How Ecosystems Work

How Ecosystems Work

Food Chains and Food Webs

Ecology

Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their environment.

Biosphere

• Part of the Earth that supports life

• From high in the atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean

• Would be like peeling the skin of an apple

Ecosystem

Are a community and its abiotic factors

Abiotic Factors

• Non-living parts of the environment

• Examples:

• Air, temperature, soil, water, and light

Biotic Factors

• Living organisms in the environment

• Examples:

• Trees, animals, birds, fish, and grass

Multiple Choice

Abiotic factors are living organisms in the environment.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Biotic Factors are living organism in the environment.

• True

• False

Levels of Organization in Ecology

Organism: is a single living thing

Population

Is a group of organisms of the same species living in the same place a the same time

Community

A group of populations living in the same place at the same time

Types of Ecosystems

• Terrestrial: The land

• Aquatic: Water- fresh and saltwater

Definitions for Ecosystems

• Habitat: place an organism lives and species can share habitats

• Niche: Way an organism lives, how it gets food and shelter

• Each species has its own niche

Symbiosis

Within ecosystems, symbiosis is the Interactions between two different organisms living in the close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.

That interaction of Symbiosis involves either -

• Mutualism: both species benefit

• Commensalism: one species benefits and the other is not

• Parasitism: one species benefits and the other is harmed

Multiple Select

Symbiosis includes? (Please check all that apply)

• Mutualism

• Commensalism

• Parasitism

• Nonrenewable energy

• All of the above

Living organisms obtaining energy

• Autotrophs - produce their food

• Heterotrophs - consume their food from other sources

Autotrophs

• An autotroph is an organism that can produce its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals

• Producers

Heterotrophs

• Are organisms that eat other plants or animals for energy and nutrients.

• Herbivore: eats only plants

• Carnivore: eats only animals

• Scavenger: eats already dead animals

• Omnivore: eats both plants & animals

• Decomposer: breaks down dead organisms

Food Chain

• A chanin that shows how energy moves through an exosystem

• Starts with Autotroph (producers)

• The Trophic level (consumers)

• First Order Heterotroph eats autotroph

• Second order eats first order

• Third order eats second order

Food Webs

• Shows all feeding relationships in a community

• Most organisms ear more than one species

Ecological Pyramids

• Base is autotroph

• Next is 1st order Heterotroph

• 2nd order Heterotroph an so forth

• Amount of energy decreases by 90% at each new trophic level

• Biomass is total weight of living matter at each trophic level

Within the Pyramids, there are the Cycles

• Water Cycle - Needed by all living organisms for survival

• Carbon Cycle - part of all living things

• Nitrogen & Phosphorus Cycle - elements cycled and reused on all of the Earth

Limiting Factors

• Biotic or Abiotic factors that restrict organisms

• Examples: too little or much sun, water, or food

Tolerance

Organisms are able to withstand fluctuations in their environment

Succession

• An orderly and natural change or changes in a community

• Two types of succession

• Primary and Secondary

Multiple Choice

How many types of Succession are there?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 7

Biomes

• Are a large community of vegetation and wildlife adapted to a specific climate. 

• There are six basic Land biomes

• And there are three basic Aquatic or water

Land Biomes

• Tundra - Treeless, cold dry, and few animals

• Taiga -Conifers, cool, adequate water, lots of animals

• Desert - Dry hot, few plants and animals

Land Biome's continued

• Grassland - Grasses, grazing animals

• Temperate Deciduous Forest - Hardwood trees, cool/ warm, seasons, water, many animals

• Tropical Rain Forest - Many plants, animals, wet, and warm

Aquatic Biomes

• Marine - Oceans; photic zone, and the Aphotic zone

• Estuary - Coastal body of water, a mix of fresh and saltwater

• Freshwater - Water with low salt content, rivers, lakes, ponds, and streams

Biodiveristy

• Number of different species in an area

• Importance - all species depend on others

• Extinction - speicies disappears when las member dies

• Endangered: species has so few members that it is close to extinction

Multiple Choice

How many basic land biomes are there?

• 4

• 7

• 6

• 9

Multiple Choice

There are how many aquatic biomes?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 5