Ecology

Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and with their environment.

Characteristics of life (how to tell if something is alive)

1) Growth
Living things become larger with time

2) Metabolism
The sum of the biochemical reactions taking place in an organism

3) Organization/cells
All living things are made out of cells

4) Homeostasis
Maintaining a stable internal environment (e.g. body temperature allows the organism’s cells to
function)

5) Reproduction
The ability to produce new organisms, passing on genetic material. (sexual/asexual)

6) Evolution
Populations of living things are compatible of evolving when their allele frequencies change over
time

7) Response to stimuli
Responding to internal and external stimuli, e.g. plants slowly moving towards a source of light

Biotic and abiotic factors

- Biotic factors
Living factors of an ecosystem or community
- Abiotic factors
Nonliving factors of an ecosystem or community

Levels of organization
1) Organism (a single living thing)
2) Population (a group of organisms living in the same area at the same time)
3) Community (all of the populations of different species in a given area at the same
time); food web is an example of a community
4) Ecosystem (all the populations and their physical environment and the abiotic factors
influencing it)
5) Biome (A large geographical area identified by its climate (temp. and precipitation) and
its main vegetation)
 6) Biosphere (all the parts of the earth which contains living organisms)

Energy cycling
The Sun is a giant ball of hot, glowing gasses at the center of our solar system. It is a ‘yellow
dwarf’ star.
- It’s heat and energy is the reason why life on earth can exist; providing warmth and light
for plants to grow - plants provide a complex food web that contains the production of
oxygen

- The Sun is also responsible for our different seasons, weather, climate and ocean
currents. Without the sun, the earth would just be a frozen lump of rock.

The Habitable Zone refers to the distance from the sun where liquid water can exist on a
planet's surface, therefore sustaining life; earth is within the sun’s habitable zone (referred to as
the Goldilocks Zone’)

Photosynthesis is a process where plants use water, sunlight and carbon dioxide to create
oxygen and glucose. Plants convert the sun’s radiant energy into chemical energy.
Life on Earth is dependent on sunlight; required to generate food and oxygen

Cellular Respiration is when an organism eats, the food is broken down in the presence of
oxygen and the energy in the food is extracted and stored. Carbon dioxide and water are waste
products.
Any organism that eats food is referred to as a “heterotroph” or a “consumer”
Food chains & Webs

Autotrophs = producers = organisms that can produce their own food

Heterotrophs = consumers = organisms that have to eat other organisms to obtain chemical
energy for life processes

Decomposers = bacteria and fungi that break down dead organisms and decaying matter

Predator = animals that hunt and kill other organisms to consume them for energy

Herbivore = organisms that eat only plants

Carnivore = animals that eat only animal products (meat) obtained by hunting or scavenging

Omnivore = animals that eat both plants and animal products (meat)

Energy flow in food chains

Food chains can be arranged in energy pyramids, which have different levels called trophic
levels.

1) Level 1 = producers: organisms that make their own food

2) Level 2 = primary consumers; they eat producers
3) Level 3: Secondary consumers; they eat primary consumers
4) Level 4: Tertiary consumers; they eat secondary consumers
5) Level 5: Quaternary consumers: they eat tertiary consumers

Around only 10% of energy stored as biomass in one trophic level ends up as biomass in the
next level (energy transfer rule); biomass is the living matter of all individuals of one species in a
single ecosystem at a given time

Why is so much energy lost between trophic levels?

Cellular respiration is needed to carry out life processes, like movement, transport of
molecules and reproduction. It also releases heat energy which is lost to the environment.
Secondly, not all food at each level is eaten nor digestible. Waste biomass/dead organisms is
broken down and eaten by decomposers.

Apex predator - highest trophic level within a specific ecosystem, limited or no predators

Summary:
Example; a tiger eats a sheep. The tiger undergoes cellular respiration to break down the
nutrients obtained from the sheep. There is energy loss as heat, or not eaten parts, as well as
energy being used for the tiger’s own metabolism. In the end the tiger only obtains 10% of the
sheep’s biomass and stores it for energy.

Ecosystems and biomes: Types of species

- Foundation species
They are key organisms that significantly influence their environment and ecosystem.

- Keystone species
Keystone species are species that have a disproportionately large impact on their ecosystem
relative to their abundance.

- Invasive species
Invasive species are non-native species that are introduced to a new ecosystem, often by
human activities, and have negative impacts on the environment, economy, or human health.

Bioaccumulation and Bioamplification

Bioaccumulation:
- Pesticides such as DDT are persistent in the environment
- Bioaccumulation is the process by which toxins accumulate in the bodies of
animals
Bioaccumulation is the process by which substances, such as pollutants or chemicals, build up
in the tissues of organisms over time. When organisms are exposed to these substances in their
environment, they may absorb them through their food, water, or air. Instead of being eliminated
from the body, some of these substances can accumulate and get stored in the tissues of
organisms.

Biomagnification/bioamplification:
- The increase in concentration of a substance such as a pesticide as we move up
trophic levels within a food web
- As we go up trophic levels, organisms need to eat more and more. This is because
there is less energy available. Because of this toxins are amplified as we go up the
trophic levels.
Bioamplification is the process by which certain substances, such as toxins or pollutants,
increase in concentration as they move up the food chain. It occurs when organisms at higher
trophic levels consume prey that have accumulated these substances through bioaccumulation.

