What is Ecology?

Ecology is the scientific study of interactions between different organisms and between organisms and their environment or surroundings.

Every organism has a habitat and a niche.

A habitat is all the aspects of the area in which an organism lives

biotic (_______________) factors such as trees, animals

abiotic (______________________) factors such as water, soil, sun, wind

Where are you from?

A ___________ includes all of the __________________________________________________ factors that a species needs to survive, stay healthy, and reproduce.

What do you do? (______________)

What do you eat / how do you eat or obtain food?

Are you the top predator?

You can think of a habitat as where a species lives and a________________________________

______________________________________.

Example: Different types of birds becks always birds to occupy a different niche. Such as…….____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Organisms can be classified or grouped based on what they eat or how they get their food.

- _________________________- _________________________- _________________________

The Producers (Autotrophs)

A group of organisms that can use the energy in sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into Glucose (food) through _______________________. They make /produce their own food.

_________________is the _______________________________ for life on earth

The chemical formula for photosynthesis is: ______________________________________________________________________________

Autotrophs are also called ________________________ because they produce all of the food that heterotrophs use

Without autotrophs, there would be no life on this planet, Ex. Plants and Algae

The Consumers (Heterotrophs)

Organisms that do not make their own food can be referred to as ________________________, they consume other organisms for their energy and food supply.

Ex. Rabbits, Deer, Mushrooms

Scavengers/Detritivores – feed on the tissue of dead organisms (both plants and animals)

Ex. – Vultures, Crows, and Shrimp

Herbivores - ___________________________________________________________________

Carnivores - ___________________________________________________________________

Omnivores -____________________________________________________________________

Decomposers - ______________________________________________and break it down into simple nutrients or fertilizers. Ex. – Bacteria and Mushrooms

Feeding Interactions between organism – Energy Flow and the Food Chain

________________ flows through an ecosystem in one direction _______________________or inorganic compounds ________________________________(producers) and then __________________________________(consumers).

What are tropic levels?

Energy movement from one organism to another when it is eaten.

_____________________________________________from one organism to another when it is eaten. Each step in this transfer of energy is known as a ________________________________.

Ecological Pyramids

A diagram that shows the relative ___________________________________________or matter contained ______________________________________________________________in a food chain or food web

There are 3 different kinds of pyramids:

Energy Pyramids Biomass Pyramids Pyramids of Numbers

Pyramids of Biomass

Biomass is a word used to describe the __________________________________of organisms in a given area.

If you could collect all of the plants and animals in an area and weigh them, this would be the biomass of that area.

Ecological Pyramid Questions

Which level has the most energy?

Which level usually has the most organisms?

Which level usually has the least organisms?

Which level has the least energy?