Ecology

Learning objectives:
Develop your knowledge and
understanding of:

– Terms used in ecology

– Biotic and abiotic factors: Food

chains and webs

– Special feeding relationships

(symbiosis)

– Soil - Edaphic factor

– Cycles of nature/Ecological
Cycles

– Sampling techniques
 Terms in ecology
Learning objectives:
Develop your knowledge and understanding of:
– Define specific terms used in ecology
– Discuss the impact of abiotic factors on
the distribution of living organisms.
– Discuss adaptations of organisms to
thrive in various environments.
 Terms in ecology
Learning objectives:
• Define specific terms used in
ecology.
• Discuss the impact of abiotic
factors on the distribution of
living organisms.
• Discuss adaptations of
organisms to thrive in
various environments.
 WHAT IS
ECOLOGY?
Ecology- the scientific study
of interactions between
organisms and their
environments, focusing on
energy transfer

Ecology is a science of
relationships among living
and non-living things
 WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY
ENVIRONMENT?
The environment is
made up of two
factors:
• Biotic factors- all
living organisms
inhabiting the Earth
• Abiotic factors-
nonliving parts of
the environment (i.e.
temperature, soil,
light, moisture, air
currents, pH, salinity)
Biospher
e
Ecosyste
m
Communit
y
Population

Organism
Ecosystems have levels of organisation:
1)Individuals – an organism of a species
eg magpie
2)Population – all organisms of a species
in a specific habitat eg flock of magpie
in the park
3)Community – all the populations in a
given habitat eg all the species in the
park
4)Ecosystem - the community of
organisms and the abiotic conditions
affecting the habitat eg all the species
and the non-living aspects of the park
 Ecosystem
▪ All biotic (living)
and abiotic (non-
living)
components and
their interactions
with each other.

▪ These interactions
occur in a defined
area, however, this
area is not limited by
size (e.g. forest,
meadow, log).
Ecosystem
▪ Ecosystems are
characterized by flow
of energy through
food webs,
production and
decomposition of
organic matter, and
cycling of nutrient
elements.
Trophic Level
▪ Trophic levels are
the feeding
position in a food
chain such as
primary producers,
herbivore,
primary carnivore,
etc.

▪ Green plants form

the first trophic
level, the
Trophic Levels
▪ Herbivores form
the second
trophic level.

▪ Carnivores form
the third and
even the fourth
trophic levels.
Pyramid of Energy Flow
▪ A pyramid of
energy flow
displays how
energy is
distributed
within a food
chain.

▪ It displays the
amount of energy
absorbed at each
level, the amount
of energy that is
consumed by the
higher trophic level
and the amount of
energy lost to heat
 Consumers
▪ All the organisms that
can not make their own
food (and need
producers) are called
heterotrophs.

▪ In an ecosystem
heterotrophs are called
consumers because
they depend on
others. They obtain
food by eating other
organisms.
Producers
▪ Organisms, such
as plants, that
produce their
own food are
called
autotrophs.

▪ They are called

producers
because all of
the species of
the ecosystem
Decomposers
▪ Decomposers and
scavengers break
down dead plants
and animals.

▪ They also break

down the waste
eliminated by other
organisms.
Detritivores
▪ Organisms that
recycle
decomposing
organic material,
returning it into the
food chain.

▪ E.g. Earthworms eat

rotting plant leaves
and other debris.
Dung beetles eat
feces.
 Organism - any unicellular or
multicellular form exhibiting all of
the characteristics of life, an
individual.
• The lowest level of
organization
 POPULATIO
✔ N group of
a
organisms of one
species living in the
same place at the
same time that
interbreed
✔Produce fertile
offspring
✔Compete with each
other for resources
Community - several
interacting populations that
inhabit a common
environment and are
interdependent.
Ecosystem - populations in a
community and the abiotic
factors with which they
interact (ex. marine,
terrestrial)
Ecosystems are complex, depicting
organisms relationships with biotic and
abiotic factors and their environments
Examples include a desert or a marsh
 Biosphere - life supporting
portions of Earth composed
of air, land, fresh water, and
• salt water.
The highest level of
organization
 Habitat vs.
Niche
Niche - the role a species
plays in a community; its
total way of life

Habitat- the place in

which an organism lives
out its life
 Habitat vs.
Niche
A niche is determined by
the tolerance limitations
of an organism, or a
limiting factor.

