Professional Documents
Culture Documents
• Ecology
– The study of interactions between organisms and the
environment
• Ecosystem:
– A community of organisms and its physical
environment
• The biosphere:
– The global ecosystem, the sum of all the planet’s
ecosystems
Organisms and the
Environment
• The environment of any organism
includes
– Abiotic, or nonliving components
– Biotic, or living components. (All the
organisms living in the environment are the
biota)
Earth’s climate changes rapidly
and a climate changes
Subfields of Ecology
Organismal ecology
• Studies how an organism’s structure,
physiology, and behavior meet the
challenges posed by the environment
Population ecology.
What environmental
factors affect the
reproductive rate of
deer mice?
Community ecology
• Deals with the whole range of interacting
species in a community
Community ecology.
What factors influence
the diversity of species
that make up a
particular forest?
Ecosystem ecology
• Emphasizes energy flow and chemical
cycling among the various biotic and
abiotic components
Ecosystem ecology. What
factors control photosynthetic
productivity in a temperate
grassland ecosystem?
Landscape ecology
• Deals with ranges of ecosystems and how
they are arranged in a geographic region
The “Big”
Picture
Ecology and Environmental Issues
• Silent Spring 1962 warned that
(Book)
Palearctic
Nearctic
Tropic
of Cancer Oriental
(23.5N)
Ethiopian
Equator
Neotropical
(23.5S)
Tropic of Australian
Capricorn
Dispersal and Distribution
• Dispersal
– Is the movement of individuals away from
centers of high population density or from
their area of origin
– Contributes to the global distribution of
organisms
Natural Range Expansions
• Natural range expansion show the
influence of dispersal on distribution
Spread of
great-tailed
grackle bird
1974-1996
New areas
occupied Year
1996
1989
1974
Natural Range Expansions
Cattle egret
Native to the Old
World.
First reported in
South America in
1877
Species Transplants
• Species transplants
– Include organisms that are intentionally or
accidentally relocated from their original
distribution
– Can often disrupt the communities or
ecosystems to which they have been introduced
North Pole
60N
Low angle of incoming sunlight
30N
Tropic of
Cancer
Tropic of
Capricorn
30S
Atmosphere
Sunlight Intensity
SEASONAL VARIATION IN SUNLIGHT INTENSITY
60N
30N
Descending Descending
0 (equator) dry air dry air
absorbs Ascending
moist air absorbs
moisture moisture
releases
30S moisture
60S
0
Arid Arid
zone Tropics zone
GLOBAL WIND PATTERNS
Arctic
Circle
60N
Westerlies
30N
Northeast trades
Doldrums
0
(equator)
Southeast trades
30S
Westerlies
60S
Antarctic
Circle
Landscape features contribute to
local variations in climate
Bodies of Water
• Oceans and their currents (streams), and large lakes moderate
(reasonable ) the climate of nearby terrestrial environments
2 Air cools at 1 Warm air
high elevation. over land rises.
3 Cooler
air sinks
over water.
Wind
direction
East
Pacific
Ocean
Sierra
Nevada
Coast
Range
Microclimate
• Microclimate is determined by fine-scale
differences in abiotic factors.
– Shade from a tree
– Wind blockage by a boulder (Rock)
– Low-lying area that collects moisture
Biomes
30N
Tropic of
Cancer
Equator
Continental
Tropic of shelf
Capricorn
30S
Key
Littoral
zone Limnetic 0
zone Photic zone
200 m
Continental Pelagic
shelf zone
Benthic Aphotic
Photic zone zone
zone
Pelagic
Benthic
zone
zone
Aphotic
zone
2,500–6,000 m
Abyssal zone
(deepest regions of ocean floor)
(a) Zonation in a lake. The lake environment is generally classified on the basis (b) Marine zonation. Like lakes, the marine environment is generally
of three physical criteria: light penetration (photic and aphotic zones), classified on the basis of light penetration (photic and aphotic zones),
distance from shore and water depth (littoral and limnetic zones), and distance from shore and water depth (intertidal, neritic, and oceanic
whether it is open water (pelagic zone) or bottom (benthic zone). zones), and whether it is open water (pelagic zone) or bottom (benthic
and abyssal zones).
Lakes
LAKES
WETLANDS
CORAL REEFS
• Climate
– largely determines the distribution and
structure of terrestrial biomes
– important in determining why particular
terrestrial biomes are found in certain
areas
Climate and Terrestrial Biomes
• climograph
30
Annual mean temperature (ºC)
Temperate
broadleaf
15
forest
Coniferous
forest
0
Arctic and
alpine
tundra
15
100 200 300 400
30N
Tropic of
Cancer
Equator
Tropic of
Capricorn
30S
TROPICAL FOREST
DESERT
SAVANNA
CHAPARRAL
TEMPERATE GRASSLAND
TUNDRA