Ecology Review Chapters 6,7, 9, 10

Ecology Review Project

• Post objective daily• Get computers for 4 weeks• Presentations the following week

Week 1:• Monday• -Choose a specific area in the world that you are interested in • -Obtain basic information about the area (location, country, government, latitude, longitude)• -Citation• -USE TIME WISELY• • Tuesday• Ecosystem (Community) Characteristics• -Describe the area in terms of:• -Physical Appearance• - Species diversity• -Species Abundance• • Ecological Niches:• -Describe in detail three native organisms and explain their niche• -Citation• -USE TIME WISELY• • Wednesday• Biological Populations and Communities:• -Describe three different populations of animals found in the region each representing one of the following dispersion patterns: Clumped, Random, Uniform• -If you cannot find examples of each, describe the three that you found and explain why your environment shows that type of patterns• -Citation• -USE TIME WISELY• • Thursday:• Make –up day/ PowerPoint organization• -USE TIME WISELY

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• Week 2:• Monday & Tuesday:• Interactions Among Species:• -Describe the following relationships and give examples from your area (if there are none in your area explain why and give an example from a

similar area)• -Commensalism• -interspecific Competition• -intraspecific Competition• -Mutualism• -Parasitism• - Predation• -Saprophores• -Citation• -USE TIME WISELY• • Wednesday:• Keystone species:• -Describe the function of a keystone species• -Describe a keystone species in your area• -Describe the affects of the extinction of this species• (If there is no example of a keystone species in your area, describe why, and discuss an example from another similar area) • -Citation• -USE TIME WISELY• • Thursday:• Make Up Day/ PowerPoint organization• -USE TIME WISELY

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• Week 3• Monday:• Species Diversity:• -Discuss how organisms have adapted to your area using at least 4 examples• -Explain the benefit of these adaptations• -Citation• -USE TIME WISELY• • Tuesday:• Energy Flow:• -Create a food web from your area• -include tropic levels• -Create an energy pyramid• -Discuss an example of biomagnification of a toxin in your biome (if you cannot find one, explain why and give an example from a

similar area)• -Citation• -USE TIME WISELY• • Wednesday:• Biodiversity:• Describe the diversity of the area on three levels:• -Genetic • -Species• -Ecosystem (range of habitats, abiotic and biotic factors)• -Citation• -USE TIME WISELY• • Thursday:• Make-up/ Power point organization• -USE TIME WISELY

• Week 4 : Monday:• Natural Selection:• -Discuss the following evolutionary patterns and give an example of a trait that has evolved in that manner in

your area (if you cannot find one, explain why and discus an example from a similar biome)• - Stabilizing Selection• - Directional Selection• - Disruptive Selection• -Citation• -USE TIME WISELY• • Tuesday:• Ecosystem Services:• -Describe the services that your area provides• -Predict what would happen if the area was destroyed• • Wednesday:• Human impact:• -Describe how climate change is affecting your area• -Describe another human activity and its negative impact on your area• -Describe any laws in place that protect your area (if there aren’t any, suggest one)• -Citation• -USE TIME WISELY• • Thursday: • Make-Up / PowerPoint organization• -USE TIME WISELY

Chapter 6 Review of Terms

• What is the Hierarchy of ecology?• Define Each• Individual

– One of a specific species• Population

– A group of individuals of a specific species in a specific area• Community

– All living things in a specific area• Ecosystem

– The interaction of abiotic (temp, water, weather etc) and biotic in one area

• Biome– Similar ecosystems with similar characteristics

• Biosphere– All the biomes on Earth

Chapter 6• What are the basic characteristics of Ecosystems?• Structure: – Living (biotic) and Non- living (abiotic)

• Process: – Cycling of material and a flow of energy

• Change: – Succession

• An ecosystem is the minimal entity that has the properties required to sustain life

• Define the components in trophic structures• 1st level:• Primary Producers or Autotrophs

• Plants, photosynthesis, sun energy into chemical bond energy

• 2nd Level: • Primary Consumer:

• Herbivores (zooplankton, small invertebrates, in aquatic ecosystem)

• 3rd Level: • Secondary Consumer

• Carnivores

• Others involved in food chains– Omnivores: Eat both plants and animals– Decomposers/Detritivores: recycle dead material

• How much energy is transformed from one trophic level to the next? How much is wasted?• 10% transferred, 90% wasted

How do Communities effect each other?

