What is an ecosystem?

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What is an ecosystem?

• All the living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic)
  parts of an environment as well as the
  interactions among them
• Ecosystems may be aquatic (water) or terrestrial
  (land).
• Interactions may include
• - Producers - (obtain energy by making their
  own food plants -photosynthesis)
• - Consumers - (obtain energy by consuming their
  food)
• - Decomposers - ( get energy by breaking down
  dead organisms and the wastes of living things)
  bacteria, fungi, worms, mold, termites,
  mushrooms, etc.

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The sun provides energy To sustain producers
which are the foundation of all ecosystems.
Produce food through photosynthesis
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Abiotic Biotic Factors

• Abiotic Factors
• (nonliving)
• water - shelter
• sunlight - soil
• rocks - nutrients
• oxygen/air, nitrogen
• temperature/climate
• space, salinity, pH

• Biotic Factors
• (living)
• Food
• - grass
• - trees
• - animals, insects,
• - plants
• bacteria, fungi

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Gizmo Lab Food Chain
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• In the diagram,
• What are the decomposers? Producers? Consumers?
• What organisms are competing for the same abiotic
  resources?
• What is the sources of energy that drives or
  sustains the ecosystem?

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1. What are the producers? primary consumers?
   secondary consumers? tertiary consumer?
2. What organisms are competing for the same abiotic
   and biotic resources?

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Phytoplankton producers Zooplankton primary
consumers
In the above ecosystem

1. What do algae and plankton contribute?
2. What is the role of the fungi?
3. What is the role of bacteria?
4. What does the rotting log contribute?

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In what way may farming affect this marine
ecosystem?
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Use the posters for this activity. In the
food web diagram, respond to each of the
following. Put your answers on a separate sheet
of paper.   1. What tertiary consumers do you
see?   2. What primary (1st level) consumers do
you see?   3. How is carbon dioxide (CO2) cycled
through an ecosystem? Make sure that you
identify organisms that are involved.   4. How is
oxygen (O2) cycled through an ecosystem?
Make sure that you identify organisms that are
involved.   5. What process adds oxygen to the
ecosystem?   6. What process adds carbon dioxide
to an ecosystem?   7. How is nitrogen cycled
through this ecosystem?   8. What abiotic factors
are shown in this ecosystem?   9. List 5 biotic
factors that are shown in this ecosystem.   10.
What overlapping terrestrial/aquatic food chain
is shown?
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• Use the diagram to respond to each of
• the following.
• Identify the decomposer. What
• other decomposers may exist but
• are not shown?
• 2. What other decomposers may be in
• every ecosystem but are not shown
• on this diagram?
• 3. Identify the primary consumers.
• Show what is being consumed.
• 4. Identify the tertiary consumer for
• each food chain. What does this
• consumer eat?

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The Role of Nitrogen in an Ecosystem
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(photosynthesis)
(photosynthesis)
respiration
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Biomass Energy Pyramid Trophic Levels
4th trophic level
3rd t trophic level
2nd trophic level
1st trophic level

1. At what trophic level is there the greatest
   amount of energy available?
2. What percent of energy is used/lost at each
   trophic level of an energy pyramid?
3. What percent of energy is passed up to the higher
   trophic level?

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Jefferson Ecosystem Activity

• 1. Divide a sheet of notebook into 5 sections
  (portrait style).
• 2. Label the sections
• - Producers (organisms that produce their own
  food)
• - Consumers (an organism that obtains
  nutrition and energy by eating other
  organisms)
• - Decomposers (organisms that obtains energy
  by breaking down the wastes of organisms or the
  remains of dead organisms) bacteria, fungi,
  worms, mold, termites, mushrooms
• - Abiotic factors (nonliving factors in the
  environment)
• - Biotic factors (living factors in the
  environment)
• Students will stay in the classroom to (1) make
  observations
• relating to each of the areas and (2) explain the
  relationships between each of these.

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Types of Terrestrial (land) Ecosystems

• Terrestrial land
• Forest
• Desert
• Grassland
• Mountain

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Types of Aquatic (water) Ecosystems

• Marine Ecosystems the biggest ecosystems, which
  cover around 71 of Earth's surface and contain
  97 of out planet's water. The different
  divisions of the marine ecosystem are
• Oceanic A relatively shallow part of oceans
  which lies on the continental shelf.
• Profundal deep or Bottom water.
• Benthic - Bottom of the ocean.
• Inter-tidal The place between low and high
  tides.
• Estuaries
• Coral reefs
• Salt marshes
• Hydrothermal vents - where chemosynthetic
  bacteria make up the food base.
• Many kinds of organisms live in marine
  ecosystems Bio-Diversity
• Freshwater Ecosystems covers only 0.8 of
  Earth's surface and contains 0.009 of the total
  water.
• Pools, Lakes or Ponds, Streams and Rivers.
• Wetlands Places in which the soil is saturated
  for a lengthy period of time.
• The ecosystems are habitats to reptiles,
  amphibians and around 41 of the worlds fish
  species. The faster moving turbulent waters
  typically contain a greater concentrations of
  dissolved oxygen, supporting greater biodiversity
  than slow moving waters in pools.

