APES Video Notes 1.1 - Ecosystems

Summary

In this introductory AP Environmental Science video, Mr. Smith explores the dynamics of ecosystems, focusing on species interactions. He explains the basics of ecosystems, including individuals, populations, communities, and biomes. The video delves into various relationships such as predation, symbiosis, and competition, emphasizing how resource availability influences these interactions. It also discusses different types of symbiotic relationships and strategies like resource partitioning that reduce competition among species, allowing for a more balanced ecosystem.

Takeaways

• 🌿 **Ecosystem Basics**: An ecosystem includes both living organisms and nonliving components such as rocks, soil, and water.
• 🐾 **Individual to Biome**: The script explains the progression from an individual organism to a population, community, ecosystem, and finally to a biome.
• 🔍 **Species Interactions**: It covers how resource availability influences species interactions, including predator-prey relationships and symbiosis.
• 🐊 **Predation**: Predation is defined as one organism using another for food or energy, and it's not limited to carnivores but includes herbivores as well.
• 🌱 **Mutualism**: Mutualism is a symbiotic relationship where both species benefit, like the coral reef ecosystem where coral and algae support each other.
• 🐦 **Commensalism**: Commensalism is a relationship where one species benefits while the other is unaffected, such as birds nesting in trees.
• 🐛 **Parasitism**: Parasitism involves one organism drawing energy from another, often without killing the host, unlike parasitoids which kill the host after using it.
• 🌳 **Resource Partitioning**: Resource partitioning reduces competition by allowing species to use shared resources in different ways, such as temporal, spatial, or morphological partitioning.
• 📚 **Describing Environmental Concepts**: The script emphasizes the skill of describing environmental concepts, such as explaining how resource partitioning can occur in a food web.
• 🎓 **AP Environmental Science**: The video is part of a series of flipped video notes for AP Environmental Science, aiming to help students understand complex ecological concepts.

Q & A

What is the main objective of the lesson in the video?

The main objective of the lesson is to explain how resource availability influences species interactions, such as predation, competition, and symbiosis.

What are the different levels of organization within an ecosystem as mentioned in the video?

The different levels of organization are individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biome.

What is the definition of an ecosystem provided in the video?

An ecosystem includes all the living organisms in an area (community) and the nonliving components (such as rocks, soil, and water) that interact with them.

How is competition described in the context of species interactions?

Competition is a lose-lose situation where organisms fight over shared resources like food or shelter, limiting their population size due to scarcity of resources.

What is the difference between predation and parasitism?

Predation involves one organism using another as an energy source, often killing it, while parasitism involves one organism drawing energy from another without necessarily killing it.

How is mutualism defined in the video?

Mutualism is a relationship where both species benefit, such as the interaction between coral and algae, where coral provides CO2 for algae and algae provide sugars for coral.

What is commensalism and provide an example from the video?

Commensalism is a relationship where one species benefits and the other is not affected. An example is birds making nests in trees without harming or benefiting the tree.

What are the three types of resource partitioning described in the video?

The three types of resource partitioning are temporal partitioning (using resources at different times), spatial partitioning (using different areas of the same resource), and morphological partitioning (evolving different physical traits to use the same resource).

What example is provided to explain morphological partitioning?

Morphological partitioning is exemplified by the ferret and ermine, which have evolved different jaw sizes and tooth patterns to hunt for different-sized prey, reducing direct competition.

How does the video describe the concept of symbiosis?

Symbiosis is a long-term interaction between two organisms of different species living in close association. This can be mutualistic, commensal, or parasitic.

Outlines

00:00

🌿 Ecosystems and Species Interactions

Mr. Smith introduces the first lesson on ecosystems within the AP Environmental Science course. The focus is on how resource availability affects species interactions, including predator-prey dynamics, symbiosis, competition, and resource partitioning. The lesson aims to explain these concepts by defining key terms such as individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biome. An ecosystem is defined as a combination of living organisms and their nonliving environment, interacting as a system. The biome is described as a large area with a similar climate that determines the types of plants and animals that can live there. The paragraph concludes with a chart summarizing the outcomes of different types of species interactions, setting the stage for a deeper dive into each.

05:01

🐅 Predation, Parasitism, and Symbiosis

This section delves into the specifics of predation, where one organism consumes another for energy. It clarifies that herbivores, such as giraffes, are also predators in the sense that they use plants for energy. The paragraph distinguishes between true predators like carnivores and parasites, which extract energy from a host organism without necessarily killing it. Parasitoids are highlighted as a type of parasite that kills the host by laying eggs inside it. The concept of symbiosis is introduced, emphasizing that it's a long-term interaction between two different species, which can be mutualistic, commensal, or parasitic. Mutualism is explained as a symbiotic relationship where both species benefit, exemplified by coral reefs and lichen. The paragraph concludes with a discussion on competition and how resource partitioning can reduce it, allowing species to coexist by utilizing resources in different ways.

