ecology. study of the interactions between organisms and the nonliving components of their...
TRANSCRIPT
Ecology
Ecology• Study of the Interactions between Organisms and the
Nonliving Components of their Environment • Each organism Depends in some way on other living
and nonliving things in its Environment
Levels of Organization• Organism- a single life form
Population• Population- all the organisms of the same species
living in one place at one time
Community• Community- all of the populations in one area at one
time
Habitat• Habitat- the physical location of the community
Ecosystem• Ecosystem- All organisms and the non-living
environment in an area• Can be as small as your back yard or as large as the
world.
Diversity• Diversity- measure of the number of different species
there are and how common each species is.• Ecosystems flourish more with more diversity
Niche• Niche- an organism’s role in the community (like a job)• It includes the way an organism interacts with its
environment. (ex. How it gets food, how it finds shelter, when it reproduces, how many offspring it has, etc)
Generalist• Generalists- species with broad niches, they can
tolerate many conditions and use many resources (ex cats, deer, roaches)
Specialists• Specialists- Species that have narrow Niches, they
can only tolerate certain conditions. (ex. Koala and Panda)
Abiotic Factors• Abiotic factors- non-living factors in the ecosystem that
affects that ecosystem• Ex. Sunlight, Climate, Water supply, Chemicals, etc
Biotic Factors• Biotic factors- living components of an ecosystem• Interactions between organisms that can affect the
ecosystem
Competition• competition- two species or organisms struggling for
the same resource (- and -) • ex. lions and hyenas.
Mutualism• Symbiosis- organisms living in a close
relationship• mutualism- two species cooperating (+ and +) • ex. bees and flowers, hippos and fish
Commensalism• commensalism- one species benefits from another,
the other species is not affected (+ and no affect) • ex. Sea anemones and clown fish
Predation• predation- one species hunting and eating
another (+ and -)
• leopards and gazelles
Parasitism• parasitism- one species benefits from another, the
other species is harmed (+ and -) • dogs and ticks, humans and tape worms