Ecology Notes - PDF

How Wolves Change Rivers intro video ○ Trophic cascade ○ Yellowstone example Wolves dont just kill, also give life Wolves controlled deers who were overeating the vegitaton ○ Deer population controlled → cascade effect of...

How Wolves Change Rivers intro video ○ Trophic cascade ○ Yellowstone example Wolves dont just kill, also give life Wolves controlled deers who were overeating the vegitaton ○ Deer population controlled → cascade effect of plant and wildlife population growth Effect rivers ○ Regenerating forest stablaizes river banks ○ Driving deer out of certain areas helped with soil there which affected the rivers ○ (+) or (-) in populations based on cascade effect from wolves controlling deer population Wolves (+) → Deer (-) → Grasses + trees (+) → Songbirds (+) → Bears (+) → Beavers/otters (+) → Coyotes (-) → Rabbits/mice (+) → Hawks/foxes (+) → Raven/eagles (+) ○ Food web Food chain with added complexity Sample yellowstone food web: Class Notes 11/22 (Ecology II) See Homework Notes 11/22 for Ecology 1.5 Decomposers return matter to producers ○ Energy is lost as heat Class Notes 12/2 (Ecology III) slides Biotic vs. Abiotic factors in an environment ○ Biotic Living organisms within an environment ○ Abiotic Environmental like: Water ○ Ph Terrain Air Flow of energy ○ Starts with autotrophs/producers ○ Followed by heterotrophs/consumers Types: Herbivores ○ Food source is plants/producers Carnivores ○ Food source is other animals/consumers Omnivores ○ Food source is both producers and consumers Decomposers ○ Omnivorous + eat dead animals Return nutrients to ground for producers ○ Energy is ultimately lost as heat ○ Food chains Show flow of energy Start with a producer Next are primary consumer (herbivores + omnivores) Next are secondary consumers (carnivores + omnivores) Next are tertiary consumers (carnivores + omnivores) ○ Food webs Like food chains Show all eating possibilities  Not as 2 dimensional Trophic pyramid ○ = number of organisms in each trophic level ○ Biomass = total weight of organisms at their level ○ Only about 10% of energy is transferred from each trophic level to the next ○ Class Notes 12/4 (Ecology IV) Communities ○ Combination of populations Community interactions ○ Competition Intra vs interspecific Intra ○ Within same species I.e compete for mate Inter ○ Between different species I.e. producers competing for sunlight ○ Predation One organism eats another Herbivory Subset of predation where prey is plant rather than animal ○ Symbiosis 2 organisms in consistent close relationship 3 types: Mutualism ○ Both organisms benefit  I.e water buffalo and birds Birds eat of buffalo back, buffalo gets cleaned Commensalism ○ One organism benefits, the other is unaffected I.e sharks and some fish Shark offers protection from other predators and fish get leftovers, shark doesn’t care I.e. barnacles Barnacles get place to live and food access, carrier doesn’t care Parasitism ○ One organism benefits, the other is harmed I.e leeches, mites Leech/mite gets nutrients from blood, carrier loses nutrients I.e mistletoe Mistletoe attaches to a tree and steals nutrients. Seeds eaten by birds. When shit out sticks to branch where it then grows to leech off another tree. ○ Mistletoe + bird have mutualism, mistletoe + tree have parasitism.