Download 4.1 Ecosystems: Everything is Connected Objectives

ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCE
Chapter 4 The Organization of Life
4.1 Ecosystems: Everything is
Connected
4.1 Ecosystems: Everything is
Connected Objectives
• Distinguish between the biotic and
abiotic factors in an ecosystem.
• Describe how a population differs
from a species.
• Explain how habitats are important
for organisms.
Defining an Ecosystem
• An ecosystem is all of the
organisms living in an
area together with their
physical environment.
• Coral reefs, rainforests,
oak forests, and deserts
are all examples of
ecosystems.
• Ecosystems have no
clear boundaries – they
are all interconnected.
The Components of an
Ecosystem
•
All ecosystems need five basic
components in order to survive.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
•
Energy
Mineral nutrients
Water
Oxygen
Living organisms
The energy source for most
ecosystems is the sun.
The Components of an
Ecosystem
• An ecosystem is made up of both living and
nonliving things.
– Biotic factors are the living (and once living)
components of an ecosystem including all of the
plants, animals, dead organisms and their parts,
and waste products
– Abiotic factors are the nonliving parts of an
ecosystem which include water, air, rocks and soil,
light, and temperature
The Components of an
Ecosystem
• Life can be organized into different levels of
ecological organization from most inclusive down
to individual.
– Biosphere – an inclusive term for all of the life on Earth
– Ecosystem – all of the organisms in a given area along
with the physical factors in the area
– Community – a group of various species that live in the
same place and interact with one another
– Species – a group of organisms that are closely related
and can mate to produce fertile offspring
– Population – all the members of the same species that
live in a given area and time
– Organism – an individual living thing
The Components of an
Ecosystem
• Every organism is a member of a species.
– For example, a human is a member of the species
Homo sapiens
• If members of a given species are separated,
they may never interact, thus forming more than
one population of a given species.
• All living things in an ecosystem belong to one
or more communities.
• The plants present often determine what other
organisms can live in a certain area.
Habitat
• A habitat is the specific place that an organism lives
kind of like our address to humans.
– For example, a habitat could be as specific as a pool area
or ripples in a stream or as broad as a desert
• Every habitat has specific characteristics that meet
the needs of the organism which lives there.
• If the factors that make the habitat suitable for
certain species change, then the nature of the
habitat and the organisms that it can support
changes.
• Animals need specific habitats in order to survive.
• If habitat change is so rapid that species cannot
adapt, then extinction may be the result.
Habitat
• The Red Hills Salamander (Phaeognathus
hubrichti) is a large, terrestrial salamander
discovered in 1960.
• This salamander is confined to two geologic
formations (Tallahatta and Hatchetigbee) in the
Red Hills of Alabama.
• It’s habitat is burrows on the slopes of shaded
mesic ravines with much hardwood vegetation.
• It is nocturnal and feeds primarily on insects
and spiders.
References
• Coral Reef Florida Keys http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/reef/reef25
59.htm
• El Yunque Puerto Rico http://www.elyunque.com/about.html
• Jaguar http://www.nwf.org/internationalwildlife/bo
livia.html
• Fungus http://nhs.needham.k12.ma.us/cur/Bio96
_97/P5/rainf/T_Rain_Forest.html
References
• Wildebeest http://www.worldwander.com/southafrica
• Wildebeest Herd http://peace.saumag.edu/faculty/Kardas/
Courses/C&P/Homing_and_Migration.ht
ml
• Serengeti Community http://www.africanluxuryholidays.net/tanz
ania-serengeti.htm
• Biosphere Concentration http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/SeaWiFS
/BACKGROUND/Gallery
References
• Red Hills Salamander Distribution
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/ARMIatl
as/species.cfm?recordID=173725
• Red Hills Salamander http://www.forestry.state.al.us/publ
ication/TF_publications/endanger
ed/red_hills_salamander.htm