Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Ecology defined
Gk. oikos household; logos study Study of relationships between living organisms and their environment; interaction of organisms with one another Environment all factors (living and non-living) that actually affect an individual organism or population at any point in the life cycle
Human-Environment Interaction
All organisms on earth including humans are influenced by the environment.
Organisms in turn modify the environment.
Behavioral Ecology
Focuses on the ecology of individual organisms Concerns how behavior contributes to the survivorship, reproduction, and population growth of species
Population Ecology
Focuses on how physical factors affect populations growth and population size Competition, predation, and herbivory
Community Ecology
Focuses on biodiversity and what influences the number of species in an area Conservation biology
Ecosystem Ecology
Concerned with the passage of energy and nutrients through communities and what effects energy and nutrients have on those communities
What is an ecosystem?
System - a set of components or parts that function together to act as a whole - parts are interconnected, interdependent, and interrelated to make up a whole - each component can be isolated and studied separately Ecosystem - ecological system - term was proposed by Arthur G. Tansley (1935) - any unit that includes all the organisms in a given area interacting with the physical environment
Ecosystem Services
The human economy depends upon the services performed for free by ecosystems. The ecosystem services supplied annually are worth many trillions of dollars. Economic development that destroys habitats and impairs services can create costs to humanity over the long term that may greatly exceed the short-term economic benefits of the development. These costs are generally hidden from traditional economic accounting, but are nonetheless real and are usually borne by society at large.
Waste treatment
Soil erosion control Nutrient recycling
Sewage purification
Retention topsoil, reduction in siltation of lakes Maintenance of nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon and other elemental cycles Irrigation, provision of water for industry Pollination of crops Regulation of pest control Maintenance of habitats for wildlife Production of crops, maintenance of livestock Provision of renewable fuels and timber Maintenance of plants and animals for medicines and provision of genes for plant resistance Ecotourism Aesthetic value
DIRECT
Water supply Pollination Biological control Refuges Food production Raw materials Genetic resources Recreation Cultural
Components of an Ecosystem
Biotic components
can be classified according to their mode of energy acquisition autotrophs and heterotrophs
Abiotic components
form the environment and determine the type / structure of ecosystem provides practically all the energy for an ecosystem
Components of an Ecosystem
Biotic components
Autotrophs: producers self-nourishing; called primary
Photoautotrophs: fix energy from the sun and store it in complex organic compounds
green plants, algae, some bacteria
Chemoautotrophs (chemosynthesizers): are bacteria that oxidize reduced inorganic substances (typically sulfur and ammonia compounds) and produce complex organic compounds
nitrifying bacteria and those that live in hydrothermal vents
Components of an Ecosystem
Biotic components
Heterotrophs: other-nourishing; cannot produce their own food directly from sunlight + inorganic compounds; require energy previously stored in complex molecules
Phagotrophs: to eat; ingest other organisms or particulate organic matter
herbivore, carnivores, omnivores
Saprotrophs: decomposers; obtain energy either by breaking down dead tissues or by absorbing dissolved organic matter; nutrient cycling
bacteria and fungi
Components of an Ecosystem
Abiotic components
Solar energy, air, water, substrate Inorganic substances (e.g., sulfur, boron, tend to cycle through ecosystems) Organic compounds (such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and other complex molecules) form a link between biotic and abiotic components of the system.
Ecosystem Model
INPUT ENVIRONMENT
Other energy
OUTPUT ENVIRONMENT
Sun
SYSTEM
=
Input of materials; immigration of organisms
Law of Tolerance
Victor Ernest Shelford (1913) states that the distribution of a species will be limited by its range of tolerance for local environmental factors
Law of Thermodynamics
1. Law of Conservation of Energy
energy must be transformed from one form into another but is neither created nor destroyed
2. Law of Entropy
measure of the unavailable energy resulting from transformations
transformations of energy always result in some loss or dissipation of energy organisms, ecosystems, and the entire biosphere can create a high state of internal order or a condition of low entropy if there is a continuous dissipation of energy of high utility into energy of low utility
index of disorder
EXPORT
Immigration and emigration of organisms
S Nutrients S Organics
Nutrient cycling
H SUN
A H
H
HEAT
Climatic factors
Climatic factors are abiotic factors like temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, movement of air and water, precipitation and evaporation of water Climate is a general pattern of weather for a particular area for over a period of time
dictated by the amount of solar energy reaching the Earths surface uneven heating of Earth produces various types of climates (conditions) controls the species distribution and composition of an ecosystem
Area designation
Group 1 and 2 3 and 4 5 and 6 Open Area Oval Freedom Plaza Lagoon Inside Main building Charlie del Rosario NALLRC Shaded area -
7 and 8
9 and 10
Open Court
Linear Park
PE Building
Gym