Module 6: Basic Ecological Concepts

autotrophic and heterotrophic

Components of Ecosystem According to Trophic Level (source of nourishment):

Producers, consumers, decomposers, non- living components

Components of Ecosystem · According to Structure

Cone-bearing trees, Boreal forests, Taiga, Temperate rainforests

Conifer Forests • ___________ - trees having needle-like leaves with waxy coatings in order to prevent water loss. • ___________ - refer to the northern coniferous forests. • _____________ - is located in the northernmost edge of boreal forest. • _____________- are within the Pacific northwest

Equitability

- refers to the benefits of ecosystem that is distributed among its beneficiaries, such that more member organisms have access to the available resources means the higher equitability of the resources to the organisms.

Diversity

- refers to the number, kinds and variability of species in an ecosystem. This that more species have higher biological diversity, higher stability and higher sustainability.

Sustainability

- the ability of an ecosystem to return to equilibrium following major external forces or disturbances such as long periods of drought, acidification of soil, salt intrusion, typhoons, and pest infestation.

Stability

- the ability of an ecosystem to return to equilibrium following minor external forces or disturbances such as increase in temperature, changes in the rainfall patterns, and soil and water losses.

Productivity, Primary productivity, Gross primary productivity, Net primary productivity

- the amount of energy formed or rate of production or organic matter produced that is expressed in: number or mass per unit area per unit period of time (i.e. no./kg./ha./yr.). Ø ____________ is the rate at which radiant energy is stored by photosynthetic activity of the plants. v_________________ (G1oP) is the total rate of photosynthesis. v _________________ (N1oP) is the rate of storage in plant tissue after excess of energy utilization from respiration. The energy stored after respiration

Biotic factors

: the living component of the environment Ø all of the organisms in the area

sparse

Deserts are mostly composed of _________ organisms due to their hostile environmental conditions.

sparse, algae, mosses

Given its permanently frozen land surface, tundra biome is mostly dominated by _________ life forms particularly some patches of _________ and __________.

biotic components, abiotic components

At the population and community levels, ecologists explore, respectively, how a population of organisms changes over time and the ways in which that population interacts with other species in the community. Ecologists studying an ecosystem examine the living species (the _____________) of the ecosystem as well as the nonliving portions (the ______________), such as air, water, and soil, of the environment.

temperature, precipitation, latitudinal, equatorial

Biome type is influenced mainly by ___________ and _____________, and is therefore, divided across the Earth's terrestrial environments. Distribution of biome types across the Earth system is influenced by the _________ location of a landmass with reference mainly at the _________ region.

insufficient rainfall

Mostly dominated by grasses, grasslands cannot support growth of several tree species due to ___________.

photosynthesis, Grass, consumers

Plants (autotrophs) acquire food through ___________. ____________ serving as the baseline of the food chain. Energy surplus from their photosynthetic activities served as food for the ___________ (cow).

Productivity, stability, sustainability, diversity, equitability

Properties of ecosystems:

secondary consumers, tertiary consumers, quaternary consumers, apex consumers

TROPHIC LEVEL Ø The organisms that eat the primary consumers are called _________. These are generally meat-eaters—carnivores. Ø The organisms that eat the secondary consumers are called ____________. These are carnivore-eating carnivores, like eagles or big fish. Ø Some food chains have additional levels, such as ___________— carnivores that eat tertiary consumers. Organisms at the very top of a food chain are called _____________.

primary producers, photosynthetic, primary consumers

TROPHIC LEVEL: Ø At the base of the food chain lie the _____________. These are autotrophs and are most often ____________ organisms such as plants, algae, or cyanobacteria. Ø The organisms that eat the primary producers are called ___________. These are usually herbivores, plant-eaters, though they may be algae eaters or bacteria eaters.

living, non-living

The biotic and abiotic factors include the __________ and ____________ factors and their interaction with the environment.

energy transfer, consuming energy

The efficiency of ____________ is less from one trophic level to the next, as certain amount is lost in the form of heat. The efficiency of ___________ is independent on the organism consuming it .In a freshwater ecosystem - the larger fish generally eat other fish (piscivorous) and provide the top of the food web. There is sometimes even a second tier of even larger fish.

environmental problems, ecosystems

The science of ecology provides insight into ____________. Ecology also provides information about the benefits of __________ and how we can use the Earth's resources in ways that leave the environment healthy for future generations.

