BIO Module 6 Overview Ecosystems and Ecology This module will continue the examination of fundamental concepts related to ecology.  It will introduce the complex phenomena of interactions between organisms and their habitats, as well as the delicate interactions between communities of organisms.  It will explain why changing one part of a community can lead to unexpected consequences.  This module will also examine the concept of populations and their growth curves.  This material is relevant to the question of a population's "carrying capacity," and, in turn, the Malthusian theory of overpopulation.  Finally, you will delve into the fascinating issues surrounding instinctive and learned behavior among animals. Learning Objectives Upon completion of this module, you should be able to: 9A Describe the flow of atoms through the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and hydrologic cycles. 9B Identify biotic and abiotic environmental factors. 9C State the importance of bacteria in nutrient cycles. 9D Examine the role of decomposers. 9E Explain how energy is related to ecosystems. 9F Determine why plants are called producers. 9G Identify the trophic levels occupied by herbivores and carnivores, and why they are called consumers. 9H State the benefits and shortcomings of using each of the following: pyramid of numbers, pyramid of biomass, and pyramid of energy. 9I Describe the kinds of ecosystems that have been converted to agriculture. 9J Explain why people in poor countries eat mostly plant material. 9K Differentiate among predation, mutualism, competition, parasitism, and commensalism. 9L Distinguish between niche and habitat. 9M Relate extinctions to human activities. 9N Describe an organism’s niche, habitat, and community. 9O Determine the effect humans have had on natural climax ecosystems. 9P List typical abiotic and biotic characteristics of different biomes. 9Q Explain why persistent organic chemicals reach higher levels in carnivores than in herbivores. 9R Describe the effect of temperature and rainfall to the kind of biome that develops. 9S State why some plants and animals are found only in certain parts of the world. 9T Explain the concept of a climax community. 9U Identify the factors that ultimately limit population size. 9V State why the human population must have an upper limit. 9W Specify the importance of birthrates and death rates to population growth. 9X Define a population and identify key components that affect population growth. Module 6 Reading Assignment Enger, E. D., Ross, F. C., & Bailey, D. B. (2012).  Concepts in biology (14th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Chapters 15, 16, and 17. Optional Reading Assignment: Chapter 18, Evolutionary and Ecological Aspects of Behavior. Ecosystems and Ecology Abiotic factors are characterized as nonliving.  Weather, including temperature and precipitation, make up a large part of the abiotic factors as well as things in the natural environment such as mountains, oceans, a ...

1. BIO Module 6 Overview
Ecosystems and Ecology
This module will continue the examination of fundamental
concepts related to ecology. It will introduce the complex
phenomena of interactions between organisms and their
habitats, as well as the delicate interactions between
communities of organisms. It will explain why changing one
part of a community can lead to unexpected consequences. This
module will also examine the concept of populations and their
growth curves. This material is relevant to the question of a
population's "carrying capacity," and, in turn, the Malthusian
theory of overpopulation. Finally, you will delve into the
fascinating issues surrounding instinctive and learned behavior
among animals.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this module, you should be able to:
9A
Describe the flow of atoms through the carbon, nitrogen,
phosphorus, and hydrologic cycles.
9B
Identify biotic and abiotic environmental factors.
9C
State the importance of bacteria in nutrient cycles.
9D
Examine the role of decomposers.
9E
Explain how energy is related to ecosystems.
9F

2. Determine why plants are called producers.
9G
Identify the trophic levels occupied by herbivores and
carnivores, and why they are called consumers.
9H
State the benefits and shortcomings of using each of the
following: pyramid of numbers, pyramid of biomass, and
pyramid of energy.
9I
Describe the kinds of ecosystems that have been converted to
agriculture.
9J
Explain why people in poor countries eat mostly plant material.
9K
Differentiate among predation, mutualism, competition,
parasitism, and commensalism.
9L
Distinguish between niche and habitat.
9M
Relate extinctions to human activities.
9N
Describe an organism’s niche, habitat, and community.
9O
Determine the effect humans have had on natural climax
ecosystems.
9P

