A informative powerpoint about ecology informs reader about the environment and how to help protect it. The way the natural world works. Includes definitions of key words. is very easy to understand

1. Ecology

2. Ecology
The study of the interaction
between groups of organism
and their environments

3. Ecosystem
A community of living organisms
interacting with one another and
their non-living environment within
a particular area

4. Habitats
The place within the
ecosystem where the organism
lives and to which it is adapted

5. Biosphere
The part of the earth and its
atmosphere in which life can
exist . Composed of
ecosystems

6. Communities
Populations of different
species of organisms

7. Niche
The functional role of
an organism in an
ecosystem

8. Abiotic factors
Non living
factors

9. Biotic factors
Living factors

10. Climatic factors
Average weather
conditions

11. Eolaphic
Characteristics of soil
influencing community

12. Tropic level
The feeding level
in a food chain

13. Food chain
• Shows how food/ energy is passed through a
series of organism in a community
• Begins with a plant
• Each organism feed on the one before it
• Food chain ends when there is not enough energy
to support another organism

14. producers (green plants) make their own food
using energy from the sun
Consumer
s
Are organisms that feed on other
organisms
Primary
consumers
Eat producers Herbivores
Secondary
consumers
Eat primary consumers Carnivores
Tertiary
consumers
Eat secondary consumers Top
carnivores
Grass → grasshoppers → frogs → hawks

15. Food web
The interconnected
food chains in an
ecosystem

16. Energy flow
• The pathway of energy transfer from one
organism to the next in an ecosystem
due to feeding
• Feeding allows energy to flow from one
organism to another

17. Herbivore – eats plants
Omnivore – eats plants and
animals
Carnivore – eats animals

18. Solar energy
Primary producers – green plants
Primary consumers – herbivores
Secondary consumers – carnivores
Tertiary consumers – top carnivores

19. Pyramid of numbers
Used to show the numbers
of organisms at each trophic
level of a food chain

20. Limitations of the
pyramid of numbers
•the size of the organism is not
considered
•Hard to raw large numbers to
scale

21. Ecological
pyramid

22. Inverted
pyramid

23. Dissorted
pyramid

24. • The flow of energy into the ecosystem from the
sun;
• Within the ecosystem through the different trophic
levels along food chains
• Out of the ecosystem into the atmosphere as heat
loss die to respiration
Energy transfer in an
ecosystem

25. Energy transfer
• About 10% energy transferred when
one food chain is eaten by the next
• Large energy loss is why food chains
have no more than 4 or 5 levels

26. Nutrient recycling
• Limited amount of nutrients on earth
• When plants and animals die, their nutrient content
is not wasted
• Bacteria and fungi decompose their remains and
release the nutrients back into the environment

27. Role of decomposers in
Nutrient Recycling
• Decomposers (bacteria and fungi) feed on dead and
decaying plants and animals
• Minerals are released that pass into the soil or water
• These nutrients are then absorbed by plants
• When animals eat the plants the nutrients are passed on

28. Carbon cycle
• Carbon forms part of all nutrients – carbohydrates, protein and fats
• How is carbon removed from the atmosphere?
 Photosynthesis
• How is carbon returned to the atmosphere?
 Respiration
 Decay
 Combustion

29. The carbon cycle is the way in which carbon is
taken from and added to the environment by
organisms
Green plants take in carbon in the form of
carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air. They use this
to make food in the process of photosynthesis
Animals eat plants as food. They release Co2
during respiration
The decomposer (bacteria and fungi) break
down dead plants and animals, releasing Co2
during respiration

31. Nitrogen cycle
• All organisms need nitrogen for protein,
DNA and RNA manufacture
• Nitrogen gas must first be fixed
• Changed to a suitable form before it can
be used → nitrate

32. 1. Nitrogen fixation
• N2 gas in the atmosphere → Ammonia/ nitrate
• Nitrogen fixing bacteria in the soil convert N2 gas
in the air into ammonia
• Ammonia → Nitrite → Nitrate
• Lightning strikes and fuel burning in car engines
produce nitrates, rain washes them into the soil

33. 2. Nitrification
• Ammonia/ nitrites → Nitrates
• Nitrifying bacteria in the soil convert
ammonia → nitrites → nitrates
• Nitrates can be absorbed by other plants
to continue the cycle

34. 3. Decomposition
• Animals feed on plants
• Animal waste/ decomposition also adds to
ammonia in the soil
• The ammonia is converted back → nitrites →
nitrates by nitrifying bacteria in the soil

35. 4. Denitrification
• Nitrates → nitrogen gas in the atmosphere
• Some nitrates are converted back into nitrogen gas
by denitrifying bacteria
• Denitrifying bacteria are anaerobic (doesn't need
oxygen) and can survive in deep swampy land

