1.2 |Ecology and Ecosystem 1.

  Deserts

Ecology-(from the Greek word oikos,” house”, or

“place to live” and logos, “study of”) is the study of
how organisms interact with one another and with
their environment (including such factors as
sunlight, temperature, moisture, vital nutrients,
and all other physical and chemical influences to
which organisms are exposed). It is the study of
living organisms and their environments or
habitats.
This biome is the driest; it only receives 50cm of
ECOLOGY seeks mainly to understand interactions rainfall a year (about 10% of the rainfall in the
among organisms, populations, communities, rainforest). Its plants and animals have to survive
ecosystems, and the ecosphere. in an environment with little water and dramatic
temperature changes from day to night. Some
Ecological Hierarchies
animals and plants may find if difficult to adapt,
-Biosphere but reptiles and cacti thrive in these conditions.

-Biome This biome includes: Hot and dry, Semiarid,

Coastal, and Cold deserts
-Ecosystem
2.  Forests
-Community

-Population

-Organism

-Tissue

-Cell

-Molecules
Forest biomes cover about 1/3 of the Earth’s land
Definitions of terms
surface. They are dominated by trees and contain
Biosphere - The entire portion of the globe that many different plants and animals. Forests take in
can support life, including the atmosphere, the carbon that we exhale and give off the oxygen
oceans, terrestrial surface and below ground. we breathe in, making them really important to
our survival.
Biome – The largest easily recognized subsection
of the biosphere, based upon climate. This biome includes: Tropical,   Deciduous  and 
Taiga  (boreal  ) (Links to an external site.) forests
Types of Biomes
3. Freshwater
The world is split up into several biomes but
scientists just can’t agree on how many, so we are
going to look at six major types: Freshwater,
Marine, Desert, Forest, Grassland, and Tundra.
 This biome includes: Savanna and Temperate
grassland.

5.  Marine

Freshwater is water that has a salt level of less

than 1%. Most species living in freshwater cannot This biome covers more of the Earth’s surface
live in salt water, although there are some than any other – about 70%. Some areas are so
exceptions. This biome also plays an important deep that they can contain entire mountains and
role for life on Earth. It provides drinking water for even volcanoes. Like many of the other biomes on
humans and other animals, it is also vital for plant the planet, they play an important role.  This
growth. biome provides most of the rainwater that comes
down from the sky and it is home to some of the
This biome includes: Ponds, lakes, Streams, Rivers planet’s most diverse species.
and Wetlands
This biome includes: Oceans, Coral Reefs, and
4.  Grassland Estuaries

6.
Tundra 

It may not surprise you to hear that grasslands are

filled with grasses. However, the length of the This is the coldest of all the biomes and species
grass and the number of trees within these diversity is limited as a result. In fact, its name
biomes vary depending on the amount of rainfall. comes from the Finnish word tunturi, meaning
Since rainfall in the grasslands is lower than treeless plain. It receives even less rainfall than
rainforest but higher than desert, trees exist, but most deserts, although it remains wet because the
they are limited to growing near streams and cold temperatures delay water from being
other water sources. evaporated. Plants, such as mosses and lichens,
adapt to these frigid conditions by having a -Decomposers
shorter growing season.
AUTOTROPH
This biome includes: Arctic and Alpine tundra
An autotroph (or producer) is an organism that
  makes its own food from light energy or chemical
energy without eating.
Ecosystem – A region where plants, animals and
microbes can interact with each other and their Most green plants, many protists (one-celled
environment. organisms like slime molds) and most bacteria are
autotrophs.
An ecosystem is a community of different species
interacting with one another and with their Autotrophs are the base of the food chain
nonliving environment of matter and energy.
CONSUMER
An organism is any form of life. Organisms can be
A consumer is a living thing that eats other living
classified into species, or groups of organisms that
things to survive. It cannot make its own food
resemble one another in appearance, behavior,
(unlike most plants, which are producers).
chemistry, and in the genes they contain.
Primary consumers eat producers, secondary
Community – A region where plants, animals and
consumers eat primary consumers, and so on.
microbes can interact with each other.
There are always many more primary consumers
A population  -  consist of all members of the
than secondary consumers, etc. (this is because
same species occupying a given area at the same
energy is lost between each trophic level.
time. Examples are fish in a pond, oak trees in a
forest and people in a country. HETEROTROPH
The place where a population (or an individual A heterotroph (or consumer) is a living thing that
organism) typically lives is known as the habitat. eats other living things to survive. It cannot make
its own food (unlike plants, which are autotrophs).
Climate – or long-term weather is the main factor
determining what type of life, especially what Animals are heterotrophs
plants, will thrive in a given land area.
DETRIVORE
Components of Ecosystem
A detrivore is an organism that feeds on detritus,
The ecosphere and its ecosystems can be dead and decomposing organisms. What they
separated into two parts; living components or leave behind is used by decomposers.
biotic, and the non living components or abiotic
(such as air, water, nutrients and solar energy). Vultures and crabs are detrivores.

