Interactions with Ecosystems

Notes for Quiz

Abiotic: a non-living factor that affects an ecosystem (i.e. rain, water, sunlight)

Biotic: a living factor that affects an ecosystem (i.e. the population of producers)

Adaptation: a special feature that an organism has that aids in survival (i.e. camouflage; mimicry; colouration; special features like wings, fins, stingers; behaviours like migration)

Monarch butterfly migration

Organization of Life Organism: a single living thing (a fox, a tree ...) Population: all of the organisms of one species

in an area (all of the fox in the woods in Dartmouth)

Community: all of the populations in an ecosystem (rabbits, fox, coyotes, trees …) The biotic part of the ecosystem.

Ecosystem: the biotic community AND all of the abiotic factors interacting (community plus wind, rain, temperature, sunlight …)

Review Key Ideas Key Idea: The sun is the source of all energy in

most ecosystems Photosynthesis, producers

Key Idea: Energy flows through ecosystems Consumers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores,

decomposers Key Idea: A model can be used to show energy

flows through an ecosystem Food chain or food web

Key Idea: Matter cycles within ecosystems Matter cycle …slides will follow

Producers Producers are the beginning of a simple food chain.

Most producers are green plants. Plants are at the beginning of every food chain that involves the Sun. All energy comes from the Sun and plants are the ones who make food with that energy. They use the process of photosynthesis. Plants also make loads of other nutrients for other organisms to eat.

Consumers

Consumer: An organism that gets its food from (eating) other living things, in order to have enough energy to survive or reproduce.

There are different consumers: Herbivores, Carnivores, Omnivores and Decomposers

Consumers

Herbivore: an organism that eats only plants (plant eater, e.g. rabbit)

Carnivore: an organism that eats only animals (meat eater, e.g. fox)

Omnivore: an organism that eats both plants and animals (e.g. bear)

Decomposers Decomposer: Organisms that

break down nutrients in dead "stuff" and return it to the soil. It breaks down matter into simple nutrients that they can use. Also the producers can then use the nutrients and elements once it's in the soil. The decomposers complete the system, returning essential molecules to the producers. Thus the broken down matter will be recycled in the Matter Cycle. Examples of decomposers are some insects, worms, micro bacteria, mushrooms and mould.

Food Chains Food chain: a diagram that shows the energy transfer from one

organism to another in a single line. It shows one thing an organism eats to get energy.

 Grass Rabbit Fox Coyote

Food Webs A food web is a system of many

intersecting food chains. It shows that all animals in a ecosystem are connected. It is better than a food chain because it is a more realistic view of energy transfer in an ecosystem (e.g. Foxes don’t only eat rabbits and rabbits get eaten by more than just Foxes). Remember the arrows show the direction that the energy moves in a food chain or a food web. Decomposers are missing from this web.

The Matter Cycle (the use and reuse of matter on earth)

Producer(grass)

Consumer(deer)

Consumer(wolf)

Decomposer(maggot, bacteria)

The Matter CycleKey Question: How does an ecosystem recycle matter? Energy moves from producers to consumers in an ecosystem. Matter also moves in ecosystems, the nutrients (energy) are carried in the

matter. Earth is a closed system. In a closed system, no new matter enters the system and no matter leaves

it. Organisms today use the same water and gases that the dinosaurs used. How does matter last for such a long time? Through recycling. The process

of recycling lets matter return to the environment after organisms use it. Then, organisms use the matter again. This repeating pattern is a cycle.

THE CLEANUP SQUAD…decomposers recycle matter in an ecosystem. They eat the decaying matter and waste that other organisms leave behind. Decomposers change biotic elements, such as decaying organisms, into abiotic elements, such as minerals. Decomposers recycle matter so that other organisms can use it again

The Matter Cycle (in other words)

The matter cycle shows how energy is transferred and matter is reused.

Energy is transferred from the producer to the herbivore and from the herbivore to the carnivore.

When the producers, herbivores and carnivores die the energy is transferred to the decomposers

The decomposer breaks down the dead matter into nutrients so that new plants (producers) can grow.

The cycle continues over and over…