UNIT FIVE: ECOLOGY 1

(Text from Modern Biology, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston)

Chapter Eighteen (Introduction to Ecology)

SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY

Ecology is the study of the interactions between organisms and the living and
nonliving components of their environment.

INTERDEPENDENCE: A KEY THEME IN ECOLOGY

Organisms and Their Environments

All organisms interact with other organisms in their
surroundings and the nonliving portion of their environment.
Their survival depends on these interactions. The
interdependence or interconnectedness of organisms
refers to the fact that all organisms need another for
survival, and that each organism plays an important role in
nature.
Interdependence can be seen through the
relationship between plants and animals. Plants provide
oxygen for the animals, and animals provide carbon dioxide
gas for the plants.

Effects of Interdependence
As a result of interdependence, any change in the environment can spread
through the network of interactions and affect organisms that appear far removed
from the change. The removal of any organism will undoubtedly affect the others.
For example, the spraying of poisonous pesticides on leaves can be harmful to
birds such as robins. Since robins do not eat leaves, this may seem to be unrelated.
However, leaves sprayed with the chemicals eventually fall to the ground and become
leaf litter. This leaf litter is ingested by earthworms, and the poison becomes stored
in their bodies. Eating a number of these earthworms will be fatal to a robin.

ECOLOGICAL MODELS

By using ecological models,

models ecologists represent the components of an
ecological system so as to make it easier to study. A model may be physical,
conceptual, or mathematical. Models are used to help plan and evaluate solutions to
environmental problems.
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(Text from Modern Biology, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston)

LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION

As previously discussed,
scientists recognize a hierarchy of
different levels of organization
within organisms. Likewise,
ecologists recognize a hierarchy of
organization in the environment.
Although a complete study of
ecology would look at all levels, for
practical reasons, ecologists often
focus their research on one level of
organization while realizing that
each level is influenced at another.

The Biosphere
The broadest level of organization is the biosphere,
biosphere the thin volume of Earth
and its atmosphere that supports life. All organisms are found within the biosphere.
This extends to the deepest part of the ocean and about 5 to 6 miles above Earths
surface.

Ecosystems
The biosphere is composed of smaller units called ecosystems,
ecosystems which include
all of the organisms and the nonliving environment found in a particular place. For
example, all the organisms living in a pond are part of their ecosystem. Also, the
levels of dissolved oxygen in the pond, the pH, supply of nitrogen, and level of sunlight
received are part of the ecosystem.

Communities, Populations, and Organisms

A community is all the interacting organisms living in an area. Although a
community is more exclusive than an ecosystem, it is still very complex and may
contain thousands of species. Below this level is the population level, where the
focus is on the members of a single species that are living in one place at one time.
The simplest level of organization in ecology is that of the organism.
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(Text from Modern Biology, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston)
SECTION 1 REVIEW

1. Explain why interdependence is an important theme in ecology.

2. Describe one example of the effects of interdependence upon organisms in their environment.
3. Why are models used so often in the science of ecology?
4. How does a population differ from a community?
5. Define the term biosphere.
6. List the five main levels of organization in ecology.
CRITICAL THINKING

7. Assuming wolves eat deer, how could a disease that kills a large portion of the wolf population
affect the mice population in a forest ecosystem?
8. Why is the amount of sunlight important to the animals in an ecosystem?
9. Would bacteria that inhabit a cave deep inside Earth be considered part of the biosphere?
Explain.

SECTION TWO: ECOLOGY OF ORGANISMS

The place where an organism lives is its habitat.

habitat

ECOSYSTEM COMPONENTS

Ecologists separate the environmental factors that influence an organism into

biotic and abiotic factors. The living components of the environment are called biotic
factors,
factors and include all living things that affect the organism. The nonliving factors,
abiotic factors,
factors are the physical and chemical characteristics of the environment.

Biotic and Abiotic Factors

Abiotic factors include temperature, humidity, pH,
salinity, oxygen concentration, availability of nitrogen,
precipitation, and amount of sunlight. The importance of each
factor varies in each environment. Abiotic and biotic factors are
changed by the organisms living in the environment for
Abiotic Factors example, the availability of nitrogen can reduce the speed of
growth for plants, and plants affect nitrogen availability.

Additionally, abiotic factors vary from place to place and

over time. Temperature is an example of a changing abiotic
factor, as it varies from hour to hour, from season to season, and
from place to place.