• Directly through food chains• Indirectly through complicated interactions

called– Community-level interactions – Example:• Keystone Species like the Sea Otter

– A species that has a large effect on its community and ecosystem, maintains balance of community

Chapter 7 Biodiversity• What are the three factors in determining biodiversity?

– Genetic, habitat, species diversity• What is the key to understanding diversity?

– Biological Evolution• The change in inherited characteristics of a population

from generation to generation• How does evolution occur?

– Mutation– Natural Selection– Migration– Genetic Drift

Mutations• Where are genes found?– Found on chromosomes within cells

• What are the four nitrogenous bases?– Adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine

• How can a mutation result in a new species?– Sometimes offspring is so different from

parents that they cannot reproduce with normal offspring

– Mutations can be for better or for worse

What are the four principles of natural selection?

• 1) Inheritance of traits from one generation to the next and some genetic variability

• 2) Environmental Variability• 3)Differential reproduction that varies with

the environment• 4) Influence of the environment on survival

and reproduction

Migration and Drift

• How can migration lead to evolution?– The migration of one population of a species into

a habitat previously occupied by another– Example: Seeds

• How can genetic drift lead to evolution?– Changes in the frequency of a gene in a

population by chance– Can be a problem for endangered species

Modes of Selection

Symbiosis• Describe the types of symbiosis:

– Interspecific Competition: competition for resources between two different species

– Intraspecific Competition: competition for resources within the same species, Ex: mates

– Predation: one eats another– Parasitism: one lives off another/ benefits and the other is

harmed– Mutualism: both organisms benefit– Commensalism: one benefits the other is unaffected, rare

• Other important info– What is the competitive exclusion principle?

– two species that have the same niche cannot coexist in the same habitat

– What is the definition of a niche?– role in the environment, like a job description

What factors increase diversity? What factors decrease diversity?

Diversity Increasers Diversity Decreasers

Diverse Habitats Environmental Stress

Disturbance Extreme environments

Environmental conditions with low variations

Extreme limitations of fundamental resource

Trophic levels with high diversity Extreme amounts of disturbance

Middle states of succession Introduction of invasive species

Evolution Geographic isolation

Chapter 10 Succession• Describe the two types of succession?– Primary:

• No life (volcanic island)• Pioneer species (lichen or algae) make it suitable for others• Until it reaches climax community

– Secondary• Disruption of existing ecosystem (fire)

• What are some other factors that cause changes in the environment?

• Climate change, disruption, greenhouse effect, etc• Natural Changes• Ex: in studies documenting the arrival of spring and

fall in the northern hemisphere are based on when buds of a particular plants open and when the leaves of particular plants change color and fall

Describe the following Patterns of forest succession

• Dune– Dune grass grows and forms a network of underground runners– The network stabilizes the sand so that other seeds will not be blown away– Slowly larger plants can grow

• Bog– Is an open body of water with an inlet (usually a stream) but no outlet– Begins with when a sedge puts out grass like runners, they form a complex matlike network– Wind blows particles onto the mat and a soil develops– Then seeds of other plants land on the mat and grow– The floating mat becomes thicker with soil and plants– The bog can also fill from the bottom due to the stream carrying sediment

• Old Field– Abandoned farmland– The first plants to enter are small and adapted to the harsh and variable conditions– Once these plants become established other larger plants forming a dense forest

Do early succession species prepare the way for later ones?

• Facilitation– Early succession species facilitate the ability of later succession species

• Interference– Early succession species can, for a time, prevent the entrance of later

succession species • Life History Differences

– Appearance of a species is not due to other species but due to differences in transport, germination, growth, and longevity of seeds

• Chronic Patchiness– Succession never occurs, the first species remains until the next

disturbance– Occurs in some deserts

What are some services provided by nature?