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Ecology. “We have become, by the power of a glorious evolutionary accident called intelligence, the stewards of life's continuity on earth. We did not ask for this role, but we cannot abjure it. We may not be suited to it, but here we are. ” - Stephen Jay Gould.
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Ecology “We have become, by the power of a glorious evolutionary accident called intelligence, the stewards of life's continuity on earth. We did not ask for this role, but we cannot abjure it. We may not be suited to it, but here we are.” - Stephen Jay Gould
Ecology – the scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organism and their physical environment.
Ecosystem a community of living things in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment
Biotic factors – biological influences on organismsAbiotic factors – physical components of an ecosystem
Observation, experimentation and modeling3 techniques used to study Ecosystems
Primary producers – first producers of energy rich compounds that are later used by other organisms
Primary Producers and Consumersabout 10% of the energy at one level is available the next
Consumers – organisms that rely on other organisms for energy and nutrients
Energy flows through an ecosystem in a one-way stream from primary to various consumers
Energy pyramids show the relative amount of energy available at each trophic level of a food chain or web.
Water Cycle – water continuously moves between oceans, the atmosphere, and land. Sometimes outside living organisms and sometimes inside them
Minnesota – aerial viewOver 15,000 lakes.More shoreline than Florida
Great LakesLake Superior – enough water in Lake Superior to fill the other great lakes and have enough left over for another Lake Ontario.
The light blue section in the center of the map spanning the majority of the United States from South Dakota to Texas is the Ogallala Aquifer.
Ground water of the world Purple basins hold easily extracted ground water.Green areas are tougher to extract or not high qualityYellow are local and shallow water sources.
The rate at which rain, snow and surface waters are able to replenish groundwater.
Carbon cycle – a biogeochemical cycle that includes living things and the abiotic environment
Some regions or processes produce carbonOther regions absorb it.
The nitrogen cycle is affected by human activities.Crops, fertilizers, emissions have more than doubled N2, available to to living things.
In the presence of sunlight and water, the productivity of an ecosystem is limited by the availability of nutrients.
Climate • A region’s climate is defined by year after year patterns of temperature and precipitation. • This is a 30 year running average map for Minneapolis, MN
Global Climate • Global Climate is shaped by many factors: • Trapped solar energy • Latitude and transport of heat by winds. • Transport of heat by ocean currents. • Presence of mountain ranges. • Orbital changes and energy fluctuations from the sun.
A niche is the range of physical and biological condition in which a species lives and the way the species obtains what it needs to survive and reproduce.
competition helps determine the number and kinds of species in a community and the niche each species occupiesSea Anemones competing for territory
Resource partitioning: some species coexist in spite of apparent competition for the same resource. Usually it is discovered that they occupy slightly different niches.
Predators can affect the size of prey populations in a community and determine the places prey can live and feed
Herbivores affect both the size and distribution of plant populations in a community. They can determine the places that certain plants can survive and grow
Keystone Species – Sea Otter eats urchins which eat kelp. The decline of otters led to the decline of the kelp.
3 types of Symbiosis:Mutualism, parasitism, commensalismRemora and Whale Shark - commensalism