Limiting factor- any biotic

or abiotic factor that
restricts the existence of
organisms in a specific
environment.
 Habitat vs.
Niche
Examples of limiting
factors -

• Amount of water
• Amount of food
• Temperature
• Amount of space
• Availability of mates
 Biotic and abiotic factors
Learning objectives:
• Identify the position of producers and consumers in a
food chain
• Identify food chains from the following habitats:
terrestrial and aquatic (marine and freshwater)
• Identify herbivores, carnivores and omnivores
• Identify predator prey relationships in a habitat
• Describe adaptations of both predator and prey
• Construct food chains and webs with no less than four
trophic levels
• Explain the role of decomposers
• Explain the flow of energy in food chains and webs
• Construct the types of ecological pyramids.
• State the limitations of each type of pyramid.
 Key concepts

Biotic factors include

• Availability of food – directly affects population
sizes, dictating ability to survive and reproduce
• Predators – interdependence between predators
needing food and prey thriving in their absence
• Pathogens – can cause natural selection by killing
off a subsection of a population or community
• Competition for resources – food, mates, water or
territory/space can be competed for by members
of a population or a community
 Key concepts

Abiotic factors include

• Light intensity – affects photosynthesis rate and thus
plant growth and food availability.
• Moisture levels – affect both animals and plants directly
as they require water for life
• Temperature – can affect species migration and changes
like global warming can change habitats
• Soil/water pH – can affect distribution of plants which can
affect other organisms
• Climate conditions – some organisms are specialised to
deal with specific environments and changes like global
warming can make a habitat unviable
Food chain- simple diagram
that shows how matter and
energy move through an
ecosystem from on organism
to another
• Food chains consist of two
main groups of organisms
1.Producer e.g.
(aquatic)
phytoplankton, mosses
2. Consumer
 Niche
Producer- all
autotrophs
(plants), they
trap energy
from the sun

• Bottom of the
food chain
Producer (trophic level 1)
Primary consumer (trophic level 2)
Secondary consumer (trophic
level 3) Tertiary consumer
 Trophic
Levels

Limited to 4 trophic levels due to

a decrease in energy from
one level to the next.
Loss of Energy at Trophic Levels

Used by organisms for

respiration, growth,
reproduction.

Loss in the form of heat and

excretory products urine,
faeces.

NB. ~ 10% is transferred at each

level
 For you to do:
• Constructing food chains:

• 1. Aquatic ( marine ,
freshwater)
• 2. Terrestrial
Special feeding techniques
(symbiosis)
Learning
objectives:
• Describe
 parasitism,
 mutualism and
 commensalism,
providing
suitable
examples
 Feeding
Relationships
Consumer-all heterotrophs:
they ingest food containing
the sun’s energy
□Herbivores
□Carnivores
□Omnivores
□Decomposers
 Feeding
Relationships

CONSUMERS
1.Primary
consumers
• Eat plants
• Herbivores
• Secondary,
tertiary
… consumers
• Prey animals
• Carnivores
 Feeding
Relationships Consumer-
•Carnivores-eat
Predators meat
– Hunt prey
animals for
food.
 Feeding
Relationships Consumer-
• Scavenge
Carnivores- eat meat
rs
– Feed on
dead
animals
 Feeding
Relationships

Consumer- Omnivores -eat

both plants and animals
 Feeding
Relationships
Consumer-
Decompos
ers
• Breakdown the
complex
compounds of
dead and decaying
plants and animals
into simpler
molecules that can
be absorbed
 Trophic
Levels
• Each link in a food chain is
known as a trophic level.
• Trophic levels represent a
feeding step in the transfer
of energy and matter in an
ecosystem.
Soil – Edaphic factors

Learning objectives:
• State the major components
of the soil
• State the importance of soil
to living organisms
Sampling techniques

Learning objectives:
• Carryout simple ecological
• study using appropriate
collecting and sampling
methods
Cycles of nature/ecological
cycles

