2. Ecology
• Ecology is a scientific study of the interaction
of the organisms that existed on the earth
with each other
and their abiotic environment.
3. Ecology Study (not very important)
• To study ecology u need to identify 4 things:
1-diversity (most important)
2- distribution
3-amount (biomass)
4- number (population) of organisms
4. Ecology
• Example:
if a gardener is having a problem with insects
that eat his crops, so he has to use insecticide.
While using this insecticide, it may hurt the
soil. So this also ecology
5. Ecosystem
• the community that the gardener is living in
and dealing with and the community that we
also live in is called Ecosystem.
6. Ecosystem
• Ecosystem is typically the community or the
environment that all the living and nonliving
organisms work together.
8. Biomes
• Biomes are large, distinctive complex of plant
communities created and maintained by
climate.
9. Biotic and Abiotic Factors
• Biotic Factors: the biological influences on
organisms within an ecosystem
– Birds, Trees, Mushrooms, Bacteria
• Abiotic Factors: physical, or nonliving, factors
that shape ecosystems
– Climate (temperature, precipitation, humidity,
etc.)
– Wind, Nutrient Availability, Soil Type, Sunlight, etc.
10. Hawk Plants Insects Fish Snake Bacteria
Sunlight pH Temp Humidity
Acid
Rain
Soil
Type
11.
12. Biomes study
• A study published in 1999 concluded that there are
150 different "Eco regions" in North America alone.
But the main regions of biomes are 8 biomes:
AQUATIC BIOMES
•Freshwater
•Freshwater wetlands
•Marine
•Coral reef
•Esturaries
TERRESTRIAL BIOMES:
Deciduous forest
forest
Tropical rain forest
Desert
Tundra
Grassland
13. Tropical Rainforest
• Typically found near the equator
• Receives more than 200 cm of rain
annually
• Temperatures typically fall between
20oC and 25oC for the entire year
• As many as 50% of all the world’s
animal species may be found here
14. Tropical Savanna
• Grasslands with a few scattered trees
• Experience a wet and dry season
• Hot temperatures
• Annual rainfall is between 50 and 127
cm
• More species of grazing mammals
than any other biome
15. Desert
• Typically found between 25o and
40o latitude
• Receives less than 25 cm of rain
each year
• Temperatures typically range
between 20oC and 25oC but some
extreme deserts can reach
temperatures higher than 38oC
and lower than –15oC
16. Chaparral
• Found between 32o and 40o
latitude on the west coast of
continents
• Receives between 35 and 70 cm of
rain, usually in the winter
• Extremely resistant to drought and
weather events
17. Grassland
• Because of the dry climate, trees
are found only near water sources
such as streams
• Usually receives between 50 and
90 cm of rainfall each year
• Summer temperatures can reach
up to 38oC, and winter
temperatures can fall to –40oC
18. Temperate Deciduous
Forest
• Moderate climate
• Most trees will lose their leaves in the
winter
• Temperatures range between –30oC
and 30oC
• Averages from 75 to 150 cm of
precipitation
• Well developed understory
19. Temperate Boreal
Forest
• Also known as Taiga
• Typically found between 45o and 60o
North latitude
• Cold climate with summer rains
• Very few reptiles
• Limited understory
• Snow is primary form of precipitation (40
– 100 cm annually)
20. Tundra
• Means treeless or marshy plain
• Characterized by permafrost –
permanently frozen soil starting as
high as a few centimeters below the
surface – which severely limits plant
growth
• Winter temperatures average –34oC
while summer temperatures usually
average below 10oC
• Low precipitation (15–25 cm per year)
but ground is usually wet because of
low evaporation
21.
22. • Location: Eastern United States, Canada, Europe, China, and
Japan
• Description: Temperate forests go through four distinct seasons.
Leaves change color in autumn, fall off in the
winter, and grow back in the spring. This adaptation
allows plants to survive the cold winters.
• Plants: Broadleaf trees (oak, maple, beech), shrubs, and
mosses
• Animals: Animals living within this biome must adjust to
cold winters and hot summers by hibernating,
migrating, or keeping active all winter.
Click here to see more examples of Temperate
Forest Plants and Animals
Temperate Forest
RaccoonWhite Tailed Deer
EXIT
23. • Location: North & South America, Africa, Middle East,
Australia, and Asia
• Description: Extremely hot and dry (less than 10 inches of
rain a year). Some deserts can be cold at night
(40s or 50s)
• Plants: Cacti, small bushes, and short grasses. Desert
plants are adapted to collect and store water,
and/or reduce water loss.
• Animals: Animals in this biome must adapt to intense
heat and lack of water. Some animals never
drink water, instead they get water from the
seeds and plants that they consume. Many
animals are nocturnal so that they do not have
to combat the sun’s heat.
Click here to see more examples of Desert plants and animals
Gila Monster Sidewinder
EXIT
24. • Location: Regions south of the ice caps in the Artic. In
North America, Europe, and Siberia.
• Description: Coldest biome and also covers 1/5 of the
Earth’s surface.
• Plants: lichens, mosses, grasses, sedges, shrubs.
Almost no trees due to short growing season
and permafrost
• Animals: Every animal must adapt in order to survive.
Some have grown thick fur which turns white in
the winter. Others find a place to hibernate
during the winter months.
