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Ecosystem

Community

Population

All of the living and nonliving factors in an area.

All of the biotic (or living) factors in an area.

All of ONE species in an area.

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Abiotic Factors-

the NONLIVING parts of an ecosystem

* Non-living does not mean dead! Abiotic factors were never alive to start with!

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Biotic Factors are….

…all of the living parts of an ecosystem.

Fungus!

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Ecosystems are self-sustaining if:

There is a constant supply of energy.
There is a cycling of materials.
There are organisms to cycle the necessary materials.

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Habitat vs. Niche

Habitat is where an organism lives. The earthworm live in the soil!

Niche is an organism’s job (or role) in the ecosystem. The worm aerates the soil and provides food for birds.

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Most can describe the habitat, but what about the niche? Name an animal that fits the niche.

Fast moving plant eater - antelope, horses, kangaroos

Large thick skin plant eater - rhinos, cattle, etc

Fast moving predators - wolf, cheetahs, hyenas

Giant Plant eater - Elephant, Giraffe, brontosaurus

Tree dwelling omnivore - Monkey

Lives on land and water, eats fish - penguins, otters

Marine macropredator - great white sharks, killer whales, leopard seals

Large flying predator - raptors,owls

Flying nectar eating - hummingbird, some bats

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Limiting Factors

Any factors that limit the size of a population.

Space Available

Availability of Food

Availability of Mates

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Competition

Competition will occur between organisms in an ecosystem when their niches overlap, they both try to use the same resource and the resource is in short supply. Animals compete for food, water and space to live. Plants compete for light, water, minerals and root space.

Limited natural resources results in competition. Why is that actually a good and healthy thing for an ecosystem?

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Predator and Prey Relationship

A predator is an organism that eats another organism.

The prey is the organism which the predator eats.

Some examples of predator and prey are lion and zebra, bear and fish, and fox and rabbit. The words "predator" and "prey" are almost always used to mean only animals that eat animals, but the same concept also applies to plants: Bear and berry, rabbit and lettuce, grasshopper and leaf.

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Predator Prey graph

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Biomes

A large group of ecosystems with similar climates and organisms.

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There are 5 major types of biomes:

Aquatic, grassland, desert, forest, tundra

These types can be further subdivided into the types you see below

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Taxonomy- a system of classification or grouping of organisms into categories

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I need good soup!!

King

Phillip

Called

Out

For

Good

Soup

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Kidspiration by Riedell�Source: see end of show

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Trophic Levels Pyramid- This shows what organisms eat and how energy is transferred from one level to another

Producers

Primary Consumers

Secondary Consumers

Tertiary Consumer

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Energy Pyramid showing the different trophic levels

Decomposers

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Autotrophic Organisms

Autotrophs (also known as Producers) can synthesize organic compounds from inorganic raw materials.

(translation: they undergo photosynthesis to make their own food)

Less common, but way cooler are organisms that undergo chemosynthesis.

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Heterotrophic Organisms

Heterotrophs must obtain their nutrients from their environment.

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Types of Heterotrophs

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Saprophytes & Decomposers

Saprophytes are decomposers that recycle nutrients in dead organic matter back to the soil for the plants to reabsorb. Saprophytes (fungus is most common example) are those that feed or live on dead and decaying matter (in soil) whereas decomposers are those that break down dead and decaying organisms (bacteria are most important).

A dung beetle!

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Symbiotic Relationships

Any nutritional relationship between two organisms in which at least ONE organism benefits.

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Commensalism (+,0)

One organism benefits, the other is not affected.

Example: Sharks and Pilot Fish. The Pilot Fish stay near the sharks and feed off their scraps. The shark is unaffected.

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Mutualism (+,+)

Both organisms benefit.

Example: The Oxpecker and the Rhino. The Oxpecker gets a free meal by eating the insects off of the Rhino and the Rhino get rid of the parasites that feed on it!

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Parasitism (+,-)

One organism benefits and the other is harmed.

Example: A tick biting a dog. The tick benefits from the nutrients in the dogs blood, but the dog is harmed (irritation, disease).

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Predator/Prey (+, )

One organism benefits, the other is DEAD! Ouch.

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Food Chain vs. Web

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Food Chain- A food chain shows how organisms are related to each other by the food they eat. Each level of a food chain represents a different trophic level.

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Food Web- shows what eats what in an ecological community

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Succession-

The change in an ecosystem over time.

Pioneer Organisms like lichens grow on rocks. They secrete an acid that breaks rock into a thin layer of soil.

The most stable and diverse. They remain until a natural disaster or human impact affect them.

info on

lichens

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The continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth

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The carbon cycle shows how carbon travels from the atmosphere into organisms in the Earth, and then back into the atmosphere, over and over again.

Most carbon is stored in rocks and sediments, while the rest is stored in the ocean, atmosphere, and living organisms.

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The nitrogen cycle is a repeating cycle of processes where nitrogen moves through both living and nonliving things: the atmosphere, soil, water, plants, animals and bacteria.

In order to move through the different parts of the cycle, nitrogen must change forms.