Ecology

1. Ecology http://itorganization2017.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/ecosystem.jpg

2. Ecosystems Support Life • Ecosystem: A community of interrelated plants, animals, and Abiotic (non-living) factors

3. Biotic Factors interact with an Ecosystem • Living things (biotic) depend on an ecosystem for food, air, water, and shelter. • Animals also affect an ecosystem • a beaver building a dam that changes the flow of a river • cattle overgrazing a grassland causing soil to erode

4. Abiotic factors affect ecosystems • Abiotic factors include non-living chemical and physical parts of an ecosystem • Abiotic factors are things organisms can see or feel • Temperature, water, soil, sunlight

5. Temperature • Temperature affects the type of plants that will survive • The plants then determine what food or shelter is available to the animals that live in the ecosystem • Animals are also affected by temperature; a polar bear would not survive in a desert.

6. Light • Energy from the sun supports all life on Earth • Plants need sunlight as a part of photosynthesis • The strength and amount of sunlight determines the type of plants that will live in an ecosystem • Light is also important for the ocean…light is only available in the first hundred meters below the surface of the water…which determines which plants and animals would survive at specific depths of the ocean

7. Soil • Soil is a mixture of small rock and mineral particles. • Some organisms help to break down the remains of dead plants and animals to enrich the soil with minerals and nutrients • Types of Soils: soil with decaying plant matter and water, sand, clay (water doesn’t move through easily) • Type of soil determines which plants will grow and the type of plants determine which animals will feed on them and live in the ecosystem

8. Water • The amount of water available to organisms determines the species and quantities of animals and plants that will be able to live in the ecosystem

9. Matter Cycles Through Ecosystems • Water, carbon, and nitrogen are materials that are necessary for life. They move through ecosystems in continuous cycles

10. Matter cycles through ecosystems • Water Cycle

11. Matter Cycles Through Ecosystems • Carbon Cycle

12. Matter Cycles Through Ecosystems • Nitrogen Cycle

13. Energy Flows Through Ecosystems • Living things capture and release energy • Producers (plants capture and store energy) • Consumers (get energy by eating other organisms) • First-order:Organisms that eat food producers • Second-order: Eat first-order • Third-order: Eat second-order • Decomposers (organisms that break down dead plant and animal matter)

14. Energy Flows Through Ecosystems • Food Chain: feeding relationship between a producer and a single chain of consumers in an ecosystem

15. Energy Flows Through Ecosystems • Food Web: A model of the feeding relationships between many different consumers and producers in an ecosystem.

16. Energy Flows Through Ecosystems • Available energy decreases as it moves through an ecosystem • The amount of energy decreases as you go up the pyramid

17. Biomes Contain Many Ecosystems • Biome: a region of earth that has a particular climate and certain types of plants. • There are 6 major land biomes • Tundra permafrost, small plants, cold.Taiga: northern regions of earth, long cold winters and short cool summers, evergreen trees (coniferous). • Desert :hot, little precipitation, dry soil, no trees.Grassland: middle latitudes, warm to hot, moderate rainfall.Temperate Forest:4 seasons, deciduous trees and coniferous.Tropical Forest: hot humid, wettest biome, large amounts of plants and animals • Water Biomes • Freshwater: streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, estuaries • Marine: coastal, open ocean, deep ocean

18. Land Biomes Are affected by climate Are affected by conditions of soil Are characterized by types of plants Water Biomes can be freshwater or saltwater Are affected by landscape if freshwater Are affected by depth if marine Biomes Contain Many Ecosystems