Ecosystems

TAKS ACADEMY

1.How might the interactions of organisms in a specific habitat be helped or harmed as a result of changes in the ecosystem over time?

2.How might the biodiversity of the populations in a habitat affect organism interactions?

3.What is a microhabitat?

4.What is a biome and what abiotic factors characterize each biome?

5.How might biodiversity within and between trophic levels in a habitat affect sustainability of an ecosystem?

Organism? COMMUNITY? POPULATION?

Organism

One individual by itself!

PERIOD NOTHING ELSE

Organism? COMMUNITY? POPULATION?

POPULATION

Group of the SAME organisms living in the SAME place

Organism? COMMUNITY? POPULATION?

COMMUNITY

Group of DIFFERENT organisms living in the SAME place.

ALL MAKE UP ECOSYSTEMS

ECOSYSTEMLiving (biotic) and nonliving

(abiotic) organisms interacting and living in the same place

What type of Ecosystem

WATER ECOSYSTEM

• FRESHWATER- The living organisms and nonliving materials of an inland aquatic environment

• OCEAN- The living and nonliving materials that cover most of the Earth’s surface with salt water

Water Cycle Used in all Ecosystems

• The earth has a limited amount of water.  That water keeps going around and around and around and around and (well, you get the idea) in what we call the "Water Cycle". This cycle is made up of a few main parts:

• evaporation (and transpiration) • condensation • precipitation • collection

Water Cycle

It can be more complex too…But the idea is simple…WATER

GETS REUSED OVER and OVER!

LAND ECOSYSTEM

• DEFINITION-Also called biomes, these regions of land make up the Earth's surface. All of the Earth's surface, with the exception of the ice in Antarctica and Greenland, fits into a biome.

BIOME?

• WHAT IS A BIOME?

An ecosystem that has similar climates, geography, plants, animals, and soil

Types of BIOMES

Tundra• The tundra is the

world's coldest and driest biome!

• Not a lot of organisms or biodiversity

• Not a lot of plants!• Short season of

growth and reproduction

• Energy and nutrients in the form of dead organic material

Tundra Organisms• Herbivorous mammals:

lemmings, caribou, arctic hares and squirrels

• Carnivorous mammals: arctic foxes, wolves, and polar bears

Tundra Organisms• Migratory birds: ravens, snow

buntings, falcons, loons, ravens, sandpipers, terns, snow birds

• Vegetation: lichens, mosses, and dwarfed shrubs

Tundra’s have LIVING and NONLIVING parts…

• LIVING – Also know as BIOTIC

• Biotic Factors – Polar Bears, Wolves, Small shrubs, ravens, other birds, bacteria

• NONLIVING – Also known as ABIOTIC

• Abiotic Factors- Sunlight, temperature, snow (precipitation), wind, atmospheric gases.

Taiga• The taiga is located near the top of the world,

just below the tundra

• The winters in the taiga are very cold with only snowfall. The summers are warm, rainy, and humid. A lot of coniferous trees grow in the taiga.

CHAPARRAL• The chaparral biome is found in a little bit of most of the

continents - the west coast of the United States, the west coast of South America, the Cape Town area of South Africa, the western tip of Australia and the coastal areas of the Mediterranean.

• Lay of the land: The chaparral biome has many different types of terrain. Some examples are flat plains, rocky hills and mountain slopes.

• Chaparral is characterized as being very hot and dry. As for the temperature, the winter is very mild

Animals & Plants~ Chaparral• the plants and animals are adapted to these conditions.

Most of the plants have small, hard leaves which hold moisture. Some of these plants are poison oak, scrub oak, Yucca Wiple and other shrubs, trees and cacti.

•

• The animals are all mainly grassland and desert types adapted to hot, dry weather. A few examples: coyotes, jack rabbits, mule deer, alligator lizards, horned toads, praying mantis, honey bee and ladybugs.

Prairie/Grasslands

• Areas that grass that get hot in the summer and cold in the winter

• Prairies are located in the inside of North America (Illinois)

• windy environment with few trees or shrubs

• moderate precipitation- about like we get

Organisms that live in Prairies and Grasslands

• Vegetation – Grass! And a few trees, and shrubs.

Organisms that live in Prairies and Grasslands

• Predators/ prey -gazelles, zebras, lions, wolves, prairie dogs, jack rabbits, deer, mice, foxes, skunks, badgers, blackbirds, quails, sparrows, hawks, owls, snakes, grasshoppers, and spiders.

Thinking Time

• Name some BIOTIC factors in the Grasslands or Prairies???

• Name some ABIOTIC factors in the Grasslands of Prairies???

SAVANNAH• A savanna is a rolling grassland scattered with shrubs and

isolated trees, which can be found between a tropical rainforest and desert biome. They are found in a wide band on either side of the equator on the edges of tropical rainforests.