Click here to see more Tundra Plants and Animals
TundraArtic Fox Polar Bear
EXIT
25. • Location: Every continent except Antarctica
• Description: Grasslands are big open spaces.
There are not many bushes in the
grassland. Trees are found only by
rivers and streams.
• Plants: Grasses (prairie clover, salvia, oats,
wheat, barley, coneflowers)
• Animals: Many large herds of grazing animals such
as zebras or bison. Animals live in herds for
protection, because there are few trees and
bushes to camouflage themselves.
Click here to see more Grassland plants and animals
American Bison Zebra
EXIT
26. • Location: Near the equator between the Tropic of Cancer and
the Tropic of Capricorn. South America, Asia,
Pacific Islands, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa
• Description: Two types of rainforests, tropical and temperate.
Several varieties of exotic plants and animals. Lush
greens and vibrant colors.
• Plants: Vines, palm trees, orchids, ferns. Most plants must
compete for sunlight and nutrients due to their
dense population. The majority of common
houseplants come from the rainforest.
• Animals: Life inside the wet tropical rainforest is bustling with
slithering snakes and chirping birds. An animal
must be both smart and strong to survive in this
environment.
Click here to see more examples of Rainforest Plants and Animals
Jungle PythonGreen Winged Macaw
EXIT
27. Biomes cases
• Here is a link about the cases study of the
main biomes I the world
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/Bio
logyPages/B/Biomes.html
29. Tragedy of commons
• "The Tragedy of the Commons" is a
term used to describe what happens
to common resources as a result of
human greed.
• It was first coined in an article in
Science in 1968 by Garrett Hardin.
• The commons dilemma was seen long
before Hardin, but he brought
widespread attention to it.
30. Ecosystem services
• Humans use the ecosystem services
• Ecologists grouped ecosystem services into four
broad categories:
• provisioning, such as the production of food and
water.
• regulating, such as the control of climate and
disease.
• supporting, such as nutrient cycles and crop
pollination.
• cultural, such as spiritual and recreational benefits.
31. Example of Hardin
• The example Hardin uses to illustrate the Tragedy of
the Commons is of a group of ranchers and a shared
land area. Each farmer is assumed to be keeping their
own cattle on the land, from which they yield a
personal profit, but the land is assumed to be
collectively shared, or leased from a government. Each
additional head of cattle has a cost and a gain
associated with it: the cost is in land use and wear on
the land, while the gain has to do with the profit that
can be reaped from that cattle. The trick is, when a
rancher adds a cow to his herd, he gains all the benefit
of the extra cow, while sharing only a small portion of
the cost in terms of land use.
32. Energy flows in an ecosystem
• The biotic community of any ecosystem can
be divided simply into producers, consumers
and decomposers.
33. producer
• A: Producers: Photosynthesizing organisms
• Producers are any kind of green plant. Green
plants make their food by taking sunlight and
using the energy to make sugar. The plant uses
this sugar, such as wood, leaves, roots, and
bark. Trees, such as they mighty Oak, and the
grand American Beech, are examples of
producers.
34. Consumers
• B. Consumers: any organism that can’t make its
own food
• Consumers have to feed on producers or other
consumers to survive. Deer are herbivores, which
means that they only eat plants (Producers).
Bears are another example of consumers. Black
bears are omnivores and scavengers, like skunks
and raccoons, which means that they will eat just
about anything. In a forest community, Black
Bears will eat blueberries, bugs, acorns, and
many kinds of nuts.
35. Decomposer
• C. Decomposers: An organism that primarily feeds
on dead organisms or the waste from living
organisms
• Decomposers are the garbage men of the animal
kingdom; they take all the dead animals and plants
(consumers and decomposers) and break them
down into their nutrient components so that
plants can use them to make more food.
Decomposers in the forest come in many different
shapes and sizes. Shelf fungus is a fungus that
grows on the sides of trees. It grows into the tree
and decomposes it slowly.
38. plankton
• Plankton (singular plankter) are a diverse group of
organisms that live in the water column and cannot
swim against a current.[1] They provide a crucial
source of food to many large aquatic organisms, such
as fish and whales.
• These organisms include drifting animals, protests,
archaea, algae, or bacteria that inhabit the pelagic zone
of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water; that is,
plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather
than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification.
39. phytoplankton
• One of the most important plants in the sunlit
zone is also the smallest. Phytoplankton are
organisms that float on or near the surface of
the water. Most are rounded and single-celled.
All phytoplankton use photosynthesis for their
energy, but some get additional energy by
consuming other organisims.
40. zooplankton
• Zooplankton are ocean animals that don't swim
at all or are very weak swimmers, and they drift
or move with ocean currents. They can be found
in the sunlit zone and in deep ocean waters.
Zooplankton range in size from tiny microbes to
jellyfish.
• Zooplankton, or animal plankton, may spend
their entire lives as plankton at the mercy of the
currents (holoplankton); or as meroplankton,
existing as plankton for a short time during their
development. are tiny, single-celled organisms.
41. Measuring the biomass
• Ex: (in book) :
• If we have the total biomass of a kind of fish
we divide it by the mass of each one to get the
number of fish that is exist in the world
42. Measuring the consumption
• If this number of fish consume a specific mass
of plankton, we need to multiply this number
of fish by the mass that each on consume to
get the total mass that the kind consume
43. Measuring and Ecology
• If human affected on the food chain by any
effect, this will make some organisms increase
and the other decrease.