10:02

📚 Practice FRQ on Resource Partitioning

The final paragraph invites students to apply their knowledge through a practice free response question (FRQ). Students are asked to identify two organisms in a food web that compete for the same resource and then describe how resource partitioning could alleviate this competition. This exercise is designed to reinforce the concept of resource partitioning as a mechanism that reduces competition, enabling species to thrive without directly competing for the same resources. The paragraph ends with a call to action for students to engage with the content, like the video, subscribe for updates, and explore additional notes, encapsulating the educational objectives of the video.

Keywords

💡Ecosystem

An ecosystem refers to a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment, such as air, water, and mineral cycles. In the video, ecosystems are foundational to understanding how species interact with one another and their environment. The script explains that ecosystems include both living organisms and nonliving elements, which together form the basis for the various interactions discussed, such as predation and competition.

💡Resource Availability

Resource availability pertains to the supply of essential elements like food, water, and shelter that organisms require for survival. The video emphasizes that the availability of these resources influences species interactions by affecting population sizes and the dynamics of predator-prey relationships. For instance, limited resources can lead to increased competition between species.

💡Species Interactions

Species interactions refer to the various types of relationships that occur between different species within an ecosystem. The video script delves into different forms of these interactions, such as predation, competition, mutualism, and commensalism, which are crucial for understanding the dynamics of ecological communities.

💡Predator-Prey Relationships

A predator-prey relationship is a specific type of interaction where one species (the predator) hunts and consumes another species (the prey) for sustenance. The video script uses this concept to illustrate the dynamic nature of ecosystems, where the predator's need for energy leads to a negative impact on the prey species, as exemplified by the giraffe eating leaves from a tree.

💡Symbiosis

Symbiosis is a close, long-term biological interaction between two different species. The video script explains that symbiotic relationships can be mutualistic, where both species benefit, or they can be commensal or parasitic, where one species benefits at the expense of the other. An example given is the coral reef ecosystem, where coral animals and photosynthetic algae live in a mutualistic relationship, benefiting each other.

💡Competition

Competition in ecology refers to the struggle between organisms for limited resources. The video script describes competition as a lose-lose situation, where the scarcity of resources like food or shelter leads to a reduction in population size for the species involved. It is a key factor influencing the structure and composition of biological communities.

💡Resource Partitioning

Resource partitioning is a strategy used by species to reduce competition by utilizing resources in different ways. The video script explains that this can occur through temporal, spatial, or morphological means. For example, different bird species may occupy different parts of the same tree or hunt at different times of the day to avoid direct competition.

💡Biome

A biome is a large ecological community characterized by similar climate, flora, and fauna. The video script uses the example of the tropical rainforest biome to illustrate how climate determines the types of organisms that can thrive in a particular area, highlighting the interconnectedness of climate and biodiversity.

💡Mutualism

Mutualism is a type of symbiotic relationship where both species involved benefit from the interaction. The video script provides the example of the coral reef, where coral animals and algae engage in a mutualistic relationship, with the coral providing a home and carbon dioxide for the algae, and the algae providing energy through photosynthesis.

💡Commensalism

Commensalism is a type of symbiotic relationship where one species benefits while the other is neither harmed nor benefited. The video script uses the example of birds nesting in trees, where the birds gain a safe place to live and raise their young without affecting the tree in any significant way.

💡Parasitism

Parasitism is a relationship where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the host organism. The video script explains that parasites often draw energy from the host without necessarily killing it, as seen with mosquitoes feeding on blood or tapeworms living inside a host's digestive system.

💡Parasitoid

A parasitoid is a specific type of parasite that lays its eggs inside a host organism, leading to the death of the host when the parasitoid larvae hatch and consume the host. The video script uses the example of a parasitic wasp that lays its eggs inside a caterpillar, resulting in the caterpillar's death once the wasp larvae emerge.

Highlights

Introduction to AP Environmental Science and the concept of ecosystems.

Objective to explain how resource availability influences species interactions.

Discussion on predator and prey relationships within ecosystems.

Explanation of symbiosis as close associations between different species.

Introduction to competition and resource partitioning in ecosystems.

Definition of an individual organism and its role in ecosystems.

Differentiation between a population and a community in ecological terms.

The ecosystem concept including both living and nonliving components.

Biome as a large area with a similar climate influencing its flora and fauna.