Organisms of the Savannah

Rainforest• wet climate- that’s why

its called a RAINforest!• home to 2/3’s of all the

living animal and plant species on the planet

• natural rainforest gives off and sucks in large amounts of carbon dioxide.

• One-fifth of the world's fresh water is in the Amazon Basin.

Rainforest part of the Carbon Cycle???

• natural rainforest gives off and sucks in large amounts of carbon dioxide.

• It taken in because of all the plants…they take in carbon dioxide through photosynthesis..

• It gives off from dead plants and animals, animal waste, and organisms breathing it into the atmosphere (cellular respiration)

Carbon Cycle

Still the carbon cycle…

Even more carbon cycle..

Guess the carbon cycle doesn’t always have to look the same way.

Just one more carbon cycle…

RainforestOrganisms – HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS!!

Monkeys, Toucans, Butterflies, Vines, Beetles, so many more!!

*Get a lot of medicines from plants in Rainforest!!! You should thank them!

Ecological Succession of Rainforest• Experts estimate that we are losing 137 plant,

animal and insect species every single day due to rainforest deforestation. (Cutting down the trees)

• What else could happen??? Cutting down all those trees????

Desert

• Receives very little rain, Deserts are usually very, very dry!

• few organisms can exist, Not a lot of plants or animals

• Temperature is very hot in the day, cool at night.

Desert Organisms• Few large mammals live in

deserts because most are not able to store enough water and resist the heat.

• Animals include small nocturnal (active at night) carnivores, animals stay inactive and hidden during the hot day and come out to hunt at night.

• Roadrunners, lizards, insects, small snakes, addax, Gila monster, desert fox, cacti, saguaro, and many other plants and animals

Wetlands• Wetlands are areas of

standing water that have aquatic plants.

• Marshes, swamps, and bogs are all considered wetlands

• Wetlands are found anywhere shallow bodies of water are present.

• Wetlands have the highest species diversity of all ecosystems.

Wetland’s Organisms

• Many species of amphibians, reptiles, birds (such as ducks and waders), and furbearers can be found in the wetlands.

• Plant species include pond lilies, cattails, sedges, tamarack, and black spruce

Wetlands

• Name 3 ABIOTIC things in the wetlands

1.

2.

3. • Examples: sunlight,

water, soil, temperature, ect…

• Name 3 BIOTIC things in the wetlands

1.

2.

3. • Examples: Lilies,

snakes, toads, trees, moss, bacteria, ect…

Wetlands Food web

• Name a consumer in the food web…

• Name a producer in the food web…

• Name decomposer in the food web…

How is the Nitrogen Cycle part of the Wetlands?

• All organisms are part of the nitrogen cycle…we eat stuff with nitrogen in it and we release it back in to atmosphere

• Producers must convert it …78% of the atmosphere is nitrogen but we cant use it that way…

• IS THE NITROGEN CYCLE PART OF EVERY BIOME?

Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrogen cycle again..

Starting to get the point? Its doesn’t all look the same…

Deciduous ForestDeciduous means "tending to fall off"

• The deciduous forest has four distinct seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

• As the seasons change, so do the colors of the leaves of the deciduous trees.

• located primarily in the eastern half of the United States, and some other places.

Deciduous Forest

• Animals/ Birds: American Bald Eagle, American Black Bear, Coyote, Duckbill Platypus ,Eastern Chipmunk ,European Red Squirrel, White-tailed Deer

• Vegetation: American Beech ,Carpet Moss, Common Lime Guelder Rose, Lady Fern, Northern Arrow wood ,Milksap,

Mushroom,White Oak

Message Board Questions

1. What Biome is this?

1. What is the precipitation like?2. What does the Rainforest produce that we need?3. In what ways is the Rainforest going through ecological

succession?

Message Board Questions

• What Biome is this?

• Is it considered dry or wet? Why?• What is the temperature like?• Name two organisms that live there?

Message Board Questions

• What Biome is this?

• Name 3 characteristics of grasslands and prairies.

• Name 3 organisms that live in these areas• What is the temperature like?

Message Board Questions

• What Biome is this?

• What is the Temperature like in the day? At night?

• What are some characteristics of the desert?• Name 3 organisms that live here.

Message Board

• What Biome is this?

• What is special about the trees in the deciduous forest?

• Name some organisms that live there.

Message Board Questions

• What is an ecosystem?

• What is a biome?

• What is a population?

• What is a community?

Message Board Questions

• What is a Decomposer? Give an example of one.

• What is a consumer? Give an example of one

• What is a producer? Give an example of one

Message Board Questions

• Explain how the carbon cycle works

• Explain how the nitrogen cycle works

• Are the two cycles similar??

• What is the Water Cycles Purpose? • Does the water have to travel in a certain order?