B(4-1) What are Ecosystem?

1. B(4-1) What are Ecosystem?

2. B(4-1) What are Ecosystems? What is an ecosystem? • An ecosystem is an area where organisms interact with one another as well as with the nonliving parts of the environment. • An ecosystem can be huge, such as a large forest or lake, or it can be small, such as a puddle of water or a rotting log.

3. B(4-1) What are Ecosystems? Ecosystems • Ecosystems include biotic and abiotic parts. Biotic parts are living things in an environment, such as plants, animals, and other organisms. • Abiotic parts are nonliving things in an environment, such as climate, water, soil, light, air, and nutrients. • Abiotic parts of an environment have an important role. Temperature and amount of water affect which plants and animals can live in a place.

4. B(4-1) What are Ecosystems? Biotic parts • Help shape the environment. • Plant roots anchor soil, and help split rock and break it down into new soil.Burrowing animals, such as prairie dogs and moles, change the shape of the ground. Tiny animals such as earthworms, loosen and mix the soilas they tunnel through it. • Interact with one another. • Bees pollinate flowers. Larger animals eat plants and other animals.Fungi decompose dead organisms. Squirrels nest in oak trees and help scatter acorns.

5. B(4-1) What are Ecosystems? Populations and Communities • Apopulationis a group of organisms of the same species in an ecosystem. • The different populations that share an ecosystem make up a community. • A community consists of all the populations that live and interact in an area • The populations of a community interact, using one another for food and shelter..

6. B(4-1) What are Ecosystems? Populations and Communities • ex.cactusand other animals.

7. B(4-1) What are Ecosystems? Find Your Niche • An organism’s habitat is the place where it lives within an ecosystem. Several populations share the same habitat. but can share the same niche. • An organism’s niche is its complete role or function in its ecosystem. A niche includes all the ways the organism survives. • An organism’s niche includes how it finds food, as well as the climate in which it thrives.

8. B(4-1) What are Ecosystems? Find Your Niche • Populations can share a habitat but not the same niche. • For example, red-shouldered hawks and barred owls share a habitat, but have different niches. They both hunt different prey at different times of the day. • If two populations of organisms share a niche, they must compete for resources.

9. B(4-1) What are Ecosystems? Find Your Niche • Every organism has a niche. Having different niches allows different organisms to survive in the same habitat. • Organisms with a specific way of living have a narrow niche. For example, an animal that eats only one type of food cannot survive without that food. ex. giant pandas of China. • Organisms with narrow niches tend to live in specific places, while those with broad niches often move around large areas.ex.flies, raccoons,mice and people.

10. B(4-1) What are Ecosystems? Diversity • Diverse means different in kind. Diversity is the variety of different species that live in an ecosystem. • An ecosystem that is very diverse contains many species. Ecosystems without much diversity may be inhabited by only a few species. • Organisms are connected in a large, complex web. The more types of organisms in an ecosystem, the larger the web, and the more resources available.

11. B(4-1) What are Ecosystems? Diversity • Climate and location affect the amount and types of resources that are available for organisms. • Generally, very diverse ecosystems, such as coral reefs and rain forests, are near the equator. Less diverse ecosystems are farther from the equator.

12. B(4-1) What are Ecosystems? Diversity • Humans can damage ecosystems and affect diversity by reducing the number of species living in the ecosystem. • Activities such as overhunting or destroying forests to build may lower the numbers of important species. • Species in those environments have lost their habitats, and diversity has decreased.