1

Ecology: Study Guide

An organism is an individual.
A population is a group of individuals that live
in the same area, can interbreed, and share the
same gene pool.
A community is composed of all the different
populations of species that live in a given area.
An ecosystem is a collection of all the
organisms that live in a particular area along
with their nonliving, physical environment.
 Abiotic— An ecosystem has a set of
environmental or non-living factors that
define what will live there. These are
called abiotic factors. For example:
water, temperature, light, air, soil type,
topography.
 Biotic- anything that is living. For
example, all plants and animals of an
ecosystem.
A biome is a group of ecosystems that have
similar climates and dominant communities.
A biosphere is a portion of Earth that contains
all ecosystems.

Niche
This is the role an organism plays in its habitat, not just where it lives, but how it functions in that community.
Many similar species may share a habitat but no two species can occupy the same niche. When niches overlap
competition will result. For example, rabbit and a deer may compete because they both are herbivores.

Species interactions
Symbiosis – a relationship between 2 species that live in close association.
Parasitism – One organism feeds on another (the host). The host is usually harmed but not killed.
Ex. Dogs and fleas.
Mutualism – Symbiotic relationship when both species benefit.
Ex. Cleaner fish removing parasites from large predator fish.
Commensalism – Two organisms live in close association with each other.
One organism is helped by the association while the other is neither helped nor harmed.
Ex. orchids and trees, birds nesting in trees.
Predation
A predator feeds off other organisms but doesn’t live on or in them,
unlike parasites. Many predator/prey adaptations arose by co-evolution.
Predator/Prey Dynamics
Predators affect the population size of their prey, but as the number of
prey decreases so does the number of predators. The relationship is called
a predator-prey cycle, and it shows how each regulates the population of
the other in a natural setting. Problems can occur when populations are
not controlled. This may be due to introducing a new species that has no
natural predator. Some populations may also die off due to a lack of
resources. Understanding population growth is important as each
population impacts others within an ecosystem.
 2
Community stability
 The way a community comes into being is called ecological succession.
 It begins in a barren area (volcanic island, glacier retreat) where a pioneer species colonizes the region.
These species reproduce and disperse well.
 Lichens are the main pioneer species. They can break down the minerals in rocks to begin to form soil.
This process is called primary succession.
 As soil forms from decomposition of earlier plants, small plants can grow. They die and their organic
matter enriches the soil for larger plants to grow. Eventually larger and larger species can inhabit that area.
 Secondary succession—occurs in a disturbed area where soil is already in place (e.g. after forest fire).

All ecosystems change over time. As they change the type of organisms that live there also changes. Often one
community is replaced by another and this is known as succession.
Ecosystems are sometimes destroyed by natural catastrophes such as volcanoes, earthquakes, fires, floods. If
this leaves behind barren land the process that follows is known as Primary Succession.
After the volcano erupts, the surrounding land is barren, lifeless and rocky. The first organisms to colonize the
area are called pioneer species. These are usually small fast growing plants that reproduce quickly. The pioneer
organisms include lichens and mosses, which help form the soil layer so that other species may also live there.
Grasses and weeds can then grow and they often replace the lichens and mosses. Trees and shrubs colonize next
and outcompete and replace the grasses, eventually leading to a stable forest community made up of oaks and
maples. This is called a climax community. At this point equilibrium in the ecosystem is restored.
Succession also occurs when a tree falls down in a forest or in areas that have natural rainy and drought cycles.
During the rains one type of grass may dominate, but during the drought other types may dominate. This type of
succession is known as secondary succession.

Ecosystems
An Ecosystem is a collection of organisms and their physical environment all interconnected by the energy flow
between them. Despite the visible differences between ecosystems, they all possess some common features:
1. Primary producers—aka autotrophs or self-feeders. They capture energy from sunlight or
inorganic compounds and turn it into organic compounds (e.g. plants, algae).
2. Consumers—aka heterotrophs. Feed on tissues of other organisms (e.g. herbivores, carnivores,
scavengers).
3. Decomposers—heterotrophic bacteria and fungi. They secrete enzymes that breakdown organic
compounds & then absorb them (extracellular digestion). They return nutrients to the environment.
 3
Detritivores are heterotrophs that eat decomposing organic matter (intracellular digestion). They
include earthworms and they play a vital role in nutrient cycling.

Feeding Relationships
All organisms in an ecosystem can be grouped in a hierarchy of feeding relationships called trophic levels.
 Producers are at the first trophic level. When a herbivore eats them, producers give up their energy
to the consumer.
 Carnivores eat other animals.
 Omnivores eat both plants and animals.
Food chains show what eats what within a community. They all start with a producer, such as a plant or algae
that can use the energy from the sun in the process of photosynthesis. Next come the herbivores, followed by
omnivores or carnivores
Food webs are made up of many food chains. They
are a more complete picture of the feeding
relationships within a community, because most
organisms eat more than one kind of food.
Food webs show how organisms feed and help us
understand each organism’s niche or role in the
community.
For example, in the food web to the right if you
follow one of the chains you will see that oak leaves
represent primary producer, vole is the primary
consumer, weasel is the secondary consumer and the
fox is the tertiary consumer.

