How Can Ecosystems Change

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How Can Ecosystems Change?
Presentation by Betsy SigmonBessemer City
CentralMarch, 2005
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Science

• North Carolina Standard Course of Study

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Succession

• Gradual change in an ecosystemsometimes
  occurring over thousands of yearsis called
  succession.

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Pioneer Plants

• Pioneer Plants are the first plants to invade a
  bare area.

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Climax Community

• A spruce and hemlock forest makes up the climax
  community, the last stage of succession. If there
  are no disasters, such as volcanoes or fires, a
  climax community may stay the same for thousands
  of years. A prairie is the climax community in
  the Midwest.

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Pollution

• Any waste product that damages an ecosystem is
  called pollution.

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Acid Rain

• When pollutants such as nitrogen, oxides and
  sulfur dioxide combine with water vapor and
  condense, acid rain results.

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Conserving

• Everyone can help protect an ecosystem by saving,
  or conserving resources.

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Reduce

• Reduce means to cut down on the use of resources.

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Reuse

• Reuse means not to throw away items that can be
  used again.

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Recycle

• Recycle means to recover a resource from an item
  and to use the recovered resource to make a new
  item.

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Reclamation

• The process of restoring a damaged ecosystem is
  called reclamation.

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Reclamation of ecosystems includes

• Passing laws like the Clean Water Act
• Civic projects like the Save Our Everglades
  program
• Research to find new ways to restore ecosystems

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Earth Day

• 1970 sparked a new holiday to help people learn
  about saving our planet.
• It is celebrated, this year, on April 22, 2005.

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• What do you plan to do to help our planet?