Competition as a lose-lose situation due to limited shared resources.

Predation defined and its impact on species populations.

Mutualism as a win-win relationship beneficial for both species involved.

Commensalism where one species benefits without affecting the other.

Herbivores and carnivores as examples of predation in ecosystems.

Parasites and parasitoids as organisms that use others for energy.

Symbiosis as a long-term interaction between different species.

Mutualism in coral reefs where corals and algae benefit each other.

Lichens as an example of a composite organism formed by mutualistic symbiosis.

Resource partitioning as a strategy to reduce competition between species.

Temporal partitioning where species use resources at different times.

Spatial partitioning as a method to use different areas of shared resources.

Morphological partitioning where species evolve different features to use resources.

The importance of resource partitioning in promoting species survival and growth.

Practice FRQ to apply understanding of resource partitioning in a food web.

Transcripts

hey everybody its mr. smith's welcome to

our first AP environmental science

flipped video notes of the year today

we're going to be covering topic 1.1

which is about ecosystems our objective

for the day is to be able to explain how

resource availability influences species

interactions will talk about predator

and prey relationships will talk about

symbiosis which is when two organisms

from different species live in very

close association with each other and

we'll also talk about competition and

resource partitioning or resource

sharing our skill that we'll practice at

the understudies video is describing an

environmental concept so before we get

into the ways that organisms interact

with each other

we need to cover ecosystem basics so

first we'll talk about an individual an

individual is just one single organism

remember that an organism is a living

thing so in this case we have one

individual out when we use the term

population we're referring to a group of

organisms that are all of the same

species so in this diagram we haven't al

curd very important that we distinguish

they're all members of the same species

then we have a community of community as

all the living organisms in a given area

so this includes the trees the grass we

have a beaver a rabbit it even includes

bacteria and fungi that live in the soil

so it's all of the living organisms in

it area then we have the ecosystem so

the ecosystem is where we add in the

nonliving components as well so these

are things like rocks soil and water

they interact with the living things in

the ecosystem and so those two together

living and nonliving are all of the

components when we're talking about an

ecosystem and then finally our kind of

big-picture thinking like a mountain

point here is that a biome is a large

area that has a similar climate and

that's going to ultimately determine the

plants and animals that can live there

so for example the tropical rainforest

is an area that's very warm has really

high rainfall and that's why we see such

a wide variety of plant animal species

in the tropical rainforests now for

today's focus which is species or

organism interactions so this chart here

is a helpful reminder for the outcome of

the different types of interaction

we'll talk about so first we have

competition competition is a lose-lose

situation

so organisms are fighting over a shared

resource like food or shelter and this

is going to limit their population size

because there just aren't enough

resources to go around so it's a loss

for both species involved next we have

predation predation is when one organism

uses another as its food source or is

its energy source this is going to be a

positive for the first species but it's

going to be a negative for the second

species because that species will either

die or be severely harmed by that use of

energy then we have mutualism mutualism

is a relationship that is beneficial for

both species so it's a win-win and a

great example that we'll talk about

later is the coral reef where we have

little tiny animals called coral and

they interact with photosynthetic algae

to form the coral reef ecosystem and

then finally we have commensalism

commensalism is kind of like what I like

to refer to as a free-rider so in a

commensal relationship we have one

species that's benefiting and one

species that really isn't affected so a

great example is birds making their

nests in trees the birds don't really

damage the tree they don't really hurt

the tree but they also don't benefit the

tree at all and so we call that

relationship commensalism now I'll talk

about predation so the first thing I

want to point out is that technically

herbivores so animals that eat plants

are practicing predation we may not

think of a giraffe eating a tree or

eating the leaves of a tree as a form of

predation we may not think of a giraffe

as a predator but in a strict sense of

what the term predation means the

giraffe uses the tree for energy and so

herbivore or the act of an animal eating

a plant is still considered predation

then we have the true predators these

are the carnivores so things like the

leopard or the lion that are going to

eat the giraffe now this is what we

think of when we think of predators and

we call these true predators to

distinguish them from the herbivores

then we have a parasite a parasite is

still going to use another organism for

energy but it's usually much smaller

than what we call the host organism the

organism that it often lives inside of

or attaches to the outside of

oftentimes the parasite will be able to

draw energy from the host without

killing it now we have an example here

of the sea lamprey which is sort of an

eel-like organism that will attach

itself to a fish and draw the blood out

of the fish we also have organisms like

mosquitoes or tapeworms and again

they're just going to draw energy out of

the organism and they don't necessarily

kill the organism then we have a

parasitoid a parasitoid is a very

specific type of parasite that's going

to lay its eggs inside of the host

organism then when the eggs hatch the

larvae or the young will eat their way

out of the host organism this often