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Ecosystem Hierarchy

• Organisms individuals of a species
• Populations groups of organisms of the same
  species
• Communities the interaction of different
  populations communities live within an
• Ecosystem all of the abiotic and biotic parts
  of an ecosystem
• Biosphere all of Earths ecosystems

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Hierarchy From Atoms to Ecosystems

• Levels from Largest to Smallest
• Ecosystem Level
• Community Level
• Population Level
• Organism Level
• Organ System Level
• Organ Level
• Tissue Level
• Cellular Level
• Molecular Level
• Atomic Level

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From Atoms to Biosphere
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Ecosystem Organization
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Organism (single one of species)

• Mushrooms Polar
  Bears Snakes
• Coyotes
  Prairie Dogs Elephants
  

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4 Populations (same species)

• Elk Population

• Cacti Population

• Elephant Population

• Gorilla Population

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Communities (many populations)

• What communities are present in each of these
  ecosystems?
• Marine (aquatic) Ecosystem
  Freshwater Terrestrial Ecosystems

Terrestrial Ecosystem
Aquatic (estuary) Ecosystems
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Ecosystems make up the biosphere.
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An Arctic Food Web Activity

• What overlapping aquatic/terrestrial food chains
  are there in this ecosystem?
• What population, if removed, would have the
  greatest impact on the overall food web?
• If the water was highly contaminated, what
  organism/population would have the highest level
  of contamination?
• Which organism contributes dissolved oxygen to
  the water?
• 5. Which organisms may compete for the same food
  source(s)?

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How would the removal of algae from this arctic
food web affect both the biotic and abiotic
factors?

• Abiotic Factors Affected
• dissolved oxygen decreases
• nutrients may go up or down
• more CO2 in water
• water may be more turbid
• temp. may change

• Biotic Factors Affected
• - animal plankton pop. decreases
• - silverside pop. decrease
• beluga whale pop. decrease
• cod pop. Decreases
• bacteria increase use up dissolved oxygen
• Every population is directly or indirectly
  affected

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Biodiversity

• A variety of species exist in all ecosystems.
• What are examples of biodiversity in our area?
• - plant biodiversity
• - insect biodiversity
• - animal biodiversity
• - fungi biodiversity
• - bacteria biodiversity

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Disruptions to Ecosystems The Human Factor
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Disturbances to Physical (abiotic) or Biological
(biotic) Components of Ecosystems

• Disruptions lead to shifts in all populations.
  This changes the biodiversity of an ecosystem.
• What disruptions may occur leading to a change in
  the physical (nonliving/abiotic) components in an
  ecosystem?

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vddlrGkeOzsI Lake
  Peigneur disaster 954
• What affect did this disaster have on the aquatic
  ecosystems? Terrestrial?
• What affect did this disaster have on the
  terrestrial ecosystems?
• Include both biotic and abiotic factors when
  answering these two questions.
• 3. How would this disaster lead to possible
  population shifts? Be specific.

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Disruptions to Physical (nonliving/abiotic)
Components

• Volcanic eruptions Pollution
• Hurricanes Clear cutting
• Fires Floods
• Drought Nuclear Bomb
• Habitat depletion (human and natural)
• - i.e. urban sprawl
• How could these events change nutrients,
• water, light, salinity, shelter, soil,
  temperature,
• climate, etc. in an ecosystem?

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Disruptions to Biological (living/biotic)
Components

• Volcanic eruptions Pollution (land
  water)
• Hurricanes Urban Sprawl
• Fires Clear Cutting
• Drought Introduction of exotic
• Overharvesting (non native) species
• Habitat depletion (human and natural)
• How could these events change the biological
• (living/biotic) components in an ecosystem?

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Preventing Overharvesting

• Hunting seasons - Laws (ownership)
• Laws against poaching - Size limitations
• Limit on Numbers - Organizations
• License required - Size/types of nets
• Specific places - Limits on gender
• Wildlife Reserves/National Parks
• Tagging/Monitoring Programs (remote sensing)
• Breeding Programs
• Identification of Endangered Species

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How may volcanoes disrupt ecosystems?

• Producers?
• Consumers?
• Biotic Factors?
• Abiotic Factors?