Learning objectives:
– Explain the importance of
reusing materials
– The Carbon Cycle
The carbon cycle – carbon moves between
the atmosphere to photosynthesisers & the
sea, predators and rocks before being
returned to the environment by decay,
respiration or human activity
 EnvironmentalKey concepts
changes like global Biodiversity defines the assortment of
warming can have negative effects like organisms present in n area, considering
food chains & webs, habitats or ecosystems
reduction of polar ice which makes
hunting for polar bears much harder Humans interactions with the ecosystem
but can also be positive as the reduced can be negative including:
number of polar bears can increase the Deforestation – loss of many producers,
populations of species polar bears prey often for crops
on like seals
Pyramids can pictorially show a Urbanisation – building cities, homes,
factories, transport systems & creating
food chain’s trophic levels and the waste
biomass of organisms
Pollution – dumping waste, releasing gases
in atmosphere and contaminating water
Trophic levels always decrease as
autotrophs get 100% of the energy Extraction - fracking and quarrying &
mining for minerals and coal
available to pass on to the next Both biodiversity and food
level, primary, secondary and security can be improved by
conservation:
tertiary consumers will not be able
to obtain all the energy put into Guaranteeing future food
what they eat as they use enrgy for supply eg by stopping
overfishing
digestion or the food and other
Food security is an increasingly
processes important issue, affected by: Protecting endangered species
– preventing disruption of the
Biomass looks at the mass of living Steady increase of world’s population food chain can avoid
materia on each trophic level, each additional loss of biodiversity
Threats from weeds, pests and
is drawn to scale pathogens
Programmes create jobs and
Environmental conditions, which are ecotourism can generate good
becoming increasingly erratic with global income
warming
Medical research can benefit
Human activity like pollution, overfishing, from the survival of potential
intensive farming or profiteering active ingredients yet to be
discovered
 Past exam questions

Plants absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide for use

The desired gene is identified in a high sugar producing plant during photosynthesis which uses carbon to produce
and removed using enzymes then inserted into the rye grass glucose which is either used for respiration or eaten by
genome using more enzymes a woodland herbivore/omnivore. This
herbivore/omnivore may then be eaten by a predator,
transferring what energy isn’t lost from respiration. As
organisms along the food chain excrete or die
detritivores decompose the non-living matter which
1) Concerns about the health of the cow after releases carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere
eating the GM rye grass
generate carbon dioxide from respiration
2) Concerns about the effect on the ecosystem
 Past exam questions

Too little
variation in
the numbers
despite the
changing
oxygen
levels
Freshwater louse

Group 2
measured
using only
whole
number,
making their
data less
accurate
More councils composting could
reduce landfills and produce fertilisers
to provide more plants with the
The sewage will contain decomposing nutrients and fund the scheme
bacteria which will use more oxygen for through fertiliser sales
respiration, depleting levels in this part
of the river
 Past exam questions

1) Increased rate of decay with higher

temperatures because detritivores
are more active in hotter conditions

2) Leaves from region B were decayed

more rapidly in higher temperatures

Decomposers respire, releasing

carbon dioxide from digested
waste or dead organisms Deforestation disrupts the carbon cycle,
removing photosynthesisers which would
1) Trees are cut down to produce
normally take more carbon dioxide from the
lumber atmosphere and release more oxygen into it.
Additional carbon is released by the burning of
1) Rate of decay increased by higher 2) Trees may be cleared for urban wood, decomposition of dead matter and
temperatures development additional pastoral farming could release more
carbon through waste gas and excrement.
2) Rate of decay increased by higher Increased respiration of farm animals and
oxygen concentrations decomposers with the decreased photosynthesis
will lead to less oxygen in the atmosphere and
less carbon.
 Past exam questions

Temperature
Predators

1) Potamogeton plants are taller so they

outcompete the Nitel plants for light

2) Taller plants are likely to have long

roots for support so Potamogeton plants
may also outcompete the Nitel plants
for soil nutrients

Staying in the shade will help the gazelle to

stay cool and avoid water loss through The section would be measured using
sweat
tape to locate (an) appropriate
quadrant(s) to sample. These quadrants
4 limpets + 2 barnacles = 6 animals can then be used to determine the
proportioning of the area to the sample
so cover can be estimated
Using less oxygen means less water is
release fro aerobic respiration and less
breathing to facilitate respiration means
Only 1 species was observed less water lis ost through exhalation
 Glossary Predator prey
population size
Rates of decay can be affected by:
relationships
• Oxygen availability for respiration
• Temperature conditions as reactions require warmth but enzymes are
likely to denature over 50oC
• Water concentrations, moist conditions increase the rate of
decomposition but too much water in soil can reduce the oxygen content
causing less efficient anaerobic reactions which release methane
• Concentration of decomposers as higher concentrations increase the
rate of decomposition and digestion

Efficiency of
energy transfer
through trophic
levels can be
calculated

energy available/transferred to the next level

Efficiency = ------------------------------------------------------------- x 100
energy that was available to the previous level
 Glossary
Distribution of organisms in an area
can be investigated using transects
to measure along a gradient and
quadrants to get a random sample
of percentage cover, population
density and population size

number in 1st sample x number in 2nd sample

Population
= ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
size
number in 2nd sample previously marked in 1st sample

Distribution of animals can also be examined by using catch and release Kite diagrams show abundance
methods including using a pooter, a pitfall trap or an insect net and distribution of organisms