21

 ZEJ

The job of a ecologist is to study interactions between organisms and their environments. They study the behaviors, stimuli, foodchains, lifecycles and actions that effectively make a ecosystem move. They also study how we humans impact and change ecosystems and what the consequences are.

For an ecologist to understand and study these interactions effectively, there's some BIG words that they need to know to separate organisms into categories.

**
 * Producers

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   __//Chemotrophs or Chemoautotrophs//__      ======

  Chemotrophs use chemosynthesis(make sense?). Chemosynthesis pretty much the same as photosynthesis, only uses the oxidation or burning of chemicals(hence the "chemo" part) to create energy needed for the said organism. All bacteria are chemotrophs. Remember they're just little cells that split every second, they don't have a body like you and me.

__Phototrophs or Photoautotrophs__ Phototrophs, in contrast to chemotrophs, use sunlight and photosynthesis to obtain energy. Of course, with the word photosynthesis, a plant usually comes to mind. All plants use photosynthesis to get their energy. This process requires sunlight, water, and carbon-dioxide to create hydrogen and sugar. The overall equation for photosynthesis in green plants is: //n// CO2 + //2n// H2O + light energy → (CH2O)//n// + //n// O2 + //n// H2O



Both of these categories of organisms together cover //"producers".//

movin' along....

__ XxCONSUMERSxX

__ There are five(**//FIVE?!!)//** types of consumers.//Heterotroph// is another name for consumers.


 * (:**--**HETEROTROPHS****:**D+++++++++++++++CONSUMERS++++++++

First type://**HERBIVORES**!// Herbivores eat plants,to put it simply.Cattle, deer, stegasauruses, sheep, and rabbits are all examples of herbivores.



Next UP!: **carnivores**... Lions, tigers and bears, OH MY! Not to leave out sharks, snakes, crocodiles, and cannibles(JK!) they eat.... guess...no really, guess... ...give up? No huh? OH you know! MEAT. That's right, meat, all carnivores eat meat.

NEXT!.....please?


 * Omnivores.** They're a mix of herbivores and carnivores.They eat both meat and plants. Humans are omnivores.So are bears, monkeys, rats, pigs and goats.



DETRITIVORE.What a mouthful! they are the animals that eat dirt. Well they brak down organic matter into nutrients for the soil.Earthworms,rolli-pollies(I think people call 'em pill-bugs or somethin'...) and most bugs are detritivores.
 * Detritivores**?...ummm are..next.



AND LAST BUT MOST CERTAINLY NOT LEAST...**DECOMPOSERS**!

decoposersdon't neccesarily eat, but rather, ABSORB dead tissue. they break the dead tissue down to bare nutrients for detritivors and producers to consume. fungi, flies, bacteria are all decomposers.



These are all the category an ecologist must study to better understand ourinteracting world. Why, you may ask, do they have to know everything pertaining to animal/human environments?Because what actions WE do to animals and their environments can turn right around and hit us where it hurts. Space needed for houses? go ahead and cut and plow down half a forest, driving the animals out. Animals without their homes, would adapt and live next to us. We start think of them as pests and kill or drive them off. Serious blow to the food chain and suddenly you have an overpopulation or an endangered species. We have to think before we do so as not to harm the environment or us for that matter. That's why it;'s important to understand how interactions effect environments.

Main soruces for and of info: wikipedia, biology textbook and yahoo and goolge imaging.