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1/2/2021

Population Ecology

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Ecology Introduction


This week we are learning about how animals and plants interact with each other and survive in their environment.  This part of biology is known as population ecology.
 The study of ecology includes: 

Types of migrations, genetic exchange, and forms of symbiosis population distribution patterns, food chains, population growth pattern, why we need pollinators, and how species spread.
An ecosystem involves all living and non-living components in an area, how energy flows and matter cycles through an environment.

Ecology VOcabulary


Atmosphere: this includes the wind speed and direction, humidity, light intensity and quality, precipitation and temperature.​
Biotic Factors: These are all the living organisms in the environment, including their interactions.
  • Plants
  • Animals
  • Microorganisms (bacteria)
  • Fungi
  • Protists (algae and protozoans) ​
Abiotic factors: elements that are not alive: soil, rocks, mountains, rain, clouds
Soil:
  • Nutrient availability
  • Soil moisture & pH
  • Composition
  • Temperature â€‹â€‹â€‹
Water:
  • Has dissolved nutrients
  • Has a pH and salinity
  • Contains dissolved oxygen
  • Temperature varies​
Living organisms interact with each other in their habitat, they influence matter by walking around and moving things around.
Habitat: the natural environment in which a creature lives including the biotic and abiotic factors.
Each organism occupies a niche, an ecological niche of an organism is their function in the ecosystem: where they live, what organisms they interact with, how they respond t changes in the health of the environment. 
Tolerance rage: each species has a tolerance range, this is their comfort zone, at what point they move to another environment.
Picture

​https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/images/3795-how-the-distribution-of-a-species-is-affected-by-limiting-factors


What is pH and why does it matter?


The term pH refers to the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, it stands for potential hydrogen.

Substance that release hydrogen ions when dissolved in water are acids.

The more hydrogen ions they release the more acidic they are.

Substances that release hydroxide ions when dissolved in water are bases.

Alkalinity increases with the concentration of hydroxyl ions.

Each pH unit represents a 10-fold change in concentration
.

Picture

https://kingsbayrestorationproject.com/nitrates-and-ph-in-water-quality/



Contaminants CONTRIBUTE to Acid Rain


Acid rain: rainfall made sufficiently acidic by atmospheric pollution that it causes environmental harm, typically to forests and lakes. The main cause is the industrial burning of coal and other fossil fuels, the waste gases from which contain sulfur and nitrogen oxides, which combine with atmospheric water to form acids. -Oxford
Picture
https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain

Normal, clean rain has a pH value of between 5.0 and 5.5, which is slightly acidic. When rain combines with sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides produced from power plants and automobiles the rain becomes much more acidic. Typical acid rain has a pH value of 4.0.

Picture

​https://www3.epa.gov/acidrain/education/site_students/phscale.html



ph and Environmentalism


  • In general, fish reproduction is affected at pH levels below 5.0
  • Fish begin to die when pH falls below 4.0 
  • A pH change of 1 means a ten fold change in the ions.
  • pH 9 is ten times more basic than pH 8
  • pH stands for potential of hydrogen, a measurement of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution
  • 7 is neutral
  • 1 to 6 are acids, 8 to 14 are bases​

Acids


Acids are substance that break apart in water to form a hydrogen ion.
  • Have a pH that is less than 7, smaller number means more acidic
  • React with metals and carbonates
  • Release Hydrogen ions (these are created when Hydrogen loses an electron so it has a positive charge)
  • Have a sour taste
  • React with bases to form water and salt​​​
Everyday Acids
  • Tea
  • Vinegar
  • Citrus foods  
Acids react with carbonates to give off carbon dioxide

Bases


  • Bases are substances that break down in water and form hydroxide ions (OH-).
  • ​The greater the concentration of OH- ions the stronger the base is.​
  • Have a pH from 8 to 14
  • pH 9 is ten times more basic than pH 8​​​​
Bases
  • Release hydroxide ions (negatively charged ions made of one hydrogen bonded to one oxygen). 
  • feel slippery
  • bitter taste
  • react with acids to form water and salt​
Everyday examples:
  • Baking soda
  • Bleach 
  • Soap
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jazmin Biology (@myinfinitespiral)


Interesting ph facts


​Some plants tell us the pH of their soil by expressing different colors of flowers. 
  • For true blue flowers, the hydrangeas need to be grown in acidic soil (pH 5.5 and lower).
  • For pink flowers, the plants need neutral to alkaline soils (pH 6.5 and higher). â€‹
  • For purple blooms (or a mix of blue and pink flowers on the same plant), the pH of the soil must be 5.5 and pH 6.5
Picture

​https://www.espoma.com/learn-grow/gardening-projects/hydrangeas-true-blue-or-tickled-pink/

Venom is Acidic
A sting from a bee may be painful for many reasons, pH of bee venom is 5.0-5.5

Formic acid in ants has a pH of 2 to 3
The pH of a river is not the same as the pH of the rain

When it rains or we use water for irrigation, water goes downhill, down the gradient of the earth
 
There is a connection between the water that moves across land and the pH of bodies of water such as lakes, rives, ponds, and the sea​
Water moves through a watershed, the way the surface water drains down from ridges to basins. 

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