Ecology Bio Packet

8/3/2019 Ecology Bio Packet

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-bio-packet 1/10

Ecology is the study of living organisms and their interaction with each other and the non-

living environment. It involves trying to figure out why species look and act like they do, and

live where they do. What patterns do we see in nature? Most of the concepts are very easy tounderstand and apply. Many of them you are probably already familiar with.

This packet will be your assignment for this unit, and only one packet will be completed per

pair. Choose your partner CAREFULLY, because there will only be one grade for the

finished product. You can work alone, although it will take more time.

This packet will require investigative, independent learning. The answers to the questions will

not always be easy to find, and often, there is not just one correct answer. Completing this

assignment is going to require you to educate yourself about some topics, find your own

resources, figure out how to interpret data, and come to your own conclusions. In essence,

you will have to use some of the exact skills required by ecologists! Your main resources are

your book, power point notes, and your teacher. However, at times, you will have to use the

library and the internet as well.

Explore, and have fun!

Packet Due Wed February 14th



Species are not randomly distributed across the globe. Instead, the characteristics of species are often set by

the climate of the region. As a result, the same (or similar) species tend to appear together over and over again anywhere that climate is found. Scientists have identified seven (sometimes more) distinct biomes,

which are identified by specific species and climatological characteristics. Each biome is found in various

regions across the globe, where these conditions exist. See the map below.

Fill out the table below summarizing the important features of biomes. Average temperature is not included

in the table, because you are probably already familiar with this information.

Biome Location

example

Average

Rainfall

Characteristic

Animals

Characteristic

Plants

Other significan

Characteristics

Tundra

Taiga

Deciduous Forest

Grassland/savanna

Chaparral

Desert

Tropical Rain

forest

In what way are deserts and tundra similar______________________________?

Which biome is most important to preserve, and why?



What kind of soils do tropical rain forests have? Does this make sense given the diversity of life found in

them? Explain how this works.

For the biomes and interspecific interactions listed below, find an example, and describe the relationship (who

is benefiting or being harmed and how).

Biome Relationship

A. Tropical Rain forest mutualismB. Grassland commensalism

C. Tundra parasitism

A.

B.

C.

When both species are harmed by their interaction, we call the interaction COMPETITION. Competition

obviously doesn’t occur in all situations when two species interact. Describe, in general terms, when you

would expect competition between two species. What conditions must be present?

In order to truly understand competition, you have to understand the concept of niche. Learn about niches and

the difference between a fundamental niche and a realized niche. You will use this information for thefollowing example.



In the deserts and chaparral of the southwest, there are many species of mice and rats that are primarily seed

eaters. There are five listed below. These species all live in the same habitat, and compete for the same

resources. These mammals are different sizes, and therefore have the ability to eat slightly different sizedfood. The maximum ranges of seed sizes are given, i.e. these are the possible seed sizes they can eat.

Species name Common name Body length (not

inc.tail)

Possible Seed

Range (mm)

Actual seed sizes

consumedDipodomys merriami Merriams kangaroo rat 16cm 0.5 – 10.0

Dipodomys deserti Desert kangaroo rat 20cm 2.0 – 20.0

Peromyscus pallidus Pale pocket mouse 11cm 0.3 – 3.0

Peromyscus maniculatus Deer mouse 11cm 0.3 – 1.5

Perognathus spinatus Spiny pocket mouse 12cm 1.0 – 4.0

Your job is to figure out how these species are going to divide up the food resources in the environment so

that each species gets enough to eat. Once you have figured this out, fill out the last column in the table. Oneway to work this out is to place each species on the range of seed size. In this way, you can look for overlap,

and minimize it. First place the species possible ranges on the first line (below). Then modify these ranges

on the second line to determined actual sizes consumed.

Possible seed size (fundamental niches)

Dipodomys merriamiDipodomys deserti

Peromyscus pallidusPeromyscus maniculatus

Perognathus spinatus

0cm 20cm

Actual seed size (realized niches)

Dipodomys merriamiDipodomys deserti

Peromyscus pallidus

Peromyscus maniculatus

Perognathus spinatus

0cm 20cm

If you have completed this exercise properly, then you will have demonstrated an example of resource

partitioning. Explain what this means.



If two species of mice were unable to share the seeds, and both tried to eat the exact same seeds at the same

time (fill the same niche), then what did Gauss suggest would happen?

There are several different predators of these mice. In order to figure out what they are, you will have to learn

something about these mice.

Report your relevant findings below:

Now you should be able to identify at least two predators of these mice.

1. 2.

Dissect an OWL PELLET (Lab 36), and try to identify the prey species inside. Once the lab is completed,

attach it to this packet before turning it in.

