Symbiosis Blog

Predator - the organism that does the killing, usually followed by the eating
(exception: a mother bird preserving food for the babies)

http://www.oocities.org/eco_psychology/Preda.htm

A lion is a common example for a predator because it is the king of the forest, or whatever environment is resides in.  It has power over the other animals, its prey, because of its growls, teeth, strength, pouncing abilities, etc.  It can eat the smaller animals that reside along with it in the forest.  Another example of a predator are us, humans.  All humans, including vegetarians and vegans, have at one point in their lives eaten meat.  The meat could have been chicken, beef, pork, etc. and they all count making all humans predators.

Prey -the ones that get eaten by the predators (almost everything is both a  predator and prey)

http://styledip.com/10-most-beautiful-fish/

The fish can be eaten by organisms such as larger fish, cats, humans, or other organisms.  Usually, the size of the organism can determine whether or not it has power in its environment.  The gigantic sharks would never be the prey in the ocean, but it would be prey to humans.  Small fish like this are prey to many different sea creatures that reside in the ocean.


Parasitism - this is where one organism lives inside another respective organism in order to cause harm/damage/pain to it

http://www.bada-uk.org/homesection/about/ticks/bitingnuisance.php

Here, the ticks are getting blood from the bird.  Only the ticks benefit from this type of situation which makes the relationship between the ticks and bird, parasitic.  For the most part, these parasites will never kill the host, which is almost always larger than the parasites themselves.

Mutualism - a relationship in which the two organisms benefit with the presence of the other organism

http://king.portlandschools.org/files/houses/y2/animalmaineia/files/species/coyotebq/ecology/Ecology.html 

In this picture, neither the butterfly nor flower are receiving any type of harm from the opposing organism.  The butterfly can get nectar from the flower and in return, the butterfly helps the flower bloom and reproduce.  This is very common between insects and flowers.

Commensalism - a relationship where one organism, of the two, benefits and the other organism neither receives additional benefits or pain

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/examples-of-commensalism.html

 

 

Barnacles and different sea animals is example of commensalism.  While the animal, whatever it may be, travels across the ocean, the barnacles gain access to nutrient rich waters in which it would not have simply as a barnacle.  Additionally, the sea animal's leftover food becomes the barnacle's food.  The sea animal feels no pain, and the barnacle benefits from it.
 

 

Caron and Nitrogen Cycles Blog

Bio in organisms when it enters the animals' bodies through eating.  Geological when it goes back into the soil (ex: waste).  Chemical when it enters back to the air through the cycles.

Carbon is in a cycle because it needs to exit organism's bodies as well.  It is a part of all organisms and plants use it as food.  If there was no cycle, the plants would have too much carbon inside them, that when animals ate the plants, the carbon would stay in the animals' bodies forever.  Also, the carbon would stay in the soil forever (geological).  Both of these situations are unhealthy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carbon_cycle-cute_diagram.svg

The Nitrogen cycle is important because it puts nitrogen into the ground and the air (chemical & geological).  Nitrogen is necessary for all living things, and our atmosphere is made up of about 75% nitrogen.  Bacteria takes the nitrogen out of the air and transforms it into nutrients for the soil.  The nutrients provided by bacteria helps the plants to grow.  When the animals eat the plants grown in nitrogen soil, nitrogen enters their body.  It then exits to the earth through their waste.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nitrogen_Cycle.svg

 http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060830063239AAahiCI
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081005025009AA7cXVv

Ecology Blog

Step 1

1. What assumptions does this model make about co-dominance as well as the general terrain of the ecosystem?  I assume that these two plants do not coexist well together.  One dominated with 10,000 plants while the other one ended up with zero.
2. Do you find one producer to be dominant? Why might one producer be dominant over another?   I found that Plant A overtook Plant B.  I think that the rate at which is reproduces could have affected the other plants' space to reproduce.

Step 2

1. Does adding the herbivore establish a more equal field? Is one producer still dominant over the other? Why might one producer be dominant over another?  When you add a herbivore which eats the dominant plant, it will allow Plant A and Plant B to be more equal.  Plant B is now more dominant than Plant A now.  Since no one is harming Plant B, it can reproduce freely.
2. If the simulation included decomposers, how would your current results change?  I think that there will more of each plants because the decomposers make the soil fertile.  With the soil fertile, the plants can reproduce even more,
3. How do producer population numbers with the presence of an herbivore compare to the primary colonizer model? It averaged out the number of plants between Plant A and Plant B.

Food Web Blog

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/foodchain/

 

 

The producers in this food web are grass, algae, and phytoplankton.

 -the grass, algae, and plankton provide food for the small animals

 

The primary consumers are grasshoppers, mosquito larva, and zoo plankton.

-the grasshopper, larva, and zoo plankton eat the smaller stuff

 

The secondary consumers are the rats, dragonfly, and the fish.

-the rat would eat the grasshopper which has eaten the grass.  the dragonfly larva would eat the mosquito larva which has eaten the algae.  the fish eat the zoo plankton which has eaten the phytoplankton.

 

The tertiary consumer include the snake, fish, and seals.

-the snake would eat the rat which has eaten the grasshopper which has eaten the grass.  the fish will eat the larvas which have eaten the algae.  the seal will eat the fish which has eaten the various plankton.

 

The quaternary consumer include the hawk, raccoon, and white shark.

-the hawk would eat the snake which has eaten the rat, the grasshopper, and the grass.  the raccoon will eat the fish, the larvas, and the algae.  the white shark will eat the seal, the fish, the planktons, and pretty much anything else in the ocean.