Biomes Unit 6

1. Biomes Unit 6

2. What is a biome? • A large region characterized by a specific type of climate and certain types of plants and animal communities.

3. Biomes are described by their vegetation • plants that grow in an area determine the other organisms that can live there • Plants in a particular biome have adaptations that allow the plants to survive in that biome. • These adaptations include • size • shape • color

4. Climate • Biomes are defined by their plant life, but what factors determine which plants can grow in a certain area? • The main factor is climate. • Climate varies with latitude and altitude.

7. What is an ecosystem? • all of the organisms living in an area together with their physical environment. • An ecosystem is much smaller than a biome • For example, in the forests there is the rotting tree stump ecosystem, the forest floor ecosystem, the canopy ecosystem, etc. They are all a part of one biome - the deciduous forest biome.

8. Components of an Ecosystem • In order to survive, ecosystems need at least five basic components. • Energy • Mineral nutrients • Water • Oxygen • Living organisms • The energy in most ecosystems comes from the sun.

9. An ecosystem is made up of both living and nonliving things. • Biotic factorsare the living and once living parts of an ecosystem • including all of the plants and animals. • Abiotic Factors Are the nonliving parts of the ecosystem. • include air, water,rocks, sand, light, and temperature.

10. What are some biotic and abiotic factors?

12. Ecological Organization • Organism an individual living thing. • You are a organism. • Species a group of organisms that are closely related and that can mate to produce fertile offspring. • All humans are members of the species Homo sapiens. • Population all the members of the same species that live in the same place at the same time. • Example, all the field mice in a corn field in North Carolina make up one population of field mice. • An important characteristic of a population is that its members usually breed with one another rather than with members of other populations

13. Every population is part of a Community. • Community a group of various species that live in the same place and interact with each other • A pond community, for example, includes all of the populations of plants, fish, and insects that live in and around the pond. All of the living things in an ecosystem are members of the same community.

14. Native vs. nonnative species • Native species – Species that normally live and thrive in an ecosystem • Invasive (nonnative) species – Species that migrate or are introduced into an ecosystem • Most species introductions are beneficial • Food • Shelter • Medicine • Aesthetic enjoyment • Nonnative species may have no natural predators or competitors

15. Some Harmful Nonnative Species in the United States Fig. 9-11, p. 200

16. Deliberately Introduced Species Purple loosestrife European starling African honeybee (“Killer bee”) Nutria Salt cedar (Tamarisk) European wild boar (Feral pig) Marine toad (Giant toad) Water hyacinth Japanese beetle Hydrilla Fig. 9-11a, p. 200

17. Accidentally Introduced Species Sea lamprey (attached to lake trout) Argentina fire ant Brown tree snake Eurasian ruffe Common pigeon (Rock dove) Formosan termite Zebra mussel Asian long-horned beetle Asian tiger mosquito Gypsy moth larvae Fig. 9-11b, p. 200

18. A deliberately introduced species - The Kudzu Vine • Imported from Japan to help control soil erosion. Grows extremely rapidly and difficult to control or kill. An accidentally introduced species – Argentina fire ant • Accidentally introduced in Alabama on ships from South America. No natural predators exist so they spread rapidly and kill other ant populations.

19. Symbiosis • A relationship in which two organisms live in close association is called Symbiosis. • There are 5 symbiotic relationships

20. Competition • Competition is a relationship in which different individuals or populations attempt to use the same limited resource. • Each individual has less access to the resource and so is harmed by the competition.

21. Predation • An organism that feeds on another organism is called a predator, and the organism that is fed upon is the prey.

22. Parasitism • An organism that lives in or on another organism and feeds on the other organism is a parasite. • The organism the parasite takes its nourishment from is known as the host.

24. Mutualism • A close relationship between two species in which each species provides a benefit to the other is called mutualism. • Certain species of bacteria in your intestines form a mutualistic relationship with you. These bacteria help break down food that you could not otherwise digest or produce vitamins that your body cannot make. In return, you give the bacteria a warm, food-rich habitat.

25. Commensalism • A relationship in which one species benefits and the other species is neither harmed nor helped

26. Remoras have a commensal relationship with sharks. Remoras attach themselves to sharks in order to eat scraps from the sharks’ meals, or to hitch a ride elsewhere. The remoras cause neither benefit nor harm to the sharks. There are many examples of freeloaders and scavengers in nature.

29. How Ecosystems Change

30. Succession

31. Succession a gradual process of change and replacement of the types of species in a community.

32. Primary Succession • The change in a community that no ecosystem previously existed. • Example: New Island • Pioneer species: • The first species to populate an area. (moss)

33. The first pioneer species to colonize the bare rock will probably be bacteria and lichens, which can live without soil

34. Secondary Succession • The disturbance of an existing ecosystem. • Example: • Fire • Tornado • Farming • Mining

35. Climax Community • A final and stable community

36. Primary Succession

37. Secondary Succession

38. Environmental resistance combined effect of all the factors that limit population growth. • Carrying Capacity maximum population size an environment can support for a long period of time. • Population go above and below the capacity in response to the environment (ex: seasons).

39. Carrying Capacity