Prey species (all types, not just mice) have many different ways that they can avoid predation. List some of

them below. Don’t forget to think about plants as well, because they have to defend themselves against predation too! Also, put an asterisk next to the ones that these mice species might use.

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You should now have some idea of the species living in the ecosystem of the mice, and can begin to puttogether a food web. At this point, you should complete the lab on food webs, Lab 38. Before you do this,

make sure that you have a solid understanding of ecological roles (producer, consumer, decomposer) and

trophic levels. When you have finished the lab, attach it to this packet before turning it in.



In the process of completing this lab, you should have learned something about how energy makes its way

through food chains. Ultimately, the amount of organisms that can be supported in an ecosystem, and thenumber of levels possible in a food chain is set by the amount of energy that enters the ecosystem from the

bottom. This leads us to Net Primary Productivity.

For clarification, define NPP below in your own words.

NPP is_________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Below you will find some data relating to several biomes and their NPP. Information is also provided about

the average latitude where each biome is found in the Northern Hemisphere. Make a graph comparing NPP to

latitude, starting at the North Pole. NPP is the DEPENDENT variable.

Biome NPP (kcal/m2/yr) Latitude

Tundra 600 90o

Temp. Deciduous Forest 5900 30o

Coniferous Forest 3200 60o

Tropical Rain Forest 8900 90o

In one sentence, describe the trend that you observe in the graph above.

________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________

There are several different reasons that you might have found this trend. For example, it might depend upon

several abiotic factors such as average temperature, yearly temperature range (max-min), average amount of precipitation, or the depth and quality of the soil. Below you will find data relating to each of these factors.

You need to use this information to decide which of the following factors seem to be significant in predicting

the amount of NPP possible in a biome.



Biome Average

temp (oC)

Temperatur e range (oC)

Average precipitation (cm)

Average soildepth (cm)

Tundra -10 29 12 15

Coniferous forest 0 36 53 34

Temp decid. Forest 10 24 125 280

Tropical rain forest 24 3 262 65

Which factors are likely to affect NPP?______________________________________

The climate of a given location is determined by the amount of solar radiation that hits that area of the earth.

This, in turn affects temperature and rainfall. If either of these factors is responsible for the trend in NPP, then

you must first be able to explain how these factors vary over latitude (as you have shown NPP does). Showhow SOLAR RADIATION changes over LATITUDE, and use a DIAGRAM of the earth to explain your

point.

Diagram: Explanation:

Now you must explain how solar radiation affects NPP. Carefully describe the connection in a paragraph

below.

In Southern California, we have the incredibly high biodiversity. This is due in large part to the fact that we

have a wide variety of microclimates present in a relatively small geographic area. To understand this, it isnecessary to take a look at the topography of Southern California. The 34o N latitude line transects Southern

California from the ocean to the state border. Draw the topography of Southern California as this imaginary

line cuts it.

15,000

Altitude (ft)

10,000

5,000

34o N

ocean state line



Now, using this diagram, draw in a warm, moist body of water traveling inland from the ocean. On your diagram, draw in what happens to this body of air as it moves inland. You should be able to predict where the

land will be wet, and where it will be dry. This is called the rain shadow effect.

So, as a rule, you should expect to find ___________areas on the windward side of coastal mountains, and ____________ areas on the leeward side of coastal mountains.

Although there are many forces that change the landscape in Southern California (not the least of which is

human building), one of the most important is fire. Fires are frequent here, and in fact, many species arespecifically adapted to deal well with fire. Before you begin the next project, review the concept of

succession, which is the process by which a community recovers after a disturbance.

Will a fire in chaparral lead to primary or secondary succession? What is the difference between the two?

In order to understand how this ecosystem will respond to a fire, you must understand both succession and the

chaparral biome. Make sure that you are comfortable with both before proceeding.

Make a list of the characteristics of pioneer species (not the a list of the species) you would expect early insuccession after a fire. You should demonstrate both your knowledge of pioneer species (in general) and of

chaparral species (specifically). Think about things like life span, reproductive rate, niche breadth, ranges of

tolerance, etc.

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Now make a list of the characteristics of the climax species you would expect to find 25 years after a fire.

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One of the things that will change over succession is the amount of nutrient cycling taking place. There are 5

important cycles: N, H2O, C, P, S. For each of the five cycles, pick one organism, and one non-living

substance where the nutrient can be found. 1) For the living organism, state how the nutrient is used in theorganism. 2) Discuss how the nutrient transfers from the living organism to the non-living object, or visa

versa.



Nutrient________

Organism_____________ Non-living substance___________

1)

2)

Nutrient________


1)

2)

Nutrient________


1)

2)



Nutrient________


1)

2)

Nutrient________


1)

2)

Which cycle do you expect to be most disrupted after a fire? Support your answer.

Documents

Ecology Bio Packet