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Understanding Ecological Hierarchy

Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their environment. There are several levels of ecological organization, including populations, communities, ecosystems, biomes, and the biosphere. An ecosystem consists of biotic and abiotic factors and requires energy flow, populations, and cycling of materials. Energy flows through ecosystems via food chains and food webs from autotrophs to heterotrophs across trophic levels. Biomes are large regions defined by climate that contain many ecosystems, including terrestrial biomes like forests and grasslands, and aquatic biomes such as oceans, lakes, and rivers.

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10 views26 pages

Understanding Ecological Hierarchy

Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their environment. There are several levels of ecological organization, including populations, communities, ecosystems, biomes, and the biosphere. An ecosystem consists of biotic and abiotic factors and requires energy flow, populations, and cycling of materials. Energy flows through ecosystems via food chains and food webs from autotrophs to heterotrophs across trophic levels. Biomes are large regions defined by climate that contain many ecosystems, including terrestrial biomes like forests and grasslands, and aquatic biomes such as oceans, lakes, and rivers.

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Ecology

BIOLOGY 22 LECTURE
Lecture Content
• Ecology defined…
• Ecological Heirarchy
• The Ecosystem
– Energy Flow in Ecosystems
– Population Interactions
– Material Cycling
• Biomes
Ecology is…
• The study of the interactions
between organisms (biotic factors)
and their physical environment
(abiotic factors)
• Gr. oikos = household;
Coined by logos = study

Ernst Haeckel
Ecologists…
• Collect information about organisms
& their environment

• Observe and measure interactions

• Look and seek to explain patterns


in interactions
Ecological Heirarchy

Levels of
Organization
Ecological Heirarchy:
Population
• Group of similar organisms that can
breed and produce fertile offspring
• Composed of a species
Ecological Heirarchy:
Community
• An assemblage of different populations
that live together
Ecological Heirarchy:
Ecosystem
• Collection of organisms (biotic) that live
in a place with the nonliving
environment (abiotic)
• Basic Ecological Unit
Ecological Heirarchy: Biome
• Group of ecosystems with the same
climate and dominant communities

Tropical rain forest Temperate grassland Temperate forest Tundra

Tropical dry forest Desert Northwestern Mountains and


coniferous forest ice caps
Tropical savanna Temperate woodland
and shrubland Boreal forest
(Taiga)
Ecological Heirarchy:
Biosphere
• The part of the earth where life exists
including land, water, air, and
atmosphere
The Ecosystem
• Basic ecological unit
• Self-contained, interdependent
system of living and nonliving
things
• Requirements:
1. Energy source and flow
2. Populations
3. Cycling of materials
The Ecosystem: Energy Flow

• The ultimate source of energy is the


sun
• Simplified flow:
Sun  Autotrophs  Heterotrophs
• Represented by food chains & food
webs
• These
Autotrophs webs are composed of several
(producers):
Create own food through the sun’s aid
trophic levels (producers &
consumers)
Heterotrophs (consumers):
Acquire food from sources other than the sun
The Ecosystem: Energy Flow
The Ecosystem: Food webs
Food webs
Sample food web: Rainforest
summarize
the movement Ecosystem
of food through
a community.
Food webs are
composed
of many
specific
sequences of
who eats
whom, known
as food chains.

Key players
in food webs:
producers,
primary
consumers,
secondary
consumers
Population Interactions
• Also known as symbioses (living
together)
• Ecological relationships between
members of different species
Material Cycling
• Although an ecosystem needs a
continuous supply of energy from
outside itself, its raw materials are
continuously cycled and reused:
– Carbon-hydrogen-oxygen
– Water
– Nitrogen
Material Cycling: Carbon
Material Cycling: Water
Material Cycling: Nitrogen
Biomes
• Composed of several ecosystems
sharing the same climatic conditions
• Make up the entire biosphere (part of
the earth where life exists)
• Terrestrial (Land) and Aquatic
Biomes: Terrestrial (Land)
Biomes: Aquatic

• Marine • Freshwater
1. Oceans: largest & 1. Lakes: enclosed by
most diverse land; still water
ecosystem 2. Wetlands: still
2. Coral reefs: warm water; may have
shallow waters high salt content
that line 3. Rivers & streams:
continents running water
3. Estuary: connect
marine &
freshwater biomes
Ocean Zonation

z one
h o tic
P
z one
o t ic
h
Ap

Ocean Zonation
Reef Formation
Fringing Reef

Volcano rises above sea level

Underwater volcano

Fringing Reef Lagoon


Atoll

Lagoon

No land protrudes Volcanic island subsides


End

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