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Ecology: Unit 1: The Study of Life A. Treacy
Ecology: Unit 1: The Study of Life A. Treacy
Ecology: Unit 1: The Study of Life A. Treacy
Treacy
Ecology
Ecology
Ecology= the study of the interactions between living things and their environment.
Ecosystem= a group of clearly distinguished organisms that interact with their environment as a unit.
Biosphere= the part of the planet containing living organisms.
Habitat= a place where a plant or animal lives
Population= all the members of the same species living in an area.
Community= all the populations in an area.
Abiotic Factors
Altitude: Higher altitudes are cooler, wetter and windier.
Aspect: North-facing slopes are cooler and darker than south facing ones.
Steepness: Steep slopes lose water easier.
Currents: Plants and animal can be washed away by strong currents.
Exposure: Shore plants can dry out if exposed.
Biotic Factors
Food: The more food available the more organisms present.
Competition: Plants and animals compete for food, shelter and mates.
Predation: Predators reduce prey.
Parasitism: Parasites reduce and weaken hosts. Endoparasites live within hosts while ectoparasites live
on the surface of the host.
Pollination/seed dispersal: Effects plant numbers.
Humans: Can affect numbers of plants or animals.
Climatic Factors
Temperature: Affects rates of reaction in organisms.
Rain: Water is needed by all organisms and the more there is the more life can thrive.
Humidity: Reduces evaporation.
Day length: Affects flowering and germination in plants and reproduction in animals.
Light intensity: Affects photosynthesis.
Wind: Causes physical damage and increases evaporation.
Edaphic Factors
Soil pH: Affects what organisms can be present.
Soil type: Affects drainage and nutrient retention.
Organic matter: Retention of nutrients and drainage.
Water content: Affects how much is absorbed by roots.
Air content: Oxygen for roots, animals and micro-organisms.
Mineral content: Needed by plants and animals.
Unit 1: The Study of Life A. Treacy
Aquatic Environments
These have additional factors such as light, currents, wave action, salt content and oxygen
concentration can affect the diversity of life.
Energy Flow
The sun is the primary source of energy for all organisms.
Producers use sunlight to photosynthesis. Most of the energy is lost this way with only 10% being
passed to consumers.
Consumers= organisms which take in food from other organisms.
Primary consumers feed on producers (plants), they include herbivores, decomposers and detritus
feeders.
Secondary consumers feed on primary consumers, they include carnivores and scavengers.
Tertiary consumers feed on secondary consumers and can sometimes be absent in an ecosystem.
Trophic Levels
Each feeding stage in a food chain is called a trophic level.
The length of a food chain is limited by the energy available at each level.
A pyramid of numbers represents how many organisms are found at each stage in a food chain.
Pyramid of Numbers
Nutrient Recycling
Nutrient recycling is the way in which elements are exchanged between living and non-living
components of an ecosystem.
Pollution
Pollution= the undesirable change in the environment. It is caused by human activities e.g. litter,
sewage disposal, radioactivity.
Natural pollutants are smoke from volcanoes and forest fires.
Domestic pollution is household waste.
Agricultural pollution are herbicides, slurry, silage etc.
Industrial pollutants are smoke, wastewater etc.
Unit 1: The Study of Life A. Treacy
Effects of Pollution
The ozone layer has been depleted by CFC gases, freon and Styrofoam.
Increases in UV radiation causes cancers, damage to crops and death of plankton.
Conservation= the wise management of existing natural resources.
Fisheries
Issues:
-Overfishing
-Pollution
-Catching juvenile fish in smaller nets
Solutions:
-Fishing quotas
-Checking water quality
Symbiosis
Symbiosis occurs when two organisms from different species live in close association for the benefit of
at least one of the organisms.
Parasitism= symbiosis where one organism is harmed but the other benefits.
Mutualism= symbiosis where both organisms benefit.
Endoparasites live within an organism.
Ectoparasites live on the surface of an organism.
Population Dynamics
Population dynamics= factors that cause changes in population numbers.
Predator-prey numbers interact due to:
-Availability of food, which increases predator numbers when high .but reduces them
when low.
-Concealment, meaning some prey survive by hiding.
-Movement of predators, which means predators move to new areas when .prey numbers are low.