36. Name of
process
Bacteria
involved
Conversation
Nitrogen
fixing
Nitrogen
fixing
bacteria
Nitrogen gas → ammonia → nitrites → nitrates
(usable form)
Decomposition
Bacteria of
decay
Dead organism → ammonia
Nitrification Nitrifying
bacteria
Ammonia → nitrites → nitrates
Denitrification
Denitrifying
bacteria
Nitrates → nitrogen gas

37. Effects of
humans on
ecosystem

38. Pollution
Addition of harmful
substances to the
environment

39. Pollutants
Chemicals of human
origin that harm the
environment

40. Types of pollution
Air
Domestic Household waste: food waste, paper, plastic,
glass, aluminium cans
Agriculture Disposal: of slurry. Sprays to kill insects, pests
and weeds
Industrial Waste from factories: harmful acids, detergents,

41. Effects of one pollutant
from one area
Area Pollutant Source Effect
Agriculture Slurry and
fertiliser
Washed or
leached from
land
Formation of algal blooms and
eutrophication
Industrial sulpher
dioxide
Burning
fossil fuels
Forms ‘acid rain’
Domestic Plastic bags Shopping Non-biodegradable. Suffocate
small animals. Litter

42. Eutrophication of a river
A condition where lakes become over
enriched with nutrients resulting from
excess artificial fertiliser washed into
rivers and lakes

43. Control of pollutants
Area Pollutant Control measures
Agriculture Slurry and
fertiliser
Avoid spreading on wet, waterlogged,
frozen, steeply slopping land and within
1.5m of any water course
Industrial Sulphur
dioxide
Fit catalytic scrubbers in factory chimneys
Domestic Plastic
bags
Bag tax/ levy. Reuse/ recycle

44. Conservation
Wise management of
the earth’s natural
resources

45. Reasons for
conservation
• To prevent extinction
• To preserve habitats
• To maintain biodiversity
• To prevent aesthetic and
recreational facilities for
ourselves
• To provide food supplies
• As a possible source of
new drugs or other
materials

46. Area Conservation practice
Agriculture Mixed farming, crop rotation,
biological controls
Fisheries Fishing nets, quotas, re-
stocking
Forestry Re-planting, broadleaf/ conifer
mix

47. Conservation practises
– fisheries
• The use of small-mesh nets can result in too many young fish been caught
• Using larger meshed nets to allow the young to escape, mature and reproduce
• Over fishing has reduced fish stocks at sea
• Fish quotas have been assigned to different countries to ensure enough fish are left
to replenish the stock
• Helps to prevent the extinction of fish species
• Gradually increases fish stock and helps to re-establish populations
• Attempts to maintain fishing at highest possible level

48. Continuation
• To achieve a permeant increase in the sustainable population of that species
• Translocation of species into areas where they have not naturally occurred is not
encouraged
• Re-stocking attempts to maintain the balance in the ecosystem
• Increases stock for recreational fishing

49. Problems associated
with waste disposal
• There may no be sufficient landfill sites available
• The waste may be toxic
• Too little is been recycled
• The waste may be non-biodegradable
• It may be unsightly and have odour
• Some liquid waste can contaminate ground water supply

50. Waste management -
agriculture
• The main problem here is the waste products from fares i.e
 Slurry
 Silage effluent
 Overuse/ incorrect use of chemical fertilisers and animal manures – excess of these
may enter watercourses and cause algal blooms and eutrophication
• Spreading slurry on the land as a fertiliser. This must be man=aged accurately in
order to max the value of the nutrients for crop production and minimise their impact
on the environment

51. Continuation
• Plastic bags from fertilisers and plastic silage wrap strewn all around a farm is
becoming a thing of the past
• Legalisation on Producer Responsibilities Obligations ensures that the plastic must
be collected by the producers and dealt with appropriately

52. Problems with waste
disposal
• Availability of suitable landfill sites
• The toxic or polluting content of fumes from incineration
• Decaying waste produces methane gas which contributes to the greenhouse gases
• Harmful substances may leak into groundwater supplies
• Plants and animals in rivers and lakes are killed through direct poisoning or
eutrophication

53. Solutions for waste
disposal
• Lifestyle changes and education programmes for all ages are needed to alter the
attitude to littering and waste minimisation and disposal
• Use micro-organisms to degrade the rubbish and produce fuel pellets
• Reduce the use of paper and recycle more paper
• Biodegradable materials (e.g. paper bags) should be used instead of plastic ones
• Tax has been placed on plastic bags in shops
• Rubbish sorting at source makes disposal more efficient e.g. householders

