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Ecosystems

Mr Walker Environmental Science Class

Objectives 1-4

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Everything is Connected (Objective 2)

  • Living organisms depend on other living organisms and non-living things.
  • Ecosystems include all the different organism living in a certain area AND their (non-living) physical environment.
    • Biotic Factors (Living parts of an ecosystem) Animals, plants, and microorganisms.
    • Abiotic Factors (Non-living parts of an ecosystem) Temperature, sunlight, water, and soil types.

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Ecosystem Connections: (Objective 1)

  • An organism is one individual living thing. E.g. an ant
  • A species is a group of organisms that are able to produce fertile offspring which look and behave like their parents.
  • A population is a group of individuals of the same species living in a certain area.
  • Communities are a group of interacting populations of different species.

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Habitat vs Niche (Objective 2)

  • A habitat is where an organism lives out its life.
  • A niche is how an organism gets food and lives out its life. A niche includes living and non-living parts.

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Predator and Prey Relationships (Objective 3)

  • The one that does the eating is the predator.
  • The one that is eaten is the prey.
  • Both the predator and prey depend on each other to maintain a healthy community.
  • Competition occurs when two or more organisms of the same or different species attempt to use the same limited resource.

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Our connection through Symbiosis: (Obj 4)

  • Symbiosis is when different species share a close physical association. There are 3 types of Symbiosis: Parasitism, Commensalism, and Mutualism.
  • A parasite lives in or an another organism (host) and feeds on it without immediately killing it. Examples include ticks, fleas, tapeworms, and leeches etc.

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Symbiosis Cont. (Objective 4)

  • Commensalism is a relationship in which one species benefits and the other is NOT harmed or helped. Examples include a remoras and sharks. Remoras feed on the scraps of food left over from the shark’s meals but the sharks do not benefit from it.

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Symbiosis Cont (Obj 4)

  • Mutualism is a cooperative partnership between two species in which both species benefit. Examples include trees called Acacia and ants. Acacia trees provide food (nectar and protein bodies on the leaves) and nesting sites for the ants. The ants defend the tree from herbivores such as grasshoppers and beetles.