Unit 2 Ecology - the study of interactions

among living and non-living parts of the earth

Chapter 4 The Organization of Life

What kind of interactions take place within an environment?

All parts are connected
Changes to the environment effect the organisms living within it Changes in populations of organisms effects the environment (wolves, coyote, deer, plants)

What is an ecosystem?
All of the organisms living in an area together with their physical environment Ecosystems do not have clear boundaries but are connected with each other
Migration of life from one to the next Erosion of soil from one to the next

What are the components of an ecosystem?

Essential basic components energy, minerals, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and life
Biotic factors anything living or once living (animals, insects, vegetation) Abiotic factors non-living (soil, water, rocks, air)

What are the levels of organization within an ecosystem?

From smallest to largest Organism individual living thing Population all members of a species living in the same place at the same time Community a group of various species that live in the same place and interact with each other (made of only biotic components)
Habitat the place an organism lives

Ecosystem

Describe the process of evolution within an ecosystem.

Evolution change over time in the genetic characteristics of a population Natural selection Charles Darwin survival and reproduction of organisms with particular traits
Survival of the fittest, individuals with genetic traits that make them more likely to survive and reproduce See Table 1 pg 104 Adaptations inherited trait that increases an individuals chance of survival and reproducing Coevolution 2 species evolving in response to long term interactions

Evolution and
Artificial Selection selective breeding of organisms by humans for specific characteristics
Wolves to dogs Veggies, crops, plants

Resistance ability of organism to tolerate a particular chemical designed to kill it

Caused by humans Antibiotics and bacteria, pesticides and insects

Ch 4 Vocab Assignment
Define:
Ecosystem natural selection Species evolution Community adaptation Artificial selection

Explain an ecosystem using 5 of the words above:

Warm-up
When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. John Muir founder of the Sierra
Club, naturalist, writer

Explain what John Muir might have meant with this statement. To what extent are humans hitched to everything else.

The Diversity of Living Things

6 different kingdoms Based on the way they get their food and the type of cells How are you classified scientifically?
Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Class Mammalia, Order Primates, Family Hominidae, Genus homo, Species homo sapiens

Archaebacteria and Eubacteria

2 similar kingdoms Microscopic, single-celled Reproduce by cell splitting in half No nuclei Eubacteria: Aka = bacteria Archaebacteria extreme environments like hot springs

Plasmodium that Causes malaria.

Environmental roles: break down remains and wastes of organisms, recycle nutrients through the earth system, help with digesting food

E. Coli in the intestines to help with digestion

Fungi
mushrooms Cells have nucelus and cell wall Absorbs food from decaying organisms in soil Environmental role: natures decomposers of dead things, used in cooking, can cause disease

Protists
Diverse group of one-celled organisms ie. Amoeba, diatoms, kelp, algae
Environmental role: algae, plant like protists that makes it own food provides the bases of most aquatic food chains

Plants
Multi-celled with cell walls Produce on food using sunlight Uses root system to gather minerals and nutrients from the ground Uses leaves to capture energy from the sun Vascular tissue gives the plant support and structure Types
Lower plants mosses and ferns, damp places Gymnosperms evergreen trees with needle like leaves and seeds inside cones Angiosperm flowering plants that produce seeds in a fruit

Animals
Comsumers cannot make their own food Cells without cell walls, soft bodies Mobile Types
Invertebrates no backbone Vertebrates backbone