Ecosystems

1
Ecosystems
2
Photosynthesis
Plants take in energy from the sun.
Leaves take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen
as a by-product.
Plants make glucose to use as food. Food that is
stored is called starch.
Roots take in water and nutrients from the soil.
3
Systems

• System a group of parts that work together as a
  unit.
  
• A system has cycles and processes that interact,
  or affect each other.
  
• Open systems let things out. Thinks coming into
  a system are inputs.
  
• Closed systems have no inputs and no outputs.
• Over time a system will reach stability changes
  in the system cancel each other out.

4
Parts of an Ecosystem

• Groups of living things and the environment they
  live in make up an ecosystem.
  
• A group of the same species living in the same
  place at the same time is a population.
  
• Several populations of different kinds can exist
  in one ecosystem.
  
• A swamp is an area that is sometimes covered in
  shallow water.

5
Parts of an Ecosystem

• In most ecosystems, plants of the main population
  are where organisms interact.
  
• A community is made up of all the populations
  that live in the same area.
  
• Nonliving parts of an ecosystem interact with one
  another and with living things.
  
• Nonliving things are sunlight, soil, air, water,
  and temperature.

6
Living Things in an Ecosystem

• Habitat an environment that meets the needs of
  an organism
  
• Niche role
• Producers Make their own food (plants and
  algae)
  
• Consumer Eat other living things (herbivores,
  carnivores, and omnivores)
  
• Decomposers feed on the wastes of plants and
  animals or on their remains after they die,
  returning nutrients to the soil.

7
Energy Pyramid

• A diagram called an energy pyramid shows how much
  food energy is passed form one organism to
  another along a food chain.

8
Food Web
9
Changes in the Ecosystem

• Over time, changes in climate, rate of erosion,
  and populations can cause big changes in an
  ecosystem.
  
• Some changes, such as storms or changes caused by
  people, can change an ecosystem quickly.

10
Changes in the Ecosystem

• Succession the process by which one community
  is replaced by another until a stable community
  occupied the area.
  
• A forest fire is an example of succession.

11
Changes in the Ecosystem

• Lichens and mosses will establish themselves in
  an ecosystem quickly.
  
• As plant and animal matter decomposes over time,
  nutrients are added back into the soil.
  
• Producer makes food
• Consumer eats other plants and animals
• Decomposer breaks down decaying plant and
  animal matter.

12
Repairing the Ecosystem

• Reclamation repairing some of the damage to an
  ecosystem.
  
• Many times people can help repair and improve
  ecosystems.

13
Preserving the Ecosystem

• Conservation careful management and wise use of
  natural resources.
  
• Reduce use less
• Reuse use it again
• Recycle make the old into new
• Redesign change a product to use fewer
  resources to make it.
  
• Preservation protection of an area