Ecology- study of the different ways organisms interact with other organisms and their environment Environment- non-living

surroundings in which the organism lives Ecologists- people who study ecology -study 3 areas: 1) how organisms interact with other organisms like themselves 2) how organisms interact with other kinds of organisms 3) how organisms interact with the nonliving parts of their environment Ecological system / Ecosystem interaction of all living and nonliving things in a given area (maybe as small as an aquarium or a field, or as large as a lake or a forest) Biosphere world ecosystem; includes all the living things on the earth and the whole nonliving environment with which the living things interact Living things can only live in the biosphere, or those parts of the earth that can supply water, oxygen and nutrients the things that are needed to support life

*living things play different roles in an ecosystem a. producers /autotrophs able to produce their own food from simple substances in the environment - make their own food by using energy from the sun or by using energy from the sun or by using energy from certain chemical substances; with this energy they put together simple substances to form complex ones - all green plants and certain protists b. consumers / heterotrophs - organisms that depend upon other organisms as a source of food because they are not able to produce their own food - tissues contain elements as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen; takes in these elements in the form of complex compounds if it eats an organism such as a plant or animal; compounds are broken down in consumers body during digestion c. decomposers special consumers that feed on dead matter; break down compounds of a dead organism; thus important elements are returned to the environment to be used again by living things (bacteria & fungi)

Types of Consumers Herbivores animals that feed on plants; also called primary consumers Carnivores animals that feed on other animals *secondary consumers- carnivores that eat herbivores *tertiary consumers carnivores that feed on other carnivores Omnivore an animal that feeds on both plants & animals

Three Ecosystems Lake Decomposers Carnivores (Tertiary Consumer ) Carnivores (Secondary Consumer) Herbivores (Primary Consumer ) Producers Bream Shore Plants Beetles Trees Crickets Grass Bass Small Birds Frogs Humans Hawks Snakes Fungi / Bacteria Forest Fungi / Bacteria Field Fungi / Bacteria

*Factor that limits the growth of organisms or where an organism can live limiting factor Types : A. Biotic factors living things (ex. Food sources) B. Abiotic factors nonliving things (ex. Temperature, sunlight, water, air and soil) *blue-green algae that live in hot springs (limiting factor for other organisms) *some living things able to live at below freezing temperature *tropical orchids grow best in shade *different types of soil (sandy, clay)

 contain different amounts of minerals, organic material, water & air determines kind of plants that can live there determine the kind of animals that live there *Nutrient cycles -- macronutrients- nutrients that are needed in fairly large quantities (C, H, O, N, Ca, K, P, S, Mg, Na) -- micronutrients - needed in much smaller quantities (Fe, Cu, Mn, B, Zn, I, Mo, Cl, Co, V, F, Se) Total supply of nutrients on earth = constant (do not increase ) Cycle movement of a nutrient through the various parts of the ecosystem over and over again Water Cycle

Carbon Cycle

Oxygen Cycle

Nitrogen Cycle

Biomes Biome- large ecological region of a certain type Has certain characteristics that make it different from other biomes (different plants, animals)

2 important environmental factors: rainwater and temperature Types of Biomes A. Tundra very cold biome - Wide band of land that nearly surrounds the Arctic Ocean; around the Antarctic Ocean - Land characteristics: Bogs, ponds, swamps, - Permafrost permanently frozen layer - Plants: Mosses, lichens, grasses, sedges (most trees cannot grow) - Animals: insects, birds, bears, moose, caribou, rabbits in summer (migrate to other warmer place for winter) B. Taiga largest biome on the earths surface - Northern part of Asia, Europe, N. America - South of Tundra - Plants: mosses, lichens, small plants (soil warm in summer but wet); spruce fir trees - Other known as coniferous forest biome

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- Animals: moose, deer, wolves, lynx, porcupines, squirrels, beavers, bears; insects, birds Temperate forests - Part of N. America, S. America, Asia, Europe - Has seasons, average rainfall of 100 cm/yr - Deciduous trees loses leaves in winter - Plants: beeches, maples, oaks, hickories - Animals: deer, bears, squirrels, skunks, rabbits, raccoons, opossums; reptiles, amphibians, insects, birds Tropical rainforests - C. America, S. America, C. Asia, parts of Africa & Australia - Rains almost everyday - More plant species than many other biome - Animals spend most of lives in trees wooly monkeys, sloths, squirrels, bats, spiders, insects - Soil not productive for farmland Grasslands - Australia, Africa, Asia, N. America, S. America - 1/3 of the U.S. - Common plants are grasses - Called prairie, steppe, pampa, veld and savanna - Animals: gazelles, rhinoceros, giraffes, water buffalo (herbivores); bison, pronghorn antelopes, rabbits, gophers, ground squirrels, prairie chicken, pheasants Deserts - W. United States, S. America, N. Africa, C. Asia, C. Australia, India - Very hot; cold winters - Low rainfall (less than 25 cm/yr) - Plants: grow rapidly when rains; other short stem with many branches; some have very thick leaves; lose leaves during drought; have thorns for leaves Freshwater Biome - Streams, rivers; ponds, lakes - Plants: algae, rooted plants - Animals: bottom feeders (mussels, snails, worm, crayfish); rotifers, insects, fish, frogs, turtles, salamanders, birds

H. Saltwater Biome - Ecosystem that contain salt water - 2 parts of ocean: ocean floor & open ocean

* Ocean floor - intertidal land between high tide & low tide - Animals: worms, crabs, oysters, barnacles - Littoral area from intertidal to continental shelf - gets sunlight for green plants for photosynthesis -Animals: flounders, stingrays, mollusks (in sandy bottoms) - Sea cucumber, clams, sea urchins (in muddy bottoms) - Benthic not enough sunlight for green plant to grow - Animals: one-celled bacteria & other blue green algae * Open ocean - Photic zone area where light has effect - nearly all plant production - different kinds of animals live - Aphotic zone most organisms are scavengers & decomposers - no living plants