Download 8-1 “Components of an Ecosystem”

8-1 “Components of an Ecosystem”
Ecosystem
 All the living and non-living things that
interact in a particular area make up an
ecosystem
 A prairie is just one of the many different
ecosystems found on Earth
 Other ecosystems include: mountain
streams, deep oceans, swamps and dense
forests.
Habitats
 Organisms(living things)-live in a specific
place within an ecosystem.
 Organisms obtain food, water, shelter and
other things it needs to live, grow and
reproduce from its surroundings
 The place where an organism lives and that
provides the things the organism needs is
called its habitat.
Biotic Factors
 An organism interacts with and responds
to both the living and nonliving things in
its environment
 The living parts of an ecosystem are called
biotic factors
 Examples: grass, plants, hawks, ferrets,
eagles, worms, fungi, and bacteria.
Abiotic Factors
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The nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
Remember –TWOSS
Temperature
Water
Oxygen
Sunlight
Soil
Temperature
 The temperatures of an area determine if an
organism can live there.
 Ex: Warm areas you might see palm trees, but not
in very cold areas.
 Some animals respond to very hot or very cold
temperatures by altering their environment.
 Ex: Prairie dogs line their dens with grass to keep
warm.
Water
 All living things need water to carry
out their life processes.
 Plants and algae use water, along with
sunlight and carbon dioxide, to make
food in the process of photosynthesis.
Oxygen
 Most living things require oxygen to carry out
their life processes.
 Some organisms obtain oxygen from the air,
which is about 20% oxygen.
 Fish and other water organisms obtain dissolved
oxygen from the water around them.
Sunlight
 Necessary for photosynthesis.
 Important for plants, algae and other living
things.
 Places that receive little to no sunlight-like
caves-have only a few organisms that can
live their.
Soil
 A mixture of rock fragments, nutrients,
air, water and the decaying remains of
living things.
 Types of soil influence the kinds of plants
that can grow there.
 Microscopic organisms such as bacteria live
in soil and break down the remains of other
living things.
Population
 All the members of one species in a
particular area.
 Populations can be as small as a blade of
grass or as large as the whole planet.
 Individual members in some populations do
not interact very much.
 Some populations are very structured and
relate to one another in specific ways.
Society
 A society is a closely related population of
animals that work together for the benefit
of the whole group.
 Ex: Honeybees-every member has a specific
function.
Community
 Most ecosystems contain more than one
type of organism.
 All the different populations that live
together in an area make up a community.
 To be considered a community, the
different populations must live close
enough together to interact.
Levels of Organization in an
Ecosystem
 OPCE
 Organism-the smallest unit of organization, that
belongs to a population.
 Population-other members of its species that
belong to a community.
 Community-different species in an ecosystem.
 Ecosystem-community and abiotic factors
together.
Levels of Organization
Ecology
 The study of how living things interact
with one another and with their
environment.
 Ecologist are scientists who study ecology.
They look at how all the biotic and abiotic
factors in an ecosystem are related
 Ecologist study how organisms respond to
changes in their environment.