Cloud forests, Tropical rainforests

Tropical Forests • ____________: found in high mountains with heavy fog and mist. • ____________: located in areas with more than 200 cm annual rainfall with warm/hot temperatures year-round. It has rapid decomposition of organic matter and efficient nutrient cycling.

heat, digested

Why does so much energy exit the food web between one trophic level and the next? Here are a few of the main reasons for inefficient energy transfer: · In each trophic level, a significant amount of energy is dissipated as __________ as organisms carry out cellular respiration and go about their daily lives. · Some of the organic molecules an organism eats cannot be __________ and leave the body as feces, poop, rather than being used.

decomposers, cellular respiration, heat

Why does so much energy exit the food web between one trophic level and the next? Here are a few of the main reasons for inefficient energy transfer: · Not all of the individual organisms in a trophic level will get eaten by organisms in the next level up. Some instead die without being eaten. · The feces and uneaten, dead organisms become food for __________, who metabolize them and convert their energy to heat through __________. So, none of the energy actually disappears—it all winds up as __________ in the end.

organism, population, community, ecosystem

Within the discipline of ecology, researchers work at four specific levels, sometimes discretely and sometimes with overlap: ____________, ____________, ____________, and ____________. At the organismal level, ecologists study individual organisms and how they interact with their environments.

lake environment, marine environment

Zonation in Aquatic Biomes. (A) Zonation in a lake. The _____________ is generally classified on the basis of three physical criteria: light penetration (photic and aphotic zones), distance from shore and water depth (littoral and limnetic zones), and whether it is open water (pelagic zone) or bottom (benthic zone). (B) Marine zonation. Like lakes, the ________________ is generally classified on the basis of light penetration (photic and aphotic zones), distance from shore and water depth (intertidal, neritic, and oceanic zones), and whether it is open water (pelagic zone) or bottom (benthic and abyssal zones).

Light, Photic zone, Aphotic zone, Pelagic zone

Zonation in Aquatic Biomes: Ø __________ is absorbed by the water itself and by photosynthetic organisms, so its intensity decreases rapidly with depth. Ø ___________: upper zone, sufficient light for photosynthesis Ø ___________: lower zone, little light penetrates. Ø ___________: includes the Photic and Aphotic zones

Abyssal zone, Benthic zone, benthos, detritus

Zonation in Aquatic Biomes: Ø ____________: deep in the aphotic zone, 2,000-6,000 m below the surface Ø___________: At the bottom of all of these aquatic zones, deep or shallow, is the *_________. Made up of sand and organic and inorganic sediments, it is occupied by communities of organisms collectively called the _________. A major source of food for many benthic species is dead organic matter called _________, which "rains" down from the productive surface waters of the photic zone.

Deserts

___________ • Characterized by low moisture levels and precipitation that is infrequent and unpredictable from year to year. • Wide daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations. • Soils are easily disturbed by human activities, and slow to recover. • Plants exhibit water conservation characteristics.

Biomes, vegetative communities

___________ are larger units of organization that categorize regions of the Earth's ecosystems, mainly according to the structure and composition of vegetation. There are different methods to define the continental boundaries of biomes dominated by different functional types of ________________ that are limited in distribution by climate, precipitation, weather and other environmental variables.

Ecosystem

___________ is an assemblage of living and non-living elements within a boundary that forms functional relationships, maintains flow of energy and complete the chemical cycle. It is a combination of various systems interacting with one another and their physical environment

Ecology

___________ is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. It seeks to understand the connections between living organisms (plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, protists) and the world around them.

Organism's habitat

____________ is the specific environment it lives in, includes the biotic and abiotic factors present in its surroundings

Community Ecology, biological community

____________: A _______________consists of the different species within an area, typically a three-dimensional space, and the interactions within and among these species. Community ecologists are interested in the processes driving these interactions and their consequences.

Grasslands

_____________ • Communities of grasses, seasonal herbaceous flowering plants, and open savannas. • Few trees due to inadequate rainfall. • Large daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations. • Occurrence of frequent grass fires.

Ecological Pyramid, 100,000

_____________ -This pyramid shows how energy and biomass decrease from lower to higher trophic levels. Assume that producers in this pyramid have 1,000,000 kilocalories of energy. How much energy is available to primary consumers? ____________

Terrestrial biomes

_____________ include deserts, grassland, Tundra, conifer forests, and tropical forest, and other biomes.

Coral reefs, calcium carbonate skeletons

_____________: Are formed largely from the _______________ of corals. Shallow reef-building corals live in the photic zone of relatively stable tropical marine environments with high water clarity, primarily near islands and along the edge of some continents. They are sensitive to temperatures below about 18-20°C and above 30°C. Deep-sea coral reefs, found between 200 and 1,500 m deep, are less known than their shallow counterparts but harbor as much diversity as many shallow reefs do.