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Urban Sprawl

• How may this affect
• water quality (surface and ground)
• habitats
• soil quality
• air quality
• noise pollution

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Impact of Clear Cutting What are the impacts on
biotic and abiotic factors?
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Impact of Introducing Exotic Species Kudzu

• Kudzu is a serious invasive plant in the United
  States. It has been spreading in
• the southern U.S. at the rate of 150,000 acres
  (61,000 ha) annually, "easily
• outpacing the use of herbicide spraying and
  mowing, as well increasing the
• costs of these controls by 6 million annually.
  Its introduction has produced
• devastating environmental consequences. What do
  you think?

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Impact of Introducing Exotic Species Burmese
python in Florida

• This snake was found in the Everglades National
  Park, measuring 17 feet, 7 inches
• and over 165 pounds. The other record broken was
  the fact the snake was pregnant
• with 87eggs. There is believed to be thousands
  thriving the moist, hot climate of the
• Everglades perhaps released years ago by pet
  owners or from pet shops during
• Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Local ordinances
  prohibit the import of these reptiles and
• allowing them to be hunted has not put much of a
  dent on population control. They
• have the ability to swallow large animals whole
  after coiling around their prey and
• suffocating them. What do you think?

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The Effect of the Brown Tree Snake in Guam

• _ What led to the dramatic loss of birds on Guam?
  Well this part of the story isnt actually so
  naturalalthough it was unintentional. Sometime
  in the mid to late 1940s, brown tree snakes were
  introduced to the island probably by hitching a
  ride on a cargo ship after World War II.  Because
  there arent many large predators on Guam, the
  snakes quickly took over the island. By the 1980s
  the birds were wiped out save for two colonies
  that continue to exist on a military base. To
  this day the snakes are still around (one of the
  attempts to control them involved dropping
  Tylenol-laced mice from airplanes). 
• _ What happens to spiders when you remove birds
  from a tropical island? The researchers found
  that during the dry season Guam had 2.3 times
  more spider webs than neighboring islands that
  still have birds. During the wet season the
  number of webs was a whopping 40 times higher on
  Guam. And the spider webs on Guam were much
  larger50 largerthan those on the other
  islands.  
• _ Removing birds from the equation likely changed
  the Guam spider population in many ways including
  some (or all) of these scenarios (1) since birds
  werent around to eat the spiders the spider
  population grew, (2) the spiders no longer had to
  compete with the birds to eat insects so more
  spiders survived and were able to reproduce, (3)
  the spiders didnt have to keep spinning new webs
  because the birds werent there to mess them up
  anymore, so they built larger webs and put more
  energy into reproduction.

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Population Density

• - the number of people/organisms living per unit
  of an area (e.g. per square mile) the number of
  people relative to the space occupied by them
• _ how full an area is the concentration of
  people or things within an area in relation to
  its size

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Limiting Factor

• Limiting Factor - environmental factors that
  limit population sizes in a particular ecosystem.

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Limiting Factors in an Ecosystem

• Density-dependent Factors
• - operate more strongly on large populations
  and disease
• - triggered by increases in population density
  (crowding)
• Competition for food, water, shelter space
• Predation
• Parasitism
• Disease

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Population Density measures the number of
individual organisms living in a defined space

• High Population Density

Chinas Qingdao Huiquan Beach
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Chinas Qingdao Huiquan BeachLow Population
Density

• Compare this picture to the previous one. If
  these were animals,
• How may the spread of disease and parasites be
  affected by the population densities?
• How may competition for food, water, space and
  shelter be affected?

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• What is the relationship between the hare
  population and the lynx population?
• What role does competition play in this
  predator/prey relationship?
• Why is competition important in an ecosystem?

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Density-independent Factors

• Limiting factors that occur regardless of how
  large the population is and reduce the size of
  all populations in the area mostly abiotic
• - weather changes
• - human activities (pollution, urban sprawl,
  etc.)
• - natural disasters (i.e. fires)

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A change in an abiotic or biotic factor may-
decrease the size of a population if it cannot
acclimate/adapt to or migrate from the change.-
increase the size of a population if that change
enhances its ability to survive, flourish or
reproduce.
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Ecosystem Poster Project

• Design a poster that includes each of the
  following
• Producers Abiotic Factors
• Consumers Biotic Factors
• Decomposers Communities
• Populations Organisms
• Aquatic Ecosystem Terrestrial Ecosystem
• Overlapping Food Chains (Food Web)
• All of the above must be labeled and
  illustrated.

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• Relationships Within Ecosystems
• Coexistence and cooperation
• Competition (predator/prey)
• Parasitism
• Mutualism