Ecosystems & Populations

Ecosystems Defined

•All living and nonliving components found in a particular location that depend on each other to maintain a natural balance.

Pause, Think, Share – Quick Write

•What are things that can disrupt an ecosystem’s natural balance?

Pause, Think, & Share

•What happens when a new species is introduced into an ecosystem?

Healthy & Balanced Ecosystems are …..

• Diverse• Least likely to be damaged by human interactions, natural disasters, and climate change

•SO, why are ecosystems likely to be damaged by humans?

Review of the necessities of life – What are they?

• Food & water•Space

•Movement•Reproduction

•Composed of cells•Able to use and make energy

Major Components of an ecosystem

•Soil•Atmosphere

•Heat•Light•Water

•Living organisms

Living Components of an ecosystem

•The living and decayed plants, animals, and microorganisms of an ecosystem are called BIOTIC.•Examples ?

Major Biological Components of an Ecosystem are …………………

ProducersConsumersDetritus (parts of dead organisms, cast off fragments and wastes of living organisms)

The list above represents the job or role organisms play in an ecosystem The role or job an organism has is called a niche.

The Biotic Components of Ecosystems Producers

(autotrophs)

- Photosynthesis

Consumers(heterotrophs)

- Aerobic respiration

Decomposers

Consumers

• Primary, secondary, tertiary, etc.

• Herbivore - plant eater

• Carnivore - meat eater

• Omnivore - mixed plant/animal diet

Vocabulary Review Pyramid

• Review notes – and on scrap paper create the diagram below. Fill boxes with vocabulary words – easier words go on bottom, tougher words on top. Ecological

succession

abiotic

Symbiotic Relationship Exploration

What kind of relationships do living organisms have with each other?

•Predation•Competition•Symbiotic•Parasitism•Commensalism•Mutualism

The Abiotic Components of Ecosystems

1) Outside energy source

2) Physical factors that determine weather, climate

3) Chemicals essential for life

Vocabulary Relay Race1- When I call a number the person races to the back and searches for appropriate definition or term.2 - Repeats phrases and hands definition to the person at the back of their row.3 – Each person repeats the phrases and passes the term or definition to the front of the row.4 – Each team with the correct response gets a point.

Population

Population is ……………………………………………

All in the Family Explore Activity

0-19 20-39 40-59 60-80 Total

Generation 1 4

Generation 2 8

Generation 3 12

Generation 4 16

Generation 5 16

Generation 6 16

Generation 7 16

All in the Family – Country 10-19 20-39 40-59 60-80 Total

Generation 1 64 64

Generation 2 32 64 96

Generation 3 16 32 64 112

Generation 4 8 16 32 64 120

Generation 5 4 8 16 32 60

Generation 6 2 4 8 16 30

Generation 7 1 2 4 8 15

All in the Family – Country 20-19 20-39 40-59 60-80 Total

Generation 1 4 4

Generation 2 6 4 10

Generation 3 9 6 4 19

Generation 4 12 9 6 4 31

Generation 5 18 12 9 6 45

Generation 6 27 18 12 9 66

Generation 7 39 27 18 12 96

All in the Family – Country 30-19 20-39 40-59 60-80 Total

Generation 1 4 4

Generation 2 6 4 10

Generation 3 9 6 4 19

Generation 4 8 9 6 4 27

Generation 5 8 8 9 6 31

Generation 6 8 8 8 9 33

Generation 7 8 8 8 8 32

All in the Family – Country 40-19 20-39 40-59 60-80 Total

Generation 1 4 4

Generation 2 8 4 12

Generation 3 16 8 4 28

Generation 4 32 16 8 56

Generation 5 64 32 16 112

Generation 6 128 64 32 224

Generation 7 256 128 64 448

All in the Family – Country 50-19 20-39 40-59 60-80 Total

Generation 1 4 4

Generation 2 0 4 4

Generation 3 4 0 4 8

Generation 4 0 4 0 4 8

Generation 5 4 0 4 0 8

Generation 6 0 4 0 4 8

Generation 7 4 0 4 0 8

All in the Family – Country 60-19 20-39 40-59 60-80 Total

Generation 1 16 16

Generation 2 24 16 40

Generation 3 36 24 16 76

Generation 4 54 36 24 16 130

Generation 5 81 54 36 24 195

Generation 6 120 81 54 36 291

Generation 7 180 120 81 54 435

Country 1 – What trends do you notice? What does this tell you about the country?

Country 2 – What trends do you notice? What does this tell you about the country?

Country 3 – What trends do you notice? What does this tell you about the country?

Country 4 – What trends do you notice? What does this tell you about the country?

Country 5 – What trends do you notice? What does this tell you about the country?

Country 6 – What trends do you notice? What does this tell you about the country?

