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Chapter 2 Section 1 Outline

I. Ecology
Organisms depend on other organisms and nonliving factors and their
environment for survival
Ecology- the scientific discipline in which the relationships among living
organisms and the interaction the organisms have with their environment are
studied
Ecologists observe experiment, and model using a variety of tools and methods
II. The Biosphere
The Biosphere-is the portion of the earth that supports life
Includes landmasses, fresh water, saltwater, lower portions of the atmosphere,
and areas beneath the earths surface
A. Biotic Factors
Biotic Factors- living factors in an organisms environment
Interactions among organisms are necessary for survival of species in the
same geographic location
B. Abiotic Factors
Abiotic Factors- nonliving factors in an organisms environment
Organisms adapt to survive in the abiotic factors present in their natural
environment
III. Levels of Organization
The biosphere is too large to study as a whole
Ecologists divide the biosphere into levels of organization to study
The levels of Organization are
organism
population
Biological community
ecosystem
biome
biosphere
The levels increase in complexity as the numbers and interactions between
organisms increase
A. Organisms, populations, and biological communities
The lowest level of organization is an individual organism
Organisms of a single species that share the same location at the same time
make up a population
A Biological Community is a group of interacting populations that occupy
the same area at the same time
B. Ecosystems, biomes, and the biosphere
An Ecosystem is a biological community and all of the abiotic factors that
effect it
A Biome is a large group of ecosystems that share the same climate and have
similar types of communities
IV. Ecosystem Interactions
A Habitat is an area where an organism lives
A Niche is the role or position that an organism has in its environment
V. Community Interactions
A. Competition
Occurs when more than one organism uses a resource at the same time
Completion is stronger when resources are scarce
B. Predation
Predation is the act of one organism pursuing and consuming another
organism for food
The organism that pursues the other is the predator, the organism being
hunted is the prey
C. Symbiotic relationships
Symbiosis- is the close relationship that exists when too or more species live
together
There are three types of symbiosis
Mutualism- both organisms benefit
Commensalism- one organism benefits, the other is neither harmed
nor helped
Parasitism- one organism benefits at the others expense