Energy flow
As energy flows through an ecosystem only 10% of
energy available in one trophic level is passed to the
next. 90% of it is lost as heat. When an organism eats food it does not gain all the mass of the food. For
example if a zebra eats 10kg of grass it does not increase in mass by 10kg. This is because a lot of the energy
stored in the grass is lost. As the zebra eats the grass it uses some of the energy to run and to grow. Some is
stored as fat and muscle in the zebra’s body. Some is lost as heat.
From producer to consumer the amount of energy within each
trophic level decreases.
Ecological Pyramids
Trophic levels in an ecosystem can be described as pyramids.
Primary producers are on the bottom & consumers on top.
 Biomass pyramids depict the dry weight of all the
organisms at each tier. For terrestrial ecosystems the
base is wide and narrows to the top. For marine ones
it’s inverted because phytoplankton grow and
reproduce so fast, they can support a vast biomass.
 Energy pyramids show the amount of energy
available at each trophic level. Their shape is always
wide at the bottom and narrow at the top.
 4
Cycles:
Autotrophs in an ecosystem require energy, hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and phosphorous. There are
cycles for each of these which describe how nutrients are shuffled between an environment and its organisms.

Water cycle
 Hydrologic cycle is the movement of water from its main reservoir (ocean) to the atmosphere (evaporation
from bodies of water and transpiration from plants), forming clouds (condensation) and back down to
the soil or ocean (precipitation) and back into the ocean (runoff).

Carbon cycle
 Most carbon is in the deep ocean and sediments
and is slowly cycled. The rest is cycled more
quickly between shallow ocean, atmosphere,
soil and living things.
 Plants take in CO2 from atmosphere and turn it
into glucose and other products.
 Animals take in the glucose and break it down
and release CO2.
 Animals and plants die, decomposers return
their carbon to the soil.
 Carbon in sediments can be burned as fossil
fuels. Driving cars, burning of trees and forests,
burning of coal will release the CO2 into the
atmosphere.

Global warming
 Gases in our atmosphere trap the sun’s heat.
Without this, Earth would be cold and
uninhabitable. This is known as the
greenhouse effect.
 Because we burn fossil fuels we have an
excess build up of greenhouse gases,
especially CO2 .
 5
 A majority of scientists believe that this increase in CO2 and other gases like methane are causing the
temperature on earth to increase. This phenomenon has come to be known as global warming.

Nitrogen cycle
Nitrogen is necessary for bacteria, plants, and animals.
Plants and animals both obtain their nitrogen after it
has been fixed by bacteria. Most nitrogen is in the
form of N2 (atmospheric) which very few organisms
can use. There are 4 basic mechanisms for cycling
nitrogen:
1. Nitrogen fixation—some bacteria convert N2 to
ammonia (NH3). This form can be used by other
organisms.
2. Decomposition and ammonification—
decomposers use the proteins from dead
organisms. They turn the nitrogen into NH3
(ammonia) and NH4+ which plants can use.
3. Nitrification—other bacteria act on NH3 and NH4+
resulting in NO2- (nitrite) that is further converted
to NO3- (nitrate) that plants can use.
4. Denitrification—other bacteria can take NO3- in
soil and turn it into N2 which is released as a gas
into the atmosphere.

Biomes – a group of ecosystems with similar conditions

Biome Abiotic Factors Biotic Factors Geographic Distribution

Plants & Animals
Tundra frozen top soil, snow, cold Plants: short shrubs, grasses, northernmost regions of Asia,
temperatures lichens, and mosses Europe, and North America
Animals: insects, reindeer,
caribou, wolves, brown bears
Taiga cold to moderate Plants: coniferous trees just south of the tundra
temperatures, warm summers, (evergreens)
fertile soil, precipitation Animals: black bears, deer,
squirrels, rabbits, moose, elk,
insects
Deciduous distinct hot and cold seasons, Plants: Deciduous trees, Northeastern United States,
forest high precipitation, fertile soil conifers, flowering shrubs, Southeastern Canada, Europe,
herbs, moss, and ferns parts of Asia, China, and
Animals: Deer, black bears, Australia
bobcats, squirrels, raccoons,
skunks, birds, turkeys
Grasslands warm summers, cold winters, Plants: low growing, lush
seasonal precipitation, fertile plants and a few trees
soil, occasional wildfires
Animals: a variety of large
herbivores like elephants,
kangaroos, zebras, giraffes,
antelope, insects
 6
Desert dry (less than 30cm of Plants: cacti, sagebrush, and
rain/year), variable other succulent plants
temperatures, mineral rich
soil that lacks organic Animals: birds, small rodents,
nutrients needed to grow food lizards, and snakes
Tropical high rainfall, hot Plants: Broad-leaf evergreens South and Central America,
Rainforest temperatures, acidic nutrient- that form canopies, ferns, Southeast Asia, southern
poor soil climbing plants, and orchids India, and northeastern
Animals: insects, birds, Australia
monkeys, lizards, snakes,
sloths anteaters, mostly in the
canopy

Carrying capacity of a population is reached when no more organisms can be sustained by the resources of the
environment.

Food web stability:

A food web has many connections among its producers, consumers, and decomposers. It displays these
relationships in an intricate web. A food chain, on the other hand, only shows one set of relationships from a
producer to a primary consumer to a secondary consumer. A food web is therefore more accurate and more
stable than a food chain because it will handle changes in the community much easier. See the pictures below
for clarification.

FOOD WEB