Quick Draw – Biodiversity

Draw a picture of the term biodiversity.

Standard – MS-LS2-5 – Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

What is biodiversity and why is it important to maintain it?

What are some of the ways biodiversity is maintained?

Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for

Biology Teachers

David Eatough

Biodiversity is…………..

How is biodiversity measured?

Habitat loss/destruction

Habitat loss is the greatest

reason for biodiversity loss.

Habitat loss is due to:• Conversion of natural

areas to farms, houses, etc

• Fragmentation of ecosystems by human activities, housing, transportation, agriculture etc.

• Simplification of genetic diversity and complex ecosystems by planting/selecting monocultures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lacanja_burn.JPG

Invasive / Exotic Species

Invasive, exotic species introduced from elsewhere outcompete native species because they:Have no natural predatorsColonize disturbed habitats quicklyHave a high biotic potential (r-species)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kudzu_on_trees_in_Atlanta,_Georgia.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bufo_marinus_from_Australia.JPG

Cane Toads – The Conquest movie

How are invasive species spread?

How do invasive species affect biodiversity?

Characteristics of Invasive Species

Environmental Costs of Invasive Species

How does invasive species affect us economically?

Are there any benefits from invasive species?

Pollution

Pollution (Oil spills, human agricultural waste, fertilization, pesticides, acid

deposition, greenhouse gases etc) caused by human activities has a negative effect on

biodiversity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AlfedPalmersmokestacks.jpg

Population, Human overpopulation that is.

6.8 Billion and counting. The expansion of human population and affluence, especially in

the developing world harms natural ecosystems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_population.svg

Overharvesting, Overuse, Overexploitation

Overhunting, overfishing, destructive harvesting practices (cyanide,

dynamite), illegal trade, exotic pet industry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fishing_down_the_food_web.jpg

HumanPopulation

Increase

IncreasingEconomic

Activity

Increased use of technology

Social, politicaland cultural

factors

Land use change(Habitat loss)

IncreasingEconomic

Activity

Increased use of technology

Social, politicaland cultural

factors

Indirect (Underlying

causes)

Directcauses

DecliningBiological Diversity

Raven, Berg, and Hassenzahl put it this way

How is biodiversity maintained?

How is biodiversity maintained?

One way biodiversity is maintained is through “mother nature” aka Nutrient Cycles

* Water Cycle* Carbon Cycle* Nitrogen Cycle* Phosphorus Cycle

Nitrogen Cycle Nitrogen Cycle Song

Nitrogen Cycle

Explainedhttp://poster.4teachers.org/worksheet/view.php?id=123451

The Water Cycle

The Carbon Cycle

Animation

The Phosphorus Cycle

Characteristics shared by many endangered species include:

• Low reproductive rate (biotic potential)• Feed at high trophic levels (apex

predator)• Large body size• Specialist

Specialized feeding habitsSpecialized nesting and/or breeding areasFixed migratory patternsFound in one place or region

• Rare • Commercially valuable• Negative human interactions including

attacks on people or livestock

How can humanity protect

biodiversity?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Siproeta_epaphus_Galawebdesign.jpg

Important Laws Protecting Biodiversity

Lacey Act (1900) forbids interstate commerce of illegally killed wildlife. Modifications of act prevent importing dangerous non-native species.

Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 makes it illegal to

kill, trap, uproot (plants), modify the habitat of, or engage in

commerce of an endangered species or its parts.

To designate a species as endangered or threatened, Fish

and Wildlife Service or National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration must:• List species• Designate critical habitat areas where species is found• Develop a recovery plan to help species survive and

thrive

The rich variety of the natural world that Charles Darwin memorably imagined as an "entangled bank", and that E. O. Wilson labeled "biodiversity", is in crisis. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) calculates that one-fifth of mammals and nearly one-third of amphibians are threatened with extinction. Some estimate that only half of the species alive today will survive to 2100. Others describe the pace of biodiversity loss as 100 times the rate of natural extinctions. Less-diverse ecosystems are less productive, less stable and less robust. So loss of biodiversity may weaken ecosystems and make them more fragile, especially in the face of climate change, with grave consequences for food security, among other things.

Sara Abdulla,Chief Commissioning Editor, Nature March 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MEAConservationStrategies.jpg

This summary of the relative effects by the year 2100 is a composite derived from calculations carried out for 12 individual terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems by O. E. Sala et al. (Science287, 1770–1774; 2000). Overall, changes in land use constitute the main estimated impact on biodiversity, but the pattern varies considerably for different ecosystems. According to Sala and colleagues' calculations, climate change will have the strongest effect on Arctic, alpine and boreal ecosystems, whereas biotic exchange (that is, invasion by non-native species) will exert its main influence in lakes.

Biodiversity is…………..