54. Waste minimisation
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle

55. Role of microbes in
waste management
• Bacteria and fungi in the soil can break
down organic waste e.g. compost
• Secondary Sewage Treatment – waste is
well aerated and bacteria and fungi of
decay break down the organic matter

56. Ecological
relationships

57. Population
A group of individuals of the same species living
together in a habitat
They live in populations for the following reasons:
1. Their habitat provides food and shelter
2. Individuals are safer in a group
3. The availability for a mate for breeding purposes

58. Controlling population
sizes
1.Competition
2.Predation
3.Parasitism
4.Symbiosis

59. 1. Competition
When organisms of the same or
different species ‘fight’ for necessary
resources that are in short supply

60. Intra-specific
competition
Between
members of
the same
species
i.e. within a
species
Inter-specific
competition
Between
members of
different
species

61. What do organisms
compete for?
Plants
• Compete for light
• Water
• Minerals
• Space
Animals
• food
• Water
• Shelter
• Territory
• Mates

62. Contest
An active physical
confrontation between
two organisms – one
wins
Scramble
Each organism tries to
acquire as much of the
resource as possible
e.g. two dogs
fighting over a bone
e.g. ivy plant and a
hawthorn tree may
compete for light

63. What can animals do to survive
competition:
adapt to their ennvironment
• Changing their feeding habits
• Camouflage
• Producing protective coats
• Moving away from over populated areas
• Reproductive strategies

64. What can plants do to survive
competition:
example ~ weeds
• They produce large number of seeds
• Seeds germinate quickly, even in poor
soil
• Plants thrive even in poorer soil
conditions

65. Adaptive techniques
Adaption which have evolved (developed)
in response to the need to survive
competition
E.G 1. sharp teeth of carnivores
E.G 2. climbing abilities in ivy

66. How does competition
control population size?
• Restricts population size
• Only successful competitors will survive
and reproduce
• Is a driving force between evolution i.e.
adaptive techniques

67. 2. Predation
Act of one organism killing
another organism for food

68. Predator
Animal that hunts,
captures and kills other
animals (prey) for food

69. Prey
The organism that is
eaten by the predator

70. Positive effects of
predation
• Stabilises the community
• Predators control the number of
herbivores and so prevent overgrazing
• Predators eliminate the less well adapted
(weaker) pray

71. Adaption of predators
• Keen senses and
sharp teeth
• Catch easiest prey –
old and sick (less
energy used)
• Change diet to suit
availability
• Live and hunt in packs
• Migrate to where prey
is plentiful
• Camouflage

72. Adaptions of prey
• Are faster than their predator
• Staying in herds or flocks. Safety in
numbers
• Camouflage
• Good sense of hearing

73. Predator – prey
relationship

74. Why predator numbers
might fluctuate
Predator number decrease
• Prey numbers
decline
• Disease
• Emigration
Predator number increase
• Immigration
• Plenty of food
• Lots of mates

75. 3. Parasitism
Relationship between two organisms of
different species living together where
one benefits and does harm to the
other

76. Examples
•Fleas on a dog
(ectoparasites)
•Liver fluke in cattle
(ectoparasites)

77. 4. Symbiosis
(living together)
Where two organisms of different
species have a close, specific
relationship with each other where at
least one of them benefits

78. Examples
• Bacteria living in the colon produce vit B
& K. the body absorbs these
• Nitrogen fixing bacteria in the nodules of
legumins plants (legumes)

79. Population dynamics
The study of changes that occur in
a population and the factors that
cause these changes

80. Factors affecting
population size
• Birth rate and death rate
• Immigration and emigration
• Effect of other species in the form of
competition, predation and symbiosis

81. Decreasing population
size
• Deaths are usually due to predation, parasites and
lack of food rather than age
• A high mortality rate is important to populations
• It protects the stocks of food and eliminates the
less well adapted organisms

82. General population
curves
1. Organisms arrive and adapt to their
new environment
2. Growth takes place rapidly due to
newly available food
3. Growth constraints are felt –
predation, overcrowding, available
food etc..
4. Growth settles at a level that the
environment can support

83. Human population curve
• Birth rates are declining in developed
countries
• The increase in the human population is
not due to an increase in birth rates, but
is caused by reduced death rates

84. Factors affecting human
population size
• War
• Contraception
• Disease
• Famine

85. War
• Reduces the population
• Effects can be temporary
• Increased birth rates (baby boom)
often follows war

86. Contraception
•The fertility rate in developing
countries has fallen from 6.1
in 1970 to 3.5 today due to
contraception

87. Disease
•Vaccine reduce the incidence
of diphtheria, whooping
cough, tetanus, polio,
meningitis, TB, etc.

88. Famine
•A lack of food leads to
malnutrition and death due
to disease or starvation