Biotic Factors
UNIT FIVE: ECOLOGY 4
(Text from Modern Biology, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston)

ORGANISMS IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

Each organism is able to survive within a limited range of environmental

conditions. For example, an organism could be able to function only within a certain
temperature range. By measuring how efficiently an organism performs at different
temperatures, this range can be determined. A tolerance curve is a graph of
performance versus values of an environmental variable.

Acclimation
Some organisms can adjust their tolerance to
abiotic factors through the process of acclimation.
acclimation For
example, goldfish raised at different temperatures will
have different tolerance curves.

Control of Internal Conditions

Since the environment fluctuates in several ways, organisms must be able to
cope with such changes to survive. Conformers are organisms that do not regulate
their internal conditions; they change as their external environment changes. Cold-
blooded creatures such as reptiles could be considered conformers, since their
temperature changes as the external temperature changes. Regulators are
organisms that use energy to control some of their internal conditions to keep them
in the optimal range over a variety of environmental conditions. Warm-blooded
creatures such as mammals and birds exert energy to keep their interior
temperature constant, and are regulators.

Escape From Unsuitable Conditions

Some species can survive unfavorable environmental conditions by escaping
from them temporarily. Desert species are often inactive during the day and active
during the night in order to avoid the high temperatures during the daytime. A
longer-term strategy is to enter a state of dormancy,
dormancy reduced activity, during periods
of unfavorable conditions. Another strategy is to move to a more favorable habitat,
called migration.
migration

THE NICHE

Species do not use or occupy their entire habitat at

once. The specific role of a species within its environment is its
niche,
niche which includes the range of conditions that the species
can tolerate, the resources it uses, and other interactions with
its environment. For example, a squirrel can fill a niche by
scattering seeds throughout a forest.
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(Text from Modern Biology, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston)

Generalists are species with broad niches that can tolerate

a range of conditions and use a variety of resources. One such
organism is the Virginia opossum, which is scattered across most of
the United States. The opossum feeds on almost anything. In
contrast, specialists have narrow niches. One example is the giant
panda, who feeds almost exclusively on bamboo.

SECTION 2 REVIEW

1. Distinguish between biotic and abiotic factors.

2. Explain how migration allows organisms to cope with a changing environment.
3. What does a tolerance curve indicate about an organism?
4. How does an organisms niche differ from its habitat?
5. Give examples of a generalist and a specialist not mentioned in the text above.
CRITICAL THINKING

6. Why do different species never occupy exactly the same niche?

7. If some of the resources in a habitat are destroyed, which would be more likely to survive, a
generalist species or a specialist species? Explain.
8. A small rodent species and a bird species are adapted to cold temperatures. How might each
species survive a major temperature increase?

SPECIES THREE: ENERGY TRANSFER

PRODUCERS

Autotrophs, which include plants and some kinds of protists and bacteria,
manufacture their own food. Since autotrophs can convert energy into organic
molecule, they are called producers.
producers Most producers are photosynthetic, using solar
energy to power the production of food. However, some autotrophic bacteria instead
use the process of chemosynthesis,
chemosynthesis using energy stored in inorganic molecules to
produce carbohydrates.

Measuring Productivity
Gross primary productivity is the rate at which producers in an ecosystem
capture the energy of sunlight by producing organic compounds. The organic material
produced in an ecosystem is biomass,
biomass which is added to an ecosystem by producers.
Only energy stored in biomass is available to other organisms in the
ecosystem. Ecologists measure the rate at which biomass accumulates in units of
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(Text from Modern Biology, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston)

energy per unit area per year or in units of dry organic mass per unit area per year.
This rate is the net primary productivity,
productivity and equals gross primary productivity minus
the rate of respiration in producers.
Net primary productivity varies according to three factors light,
temperature, and precipitation. Generally, an increase in any of these variables
usually leads to a productivity increase for terrestrial ecosystems. In aquatic
ecosystems, productivity is usually determined by light and the availability of
nutrients.

