This document provides an introduction to key concepts in ecology, including biomes, ecological niches, succession, energy and biomass pyramids, and nutrient cycles. It defines ecology as the study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment. It also describes the main biomes like tundra, taiga, grasslands, and rainforests. Primary and secondary succession are discussed as ways communities develop over time.

1. INTRODUCTION ECOLOGY

2. KEYWORDS Ecology ecosystem pioneer species Biosphere biotic factor climax community Species abiotic factor biome Population niche autotroph Community ecological succession heterotroph

3. ECOLOGY Study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment German biologist Ernst Haeckel coined the term

4. RECALL HBO What are levels under the HBO? How does energy flow from one level to another?

5. BIOMES A. Land Biomes 1. Tundra 2. Taiga 3. Temperate deciduous forest 4. Grassland 5. Tropical rainforest 6. Desert B. Aquatic Biomes 1. Freshwater 2. Marine 3. Estuary

6. BIOMES Have the same climate and similar dominant community Interplay between the abiotic and biotic factors

7. Ecological niche The role or job of an organism in its environment As simple as producer or consumer Keystone species or sentinel species

8. Ecological succession - the sequence of communities that develops in an area from the initial stages of colonization until a stable climax community is achieved

9. Primary succession Colonization of an area devoid of soil by pioneer species/plant life (algae/lichen) that can lead to a climax community Climax community- steady-state reached by organisms through an ecological succession

10. Secondary succession Is due to an event that resulted in the revegetation of an area that already has an established community Fire Volcanic eruption

11. Ecological Succession Is present in terrestrial and aquatic environment

12. Flow of energy Recall: trophic levels- producers, consumers Feeding relationships: food chains, food webs Ecological pyramids Energy Biomass numbers

13. Energy pyramid No limit in the trophic level in a food chain BUT, energy decreases once it is passed from one level to another due to life processes 10% is transferred from level to another

14. Biomass pyramid Biomass- the amount of living tissue within a given trophic level Biomass pyramid- amount of potential food available for each trophic level in an ecosystem Can be an inverted pyramid such as in the case of the rain forest

15. Pyramid of numbers Amount or number of organisms at each trophic level not always represent a pyramid such as in a rainforest

16. Cycles of Matter Energy has a one-way flow, matter is recycled Recycling happens through the biogeochemical cycles Water Carbon Nitrogen Phosphorous

17. Disruptions in the compartments

18. Nutrient limitation Primary productivity- rate at which organic matter is created by producers Limiting nutrient- a nutrient that limits the productivity of an ecosystem NPK An aquatic environment is considered a nutrient poor ecosystem compared to land

19. H2O Cycle

20. Carbon and Oxygen Cycle

21. Nitrogen Cycle

22. Phosphorous Cycle

23. Algal Bloom and Eutrophication

24. Niche Full range of physical and biological conditions an organism lives and the way the organism uses these conditions Biotic- place in the food chain Abiotic- temperature, moisture range for survival

25. Community interactions Competition Competitive exclusion principle Predation Symbiosis- any relationship in which two species live closely together Mutualism Commensalism Parasitism – sometimes considered as predation

26. Competitive exclusion principle