Ecology

8.L.3.1 Explain how factors such as food, water,

shelter, and space affect populations in an
ecosystem.

8.L.3.2 Summarize the relationships among

producers, consumers, and decomposers
including the positive and negative consequences
of such interactions including:

coexistence and cooperation

competition (predator/prey)
parasitism
mutualism

8.L.3.3 Explain how the flow of energy within

food webs is interconnected with the cycling of
matter (including water, nitrogen, carbon dioxide,
and oxygen).

Ecosystem Organization

Ecology
Is

the study of how organisms interact

with each other and with their physical
environment

Ecosystem Organization
While

you
watch the
Individual
video define
each level
Population
Inside the
pyramid draw a
Community
representation
Ecosyste
of each level
m
Biome http://Levels
Biosphere

Ecosystem Organization
Organism a single living thing
Population all of the organisms
of the same species that share a
habitat
Community all of the different
populations in a particular area
interact
Ecosystem the living community
as well as the physical environment
in which the organisms live
Biome major regional or global
communities
Biosphere the total area of Earth
where living things are found

Environmental Factors
Biotic

Factors the living components

It has cells; grows or changes; reproduces; use

energy

Abiotic

Factors the non-living

components; the physical & chemical
components

Temperature, Light, Soil, Water

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

Food Web
Shows

feeding
relationships
between many
different
consumers and
producers in an
ecosystem

Food Chain
Describes

the

feeding
relationship
between a
producer and an
single chain of
consumers in an
ecosystem

Trophic Levels

Is

a layer in the
structure of
feeding
relationships in an
ecosystem

Food Pyramid
a

model
representing the
numbers of
organisms
consumed at each
successive level of
the pyramid

Producer
(Autotrop
h)

Consumer
(Heterotroph
)
an

Ones

that
produce
usable
energy for
the rest of
the living
organisms
on earth

organism
that obtains
food and
energy by
eating other
organisms

Decomposer
grow

on or in
the dead or
waste matter,
absorbing the
nutrients
directly into
their cells,
which are
then recycled
back into the
environment

Symbiotic
the close
relationship of two
dissimilar organisms

Competition
Two individuals vie
for the same
resources

Commensalism
One species
benefits, one is not
affected.

Predation
One individual
feeds on another

Mutualism

Both species
benefit.
Relationship may
not be essential for
either.

Parasitism
One species
benefits, one is
harmed.

Carrying
Capacity
Limiting Factors
the

maximum
population size of
a particular
species that a
given ecosystem
can sustain

The

factor that
has the greatest
effect on limiting
population growth