kills the host and we have an example

here of a parasitic wasp that's going to

inject its eggs into this poor

caterpillar and then when those eggs

hatch they're gonna eat their way

outside of the caterpillar and great

energy source for the wasp but

unfortunately the caterpillar is going

to die as a result of this interaction

next we have symbiosis or a symbiotic

relationship I want to point out here

that the root terms in this phrase can

tell us or means SCIM means together IO

means living and OSIS means condition or

state of being so it's a state of being

where two species are living closely

together so we have a mountain icon here

because we need to think like a mountain

and remember that symbiosis isn't

necessarily good or bad it's just a long

term interaction between two organisms

of different species so it's not two

squirrels living together those are

members of the same species it is two

organisms of different species living in

close association with one another for a

long period of time it can be

mutualistic where both species benefit

it could be a commensal relationship or

one species benefits and the other is

not impacted but even parasites and

their hosts are considered symbiotic

relationships because they live in such

close association for a long period of

time now we'll focus on mutualism which

is a form of symbiosis that benefits

both species so both species are going

to come away from this relationship

better off than they would have been

without it and in many cases they depend

on each other to the extent that they

couldn't really survive apart great

example is the coral reef ecosystem so

coral are actually tiny animals they are

going to create the reef structure that

algae rely on for a

they're also going to provide carbon

dioxide for the algae to do

photosynthesis and in return the algae

provides sugars via photosynthesis that

the coral uses energy so we can see here

we have these tiny little organisms

called coral and an individual coral is

actually called a polyp and so they're

going to live in the reef but again

they're going to produce that carbon

dioxide that the algae need in order to

photosynthesis and the reef that they

create is a home for the algae so it's a

great relationship for both and they

really depend on each other and we have

another mutualistic relationship which

is actually such a close relationship

that we consider the two species one

single composite organism you need to

live so closely together that they

function like one organism and that's

lichen like and refers to a broad class

of organisms where fungi live in very

close proximity with algae the algae

providing the sugars or the energy that

the fungi need and the fungi providing

the nutrients that the algae need in

order to photosynthesize and grow and so

we can see here again it's these two

organisms a fungus and an algae that

live so closely together that they

function basically as one single

organism and then finally we have

competition so in competition remember

that it's going to be a lose-lose

situation both species that are

competing with each other are going to

have fewer organisms survive and so

their populations are going to be

smaller as a result however something

called resource partitioning or resource

sharing can allow these different

species to utilize the same resource in

slightly different ways and that's going

to reduce competition I want to point

out that the species don't get together

and have a meeting about this they don't

strategize it's just the idea that

evolution favours traits that allow them

to utilize the same resource but in a

slightly different way there are three

types of resource partitioning we'll

talk about examples of each year so the

first is called temporal partitioning

and this is where organisms or species

that compete for a shared resource are

going to use that resource at slightly

different times to avoid direct

competition so here we have the wolf and

the coyote they're both going to hunt

for small mammals but they're going to

do so at different times of day so that

they avoid directly competing for the

same hunting territory then we have

space

partitioning spatial partitioning is

using different areas of a shared

resource so we have an example of two

different grasses here one can send its

roots to an extremely deep portion of

the soil while the other can access

shallow reports of the soil and they're

not going to compete directly for water

and nutrients in the soil because of the

different levels that the roots occupy

we have another example of spatial

partitioning here where all of these

different species of Warbler will occupy

slightly different portions of the same

tree to make their nests and to find

their food and that's gonna allow so

many more birds to occupy the same tree

than if they all directly competed for

the same exact space within that tree

and then finally we have morphological

partitioning now morphological

partitioning is when species that hunt

for the same resource would evolve

slightly different body features in

order to utilize different portions of

that resource so here we have a fair and

an ermine they've evolved slightly

different jaw sizes and slightly

different tooth pattern which enables

them to hunt for different sized prey

and so they don't have to compete

directly for the same exact resource

again the big takeaway here from

resource partitioning is that it reduces

competition and so that enables species

to thrive and grow to larger population

sizes because they don't have to

directly compete with each other for the

same exact resource in the same place at

the same time our practice frq for topic

1.1 today we'll cover the skill of

describing an environmental concept and

process so I want you to look at this

food web here and identify two organisms

that would compete for a shared food

resource after you've identified them

describe how resource partitioning could

reduce the competition between the two

organisms that you identified alright

everybody thanks for tuning in today

don't forget to like this video if it

was helpful subscribe for future Apes

video updates and check out other notes

over here to the side and as always

think like a mountain write like a

scholar