Oceanic pelagic zone

_____________: Is a vast realm of open blue water, constantly mixed by wind driven oceanic currents. Because of higher water clarity, the photic zone extends to greater depths than in coastal marine waters. This biome covers approximately 70% of Earth's surface and has an average depth of nearly 4,000 m. The deepest point in the ocean is more than 10,000 m beneath the surface.

Intertidal zone

_____________: Is periodically submerged and exposed by the tides, twice daily on most marine shores. Upper zones experience longer exposures to air and greater variations in temperature and salinity. Changes in physical conditions from the upper to the lower intertidal zones limit the distributions of many organisms to particular strata.

Organismal Ecology, individuals

_____________: Researchers studying ecology at the organismal level are interested in the adaptations that enable ___________ to live in specific habitats. These adaptations can be morphological, physiological, and behavioral.

Heterospecific interactions

_____________: interactions among various species (heterospecifics) such as predation, parasitism, herbivory, competition) .

pyramid of energy

______________- This pyramid shows the total energy stored in organisms at each trophic level in an ecosystem. Starting with primary consumers, each trophic level in the food chain has only 10 percent of the energy of the level below it. The pyramid makes it clear why there can be only a limited number of trophic levels in a food chain or web.

Population Ecology, population, conspecifics

______________: A ___________ is a group of interbreeding organisms that are members of the same species living in the same area at the same time. (Organisms that are all members of the same species are called ____________.) The study of population ecology focuses on the number of individuals in an area and how and why population size changes over time.

Ecosystem ecology, ecosystem

______________: Is an extension of organismal, population, and community ecology. The ____________ is composed of all the biotic components (living things) in an area along with the abiotic components (non-living things) of that area. Some of the abiotic components include air, water, and soil. Ecosystem biologists ask questions about how nutrients and energy are stored and how they move among organisms and the surrounding atmosphere, soil, and water.

Tropical rainforest

_______________ harbors several organisms from various species of microorganisms, plants and animals due to favorable climate, temperature, and nutrient sources.

Marine benthic zone

_______________: Consists of the seafloor below the surface waters of the coastal, or neritic, zone and the offshore, pelagic zone. Except for shallow, near-coastal areas, the *______________ receives no sunlight. Water temperature declines with depth, while pressure increases. As a result, organisms in the very deep benthic, or abyssal, zone are adapted to continuous cold (about 3°C) and very high water pressure.

Abiotic factors

are the environment's non-living component Ø physical and chemical factors (as temperature, forms of energy available, water, and nutrients, rock and soil). Ø Most abiotic factors vary in space and time

food chain, grazing food chain, detritus food chain, trophic level

Ø A ___________ is a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another.Two types of food chain include: (1) __________ - organisms feeding on living organisms, and (2) _____________ - organisms feeding on dead organisms. Ø In a food chain, each organism occupies a different __________ , defined by how many energy transfers separate it from the basic input of the chain.

wetland

Ø A _____________ is a habitat that is inundated by water at least some of the time and that supports plants adapted to water-saturated soil. Some are inundated at all times, whereas others flood infrequently.

estuary

Ø An ________ is a transition area between river and sea. Seawater flows up the estuary channel during a rising tide and flows back down during the falling tide. Often, higher-density seawater occupies the bottom of the channel and mixes little with the lower-density river water at the surface.

community, interspecific interactions

Ø An ecological _____________ consists of all the populations of all the different species that live together in a particular area. Interactions between different species in a community are called ______________—inter- means "between."

Marine biomes, freshwater biomes

Ø Aquatic biomes are characterized primarily by their physical environment rather than by climate and are often layered with regard to light penetration, temperature, and community structure. ___________ have a higher salt concentration than ___________. Ø Many aquatic biomes are stratified into zones or layers defined by light penetration, temperature, and depth

Predation, Herbivory, Competition

Ø Biotic factors that affect the distribution of organisms may include _______________, ___________ and ___________

positive, negative, neutral, competition, predation, symbiosis

Ø Different types of interspecific interactions have different effects on the two participants, which may be ___________ (+), ____________ (-), or ____________ (0). Interspecies interactions can be broken into three main categories: ___________, ____________, and ___________.

Heterotrophs, biophages, saprophages

Ø Heterotrophic: transformation of primary products to secondary products from the plants. This is through the chemical synthesis and decomposition of organic matter. ________ are usually predators, while some are __________ (i.e. animals consuming other animals, plants and other organisms) and _____________ (i.e. organisms feeding on dead organic matters).

living things, physical environment.