Pests and Pesticides

- Pests are organisms that might compete with or damage crop species; pesticides are
substances used to kill pests
- Broad spectrum pesticides; toxic to many species
- Narrow spectrum pesticides; toxic to a limited number of species
- Pesticides often kill non target species
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT)
A very effective pesticide that stays in the environment for a long time, also stays in animal’s
bodies for a long time because it dissolves in their fat.

Carbon cycle
1) Carbon can be found in the atmosphere in the forms of carbon dioxide (CO2) and
methane (CH4); can be absorbed by autotrophs (carbon dioxide), such as plants for
photosynthesis —------------> atmosphere to biosphere
2) Cellular respiration (organisms (animals and humans) break down sugar in the presence
of oxygen to produce energy for their cellular processes; carbon dioxide returns to the
atmosphere —-------------> biosphere to atmosphere
3) Carbon dioxide reacts with water in the ocean (carbon sinks) to create carbonic acid;
removing carbon from the atmosphere —-------------> atmosphere to hydrosphere
4) Producers in the oceans use the dissolved carbon dioxide to perform photosynthesis
—-------------> hydrosphere to biosphere
5) Consumers in the oceans return carbon dioxide to the water by cellular respiration.
Some of the carbon dioxide returns to the atmosphere —----------------> Biosphere to
hydrosphere to atmosphere
6) When living things die, the carbon in their bodies is returned to the soil by decomposers
—--------------> biosphere to lithosphere
7) Carbon turns into fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) —-----------------> biosphere to lithosphere
8) When fossil fuels are extracted from the earth and burned, carbon that once in the
bodies of dead organisms returns to the atmosphere —----------------> lithosphere to
atmosphere
9) Deforestation returns carbon dioxide to the atmosphere indirectly; forests through
photosynthesis are major carbon sinks (storage places for carbon); when they are cut
down they can no longer store carbon —---------------> biosphere to atmosphere

Nitrogen cycle
1) Nitrogen in the atmosphere falls to the earth by precipitation such as rain or snow
2) When in the soil, nitrogen-fixing bacteria have a mutualism relationship (both
benefit) with leguminous plants, forming nodules on their roots. The nitrogen fixing
bacteria provides the plant with nitrogen and the plant gives the bacteria sugars. The
atmospheric nitrogen is not usable by the plants thus the bacteria converts it into
ammonia (NH3) or ammonium (NH4+). —---------------> atmosphere to lithosphere
3) Lightning plays a part in breaking up the atmospheric nitrogen into nitrates and nitrites,
which then dissolve in rainwater and fall to the earth’s surface as nitrates (NO3-); which
contains nitrogen. —-----------> atmosphere to lithosphere
4) Plants uptake nitrogen from the soil, and animals eat plants to get nitrogen; both use
nitrogen to make protein and DNA —-------------> biosphere to lithosphere
5) When plants and animals die, the nitrogen in their bodies is broken down by
decomposers and returned to the soil —---------------> biosphere to lithosphere
 6) Bacteria in the soil can take nitrogen from the soil and return it to the atmosphere
(denitrifying bacteria) —-----------------> lithosphere to atmosphere

Extra details:
Atmospheric nitrogen —-> ammonia or ammonium (nitrogen fixing bacteria)----->
ammonia/ammonium is converted into nitrite by ammonia oxidizing bacteria (nitrification)
—----> nitrite is further oxidized to nitrate by nitrite oxidizing bacteria (nitrification) —--> plants
uptake nitrate from the soil, nitrate is assimilated (absorbed) by plants and used for things like
protein, animals obtain nitrogen by eating plants (assimilation) —-----> dead plants and
animals are broken down by decomposers and release ammonia through the process of
ammonification, ammonia can be further converted in ammonium (ammonification) —------->
some bacteria in the soil convert the nitrate in the soil back to atmospheric nitrogen
(denitrification)

Eutrophication Summary
- Fertilizers are spread on farms to replenish the soil from nitrogen loss
- Fertilizers can leach into aquatic ecosystems through surface runoff when it rains
- fertilizers are rich in nutrients; excess nutrients in aquatic ecosystems result in algal blooms
(algae overgrowth) preventing sunlight from penetrating into the water; preventing
photosynthesis = no food
- When the nutrients are used up, the algae start to die. Bacteria decompose the algae in a
process requiring oxygen
- oxygen used by bacteria for decomposing; the ecosystem becomes anoxic (poor in O2)
- Consumers that require oxygen for cellular respiration die

Biogeochemical cycles
- Shows how chemicals cycle through living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) components of
ecosystems

4 spheres of earth:
1) Atmo-sphere; layer of gasses around the earth
2) Hydro-sphere; water
3) litho-sphere ; rocks
4) Bio-sphere; living things
Conclusion: all living things are made out of carbon; element of life. Nitrogen is important to
living things; dna and protein is made out of it
Biotic relationships within Ecosystems

Three types of relationships

1) Symbiosis
- Two different organisms associate with each other in a close way
2) Competition
- Individuals compete for limited resources
3) Predation
- One individual eats another

Symbiosis is the interaction between members of two different species that live together in
a close association

Types of symbiosis
1) Mutualism
Both species benefit from the relationship
2) Commensalism
One species benefits, the other one is unaffected
3) Parasitism
One species benefits, the other is harmed
4) Competition
Neither species benefits
5) Neutralism
Both species are unaffected (unlikely)

Types of competition
Interspecific competition is between individuals of different species (a type of symbiosis)
Intraspecific competition is between individuals of the same species

Why do individuals compete?

Food and water
Space (habitat)
Mates