Living organisms in ecosystems are usually HERBIVORE

classified as either producers or consumers. Herbivores are animals that eat plants Herbivores
Trophic Levels within an Ecosystem are also called primary consumers. Most animals
are herbivores
-Abiotic environment
OMNIVORE
-Producers

-Consumers
Omnivores are animals that eat both animals and
plants. Some omnivores include people, many
monkeys and marmosets, lion tamarins,
chimpanzees, and most bears

CARNIVORE

Carnivores are animals that eat meat. Carnivorous

animals often have sharp teeth and powerful jaws.

DECOMPOSER

A decomposer is an organism that breaks down The trophic level of an organism is the position it
organic matter. Some bacteria and fungi are holds in a food chain.
decomposers. What they leave behind is used by  
primary producers.
Trophic level 1 is plants and other autotrophs
FOOD CHAIN (also called primary producers) - organisms at this
A food chain is the sequence of who eats whom level are also called primary producers.
in a biological community (an ecosystem) to Trophic level 2 is herbivores (organisms that eat
obtain nutrition. autotrophs) - organisms at this level are also
called primary consumers.

Trophic level 3 is predators that eat herbivores -

organisms at this level are also called secondary
consumers.

Trophic level 4 is predators that eat secondary

consumers - organisms at this level are also called
tertiary consumers.

A food chain starts with plants or other Trophic level 5 is predators that eat tertiary
autotrophs (organisms that make their own food consumers - organisms at this level are also called
from light and/or chemical energy) that are eaten quaternary consumers.
by herbivores (plant-eaters).
Decomposers (such as bacteria) start the cycle
The herbivores are eaten by carnivores (meat- again.
eaters). These are eaten by other carnivores.
 
When any organism dies, it is eaten by detrivores
Animals who eat the primary
and then broken down by tiny microbes
consumer.  Fewer secondary consumers than
(detrivores) and the exchange of energy
primary consumers because
continues.
secondary consumers need to eat a lot of primary
TROPHIC LEVEL consumers to live. ..

Fewer tertiary consumers than secondary

consumers than  because tertiary consumers need
to eat a lot of secondary consumers to live.
A predator is an animal that hunts, kills and eats For example, ecologists may study microbes living
other animals for food. Prey is a term used to in the soil under your feet or animals and plants in
describe organisms that predators kill for food. ... a rain forest or the ocean.
Consumers get food from a biotic source by The Role of Ecology in Our Lives
eating the biomass of producers or other
consumers. The many specialties within ecology, such as
marine, vegetation, and statistical ecology,
In the predator prey relationship, provide us with information to better understand
one species is feeding on the other species. The the world around us.
prey species is the animal being fed on, and the
predator is the animal being fed. The predator This information also can help us improve our
prey relationship develops over time as many environment, manage our natural resources, and
generations of each species interact. protect human health.

Predators are fewer in number than prey because The following examples illustrate just a few of the
they are higher up the food chain. In a food chain, ways that ecological knowledge has positively
an organism passes on only part of the energy it influenced our lives.
receives from food. With less energy, each Improving our Environment
level in a food chain supports fewer
individuals than the one below it. Pollution from Laundry and Fertilizers

1.3 || Discussion about Ecology In the 1960s, ecological research identified two of
the major causes of poor water quality in lakes
and streams-phosphorous and nitrogen-which
What Is Ecology? were found in large amounts in laundry
What does ecology have to do with me? detergents and fertilizers.

Ecology is the study of the relationships between Provided with this information, citizens were able
living organisms, including humans, and their to take the necessary steps to help restore their
physical environment; it seeks to understand the communities’ lakes and streams-many of which
vital connections between plants and animals and are once again popular for fishing and swimming.
the world around them. Non-Native or Introduced Species Invasions
Ecology also provides information about the Some non-native species (plants, animals,
benefits of ecosystems and how we can use microbes, and fungi not originally from a given
Earth’s resources in ways that leave the area) threaten our forests, croplands, lakes, and
environment healthy for future generations. other ecosystems. Introduced species, such as the
Who are Ecologists? kudzu vine shown here, do this by competing with
plants and animals that were originally there,
Ecologists study these relationships among often damaging the environment in the process.
organisms and habitats of many different sizes,
ranging from the study of microscopic bacteria For example, the gypsy moth, a native of Europe
growing in a fish tank, to the complex interactions and Asia, wreaks havoc on great swaths of forest
between the thousands of plant, animal, and lands by defoliating, or eating the leaves off of
other communities found in a desert. trees. At first, highly toxic chemicals, which also
poisoned other animals, were the only methods
Ecologists also study many kinds of environments. available to control this introduced pest.
By targeting vulnerable stages in the moths’ life
cycle, ecologists devised less toxic approaches to
control their numbers.
Public Health

Ecologists have discovered that marshes and

wetlands filter toxins and other impurities from
water. Communities can reap the benefit of this
ecological service. Leaving some of these filtering
ecosystems intact can reduce the burden on
water treatment plants that have been built to
perform the same service. By using natural
filtering systems, we have the option to build
fewer new treatment plants.
Endangered Species Protection

Some of our nation’s most cherished species, such

as the bald eagle and peregrine falcon, as well as
countless other less familiar species, like the
Virginia Big-Eared Bat and the American Burying
Beetle, have either been brought back from the
brink of extinction or their populations have been
stabilized.

These successes are the result of successful

captive breeding efforts, reintroduction methods,
and a greater understanding of species, in part
because of ecological research.