| ECOLOGY II ACTS |
| Act #1: Producers and Consumers
All organisms fall into one of two categories: producers and consumers. Producers use energy from the sun to convert inorganic material into food. Consumers eat producers. All food chains begin with producers! 1) Which group of organisms (animals or plants) do producers represent? 2) List 3 organisms, which are producers, and 3, which are consumers. Producers Consumers a) a) b) b) c) c) Act #2: Food Web Definitions Please find the definitions for the following: Herbivores Carnivores Primary Consumers Omnivores Autotrophs Secondary Consumers Hetertrophs Parasites Tertiary Consumers Decomposers Food Chain Food Web Act #3: A food web Example Check out section 44.1 in your text. Also, you�ll need pg. 703 in the lab manual. Please follow the procedure. Copy and complete table 44-1. Create a food web using the information from the table. Please answer the questions on pg. 705 in the lab manual. Act #4: Habitat and Niche Every plant and animal has a home. Every organism has a job to do in its habitat. 1) What is a habitat? 2) What is a niche? 3) Why wouldn�t you expect to find mice eating phytoplankton? 4) What is your niche at home? Feeding relationships only occur when organisms live in the same habitat! |
| Act #5: Energy Flow
One of the biggest factors in inhibiting the growth of a population is the availability of food or the transfer of energy from one organism to another. This is a biotic factor. 1) What is primary productivity? (pg. 743 STARR text) 2) What is the difference between �gross� and �net� productivity? We will concentrate on the net value. We can measure energy flow by using a biomass pyramid (you get energy from mass) or by using an energy pyramid. BIOMASS PYRAMID 1) What is a biomass pyramid and what does it really measure? 2) Sketch an example of a biomass pyramid. (pg. 743 STARR text) 3) Which level (called trophic level) contains the greatest amount of mass? 4) Calculate the % mass for each trophic level. For example, the primary producers have 809 out of a total of 863.5 mass units in Silver Springs, Florida. This comes out to 809/863.5 x 100 = 94%! So, 94% of all mass in the water ecosystem in Silver Springs are primary producers. Find the %s from the other trophic levels. ENERGY PYRAMID 1) What is an energy pyramid and what does it really measure? 2) From the Little Rock example and the example from our text pg. 744, how much energy is passed from one trophic level to the next? 3) As a rule of thumb� (my notes) Act #6: Living Together (pg. 431-434 alligator) 1) Define symbiosis. 2) What is commensalism? Give me an example of a relationship between two organisms that typifies commensalism. 3) Do the same for mutualism. 4) Do the same for parasitism. 5) What is the relationship between parasitism and disease? |