Ø One core goal of ecology is to understand the distribution and abundance of _____________ in the ______________ Attainment of this goal requires the integration of scientific disciplines inside and outside of biology, such as biochemistry, physiology, evolution, biodiversity, molecular biology, geology, and climatology. Some ecological research also applies aspects of chemistry and physics, and it frequently uses mathematical models.

decreases, stratification

Ø Standing bodies of water range from ponds a few square meters in area to lakes covering thousands of square kilometers. Light _________ with depth, creating _____________. Ø The salinity, oxygen concentration, and nutrient content differ greatly among lakes and can vary with season.

biotic, abiotic

Ø The main aim of ecology is to understand the distribution of ___________ and __________ factors of living things in the environment.

speed, volume, streams, river

Ø The most prominent physical characteristic of streams and rivers is the ________ and __________ of their flow. Ø Headwater ____________ are generally cold, clear, turbulent, and swift. Ø Farther downstream, where numerous tributaries may have joined, forming a ________, the water is generally warmer and more turbid because of suspended sediment. Streams and rivers are stratified into vertical zones

speed,

Ø The most prominent physical characteristic of streams and rivers is the ________ and __________ of their flow. Ø Headwater streams are generally cold, clear, turbulent, and swift. Ø Farther downstream, where numerous tributaries may have joined, forming a river, the water is generally warmer and more turbid because of suspended sediment. Streams and rivers are stratified into vertical zones

Aquatic biomes, Oceans

Ø ________ account for the largest part of the biosphere in terms of area Ø Can contain fresh or salt water Ø __________ cover about 75% of Earth's surface and have an enormous impact on the biosphere

Food web, inefficient

Ø _________ consist of many interconnected food chains and are more realistic representation of consumption relationships in ecosystems. *__________ is a more intricate and complex form of predator-prey interactions. Ø Energy transfer between trophic levels is ___________—with a typical efficiency around 10%. This inefficiency limits the length of food chains.

herbivory, Symbiosis, mutualism, commensalism

Ø ___________ (+/-): A special case of predation in which the prey species is a plant. Ø ____________: two species live together in a long-term, intimate association. In layman's term, a relationship that benefits both parties. In ecologist-speak, symbiosis include close, lasting relationships with a variety of positive or negative effects on the participants. Ø ___________, (+/+):A long-term, close association between two species in which both partners benefit Ø ____________ (+/0): A long-term, close association between two species in which one benefits and the other is unaffected

Ecology, oikos

Ø ___________ (from the Greek _________, home) is the scientific study of the interactions of organisms with their environment.

Producers, Consumers, Decomposers, Non-living components

Ø ___________ - composed primarily of plants and other photosynthetic organisms. Ø ______________ - are usually animals feeding on animals and plants. Ø _____________ - are organisms feeding on dead organic matter Ø ____________ - are the essential substances like O2, NO3, PO4 , and other nutrients

Ecologists, complex

Ø ___________ describe the distribution and abundance of organisms—where they live and how many live there. Because the environment is ____________, organisms can potentially be affected by many different variables.

Producers, Consumers

Ø ___________, or autotrophs, make their own organic molecules. _________, or heterotrophs, get organic molecules by eating other organisms. Ø Energy flows through the structural elements of an ecosystem exemplified in a simple food chain - a linear relationship of predator-prey interactions such as leaves --- caterpillar --- bird --- cat.

Oligotrophic lakes, eutrophic lakes, periodic oxygen depletion

Ø ____________ are nutrient poor and generally oxygen-rich; ___________ are nutrient-rich and often depleted of oxygen in the deepest zone in summer and if covered with ice in winter. The amount of decomposable organic matter in bottom sediments is low in oligotrophic lakes and high in eutrophic lakes; high rates of decomposition in deeper layers of eutrophic lakes cause____________.

Autotrophic, Autotrophs

Ø ____________: production of organic matter from simple compounds, drawn from the surrounding and build into a complex organic material. This is exemplified through photosynthesis: CO2 + H2O + Energy from Light > CO2 + H2O + Carbohydrates/Sugar. __________ are organisms that are capable of producing their own food ("plant-eaters").

competition, predation, parasitism

Ø _____________ (-/-) : Organisms of two species use the same limited resource and have a negative impact on each other. Ø _____________ (+/-):A member of one species, predator, eats all or part of the body of a member of another species, prey. Ø _____________ (+/-):A long-term, close association between two species in which one benefits and the other is harmed

Conspecific interactions

Ø _____________: competition among members of the same species (conspecifics) for a limited resource.

tundra

• Permanently frozen surface soils. • Short growing season. • Cold, harsh winters. • Water locked up much of the year. • Most animals migrate south or downhill during winter. • Low biological productivity, low diversity, and low resilience.