Ecology of Life PDF

ECOLOGY OF LIFE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING  Joel R. Ani  Edgardo M. Angub  Ronian Anguring  Joseph Amparo What is Ecology? Ecology is the scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environ...

ECOLOGY OF LIFE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING  Joel R. Ani  Edgardo M. Angub  Ronian Anguring  Joseph Amparo What is Ecology? Ecology is the scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environments, focusing on energy transfer. It is the study of the distributions, abundance, share affects, and relations of organisms and their interactions with each other in a common environment.  Ecology of Life Environment The conditions that surround someone or something and influences and affects growth, health, progress, etc. the environment is made up of two factors; biotic and abiotic factors. Biotic Factors- all living organisms that inhabit the Earth. Abiotic Factors- non-living parts of the environment that includes: temperature, soil, light, moisture and air currents. Ecosystem An ecosystem consists of all organisms living in a particular area, as well as non- living, physical components of the environment with which the organism interact, such as soil, water, air and sunlight.  Ecology of Life Any unicellular or multicellular form exhibiting all the characteristics of life, an individual. ORGANISM The lowest level of organization. A group of organisms of one species living in the same at the same time that interbreed and compete with each other for POPULATION resources (ex. Food, mates, habitat). Several interacting populations that inhabit a common environment and are interdependent. COMMUNITY Populations in a community and the abiotic factors with which they interact. Examples, marine and ECOSYSTEM terrestrial. Life supporting portions of Earth composed of air, land, fresh BIOSPHERE water and salt water. Ecology of Life Habitat vs. Niche Habitat – the place in which an organism lives. Like an address. Niche –the role a specie plays in a community. Like a job. Limiting Factor – any abiotic or biotic factor that restricts the existence of an organism in a specific environment. A niche is determined by the tolerance limitations of an organism or a limiting factor. Ecology of Life Feeding Relationship There are three types of feeding relationship. 1.Producers – Consumer 2.Predator – Prey 3.Parasite – Host Producers (autotrophs) Bottom of the food chain. Consumer (heterotrophs) Herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, decomposers. Ecology of Life Symbiotic Relationships Symbiosis – two species living together. Three types of symbiosis: 1.Commensalism One species benefits and the other is neither harmed nor helped. 2.Parasitism One species benefits (parasite) and the other is harmed (host). 3.Mutualism Beneficial to both species.  Ecology of Life 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. Biomass – the amount of organic matter comprising a group of organisms in a habitat. Energy is transferred upwards but is diminished with each transfer. Food chain – a model that shows the relationship between the consumer and the producers and how the energy can be transferred from one consumer to another consumer. Food web – shows all possible feeding relationships in a community at each trophic level. A representation of an interconnected food chains. Fig 1. Trophic Levels Fig. 2 Food Chain Fig. 3 Food Web  Ecology of Life Nutrient Cycle The cycle maintains hemeostasis (balance) in the environment. There are three cycles to know: 1.Water cycle Evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation. 2.Carbon cycle Photosynthesis and respiration cycle carbon and oxygen through the environment. 3.Nitrogen cycle Atmospheric nitrogen makes up nearly 78% - 80% of air. Organisms can’t use it in that form. Lightning and bacteria convert nitrogen into usable forms. Only in certain bacteria and industrial technologies can fix nitrogen. Fig. 4 Water Cycle Fig. 5 Carbon Cycle Fig 6. Nitrogen Cycle  Ecology of Life Nutrient Cycle – Nitrogen Cycle Nitrogen cycle Nitrogen fixation – convert the atmospheric nitrogen into ammonium which can be used to make organic compounds like amino acids. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria: Some live in a symbiotic relationship with plants of the legume family (soybeans, clover, peanuts). Some nitrogen-fixing bacteria lives in free soil. Nitrogen- fixing cyanobacteria are essential to maintain the fertility of semi-aquatic environments like rice paddies.  Ecology of Life Thank you for listening. We hope you learned something from us. God bless!