CONSUMERS

Heterotrophs cannot manufacture their own food, and obtain energy by eating
other organisms or organic wastes. They are consumers,
consumers obtaining energy by
consuming organic molecules made by other organisms. They can be grouped
according to the type of food they eat. Herbivores eat producers, and carnivores eat
other consumers. Omnivores eat both producers and consumers.
UNIT FIVE: ECOLOGY 7
(Text from Modern Biology, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston)

Detritivores are consumers that

feed on waste, or detritus this includes
organisms that have recently died, fallen
leaves, and animal wastes. Many
bacteria and fungi are detritivores that
cause decay by breaking down complex
molecules into simpler molecules. They
are specifically called decomposers.
decomposers
Some of the molecules released during
decay are absorbed by the decomposers,
and some are returned to the soil or
water. Decomposition recycles chemical
nutrients by making them available to
the autotrophs in the ecosystem.

ENERGY FLOW

Energy flows through an ecosystem as one organism eats another. An

organisms trophic level indicates the organisms position in a sequence of energy
transfers. For example, producers belong to the first trophic level, herbivores belong
to the second level, and predators belong to the third level.

Food Chains and Food Webs

A food chain is a single pathway of feeding relationships among organisms in an
ecosystem that results in energy transfer. A food chain may begin with algae, which
are producers. The food chain will then continue to krill, which consume the algae.
Next, the krill are eaten by the cod, the cod are eaten by the leopard seal, and the
leopard seal is eaten by the killer whale.
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Usually, the feeding relationships in an ecosystem are too complex to be

modeled by a single food chain. Many consumers eat more than one type of food, and
more than one species of consumer may feed on the same organism. Many food
chains interlink to become a food web.
web

Energy Transfer
The pyramid shape of the diagram
at right indicates the low percentage of
energy transfer from one level to the
next. Generally, 10 percent of the total
energy consumed in one trophic level is
incorporated into the organisms in the
next.
Since some of the organisms in a trophic level escape being eaten, they
become food from decomposers when they die. The energy contained in their bodies
would not pass to a higher trophic level. Even when an organism is eaten, some of the
molecules in its body are not in a form that the consumer can break down such as
fur and hooves. Also, the energy that prey use for cellular respiration cannot be used
by predators to synthesize new biomass. Finally, all energy transfer result in energy
lost as heat.
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Limitations of Trophic Levels

The low rate of energy transfer between trophic levels explains why
ecosystems rarely contain more than a few trophic levels. With only 10 percent of
the energy available at one level passed on to the next, there is not enough energy
in the top trophic level to support more levels.
Organisms at the lowest trophic level are usually much more abundant than
organisms at the highest level, since they contain more energy and can support more
individuals.
SECTION 3 REVIEW

1. How do producers and consumers obtain energy?

2. Name five types of consumers.
3. What important role do decomposers play in an ecosystem?
4. How does a food chain differ from a food web?
5. Give two reasons for the low rate of energy transfer within ecosystems.
6. Explain why food chains usually do not exceed three to four levels.
CRITICAL THINKING

7. Describe the probable effects on an ecosystem if all the plants were to die. What if all the
decomposers were to die?
8. A student has modeled a terrestrial ecosystem with seven trophic levels. Is this number
reasonable? Explain.
9. Explain why the same area can support a greater number of herbivores than carnivores.

SECTION FOUR: ECOSYSTEM RECYCLING

THE WATER CYCLE

The availability of water is crucial to life as we know it. Very little of the
available water on Earth is trapped within living things at any given time. Bodies of
water contain a substantial percentage of Earths water. The atmosphere also
contains water. Water in soil or in underground formations of porous rock is known as
groundwater.
groundwater
The movement of water between these reservoirs is known as the water cycle. cycle
Important processes in the cycle are evaporation, transpiration, condensation,
precipitation, and percolation.
Evaporation and transpiration add water as vapor to the atmosphere. Heat
causes water to evaporate from bodies of water, from the soil, and from the bodies of
living things. Water leaves the atmosphere through precipitation.
UNIT FIVE: ECOLOGY 10
(Text from Modern Biology, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston)

THE CARBON CYCLE

Photosynthesis and cellular respiration form the basis of the short-term

carbon cycle.
cycle In photosynthesis, plants and other autotrophs use carbon dioxide,
along with water and solar energy, to make carbohydrates. Both autotrophs and
heterotrophs use oxygen to break down carbohydrates during cellular respiration.
The byproducts of cellular respiration (carbon dioxide and water) are released.
Decomposers release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when breaking down organic
compounds. Additionally, fossil fuels formed from organic remains contribute to the
carbon cycle. When these fossil fuels are burned, carbon dioxide returns to the
atmosphere.
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Human Influences on the Carbon Cycle

The concentration of atmospheric carbon has risen in the last 150 years due
to humans burning fossil fuels and other organic matter. Additionally, when forests
are cleared for agricultural purposes, there is less vegetation to absorb carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere.