3. List typical abiotic and biotic characteristics of different
biomes.
9Q
Explain why persistent organic chemicals reach higher levels in
carnivores than in herbivores.
9R
Describe the effect of temperature and rainfall to the kind of
biome that develops.
9S
State why some plants and animals are found only in certain
parts of the world.
9T
Explain the concept of a climax community.
9U
Identify the factors that ultimately limit population size.
9V
State why the human population must have an upper limit.
9W
Specify the importance of birthrates and death rates to
population growth.
9X
Define a population and identify key components that affect
population growth.
Module 6 Reading Assignment
Enger, E. D., Ross, F. C., & Bailey, D. B. (2012). Concepts in
biology (14th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Chapters 15, 16,
and 17.
Optional Reading Assignment:

4. Chapter 18, Evolutionary and Ecological Aspects of Behavior.
Ecosystems and Ecology
Abiotic factors are characterized as nonliving. Weather,
including temperature and precipitation, make up a large part of
the abiotic factors as well as things in the natural environment
such as mountains, oceans, and deserts. Of course, that is a
large list of nonliving factors that living things come into
contact with constantly such as sunlight and wind. Biotic
factors are characterized as living things, animals, plants, fungi,
and bacteria, which in one way or another affect the ecosystem.
Each of these living things also needs abiotic factors in order to
survive. Living things could not survive without water and
oxygen. Please watch the What's the difference between biotic
and abiotic factors video.
Producers are organisms that harvest sunlight and harvest it to
make molecules with the help of photosynthesis. Producers use
sunlight energy by converting it into energy that can be used in
the format of organic molecules and then stored for later use.
Plants using photosynthesis, or producers, help jump-start the
flow of energy throughout the ecosystem.
All organisms other than plants, or producers, are considered to
be consumers. All living organisms need organic molecules for
their energy. Consumers include herbivores, carnivores, and
omnivores.
Decomposers are able to break down nonliving organic
materials into inorganic molecules. Decomposers allow for
producers to reuse them. This is a very primitive way of
recycling, but it also keeps the ecosystem moving by recycling
all the inorganic molecules back to the producers where they
can again create energy.
An organism’s niche, habitat, and community are all very much
intertwined. The niche of an organism is the part it fills within
a community or its job, the food it eats, where it resides, and its
schedule. It is nearly impossible to completely describe an
organism’s niche in full because both biotic and abiotic
environments impact the organism; therefore, the list would be

5. too detailed. Plus, each organism is held accountable within the
community to be upheld.
An organism’s habitat is where the organism lives. The borders
of a habitat are very easily blurred because it is difficult to
know where one habitat ends and another habitat begins. The
climate, or temperature and rainfall, plays an important role in
defining the type of habitat. Having a set climate, whether it is
a beach, desert, flat land, glacier, or mountainous, helps
differentiate among the habitats.
An organism’s community is made up of different populations
all living within one habitat. All of the organisms interact with
one another in some shape or form. Within a community lies a
habitat and within that habitat lies individual niches.
A population within the terms of biology is a cluster of
organisms living in the same space that also belong to the same
species. Within each population, there is something called age
distribution. The population is broken down into three
categories: juveniles, reproductive adults, and post-reproductive
adults. The amounts in each of these categories vary widely
from population to population, especially from populations
whose life spans are a few weeks long compared to humans who
span several decades.
All species have what are called limiting factors that help
control the population of the species. Limiting factors include
the availability of raw materials, the availability of energy, the
accumulation of waste, and the interactions of others or other
species. Each of these limiting factors could mean different
things for different populations.
For humans, the availability of raw materials is very important
for the continual growth and the ability to sustain life. The
availability of clean water, materials to build shelter, and
harvesting energy and food are at the core of what we need in
order to survive; therefore, these are all big, limiting factors for
the human population. The availability of energy, again, is an
important factor for the human population—not just in the sense
of harnessing energy to fuel our homes and economy, but in the

