Ecology
Study of interactions between organisms and living and nonliving environment.
Biotic= living
Abiotic= nonliving
**List three examples of each!**
Interdependence
Interconnectedness between different organisms
Ex. green plants take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen; we take in oxygen and produce carbon dioxide
If one fails, all could fail!
Habitat vs. Niche
Habitat: Place an organism lives
Niche: Role an organism has within the ecosystem
Includes all resources used, all abiotic factors tolerated, offspring produced, etc.
Acclimation vs. AdaptationAcclimation= Ability of an organism to adjust to changing environmental conditions within a lifetime
Ex. New fish slowly get use to water in a new tank
Those that can’t acclimate —>
Migrate
Hibernate/dormancy
Die
Food Chain
Linear feeding relationship
Traces flow of energy from one trophic (energy/feeding) level to another
Always begins with producer/autotroph (why?)
Only one capable of adding biomass
Biomass: Organic material produced in ecosystem
Food Web
Interconnected food chains
More realistic!
All living things can cycle back to decomposers/detritivores —> why?
Energy Transfers
Less than 10% of energy is sent to next trophic level
Lost as heat
Lost to digestion/waste
Some used for survival