EcosystemsEcosystems

What is Ecology?What is Ecology?

• Ecology is the study of relationships between living things and between living things and their environment.

What is an ecosystem?What is an ecosystem?

• Ecosystem is a system of living things that interact with each other and with the physical world.

• A Biome is a collection of related ecosystems.

Ecosystems Living ThingsEcosystems Living Things

• Ecosystems-include all different kinds of living things that live in a physical environment and interact with each other.

• a. Producers-plants• b. Consumers-animals• c. decomposers- bacteria• They form an interdependent community

needed to sustain life.•  

Main Ecosystems:Main Ecosystems:

• Desert

• Rainforest

• Ocean

• Taiga

• Tundra

• Chaparral

• Grassland

• Temperate Forest

Green:Grassland Purple: Taiga Orange:Tundra Black:Temperate Forest Yellow:Desert

Brown:Chapparal White:Ocean

However……..However……..

• An ecosystem can be as large as the Sahara Desert, or as small as a puddle!!!

• Ecosystems are more than just the organisms they contain. Geography,weather,climate and geologic factors also influence the interactions within an ecosystem.

Abiotic FactorsAbiotic FactorsAre nonliving physical Are nonliving physical

factors of an environment. factors of an environment.

Abiotoic Factors include amount of water Abiotoic Factors include amount of water and oxygen, temperature, amount of and oxygen, temperature, amount of sunlight and water pressure.sunlight and water pressure.

YOU TRY!!!YOU TRY!!!

List three more List three more examples of Abiotic examples of Abiotic Factors:Factors:

Biotic FactorsBiotic Factors

• Are the living, physical factors of an environment.

• Examples of Biotic Factors are plants, animals, etc.

BalanceBalance

Ecosystems will fail if they do not Ecosystems will fail if they do not remain in balance.remain in balance.

No community can carry more No community can carry more organisms than its food, water organisms than its food, water and shelter can accommodate.and shelter can accommodate.

Do ecosystems change over time?

How do they stay balanced? To succeed in an ecosystem, plants

and animals have special structures and behaviors called adaptations.

Ex) Chameleon

Polar Bear

Can you think of more examples of adaptation?

Forest Ecosystems Forest fires and effect on

ecosystems should be or not be allowed to burn?

Wildfire is a part of nature. It plays a key role in shaping ecosystems by serving as an agent of renewal and change.

Web Energy 1st- trophic level- photosynthetic plants 2nd- trophic level- herbivores 3rd- trophic level- carnivores Decomposers obtain energy-all levels

What is the different between a food web and food chain? a food chain is a linear

series of organisms dependent on each other for food, a food web is an interconnected set of food chains in the same ecosystem.

Prey and Predators A predator is an organism that eats another organism. The prey is

the organism which the predator eats. Some examples of predator and prey are lion and zebra, bear and fish, and fox and rabbit.

Do organisms higher in the food web eat everything that is lower in the food web?

Logic and mathematical theory suggest that when prey are numerous their predators increase in numbers, reducing the prey population, which in turn causes predator number to decline. The prey population eventually recovers, starting a new cycle.

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http://www.worldofteaching.com is home to over a thousand powerpoints submitted by teachers. This is a completely free site and requires no registration. Please visit and I hope it will help in your teaching.