Ecosystems and Communities

1. Ecosystems and Communities

2. Climate • Weather is the condition of the atmosphere at that time for a particular area. Unequal heating of our atmosphere • Climate is the yearly average atmospheric condition in a specific area over a long period of time.

3. Greenhouse Effect • Atmosphere is a thin shell where conditions are presently suitable for life. • Greenhouse Effect • Greenhouse gases are water vapor, carbon dioxide(CO2), methane and a few other gases.

4. Latitude on Climate • Latitude • Equator • Tropics • Temperate • Polar

5. Heat Transport in the Biosphere • Unequal heating and cooling rates drives winds and ocean currents • Winds • Jet stream • Westerlies • Trade winds • Ocean currents • Gulf Stream • Southern Oscillation • Altitude-rain shadow

6. Factors in an Ecosystem • Biotic factors are the living factors in an ecosystem. • Abiotic factors are the nonliving factors in an ecosystem. • Habitat

7. Niche • Niche is what an organism does or its occupation

8. Community Interactions • Competition • Predation • Symbiosis • Mutualism+,+ • Commensalism+,0 • Parasitism+,-

9. Succession • Ecological Succession • Primary Succession • Pioneer species • Climax community • Secondary Succession • Natural disasters, climate change, human activitiesM

11. Aquatic Succession • Death of large organism, scavengers, decomposers • Nutrients that are broken down from tissues, bones are left. Marine worms • Skeleton is dissolved by chemosynthetic organism and the nutrients and energy is used by mollusks and arthropods.

12. Biomes • Biome • Tolerance • Stress • Optimum

13. Biomes and Climate • Microclimate • Climate diagram, climatograph

14. Major Terrestrial Biomes • Each of the terrestrial biomes is defined by a unique set of abiotic and biotic factors

16. Other Land Areas • Mountain Ranges • Factors vary with elevation • Polar Ice Caps • North, mosses, lichens, Polar bears, seals, insects, mites • South, mosses, lichens, Penguins, aquatic marine animals

17. Aquatic • Aquatic ecosystems are determined by the depth, flow, temperature and water chemistry of the water.

18. Freshwater • Flowing-River, streams, creeks, brooks • Standing-Lakes, pond • Plankton-free floating organisms • Phytoplankton-unicellular plants • Zooplankton-organism that feed off of the phytoplankton • Wetlands-bogs, marsh, swamps

19. Wetlands • Wetland • Bog(sphagnum) • marsh cattails, rushes, wetlands along rivers, • swamp flooded forest

20. Estuaries • Estuaries-are areas where rivers meet the ocean. Detritus, shallow characteristics. Valuable as nursaries, migration stop • Salt marsh- temperate-zone estuaries where grasses are the dominant vegetation • Mangrove swamps-coastal wetlands, along tropical regions. Mangroves, seagrasses dominant vegetation. Valuable as nursery for fish and shellfish.

21. Marine Ecosystems • Phototic Zone-light penetrates, photosynthetic • Aphotic Zone-below 200 m, chemosynthetic • Benthic Zone-covers the ocean floor • Divisions also with distance from shore and depth.

22. Intertidal Zone • Areas where organisms are exposed to extreme conditions, daily. • Many different types of communities • Zonation- prominent horizontal banding of organisms that live in a certain area High tide, low tide

24. Coastal Ocean • Coastal Ocean from low tide mark to the edge of the continetial shelf. • Kelp forest temperate, shallow regions, very productive. Usually supports a complex food web.

25. Coral Reef • Corals are small marine animals that are found warm, shallow coastal areas. • Corals are sack like with tenticles • Symbiotic algae and corals, coral wastes are nutrients for the algae, the algae supply Carbon for the corals.

26. Open Ocean • Open ocean is anywhere from continental shelf, 500 -11,000 meters • Low nutrients, high pressure, low temperatures and total darkness.

27. Benthic Zone • Benthic zone the ocean floor. • Benthos-organisms that live on the bottom of the ocean • Depend on other organisms for food, detritus • Vents, nutrients • chemosynthetic