Ecosystems and Communities

1
Ecosystems and Communities

• I. The Role of Climate
• II. What Shapes an Ecosystem
• III. Biomes
• IV. Aquatic Ecosystems

2
I. The Role of Climate

• A. What is climate?
• 1. Weather
• 2. Climate
• B. The Greenhouse Effect
• C. The Effects of Latitude and Climate
• 1. polar zones
• 2. Temperate zones
• 3. Tropical zones
• D. Heat Transport in the Biosphere
• 1. Winds
• 2. currents

3
Chapter 4 Ecology
p.1
Weather Vs. Climate Weather is the day to day
conditions in a certain place at a certain
time. Climate is the average condition of
temperature and precipitation in an area year
after year. Greenhouse Effect - Global warming
due to the radiation of the sun becomes trapped
in the gas layer formed from massive amounts of
CO2, CH4 (methane gas), and water vapor forming
a blanket that surrounds the earth. 3 Major
Climate Zones on Earth 1) Polar Zone 2) Temperate
Zone 3) Tropical Zone
4
Latitudes
5
Ocean Currents
6
20. _____________________
__________________________________________
20. _____________________
__________________________________________
7
(No Transcript)
8
4.2 What shapes an Ecosystem?

• Biotic and Abiotic Factors
• The Niche
• Community Interactions
• Ecological Succession

9
Biotic Factors

• Anything it interacts with
• Birds
• Trees
• Mushrooms
• bacteria

10
Abiotic Factors

• Physical, nonliving
• Temp
• Precip
• Climate
• Humidity
• Wind
• nutrient
• Soil
• sunlight

11

Ecology C.4
p.2
Niche - the full range of biotic and abiotic
conditions in which an organism
lives and survives - Where the organism
is classified in the food chain or
web - every animal and plant are
constantly struggling to survive and
maintain homeostasis (balance within
their body) Factors Biotic Factors (Ex.
Predation, Competition for food and space) And
Abiotic factors (Ex.Temperature, nutrients, wind,
soil type, erosion)
12
Ecology
p.3
Community Interactions Competition- When
organisms are attempting to secure a
resource for their own use from within a
community. Resource- any necessity to maintain
life - Ex. Water, air, sunlight,
food, minerals, space Competitive Exclusion
Principle- no two species can occupy the
exact same niche, at the same time, in the same
habitat. - leads to greater distribution
- less competition, confrontation, and
starvation (sun or food) Predation- The eating of
another organism for nutrients -
dictated by the tooth arrangement of the
animal
13
(No Transcript)
14
Ecology
p.4
Symbiosis- living together -
two species live closely together Types of
Symbiosis Mutualism- both species benefit from
the relationship Commensalism- one species
benefits, the other is neither hurt or
helped in the relationship. Paras
itism- one organism lives on or in the other and
causes damage to the other as
a result. Parasite- organism
that benefits Host- organism
that is hurt in the relationship
15
(No Transcript)
16
Ecology

• Label the following situations
• Mutualism, Commensalism, Parasitism and explain
  Why
• A bee gathers nectar from a flower, in the
  process it carries pollen to another flower.
• A female mosquito bites you in the arm, and
  leaves behind West Nile virus.
• 3) A bucket orchid lives in the branches of a
  tree, where it attaches its roots.
• A deer rubs his antlers on a sapling to mark his
  territory
• A squirrel eats and gathers acorns from a oak
  tree, 93 of the acorns he hides, he forgets the
  location.

17
Ecology
p.5
Ecological Succession-a series of predictable
changes that occurs
in a community over time.
-occurs due to natural and
human
disturbances -
the old gradually die out and the new move
in, causing a
change in all the dynamics
involved in the system Primary
Succession- occurs where NO soil exists
(volcano/sand) -
pioneer species are the first to arrive
- the death of the pioneer
species adds
nutrients to the soil for future
growth.
18
Ecology
p.6
Secondary Succession-when a ecosystem is
disturbed, the
restoration of the ecosystem to the way in
which it was
before the disturbance. Ex.
Fires, deforestation, farm land, tornado,
hurricane Climax Community Old growth
community - very
low diversity -
little to no underbrush or foliage
- very dense canopy Marine
Succession- may occur due to death and
decomposition of
the body portions of the animal
- Silt formation due to erosion
covers aquatic
foliage
19
(No Transcript)
20
Ecology
p. 7
Biome-Complex community made up of animals and
plants, shaped by soil and
climate Tolerance- ability to live and reproduce
in less than perfect
conditions Microclimate-A small area of different
climate, due to landforms,
that is different from main
climate Major Biomes Tropical Rain Forest
Tropical Dry Forest
Tropical Savanna
Desert
Temperate Grassland
Temperate Woodland and Shrubland
Temperate Forest
Northwestern Coniferous Forest
Boreal Forest
Tundra

21
Tropical Rain Forest
22
Tropical Dry Forest
23
Tropical Savanna
24
Desert
25
Temperate Grassland
26
Temperate Woodland and Shrubland
27
Temperate Forest
28
Northwestern Coniferous Forest
29
Boreal Forest
30
tundra
31
(No Transcript)
32
Ecology
p.8
Water Quality Degradation- Phosphates-
fertilizers from lawns algae blooms, increase
in poisons, loss of
sunlight. Fecal Contamination- increases nutrient
load, has little affect on
aquatic life, does stop
recreational use by
humans. Dams on Rivers- Increase water
flow below, decrease above
- stops the migration of fish
- interrupts natural level of
water, especially run-off Nitrates- fertilizer,
death of aquatic animals, and animal/human waste
- increase growth of algae and aquatic
weeds
33
Aquatic Ecosystems p. 8

• 4 factors1) depth
• 2) flow
• 3) Temperature
• 4) Water Chemistry
• Plankton- 2 types 1)phytoplankton 1 celled algae
• 2)zooplanktonplankt
  on eating
• Both are basis of food chain animals
• Wetland- ecosystem where water is present at or
• over the surface for a portion of
  the year.
• Estuaries- where a river meets the sea
• ex. Salt marshes, mangrove
  swamps

34
(No Transcript)
35


p.9

• Marine Zones Photic Zone- 200 meters
• 
  -light present
• 
  -algae and other producers
• Aphotic Zone-Permanently
  dark
• 
  -chemosynthetic autotroph
• 
  only animal that can survive
• Zonation-the horizontal banding of organisms
• -certain organisms live in certain
  areas/depths due
• to sunlight, oxygen, current,
  temperature that
• exists in that zone.
• Benthic Zone- the bottom of a marine ecosystem
• -relies on energy from
  photic zone to fall to
• bottom