Ecosystem Study Guide



Ecosystem Study Guide Name _______________________________ Class _____

1. Ecosystems include all of the living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) parts of an environment as well as the interactions among them.

➢ Ecosystems may be aquatic (water) or terrestrial (land).

➢ Interactions may include:

- producers (obtain energy by making their own food; plants -photosynthesis)

- consumers (obtain energy by consuming their food)

- decomposers ( get energy by breaking down dead organisms and the wastes of living things); bacteria, fungi, worms, mold, termites, mushrooms, etc.

2. Abiotic Factors (nonliving) include: - water - shelter – sunlight - soil - rocks - nutrients - oxygen/air, nitrogen - temperature/climate – space – salinity - pH

3. Biotic Factors(living) include: food – grass – trees – animals – insects – plants – bacteria – fungi

4. Terrestrial = land ecosystems: Forest- -Desert – Grassland - Mountain

5. Aquatic = water ecosystems:

Marine Ecosystems: the biggest ecosystems, which cover around 71% of Earth's surface and contain 97% of out planet's water.

➢ Many kinds of organisms live in marine ecosystems: the brown algae, corals, dinoflagellates, phytoplankton (plant), zoo plankton (animal) sharks and much more.

Freshwater Ecosystems: covers only 0.8% of Earth's surface and contains 0.009% of the total water.

➢ pools, lakes or ponds, streams and rivers.

➢ Wetlands: Places in which the soil is saturated for a lengthy period of time.

➢ The ecosystems are habitats to reptiles, amphibians and around 41% of the world’s fish species. The faster moving turbulent waters typically contain a greater concentrations of dissolved oxygen, supporting greater biodiversity than slow moving waters in pools

6. The Ecosystem Hierarchy: (smallest to largest components)

➢ Organisms: individuals of a species

➢ Populations: groups of organisms of the same species

➢ Communities: the interaction of different populations; communities live within an ecosystem

➢ Ecosystem: all of the abiotic and biotic parts of an ecosystem

➢ Biosphere: The life supporting zone of the earth where atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere meet, interact and make life possible, is known as biosphere.

7. Disruptions to Physical (abiotic/nonliving)Components: *Volcanic eruptions * Pollution *Hurricanes * Clear cutting * Fires * Floods * Drought * Nuclear Bomb * Habitat depletion (human and natural- i.e. urban sprawl)

How could these events change nutrients, water, light, salinity, shelter, soil, temperature,

climate, etc. in an ecosystem?

8. Disruptions to Biological (biotic/living) Components: * Volcanic eruptions * Pollution (land & water) * Hurricanes * Urban Sprawl * Fires * Clear Cutting * Drought * Introduction of exotic (non native) species * Overharvesting * Habitat depletion (human and natural)

How could these events change the biological (living/biotic) components in an ecosystem?

9. Population Density:

- the number of people living per unit of an area (e.g. per square mile); the number of people relative to the space occupied by them

- how full an area is: the concentration of people or things within an area in relation to its size

10. Limiting Factor: environmental factors that limit population sizes in a particular ecosystem

11. Limiting Factors in an Ecosystem:

➢ Density-dependent Factors: limiting factors that are associated with the population density and may negatively affect the population in an area

- operate more strongly on large populations and disease

- triggered by increases in population density (crowding)

➢ Density- independent Factors: limiting factors that occur regardless of how large the population is and reduce the size of all populations in the area; mostly abiotic

- weather changes

- human activities (pollution, u. sprawl, etc.)

- natural disasters (i.e. fires)

12. A change in an abiotic or biotic factor may:

- decrease the size of a population if it cannot acclimate/adapt to or migrate from the change.

- increase the size of a population if that change enhances its ability to survive, flourish or reproduce.

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