The Biosphere and Biodiversity
What is an Ecosystem?
----contains living (BIOTIC) and nonliving(ABIOTIC)
components, including producers, consumers, and
decomposers.
Ecosystems......
Abiotic---nonliving components---water, air, rocks, heat,
nutrients, sun!
Biotic----the living and once living components----plants,
animals, dead organism parts, microbes, and organism waste
Limiting factor principle:
Too much or too little of any abiotic factor can limit or prevent
growth of a population, even if all other factors are at or near
the optimal range of tolerance.
EX: Water for crops----no water, no crops!
EX: Temp, sunlight, nutrients in Aquatic ecosystems----if one is
not right, life dies!
The Trophic, or feeding levels:
Producers: autotrophs, make their own nutrients from
environment...EX: Plants! Phytoplankton (Microscopic floaters!)
Consumers: heterotrophs, cannot produce own energy,
consumes producers to get energy and nutrients
Continued.......
Primary consumers-----herbivores!
Secondary consumers----carnivores!!
Tertiary consumers-----feed on the flesh of other carnivores
EX: tigers, hawks, killer whales
Omnivores-----both plant and meat eaters!
Continued.......
Decomposers-----certain bacteria and fungi. Feed on dead
organisms (YUCK!!!!)
The Five Levels of the Biosphere:
1.
Organism: The single thing: A fish, A bird
2. Population: Many of the same species
3. