Unit 1 Ecology Powerpoint (Goal 5)

EcologyInteractions Between Organisms and their Environments
Mr. Broderick
NC SCOS Goal 5

Lesson #1: Living and non-living parts of an Ecosystem
Objectives
Identify abiotic and biotic factors in a given description of an ecosystem interaction
Generate an example relationship using abiotic and biotic factors
Determine if a solution is acidic, basic, or neutral given its pH
Set-up an experiment to test the effect of pH on the sprouting of a lima bean
Develop hypothesis, procedure

Key Vocabulary to Define
Ecosystem
Abiotic
Biotic
pH
Acidic
Basic
Neutral

The organization of our world!
The earth is a biosphere
Ecosystems are the living and nonliving things in an area
Populations are a group of one type of organism living in an area

Hierarchy of Biology
Ecosystems
Communities
Populations
Organisms
Organ systems
Organs
Tissues
Cells
Organelles
Molecules

What is ecology?
Ecology: The study of the relationship between organisms and their environment
Example problems that ecology handles:
How do humans affect the atmosphere and contribute to global warming?
How does the population of wolves in an area affect the population of rabbits?
Do clownfish (Nemo!) and anemone benefit each other?

Why does ecology matter?
Ecology: The study of the relationship between organisms and their environment
Scenario: Imagine that there is an insect that lives on peanut plants growing on farms in Northampton County. Is there a way that we can limit insect damage to the peanut crops in order to decrease the price of peanuts at the store by 20 cents per pound?

How do we study environments?
Quadrant Studies: Tracking changes in a small section of the environment

How do we study environments?
Sampling: Only measuring a small, random part of an environment

Ecosystems
Ecosystem: An area containing an interaction of living and non-living factors in an area/region
Example ecosystems:
North Carolina forests (pine forests)
Coastal Plains of NC
Outer banks coastal water ecosystem
Lake Gaston ecosystem

What is in an Ecosystem?
Abiotic Factors: The non-living parts of an ecosystem
Rocks, soil, temperature, gases in the air, light
Biotic Factors: The living parts of an ecosystem
Plants, animals, bacteria, fungus
Producers: use light to make their own energy
Consumers: eat other organisms to obtain energy
Decomposers: break down dead organisms for energy

Word Parts!
Placing an “a” before a word makes it an opposite or not
Abiotic (not biotic; not living)
Atypical (not typical)
Anonymous (no name)

Abiotic
Biotic
Humans
Bacteria
Fungus
Plants
Insects
Amphibians
Reptiles
Mammals
Birds
Water
Soil
Wind or Air
Gases
oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen
Temperature
Sunlight
pH
Acid or base

Abiotic or Biotic?
Biotic (plant)
Abiotic (rainwater)

Abiotic or Biotic?
The air temperature is 45 degrees F =
The soil is made of rocks and minerals =
A bird lays eggs =
Bacteria break down dead organisms =
The pH or the water is 2 (acidic) =
abiotic
abiotic
biotic
biotic
abiotic

Abiotic or Biotic?
Biotic
Biotic
Biotic
Abiotic

Which of the following is a relationship between abiotic and biotic factors?
A) The rain on an open field washes away soil
B) A hawk hunts a mouse and swoops down into the forest for the kill
C) A lake has very acidic water which causes many fish populations to die
D) A deer grazes in a field of grasses
Abiotic
Biotic

Independent Work
Read your scenario card
Identify the abiotic and biotic factors in the scenario
Now, find others with your letter and check your work.

Mini-Lesson: pH
pH: the measurement of how acidic, basic, or neutral a solution is
1 ------------ 4 ----------- 7 ------------ 11 ------------- 14
Weakly Acidic
Weakly Basic
Neutral
Strong Base
(very basic)
Strong Acid
(very acidic)

Guided Examples
Vinegar
pH of 4
Baking Soda
pH of 8-9
Tap water
pH of about 7
1 M HCl (hydrochloric acid)
pH of about 1
1M NaOH
pH of about 14
Acidic
Basic
Neutral
Acidic
Basic

Guided Examples
Which is more acidic?
pH of 2
pH of 5
pH of 7
pH of 11
Which is more basic?
pH of 2
pH of 5
pH of 7
pH of 11

A scientist performs an experiment to see if acids have an effect on the health of a particular type of plant. Three sets of plants were treated with acidic solutions of known pH while the control set was treated with a solution of neutral pH 7. What is the best conclusion for this experiment?
Acid has no effect on the health of this type of plant
High acidity is helpful to this type of plant
Low acidity is harmful to this type of plant
High acidity is harmful to this type of plant

