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Transcript
Introduction to Ecosystems
Aims
• To understand what an ecosystem is.
• To learn about a small scale ecosystem (a pond
ecosystem)
Definition
Ecosystems are the interaction between the living and the nonliving environment. Ecosystems are the interaction between
plants, animals or people and things such as local relief (shape of
the land), climate, soils and vegetation (plants and trees).
Ecosystems can be identified at different scales. A local
ecosystem may be as small as a pond or a hedge. Larger
ecosystems include lakes or woodlands. Ecosystems found on a
global scale (also called biomes) include tropical rainforests and
deciduous woodlands.
Global ecosystems are known as biomes. The dominant
type of vegetation cover usually defines a biome.
There are many different ecosystems in the world. We
are going to study 3:
• Temperate Deciduous Woodlands
• Tropical Rainforests
• Hot deserts
The main factor that influences the distribution (where
they are found) of each ecosystem is climate.
Each ecosystem has a different soil depending on the
climate and vegetation.
The Climate of the World’s Major Ecosystems
Ecosystem
Climate
description
Temps
winter + summer
Rainfall winter +
summer
TRF
Hot and wet all
year.
27–30oC.
Wet all year.
TAP = 20003000mm.
Hot Desert
Very hot most of
the year.
Above 30oC.
TAP below 250mm.
Summers about
25oC. Winters
about 10oC.
Dry in summer.
Wet in winter.
TAP = 750mm.
Mediterranean Hot summers.
Mild/warm
winters.
Temperate
Deciduous
Woodland
Warm summers.
Mild/cold winters.
Summer about
18oC. Winter about
5oC.
Precipitation all
year.
TAP = 1000mm.
Coniferous
Woodland
Warm summers.
Very cold winters.
Summer 16-20oC.
Winter = below
freezing.
Mainly in summer.
TAP = low (below
500mm).
Savanna
Grasslands
Hot all year.
25-35oC.
Variable rainfall
totals but always a
drought period.
TAP =500-1000mm.
Location of the global ecosystems
A Food Chain
A food chain is a line of linkages between producers and
consumers. It always begins with a plant.
A Freshwater Pond Food Chain
Consumers
Heron
Fish
Great Diving
Beetle
Producer
Midge
Lava
Detritus
(decaying leaves)
A Food Web
A food web is more complex than a food chain. It is a diagram that
shows the linkages between producers and consumers in an
ecosystem.
Food chains and food webs both show the transfer of energy
through an ecosystem.
A Freshwater Pond Food Web
Kingfisher
Heron
Fish
Great
diving
beetle
Midge
larva
Stonefly
Caddis
Dragonfly
Blackfly
Mayfly
Worms
Detritus
Algae and
microscopic
plants
The Impact of Change on the Freshwater Pond Ecosystem
The number and the types of species in an ecosystem can
change over time and these changes often have impacts in other
parts of the ecosystem. Changes can be caused by natural or
human factors.
Natural Factors
• Changes in the environment may occur through floods, fires and
drought.
Human Factors
• Changes in drainage basins
• Depletion of fish stocks
• Deforestation
• Increased human use for timber and land for settlements and
farmland (e.g. in the Tropical Rainforests).