Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CHAPTERS 4, 5, 8
UPDATED 2013 Development of the Biosphere
How Does the Sun Support Life?
Lights and warms planet
Powers cycling of matter
Drive climate/weather—distributes
heated air and water
Identify an example
of each:
a. Producer
b. Primary Consumer
c. Secondary
Consumer
d. Detrivore/
Decomposer
More Specific Roles
Niche: role of a species Generalists vs.
in an ecosystem Specialists
Competitive Exclusion Can live in many
Commensalism
Parasitism
Predator-Prey
Predator-Prey Curves
Do you remember…
•K = carrying capacity?
•Why are the prey
population #’s are so much
higher than predator?
•Negative or positive
feedback mechanism?
•Benefits of these
relationships?
Species Classifications
Pioneer: the first to occupy an Native: organisms that
ecosystem normally live/thrive in an
moss, lichens, bacteria ecosystem
Indicator: serve as early Non-native/exotic/alien:
warnings to damage of a deliberately or accidentally
community introduced species
birds, amphibians, trout Can be beneficial to
humans—crops, hunting game
Keystone: have a substantial
effect, disproportionate to Can over-compete for
resources and crowd out
their numbers, on an native species
ecosystem
Top predator, pollinators,
seed dispersers, decomposers,
mycchorizae
Keystone Species
Ecosystem Structure
There are four major
characteristics to consider when
examining the structure of
ecosystems:
physical appearance includes the
size and stratification of species
niche structure is the number of
diversity of ecological niches
species diversity or richness is the
number of species
species abundance is the number
of individuals of each species
kelp bed Macrocystis pyrifera
Ecological Stability
Biological: no longer
found anywhere on
Earth---its forever
Endangered Vs. Threatened
Threatened Species:
abundant in its natural
range but numbers are
declining
Endangered Species: so
few survivors it can
experience
ecological/biological
extinction
Read purple box on
566 about vulnerability
Post Extinctions
Adaptive Radiation: when new species evolve to
fill empty niches
Takes ~ 5 million years to rebuild after mass
extinction
Conservation Biology
Uses the best available 3 Principles:
science to preserve 1. Biodiversity is
ecosystems and species necessary to life
2. Humans should not
cause extinctions or
disrupt ecological
processes
3. Preserving biodiversity
requires the protection
of intact ecosystems
providing sufficient
habitats
Precautionary Principle
When there is
scientific uncertainty
about potentially
serious harm from
chemicals or
technologies, decision
makers should act to
prevent harm to
humans & the
environment
Human Interaction
Preservation
Restoration
Conservation