Ecology

Photosynthetic organisms capture free energy in sunlight

Chemosynthetic organisms capture free energy from small inorganic molecules present in their environment, and this process can occur in the absence of oxygen.

Heterotrophs capture free energy present in carbon compounds produced in other organisms.

Heterotrophs may metabolize carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins by hydrolysis as sources of free energy

Fermentation produces organic molecules, including alcohol and lactic acid, and it occurs in the absence of oxygen

Alcoholic fermentation

Lactic acid fermentation

Carbon moves from the environment to organisms. Carbon is used in storage compounds and cell formation in all organisms.

Carbon is used to make nucleic acids, lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates.

Nitrogen and phosphorous moves from the environment to organisms. Nitrogen is used in building proteins and nucleic acids.

Movement of Nitrogen

Movement of Phosphorous

Organism activities and stability are affected by interactions with biotic and abiotic factors

An algal bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in an aquatic system. Typically, only one or a small number of phytoplankton species are involved.

Salination

Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or the gradual withdrawal of an ocean.

Salination due to irrigation

Timing and coordination of behavior are regulated by various mechanisms in natural selection.

Ex. Mutualistic relationships

Biological systems interact and there interactions possess complex properties between populations and communities.

Ex. Predator/Prey Spreadsheet model

Competition for resources and other factors limits growth and can be described by the logistic model.

Organisms within food webs and food chains interact

Changes in climate influence patterns of primary productivity

Competition for resources, territoriality, health, predation, accumulation of wastes and other factors contribute to density-dependent population regulation.

As human populations have increased, their impact on habitats for other species have been magnified.

Human interaction has often reduced the population size of the affected species and resulted in habitat destruction and the extinction of species.

Competition, parasitism, predation, mutualism, and commensalism can affect population dynamics.

Relationships among populations can be (+) or (-), and can be modeled mathematically.

Many complex symbiotic relationships exist in an ecosystem, and feedback control systems play a role in the functioning of these ecosystems.

Sudden influx/depletion of abiotic resources affect species distribution and abundance.

Ex. Kudzu

Distribution of local and global ecosystems changes over time

Introduction of new diseases can devastate native species

Potato Blight

Bio-geographical studies illustrate the changes that arise from geological and meteorological events impact ecosystem distribution

Ex. El Nino

Population ability to respond to changes in the environment is affected by genetic diversity.

Prairie Chickens (diverse)

Genetic diversity allows individuals in a population to respond differently to the same changes in environmental conditions

Not all animals in a population stampede

Diversity of species within an ecosystem may influence the stability of the ecosystem

Diversity of species within an ecosystem may influence the stability of the ecosystem

Keystone species, producers, and essential abiotic and biotic factors contribute to maintaining the diversity of an ecosystem. When removed from the ecosystem, the ecosystem collapses.