Notes:
Ecology: Study of relationships between living
things & their environment. All life & all nonliving factors affect
each other.
Environment: All the living (biotic) & nonliving
(abiotic) things that surrounds a living thing.
Biotic Examples: lion,
tigers, bears, trees, venus flytrap, starflower, candy flower, bacteria, yeast,
amoebas, insects, humans, fungus, moss, mushrooms, worms, etc....
Abiotic Examples: Rocks,
soil, water, air, sand, dirt, ice (glaciers), fossils, buildings, roads, cars,
etc...
LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION IN THE ENVIRONMENT:
1. Organism: One living thing. (Ex.--1 zebra.)
2. Population: A group of similar life forms
in an area. (Ex- Herd of zebras.)
3. Community: A group of populations that interact
with each other & the environment. (Ex.--zebras, lions, antelopes, hyaenas,
giraffes, bushes, trees, grass, soil, water, air, etc......)
4. Ecosystem: A group of communities interacting
with each other & their non-living surroundings. (All the grassland communities
of Africa, or all the desert communities of USA, etc...)
5. Biosphere: All the earth's ecosystems interacting
with the physical environment. This includes all ife as well as the earth itself
and the atmosphere. This it what we call spaceship earth.
Roles of Living Things: How they interact:
A. Producer: Green plants. Use the sun's energy
to make food for thiemselves & others.
B. Consumers: All creatures that muste eat other
creatures to get the energy they need to live. Types of consumers include:
1. Herbivores: Eat mostly plant materials.
Ex.--Cows, horses, gerbils, ducks, brontosaurus, koalas,
etc...
2. Carnivores: Eat mostly meat of animals.
Ex.--Lions, tigers, beagles, hawks, centipede, venus
flytrap, etc....
3. Omnivores: Can eat about equal amounts of
plants & animals.
Ex.--Bears, humans, chimps, raccoon, opossum, etc...
4. Scavengers Small organisms that eat dead animals
& plants.
Ex.--Flies, maggots, vulture, hyaena, gulls, pigeons,
crows, bald eagle.
5. Decomposers: Microscopic organisms that break
down the living matter of dead creatures into nonliving soil, which plants are
then able to use again.
Ex.----Bacteria, fungi (mushrooms, yeast, & molds).
Slichter