NITROGEN CYCLE

The complex pathway that nitrogen follows in an ecosystem is called the

nitrogen cycle.
cycle Although nitrogen gas makes up about 78 percent of the atmosphere,
most plants can use nitrogen only in the form of nitrogen. The process of converting
nitrogen gas into nitrate is called nitrogen fixation.
fixation
Most organisms rely on nitrogen-
nitrogen-fixing bacteria to transform nitrogen gas into a
usable form. These bacteria live inside swellings on the roots of some kinds of plants.
These plants supply carbohydrates for the bacteria, and the bacteria produce usable
nitrogen for the plant. Additional nitrogen is released into the soil.
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Recycling Nitrogen
The bodies of dead organisms contain nitrogen, mainly in proteins and nucleic
acids. Urine and dung also contain nitrogen. Decomposers break down this material
and release the nitrogen they contain as ammonia, which becomes ammonium in soil.
This process is known as ammonification.
ammonification Through this process, nitrogen is made
available to other organisms.
Soil bacteria take up ammonium and oxidize it into nitrites and nitrates in a
process called nitrification.
nitrification The erosion of nitrate-rich rocks also release nitrates
into an ecosystem. Nitrogen is returned to the atmosphere through denitrification.
denitrification
Denitrification occurs when anaerobic bacteria break down nitrates and release
nitrogen gas into the atmosphere.

PHOSPHORUS CYCLE

Phosphorus is an element needed by animals to form bones, teeth, and

molecules such as DNA and RNA. Plants get the phosphorus they need from soil and
water, whereas animals get their phosphorus by eating plants or other animals. The
phosphorus cycle is the movement of phosphorus from the environment to organisms
and then back to the environment. This cycle does not normally occur in the
atmosphere, since phosphorus rarely occurs as a gas.
When rocks erode, small amounts of phosphorus dissolve as phosphate in soil
and water. Plants absorb phosphorus in the soil through their roots. Phosphorus is
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also added to soil and water when excess phosphorus is excreted in wastes from
organisms and when organisms die and decompose. Some phosphorus used in
fertilizer washes off the land into streams and groundwater.

SECTION
SECTION 4 REVIEW

1. Identify four major biogeochemical cycles.

2. Through what process does most water vapor enter the atmosphere?
3. Outline the steps of the carbon cycle.
4. Describe the role of decomposers in the nitrogen cycle.
5. Identify the sources of phosphorus in the phosphorus cycle.
CRITICAL THINKING

6. How might the removal of vegetation affect oxygen levels in the atmosphere?
7. Identify the role of bacteria in the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles.
8. Explain the statement that nutrients cycle, but energy flows.

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS

Section 1: Introduction to Ecology

Species interact with both other species and their nonliving environment.
Interdependence is a theme in ecology, and states that one change can affect
all species in an ecosystem.
Ecological models help to explain the environment.
Ecology is usually organized into five levels: organism, population, community,
ecosystem, and biosphere.

Section 2: Ecology of Organisms

Both biotic, or living, factors and abiotic, or nonliving, factors influence organisms.
Examples of nonliving things are climate, sunlight, and pH.
A niche is a way of life, or a role in an ecosystem.
Some species survive unfavorable environmental conditions by becoming dormant
or by migrating.

Section 3: Energy Transfer

Most producers are photosynthetic and make carbohydrates by using energy
from the sun.
Consumers obtain energy by eating other organisms and include herbivores,
omnivores, carnivores, detritivores, and decomposers.
Decomposers feed on dead organisms and wastes, which releases the nutrients
back into the environment.
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A single pathway of energy transfer is a food chain. A network showing all paths
of energy transfer is a food web.
Ecosystems contain only a few trophic levels because there is a low rate of
energy transfer between each level.

Section 4: Ecosystem Recycling

Key processes in the water cycle are evaporation, transpiration, and
precipitation.
Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are the two main steps in the carbon
cycle.
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria are important in the nitrogen cycle because they
change nitrogen gas into a usable form of nitrogen for plants.
Phosphorus moves form phosphate deposited in rock, to the soil, to living
organisms, and finally to the ocean.