8th Grade Ecology

Ecology Biotic/Abiotic Factors and Competition: ❖ Biotic Factors includes all living parts of an ecosystem ➢ Material from once-living organisms ➢ Waste products from living organisms ➢ EX: Bacteria, dogs, flowers, fungi ❖ Abiotic Factors include all non-living parts of an ecosystem that influence biotic factors ➢ Living organisms rely on these factors to survive ➢ EX: Rain, rocks, air, temperature ❖ Heterotroph: an organism that cannot produce its own food ❖ Autotroph: an organism that can produce its own food ❖ Parasite: an organism that lives on and gets its food from its host, negatively affecting the host in the process ❖ Host: an organism that harbours a parasite ❖ Niche: the role an organism plays in its habitat and how it satisfies its needs ❖ Competition: interactions between organisms in which they have to challenge each other for resources ❖ Stable Ecosystem: an ecosystem where each organism has its own niche ❖ Unstable Ecosystem: an ecosystem where organisms have overlapping niches and must compete for limited resources ❖ Biodiversity: the variety of life forms that make up an ecosystem ❖ Limited Resources: resources that there are less of, could be caused by the following: ➢ Pollution ➢ Flooding ➢ Disease ➢ Fires ➢ Invasive species ➢ Drought ➢ Global warming ❖ Invasive Species: a non-native species that intrudes an ecosystem and disturbs the balance and stability Analyzing Food Webs: Define food webs. Tell how the competition is present in an ecosystem. ❖ Terrestrial: on land ➢ EX: deserts, plains, grasslands ❖ Freshwater: bodies of water with low amounts of salt ➢ EX: rivers, lakes ❖ Marine: salty, large bodies of water ➢ EX: oceans, coral reefs, estuaries The direction the arrows are pointing in indicates the movement of energy. Be sure you can identify the type of ecosystem, producer/consumer relationships, predator/prey relationships, parasite/host relationships, the movement of energy, and any other factors that contribute to a food web. Short-Term and Long-Term Environmental Changes: ❖ Natural Change: conditions in the environment that are always changing over time ➢ As natural changes occur, organisms are forced to adapt so they can survive the new factors of their environment. If they cannot adapt, they must migrate or they will die out and the species could potentially go extinct. ❖ Short-Term Change: a change in the environment that occurs quickly, not allowing organisms time to adapt ➢ EX: volcanic eruptions, flooding, tornadoes ❖ Long-Term Change: a change in the environment that occurs slowly over time, affecting organisms over generations ➢ EX: global warming, oil spills ❖ Genetic Variation: an adaptation in genetic traits that allows an organism to better survive in their environment; differences in genes of organisms ❖ Human Effects on Environmental Changes: ➢ Pollution: waste disposal, energy production, climate change ➢ Oil Spills: short-term change ➢ Urbanization: short-term change, organisms lose their habitat ❖ Biodiversity: the variety of all life forms on Earth-different plants and animals that make up an ecosystem ➢ More diversity = more stability ➢ Less diversity = less stability ❖ Biome: a major ecological community characterized by the predominant vegetation and organisms to that particular environment ❖ Adaptation: a change that occurs in the body of an animal or in the way it behaves in response to a changing environment ➢ Physical: a change in the body/appearance of an animal ➢ Behavioral: a change in the way an animal behaves Human Interactions with the Oceans Human Dependence: The ocean covers around 70% of the Earth’s surface. We depend on the oceans for many things, including supporting our basic ways of life. ❖ Oxygen release and carbon dioxide intake ➢ The ocean exudes over 50% of the world’s oxygen ➢ The ocean takes in large amounts of carbon dioxide ❖ Transportation between continents ➢ The ocean allows us to travel between all seven continents ➢ The ocean is where over 90% of global trade occurs ❖ Regulation of the climate ➢ The ocean is responsible for transporting the diffusion of heat across the globe ❖ Provides food ➢ The ocean provides an abundance of food sources for over 3.5 billion people Our Impact: While the ocean is always giving so much to humans, many people do not treat it with the same kindness. Through many events, our negative impact on the ocean harms it greatly, and in turn, hurts us. ❖ Oil Spills ➢ Caused by accidents involving pipelines, drilling rigs, large ships, and other factors ➢ Pollutes the environment and harms marine life ■ Those that consume the plants and animals affected by the oil spills and lived could experience health problems ➢ Millions of gallons of oil are in the ocean and negatively affecting everything around them ❖ Algal Blooms ➢ Caused by runoff of fertilizer and pesticides and erosion of soil that has been fertilized ➢ Algae produce toxins that harm marine life as well as humans ■ Drinking and even being near affected water has drastic effects on humans ➢ We can try to prevent them by using fertilizers and pesticides with less harmful chemicals ❖ Coral Bleaching ➢ Caused by deforestation, the burning of fossil fuels, and climate change overall ➢ Raised water temperatures cause coral to release the chemical that gives them color, causing them to turn white and “bleach” ➢ Coral provide an ecosystem for billions of sea animals, are a large food source for millions of people, and are a large contributor to oceanic economies There are some people out there, though, that are doing whatever they can to give back to the ocean. ❖ Artificial Reefs ➢ Man-made reefs made to give marine life habitats that may have been destroyed ➢ Provide shelter and food for marine life ➢ Many are made with lots of recycled parts