Ecosystems and

Communities

Climate vs. Weather

• Weather – day to day conditions in a particular place at a particular time.

• Climate – avg. of temperature and precipitation in a region from year to year.

Greenhouse Effect• Where heat

is retained in the earths atmosphere by greenhouse gases (CO2)

Global Warming• Term used to describe an increase in the average temperature of the biosphere

• Cause is believed to be human activities

What shapes an Ecosystem?

• Biotic factors – living parts of an ecosystem

• Abiotic factors – nonliving parts of an ecosystem

What shapes an Ecosystem con’t

• Habitat – where an organism lives.

• Niche – an organisms purpose (includes food, space, reproduction, & how it interacts with other organisms)

Community Interactions

• Competition – occurs when members of the same or different species attempt to use resources in the same place at the same time.

Community Interactions

• Predation Predator

organism that kills (hunts)

• Prey organism that is

the food– Ex. Cat and

mouse

Community Interactions

• Symbiosis – 2 species living closely together– Mutualism

both species benefit •Ex. Flower & insect

Community Interactions

– Commensalism when one member benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed.•Ex barnacles on whales skin

– Parasitism when one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it.•Ex. Flea, tick