L1 Ecosystems PDF

Ecology  Ecology What is Ecology?! Greek: οἶκος or λογία  Ecology the word comes from Greek: οἶκος, "house" or "environment“ λογία, "study of" It is the scientific study of interactions among organisms and their environment. It is an interdisciplinary field that includes biology...

Ecology  Ecology What is Ecology?! Greek: οἶκος or λογία  Ecology the word comes from Greek: οἶκος, "house" or "environment“ λογία, "study of" It is the scientific study of interactions among organisms and their environment. It is an interdisciplinary field that includes biology and geography  Ecology is: the study of the distribution and abundance of organisms the interaction between organisms the interaction between organisms and their environment and the structure and function of ecosystems. http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/about-ecology/#sthash.RzvwlITy.dpuf Ecology Our new unit is called Webs of Life It is about Ecology, here are some different definitions of ecology: “Ecology, the study of the relationships between organisms and their environment. ” “Ecology is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment; it seeks to understand the vital connections between plants and animals and the world around them.” “Ecology is a branch of biology concerning interactions among organisms and their biophysical environment, which includes both biotic and abiotic components.” L1 Ecosystems  Learning objectives: Understand the following key terms: Ecology Biosphere Ecosystem Community Population Habitat Abiotic and biotic Be able to name a range of examples of different types of ecosystems Be able to name a range of abiotic factors To understand how abiotic factors affect the type and numbers of species living in an area  In an ecosystem living and non-living things are all linked together, and have an affect on each other Biosphere The biosphere is made up of the parts of Earth where life exists.  The biosphere extends from the deepest root systems of trees and the dark environment of ocean trenches, to lush rain forests and high mountaintops.  Although the biosphere measures about 20 kilometres from top to bottom, almost all life exists between about 500 meters below the ocean’s surface to about 6 kilometres above sea level.  Lithosphere (the rock and soil), Hydrosphere (the water) Atmosphere (the air) The biosphere occurs across parts of all three of these zones Living v non-living What are the characteristics of life? We learnt these during our classification topic.  The 6 life processes from our classification unit This can be remembered by the acronym: GRASER Grow Reproduce Assimilate Sensitivity Excrete Respire Can also have: needs water and made of cells What do these words mean? Grow - living things grow as they get older Reproduce - living things can reproduce Assimilate – take in and process substances Sensitivity - respond to change Excrete- produce and get rid of wastes Respire- release energy from glucose We can also list them like this: MRS C GREN M- move R- respire S- sensitivity C- made of cells G- grow R- reproduce E- excrete N- nutrition (same meaning as assimilate) Ecosystems An ecosystem consists of a community of living organisms together with their non-living physical environment. Ecosystems Ecosystems can be of different sizes Ecosystems can be aquatic (in water) or terrestrial (on land). eg as small as a garden pond or tide pool,  Ecosystems can be as large as a desert or rainforest  The oceans are a huge ecosystem Desert ecosystem eg the Sahara images from Wikipedia and Britannica Rainforest ecosystem eg the Amazon  Other examples of ecosystems include: African Savannah Arctic tundra Grassland meadow Mediterranean forest Australian Ecosystems Mulga shrub Highland heathland Wet sclerophyll forest Rock platform Tropical rainforest Billabong Desert Coral reef  Ecology notes Ecology is the study of the interaction between o_________ and their e___________ The biosphere is made up of the parts of Earth where l_____ exists. An e____________ consists of a community of living organisms together with their non-living physical environment. Examples are: Abiotic and Biotic Factors Abiotic – describing non-living factors that affect an ecosystem eg temperature Biotic – describing living organisms in an ecosystem Think of some more abiotic factors  Abiotic Factors Amount of light Amount of water Amount of nutrients in soil (or water) Type of water - water salinity (saltiness) - freshwater lakes and river or seawater Wind speed Humidity (amount of moisture in the air) Air or water temperature Type of soil or rock (minerals in it) pH of water or soil (how acidic it is) Salinity of water (how salty it is) Amount of oxygen in air or water (eg less at high altitudes) Abiotic factors Abiotic factors can determine the conditions in a particular environment. This can affect which types of organisms can survive in that environment. Each species has a tolerance range for a particular abiotic factor. Abiotic factors within habitats can influence the types of organisms located in them The term ‘distribution’ describes where organisms are found and ‘density’ is the number of a particular organism in that area. Species distribution If any abiotic factors are away from the optimum that an organism is adapted for, fewer individuals will exist in that area.  Guess which organism might have this geographical distribution  Why do they live here? This is where they are adapted to live. If they lived in the desert they would be too hot with their thick fur. Their compact body shape is an adaptation for heat retention- in the desert this would be a disadvantage. A camel would not be found in this Arctic habitat as it is not adapted for this environment.  Migration of swallows This is why some animals migrate!  Coral reefs are only found where oceanic temperatures are warm Abiotic factors notes 1. Define the term abiotic factor 2. List 8 examples of abiotic factors 3. Give an example of how an abiotic factor influences what animals are found in a habitat (species distribution)  Aim: know the hierarchy of organisms to ecosystems  This tide pool is an ecosystem. Biotic (living) factors are the range of species that live there and relationships between the organisms living there. Abiotic (non-living) factors include the salinity of water (salt levels), temperature of water and light levels There are populations of mussels, sea stars and sea anemones living here, which creates a community of different species all living in the same habitat. Key Vocabulary The biosphere describes the living world. An ecosystem is made up of living things (biotic factors) and non-living things (abiotic factors). A community is made of populations of different species. A population is a group of organisms of one species which live in the same place at the same time and  Biotic factors What interactions could occur between living things in a savannah ecosystem? Biotic factors Competition within the same species for food, water, breeding partners shelter / territory is called intraspecific competition Competition between different species for resources is called interspecific competition. There are also feeding relationships eg predation Abiotic and Biotic Factors – which is which? Water salinity (saltiness) Wind speed Competitors for food Predators Amount of light Competitors for mating Humidity Plants Bacteria Air temperature  Ecology- levels of organisation notes Biosphere→ ecosystem → c___________ → p_________ → A p_____________ is a group of organisms of one species which live in the same place at the same time A c__________ is made up of populations of different species. Biotic factors include competition within species (_____-specific) and between different species (_____-specific) for food, water, space and breeding partners. A h________ is a place an organism lives.