Ecosystems

1. Ecosystems Chapter 2 Mr. Sierra

2. Chapter 2 - Section 1 What is an “Ecosystem”? Biotic = LivingThings Abiotic = • All the different organisms living in a certain area, along with their physical environment. Non-Living Things

3. Chapter 2 - Section 1 Biosphere Link to Prezi: Click Here http://prezi.com/xqmuenp1d5ex/ecosystems/ • Individual Organism • Population • Community • Ecosystem • Biome (on next slide) • Biosphere

4. Chapter 2 - Section 1 Niche vs. Habitat • Niche: an organism’s way of life • Habitat: the actual place where an organism lives • Biomes: regionsthat have distinctive climates and organisms – may contain many separate but similar ecosystems.

5. Chapter 2 - Section 2 Species Interactions http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/unit/text.php?unit=4&secNum=7

6. Chapter 2 - Section 3 “Survival of the Fittest”

7. Chapter 2 - Section 3 Natural Selection The unequal survival and reproduction that results from the presence or absence of particular “traits”. (Starburst Activity)

8. Chapter 2 - Section 3 Evolution • A change in the genetic characteristics of populations from one generation to the next. CoEvolution • When 2 or more species evolve in response to each other.

9. Chapter 2 - Section 3 Adaptation • An inherited trait that increases an organism’s chance of survival and reproduction in a certain environment.

10. Chapter 2 - Section 3 Extinction • When the last individual of a species dies. Threatened Endangered  Extinct! Project Make a PowerPoint based on an Endangered Species of animal, insect or plant. Requirements Location: include population/habitat maps and migration routes Quantity: how many are left - in the wild vs. in captivity Causes: why are they threatened or endangered? Solution: how are they being protected / reproduced today? See “assignments” page of website for more information.

11. Chapter 2 - Section 3 Biodiversity • Biodiversity: The diversity of life forms in an environment. • Populations with high genetic diversity are better able to respond to environmental change than with lower genetic diversity. • Scientists have identified and cataloged approximately 2 million species on Earth.  Estimates of the total number of species on Earth range between 5 million and 100 million, with the most common estimate at 10 million. • The average rate at which species go extinct over the long term, referred to as the background extinction rate, is very slow: about one species in a million every year. (With 2 million identified = two species per year). • Under conditions of environmental change or biological stress, species may go extinct faster than new ones evolve. Some scientists estimate that more than 10,000 species are currently going extinct each year—5,000 times the background rate of extinction. • Additional: Scientists estimate that about 99% of the original species on Earth are now extinct. • (Friedland page 5)

12. Chapter 5 – science applied Biodiversity Hotspots • Biodiversity hotspots.  Conservation International has identified 34 biodiversity hotspots that have at least 1,500 endemic plant species and a loss of at least 70 percent of all vegetation. (Friedland: p.144)