High School Biology Review Lesson on Ecology

​Ecology is the study of relationships between living things and their environment

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Environment is made up of biotic and abiotic things

• Biotic: living

• Abiotic: nonliving​

Ecosystem= Level of ecology that includes

the biotic and abiotic factors

• Energy flows through an ecosystems in one direction

• Starting with the sun or chemical compounds

• Then to autotrophs(producers)

• Then to various heterotrophs(consumers)

Models that show all possible feeding relationships at each trophic level in a community; links all food chains in an ecosystem together.

• Energy is passed up a food chain or food web from lower to higher trophic levels.

• Generally only about 10% of the energy at one level is available to the next level and stored as energy

  • The rest of the energy is used for metabolic process or given off as heat to the environment.

• An ecosystem survives by a combination of energy flow and matter recycling

• Biogeochemical cycles move all nutrients through air, water, soil, rock and living organisms

• The circulation of carbon between the living organisms and the non-living components of ecosystems.

• Plants and other organisms that can perform photosynthesis help to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen.

• ~ 78% of the atmosphere is nitrogen gas, but it is not in a usable form

• Bacteria are the only organisms that can use nitrogen directly from the environment