bacteria
sun grass deer bear human bacteria
some general rules
• Large carnivores do not eat large carnivores
• herbivores do not eat carnivores
• organisms within an ecosystem may compete
for food sources
• interacting food chains are called ______
What is missing?
______
______
______
How many niches in the web?
List them:
How many trophic levels?
List the trophic levels and the organisms associated with that level:
ENERGY PYRAMID or PYRAMID OF BIOMASS Write in the other information
-biomass decreases at each step in a food chain
-energy is lost at each step: bones not used, fur, energy expended in eating and metabolism,
feces….
• larger organisms require ______energy so there will be ______at the upper levels
• the shorter the food chain, the ______organisms you can feed at the ______levels
What do you think “EAT LOWER ON THE FOOD CHAIN” means? ______
______
Summarize what the above diagram is telling us about energy in the ecosystem. ______
______
WHAT DO YOU KNOW? Concept 3 Quickie Quiz
1. List 3 Niche and an organism which fills that niche.
______
______
______
2. List 3 trophic levels and an organism which fills that trophic level.
______
______
______
3. Write 2 complete food chains using the organism listed above in questions 1 and 2.
4. Explain what the term BIOMASS means in a language that an elementary age child could
understand.
______5. How can energy be “lost” to the environment?
a. because the path it takes is not contained
b. because some is lost through metabolism and unused parts
c. because each step in a food chain gains 30% of the energy from below
______6. High level consumers rarely eat each other. Why?
a. because they do not taste good
b. because they can not eat organisms of their own species
c. because they use more energy obtaining their prey than they receive from eating them.
CONCEPT 4: MATERIALS CYCLE
UNIT ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Why does the earth recycle its’ resources?
KEY TERMS (11 terms)
Aquifer combustion nitrogen fixation precipitation
Biogeochemical cycles evaporation organic compounds transpiration
Condensation infiltration percolate
MATERIALS CYCLE IN ECOSYSTEMS (for every element, there will be a cycle)
Water Cycle
Water goes up: Evaporation- ______
______
Transpiration- ______
______
Water changes form: Condensation- ______
______
Condensation nuclei- a small solid particle of matter in the atmosphere upon
which water will condense
Water comes down: Precipitation- ______
______
-could be solid or liquid
-occurs because the amount of water on the condensation nuclei becomes
heavy and gravity causes the drop to fall
Water can go 3 places once it precipitates back down to the earth
1. ______into rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands
2. ______into the soil and is ______
3. Percolates into the ______
Percolate: to move into an area occupied by air and fill the molecular space
AQUIFERS
• The ______occurs because water infiltrating the soil reaches an impermeable layer of rocks which it can not penetrate any further into the earth
• Water held in aquifers is know as
• The top of the zone of saturation is known as the WATER TABLE.
The water table typically follows the form of the above ground topography.
- The water table ______
Drier =deeper wet areas =at or near surface
• Two main forces drive the movement of groundwater
– First water moves from ______elevations to ______elevation due to the effect of gravity
– Second, water moves from areas of higher ______to areas of lower pressure
– Third, water moves at a rate and amount related to the size and amount of spaces in the rock layer
Movement of ground water takes time—how much is variable, depending on the material it moves through and how deep you go.
CARBON CYCLE
Carbon Cycles through
A. Food chains and Food Webs as biomass
B. Decomposers release carbon as both a gas and an element
C. Respiration of plants and animals
Natural Sources of Carbon include:
plants and animals, soil, fossil fuel deposits, atmosphere, humus…..
-any form of biomass will be a place of carbon storage
Man-made Sources of Carbon include: burning of fossil fuels and other organic materials