Energy Transfer in an Ecosystem
NCSCOS 5.02b

Food Chains
A food chain shows the flow of energy between the organisms in an environment

Food Chains
Notice that the arrow points from the organism being eatento the organism that eats it.
Like the burger you eat goes into you
Plants  Cow (burger)  Human

What do the arrows in the food chain below indicate?
Sunlight
Energy flow
Heat transfer
Toxins

What is energy?
The energy that is transferred in an ecosystem is stored in carbon-compounds, or organic compounds.
Organic compounds: molecules that contain a carbon atom
Carbohydrates: glucose, starch, cellulose (mostly plants)
Proteins: the muscles of animals (steak!)
Fats: in muscle of animal tissues (fatty steak!)

Food Webs
When we put many food chains together in one ecosystem, it is called a food web

Food Webs
Food webs show the direction that energy flows in an ecosystem.

Energy Moves in a Food Web
Other animals get energy from the fat and protein in other animals
Some animals get glucose from plants
Plants make glucose from light

Parts of a Food Web
Producers: organisms that use light to store energy in organic compounds.
(examples: plants, algae, phytoplankton)

Parts of a Food Web
Where are the producers in the food web below?

Parts of a Food Web
Consumers: organisms that eat other organisms to get organic compounds that they use for energy
(examples: humans, cows, insects, birds…)

Parts of a Food Web
Where are the consumers in the food web below?

Parts of a Food Web
Tertiary consumers: organisms that eat secondary consumers for energy
Secondary consumers: organisms that eat primary consumers for energy
Primary consumers: organisms that eat producers to obtain energy compounds

Tertiary Consumer
Secondary Consumer
Primary Consumer
Producer

How is energy stored and transferred in an ecosystem?
In light
In oxygen and carbon dioxide
In carbon compounds like glucose
In the process of decomposition

Which of the following organisms is a primary consumer in the ecosystem shown?
Hawk
Rabbit
Mountain lion
Frog

Population Impacts in a Food Web
If the population of organisms at any level of the food web changes, it will affect the population at other levels

If the population of producers decreases, then the population of primary consumers will decrease if they don’t have enough food.

If the population of primary consumers decreases, then…
The producers will increase because there are less consumers eating them
The secondary consumers will decrease because there is less food for them

Which organism would be most affected if the cricket population decreased?
Snake
Deer
Frog
Hawk

Energy Pyramids
Energy Pyramids show the amount of energy at each level of a food web
Trophic Level: the total amount of energy in all organisms at one level in the food web.

Energy Pyramids
More energy at the bottom, decreases as the pyramid moves up the food web
Less Energy
More Energy

Energy Pyramid Labels
Tertiary Consumers
Secondary Consumers
Primary Consumers
Producers

Energy Transfer in Energy Pyramids
Each trophic level of the energy pyramid supplies energy to the level above it.
Each transfer loses 90% of the energy
Only 10% of the energy at a level is passed to the next level up!

Energy Transfer (percents)
0.1%
1%
10%
100%

Energy Transfer (calories)
1 calorie
10 calories
100 calories
1,000 calories

Energy Transfer in Energy Pyramids
We can say that the energy transfer from level to level is inefficient
(not a lot of the energy at each level makes it up)
This means that there can’t be many levels ina food web or pyramid
The amount of energy decreases, and it cannot typically support organisms at higher levels than tertiary consumer

Why are there a limited number of energy levels in an energy pyramid or food web?
Energy transfer is very efficient
Energy is captured as heat
Energy transfer is inefficient
Energy is not transferred in a food web

Energy Transfer and Flow
NCSCOS 5.02a, 2.05bc

How does energy enter the food web?

Better question… where does the weight of a producer come from?
How does this... become this?

Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis: a toxin process that occurs in producersand converts light, carbon dioxide, and water into glucose (sugar) and oxygen.

Glucose
Oxygen
Sunlight
Carbon Dioxide
Water

More Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis removes carbon dioxide from the air.
The carbon dioxide in the air is the building block for glucose.
The light energy helps bond CO2and H2O together to make glucose.

The energy in light is now stored in the glucose molecule

Starch
Fat
(nuts)
Glucose
O2
Light CO2 H2O

How do consumers get energy?
Digestionof organic molecules
Consumers eat other organisms to obtain organic molecules, which are forms of stored energy.
Energy is stored in the bonds of the molecules.

