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The Study of Ecosystems - Western Coventry...
Transcript of The Study of Ecosystems - Western Coventry...
The Study of Ecosystems
Ecology
Chapter 47 The Biosphere
47�1 Earth: A Living Planet
Ecology
� “The study of the interactions of organisms with one another and their physical surroundings.”
� Biotic - living organisms� Plants, animals, fungi, micro-organisms
� Abiotic – non-living factors�Water, soil, air, rocks, sunlight, weather
� Living vs. non-living vs. dead.
Biosphere� “The part of the Earth where life exists.”
� Biosphere includes:
�Atmosphere – Air
� Up to 8 kilometers above the surface
�Hydrosphere – Water
� 70% of Earth Surface
�Lithosphere – Ground/surface
� Over 8 kilometers below the surface
Ecosystems
� “A given areas physical features [abiotic] and living
organisms [biotic].”
� Living things in an ecosystem are referred to as a
community.
� An ecosystem can be smaller than a drop of water.
Ecological Succession� The gradual change from one ecological community
to another.
� This process can take several decades to thousands of years.
� Stages of Succession
� The first organisms are called “pioneerpioneerpioneerpioneer” species.
� These are able to survive in the full sun.
� Next are various “intermediateintermediateintermediateintermediate” species.
� These survive in a mixture of sun and shade.
� Final stage is called “climaxclimaxclimaxclimax” species.
� These survive in shade in the early stages.
Wildlife Use of Various Stages of Land Cover Type
Old-field Succession Showing Changes of Vegetation and Wildlife
A Biome: An environment that has a characteristic climax community.
Biomes
47-2 Land Biomes
Two types: Land and Aquatic
Land Biomes are named for the dominant climax plant community
World Biomes
1. Tundra: Northernmost land Biome
�Nearly treeless, most trees are only 2 – 3 meters tall
�Migratory animals�Elk, caribou, wolves, ptarmigan
�Permafrost – permanently frozen subsoil�Lots of stored carbon
2. Taiga: Coniferous Forest� Conifer trees [cone bearing]
� Spruce, pine, fir, redwood� Up to 60 meters tall
� Ground thaws in the summer
although not for long in some places
� Many animals hibernate or migrate during the winter� Black bear, moose, grouse
3. Temperate Deciduous Forest� Plants that lose all their leaves in the fall
� Oak, maple, beech� The amount of leaf litter provides nutrients for future growth
� Changing seasons� Temperature and length of daylight trigger cells to harden and then leaves to drop; protection from water loss when ground is frozen
� A great variety of seed plants provide food for many species of animals
4. Grassland:
¼ of Earth’s land surface� Prairies, plains, savannas, pampas, steppes
� Two types – tropical and temperate� Tropical – close to the Equator : hot all year
� Varies from very wet to very dry
� Temperate – hot summers and cold winters� Great Plains
� Animals include herbivores and the carnivores that feed on them� Bison, wildebeests, wolves, lions
5. Tropical Rain Forest� Year-round temperatures above 250 C : 200 – 400 cm of rainfall
� Contain more species [fungus, bacteria, plants and animals] that all the rest of the land biomes combined
� Warm temperatures and wet conditions cause decomposition at a very fast rate. Rainforest soils are not very thick so tall plants must find ways to support themselves.
� Disappearing at a rate of 100 acres per second
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