6. sunlight that triggers the production of our food supply. The
accumulation of waste has the potential to cause infection and
illness from the growth of bacteria. For us as humans, the
waste also affects our environment on a large level from the air
we breathe to the water we drink. As for the interaction with
others, it can be a double-edged sword. It can cause conflict
and war, but it can also help us to provide stability.
Humans need an upper limit for population, but no one person
or group of people are able to stop humans from continuing to
reproduce. However, at some point in our existence, we will
encounter a lack or complete absence of some of our raw
materials. Some suggest that we have already met our upper
limit. The human population with get to a place where energy
that is being harvested either runs out or will not be abundant
enough to support the entire population. When humans reach
their upper limit, food sources will not be large enough to
sustain all life. Raw materials and food could be two of the
bigger reasons for death in the population. It has also been
shown that there are large conflicts and war when human
population has reached or is close to reaching the upper limit.
Required Presentations:
Click on the links below to view the Module 6
presentations.Chapter 15Chapter 16Chapter 17
Optional presentation: Chapter 18
Homework Assignment #8
Name: __________________________
All calculations should be done in Word using Equation Editor
and all charts and graphs should be done in Excel.
Use the output below to answer the following questions.
A financial advisor wants to know if there is a relationship
between 401K savings and investment banking.

7. Does 401k Savings predict good Investments in banking? The
results are as follows:
Regression Statistics
R Square
0.8891
Adjusted R Square
0.8735
Observations
9
ANOVA
df
SS
MS
F
Significance F
Regression
1
175.34
175.34
??
0.000198
Residual
??
24.548
??
Total
??
??

8. Variable
Coefficient
Standard Error
T value
P value
Lower 95%
Upper 95%
Intercept
0.579
1.6891
??
0.8358
??
??
401k
3.345
0.6992
??
0.000198
??
??
1)
Fill in the tables with the missing values? (You should have 11
different values you need to find)
2)
What is the correlation coefficient of the model?

9. 3)
What is the coefficient of determination?
4)
What is the estimated regression equation?
5)
Interpret the slope.
6)
What is the hypothesis scenario?
7)
Use the estimated regression equation to predict Investments
with a 401k of 4.
8)
Would your predicted in #7 be interpolation or extrapolation?
Why? (Hint: Use the 95% Confidence Interval for reference)
9)
Is there evidence of a significant relationship between 401k and
Investments? Use alpha = .05.

10. 10)
One pair of data in this sample is (7, 26). Which says that 401k
of 7 had an Investments of 26, calculate a residual for this data
point.
11)
What is the standard error of the estimated regression line?
Sheet1
Sheet2
Sheet3
[INSERT TITLE HERE] 2
Running head: [INSERT TITLE HERE]
[INSERT TITLE HERE]
Student Name
Allied American University

11. Author Note
This paper was prepared for [INSERT COURSE NAME],
[INSERT COURSE ASSIGNMENT] taught by [INSERT
INSTRUCTOR’S NAME].
You will need access to the following article: "Lab ecosystems
show signs of evolving"
PART I: SHORT ANSWER
Directions: Please answer each of the following questions.
Please ensure that your responses are at least 3 to 5 sentences in
length.
1. List three abiotic factors in the environment of a fish.
2. Describe two ways that decomposers differ from
herbivores.
3. Why is a food web better than a food chain as a way to
describe a community?
4. Describe two situations in which competition may involve
combat and two that do not involve combat
5. List three introduced species that have become pests, and
explain why they became pests.
6. List four kinds of limiting factors that help set the carrying
capacity for a species.

12. 7. Describe two situations that can lead to a clumped
distribution of organisms.
8. As the human population continues to grow, what should
we expect to happen to other species?
9. What forces will ultimately lead to the control of human
population growth?
10. Why must people who live in countries that are not able to
produce surplus food eat grains?
PART II: ESSAY
Directions: Write a 1 to 2 page, double-spaced paper in 12 pt.
font in response to the following question. Find one article
using AAU’s LIRN (library) to use as support. Please use APA
format. Please visit the Academic Resource Center for an
effective guide on how use LIRN and for concise APA
guidelines.
The Ecosystem
Read the article titled, “Lab ecosystems show signs of
evolving.” Provide your thoughts on how we could make our
ecosystem better. How is our ecosystem affected today?
Explain what was intriguing to you after reading this article.
Article Title: Lab ecosystems show signs of evolvingPublisher:
Society for Science & the Public
Author: Milius, Susan
Identifier:
http://search.proquest.com/abitrade/docview/197528630/abstract
/embedded/J3QDHREJUHMZORQ9?source=fedsrch
ISSN: 00368423
Source: Science News, 158(3), 39p