The Carbon Cycle
NCSCOS 5.02a

Carbon Cycle
Carbon is found throughout the environment
Carbon is found in the atmosphere and in water as carbon dioxide (CO2)
Carbon is found in organisms as organic molecules, like glucose (sugars) and fats
Carbon is found buried in the ground as fossil fuels

Carbon Cycle
Carbon is cycled, or moves
Atmosphere: Carbon is in the form of CO2

Carbon Cycle
2) Producers: Use photosynthesis to make sugars from CO2 in the atmosphere (carbon is moved!)

C6H12O6

Carbon Cycle
3) Consumers: Eat organic molecules and release CO2 into the atmosphere during respiration, or die and go into the soil

Carbon Cycle
4) Soil: decomposers break down organisms, releasing carbon into the atmosphere OR trapping it in the ground (fossils)

Carbon Cycle
5) Fossil Fuels: carbon from some dead organisms are trapped as fossil fuel until we burn it

Carbon Cycle Stations
Start at one of the stations
Make your way to each different station based on a correct path through the carbon cycle
If you can go to two different places, choose between them and then go back
Write all answers on your sheet!
After you are done, explain to your partner the “story” of the carbon cycle, and have them explain back to you!

Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming
Greenhouse Effect
Heat is trapped near the Earth’s surface because once light gets in, it warms the surface but cannot escape out of the atmosphere.
It is trapped by the gases in the atmosphere, like CO2

Global Warming
Global Warming
The Earth has been warming on average.
Could be due to increased CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, which enhances the greenhouse effect and traps extra heat.

Global Warming
Excess CO2 Enhanced  Global Warming
Greenhouse
Effect

Relationships in an Ecosystem
NCSCOS 5.01

Symbiosis
Symbiosis: a long-term relationship between two organisms in an ecosystem.

Types of Symbiosis
Mutualism: both organisms benefit from their relationship
Commensalism: one organism benefits, and the other is unaffected
Parasitism: one organisms benefits, and the other is harmed

Symbiosis Summary

Name That Symbiosis
Leeches feed off of the lamprey below, and eventually cause it to die.

Name That Symbiosis
A clown fish lives among the sea anemone. The clown fish gains protection, but the anemone is neither harmed nor helped.

Name That Symbiosis
Ox-peckers live on the heads of the ox, eating insects and keeping the ox clean. The birds also get a place to live.

Example: The Malaria Parasite
Species: Plasmodium Vivax
Organism: Protist
Disease: Malaria, which is prevalent in Africa

Plasmodium Vivax is a one-celled organism that is transmitted to humans through the bite of the female Anophelesmosquito
It enters livercells and begins to reproduce
The reproductive cells infect blood cells.
Which causes them to lyse or burst.
The reproductive cells can be picked up by another mosquito, where they reproduce (G) and are transmitted to another human (H)

Population Growth and Overpopulation
NCSCOS 5.03

Populations
Population: the number of organism from one species that live in a specific area
Examples: the human population in different cities, the squirrel population in a forest, the grass population in a meadow

Populations
Populations are affected by many resources. These include:
The amount of food available in an area
The amount of sunlight (if it is a plant population)
The amount of water
The competition for food/shelter
The predators in an area

Population Growth Graphs
Birth Rate > Death Rate
A: Slow growth as a population begins to grow

B: Exponential growth as population grows rapidly

C: Slow-down of growth as population maxes out its resources, like food, water, or light

Birth Rate = Death Rate
D: Population reaches the maximum number supported by environment, the carrying capacity

Carrying Capacity
Carrying Capacity: the maximum number of organisms in a population that are supported by the environment

Reaching Limit of Resources
Carrying Capacity
Exponential Growth, no limiting resources

Carrying Capacity
Populations are typically limited by resources
They reach carrying capacity when there aren't enough resources to keep growing.
Birth Rate = Death Rate.
Logistic Growth!

Unlimited Growth
If there are no limiting resources, populations grow exponentially.

Decline
If population birth rate < death rate, the population will go down!

Which of the following graphs shows a population that is free of limiting factors?

Which of the following graphs shows a population that has reached carrying capacity?

How would a scientists determine the growth rate of a population?
Birth Rate + Death Rate
Birth Rate – Death Rate
Birth Rate x Death Rate
Birth Rate / Death Rate
Click To Go Back and Analyze The Graphs
In Terms of Birth And Death Rates (with the class)

What statement best describes the population shown in the graph below?
Birth rate = Death rate
Birth rate < Death rate
Birth rate > Death rate
Birth rate = 0

What statement best describes the population shown in the graph below at time “t”?
Birth rate = Death rate
Birth rate < Death rate
Birth rate > Death rate
Birth rate = 0

Predator vs Prey
Predator and Prey populations can affect one another
As prey increases, predator will increase in response
As predators increase, prey will decrease
As prey decrease, predators will decrease

POPULATION TASK

POPULATION TASK
Deer control is a major issue in North Carolina
We are going to work as small groups to figure out the problems concerning deer management
We will also brainstorm solutions to the problem.

