Name: William Bridges

Chapter 2 Section 1 Outline

I. Ecology
Organisms depend on other organisms and non-living factors in their
environment for survival
- is a scientific discipline in which the relationships among other
organisms and the interaction the organisms have with their environment are
studied.
Ecologist observe, experiment, and model using a variety of tools and methods.

II. The Biosphere
The is the portion of the Earth that supports life.
Includes the land, water, and the lower portion atmosphere.

A. Biotic Factors
are living factors in an organisms environment.
Interactions of organisms are necessary for the survival of species in the
same geographic location.
B. Abiotic Factors
are the non-living factors in an organisms environment.
Organisms adapt to survive in the abiotic factors present in their natural
environment.
III. Levels of Organization
The biosphere is too large and complex to study as a whole.
Ecologist divide the biosphere into levels of organization to study.
The levels of organization are

Organism
Population
Biological community
Ecosystem
Biome
Biosphere
The levels increase in complexity as the numbers and interactions
between organisms increase.





A. Organisms, populations, and biological communities
The lowest level of organization is an individual organism.
Organisms of a single species that share the same location at the same time
make up a .
A is a group of interacting populations that
occupy the same area at the same time.

B. Ecosystems, biomes, and the biosphere
An is a biological community and all of the abiotic factors that
effect it.
A is a large group of ecosystems that share the same kind of climate
and have similar types of communities.
IV. Ecosystem Interactions
A is an area where an organism lives.
A is the role or position an organism has in its environment.
V. Community Interactions
A. Competition
Occurs when more than one organism uses a recourse at the same time.
Competition is stronger when recourses are scared.
B. Predation
is the act of one organism perusing and consuming another
organism for food.
The organisms that pursues the other is the predator, and the one being
pursued is the pray.
C. Symbiotic relationships
is a close relationship that exist when two or more species live
together.
Three types

- both organisms benefit.
- one organism benefits, the other is neither helped
nor harmed.
- one organism benefits at the expense of the other.