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Exploring Earth's Ecosystems: Climate, Habitats, and Biomes

Discover the role of climate in shaping ecosystems, the importance of habitats, and the characteristics of various biomes on Earth. Learn about biotic and abiotic factors, ecological succession, and the diversity of aquatic ecosystems.

ruth-haley
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Exploring Earth's Ecosystems: Climate, Habitats, and Biomes

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  1. Chapter 4 Ecosystems and Communities

  2. 4-1 The Role of Climate • Organisms vary in their “ideal” conditions • Also vary in tolerance to change • Many of these conditions or changes refer to climate/weather

  3. Weather vs. Climate • Weather: conditions at a particular time and place • Climate: average conditions in a particular region • Effected by: atmosphere, latitude, winds, currents, precipitation, etc.

  4. GreenhouseEffect • Natural situation in which heat is retained by layer of gases (CO2, methane) • Atmosphere acts as a natural insulator • Would be 30 degrees cooler without

  5. Latitude • Polar zones- always cold • Temperate zones- varies hot/cold • Tropical zones- always hot • Heat transfer by: • Water- currents • Air- hot air rises/cool air falls (winds)

  6. 4-2 What shapesan ecosystem? • Habitat:area where an organism lives • Made up of: • Biotic factors: biological influences • Competitors, predators, prey • Abiotic factors: nonliving influences • Climate, nutrient availability

  7. Niche • All factors that influence an ecosystem and how the organism uses them • The “role” of an organism • Competition Exclusion Principle: no 2 organisms can have the same niche • Ex: warbler bird

  8. Community Interactions • Competition: attempt to use same resource at same place/same time • Predation: one organisms feeds on another • Symbiosis: two species in a relationship together

  9. Types of Symbiosis • Mutualism: both benefit • Ex: flowers and insects • Commensalism: 1 benefits, other not effected • Ex: barnacle and whale • Parasitism: 1 benefits, other is harmed • Lives on/inside “host”- does NOT kill • Ex: tapeworm, ticks

  10. Ecological Succession • Gradual change after a disturbance (natural or man-made) • Primary: succession when there is no soil • Pioneer species: first to populate an area • Secondary: succession when soil is still there

  11. 4-3 Biomes • Biome: group of communities covering a large area • Characterized by: • soil, • climate • specific plants and animals

  12. The Biomes: • 1. Tropical rain forest (ex: Brazil) • Hot and wet • Ferns, monkeys, toucans • 2. Tropical dry forest (ex: India) • Warm with wet and dry seasons • Deciduous trees, tigers, elephants

  13. 3. Tropical savanna (ex: Kenya) • Warm with seasonal rain, lightning fires • Grasses, shrubs, lions, hyenas • 4. Desert (ex: Arizona) • Low precipitation (dry), variable temps. • Cactus, snakes, lizard

  14. 5. Temperate grassland (ex: Texas) • Hot/cold seasons, average precipitation, fertile soil • Grasses, bison, grasshoppers • 6. Temperate woodland (ex: Los Angeles) • Hot, dry summerand cool. wet winter • Evergreens, coyote, mountain lion

  15. 7. Temperate forest (ex: Philadelphia) • Moderate winter, warm summer, year round rain • Moss, coniferous trees, deer, squirrel • 8. Northwestern coniferous forest (ex: Seattle) • Mild temps., cool, dry summer- otherwise wet • Conifer trees (redwood), bears

  16. 9. Boreal forest/ Taiga (ex: northern Europe) • Long, cold winter, short, dry summer • Fir trees, lynx, moose • 10. Tundra (ex: Alaska) • Permafrost- layer of permanent frozen soil • Short grass, caribou, owl

  17. Other land areas: • Mountain ranges (ex: WA state) • Factors change with elevation • Polar ice caps (ex: Antarctica) • Border tundra • Polar bears, insects

  18. 4-4 Aquatic Ecosystems • Grouped by abiotic factors • Depth (amount of light) • Nutrients available • O2 available

  19. Freshwater (only 3%) • Flowing water- organisms adapt to the flow • Standing water- flow in and circulation of nutrients, O2 and heat • Freshwater wetlands- bogs, marshes and swamps- very diverse!

  20. Estuaries • Wetlands where rivers meet the sea • Detritus = lots of biomass • Ideal for feeding, breeding, nesting, spawning • Ex: salt marshes and mangrove swamps • Salt tolerant

  21. Marine Ecosystems • Photic zone: well-lit upper layer • Aphotic zone: dark (200m and deeper)

  22. Marine Zones • 1. intertidal • Extreme changes with tides • Hot and dry to covered in water • Waves and currents • 2. coastal ocean • Low tide mark to continental shelf • Photic areas = phytoplankton • Ex: kelp forests and coral reefs

  23. 3. open ocean • Continental shelf outwards • Low nutrients = low productivity • 4. benthic- along ocean floor • Benthos: organisms that live here • Food depends on depth: photic producers,, detritus, chemosynthesis

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