POPULATION TASK
What are the effects of an overpopulation of deer? Why is it a problem?
What are some natural ways to control the deer population
What are some ways that humans can help control the deer population?

Human Population and Impact
NC SCOS 5.03

Objectives
We can analyze the growth patterns of the human population
We can explain the impacts of deforestation, pollution, and resource overuse on the environment
We can inform the public about the dangers of human impacts and how to avoid resource overuse

Human Population
Human population is currently about 6.8 billion
Human population growth has been exponential

Population Pyramid Graphs
Developing countries tend to have high growth rates, whereas developed countries tend to have stable growth.
Population age distribution
Larger at the bottom = more future growth
Equal at each age = stable growth or even decline

Population age distribution
Larger at the bottom = more future growth
Equal at each age = stable growth or even decline

Overpopulation: The Bad
The problems with overpopulation include abuse of resources:
Deforestation
Fossil Fuel Overuse
Freshwater Overuse
Pollution
Lack of adequate food
Non-native species

Deforestation
Cutting down forests leads to a loss of biodiversity: not as many different species in an area
Can affect local food webs, other species, and even medicine!

Fossil Fuel Overuse

Freshwater Overuse
Poor water quality, not enough freshwater in areas of need
Polluted runoff from factories

Pollution
Acid rain:
Sulfurand nitrogen gases released from factories into the air
Sulfur dioxide: SO2
Falls in rain drops, slowly impacts pH of water, soil, etc.

Pollution
Ozone Layer Destruction
CFCs:chlorofluorocarbons – released into the air through old refrigerator and spray cans, destroy ozone layer.
Low ozone leadstohigh UV radiation
UV radiation: can cause skin cancer through mutation

Why you should wear sunblock!

Food
Lack of food sources
Most important in poor, developing countries

Introducing Non-native species
Putting species into new ecosystems that aren’t supposed to be there
The introduced species generally outcompete, or do better, than the native species.
Example: pythons in the everglades.

What Can We Do?
Use renewable resources for energy
Water, wind, solar, and geothermal energy

What Can We Do?
Reduce carbon dioxide emissions
Reduce water waste
Investigate factories and their pollution levels
Increase public awareness of the issues

What Can We Do?
Promote sustainable practices
Using renewable energy, rotating crops, avoiding pesticides and toxins, making sure we keep fishing populations high, conserve resources

Bioaccumulation
NC SCOS 5.03, 5.02b

Quick Vocabulary
Autotroph: makes its own energy, a producer
Heterotroph: gets its energy from somewhere else, a consumer

Quick Vocabulary
Accumulate: to gain over time

Bioaccumulation
Bioaccumulation: the buildup of toxins in top consumers after eating many smaller organisms in a food web
Also called biomagnification or bioamplification

Bioaccumulation
Imagine that a toxin, a pesticide, was sprayed on the grass in the food web below. It cannot be released by the plant and is always stored.

http://www.ruralni.gov.uk/print/index/publications/press_articles/beef_and_sheep/archive-10/grass-attack.htm

Bioacummulation
Each level of organisms above the grass in the food web will accumulate more and more of the toxin because they eat so much of the level below them
For example, the mouse eats a large amount of grass, and stores all of the toxins in its body. Then the snake eats many mice, storing all of their toxins. Finally the hawk eats many snakes and stores all of their toxins in its body

Bioaccumulation
Eats 10 snakes= 1g
Eats 100 mice = .1g
Eats 1,000 grasses = .001g
1 grass has 0.000001g

Bioaccumulation
Highest toxin levels
Even more toxin
More toxin, concentrated
Lots of toxin, spread out

Why is biomagnification a problem?
What do you think?
Depends on the type of toxin
If the toxin is toxic, it might cause problems with the functions of an organism
Impairs reproduction
Kills off members of a species
Prevents organisms from reproducing

What happens to the food web?
What do you think?
Decreased top consumers means more low level consumers
More low level consumers means increased amounts of the toxic toxin!
The top level consumers don’t stand a chance!
Are we top level consumers? Can this happen to us?

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Unit 1 Ecology Powerpoint (Goal 5)

by Matt Broderick on Mar 03, 2010

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Unit 1 Ecology Powerpoint (Goal 5) — Presentation Transcript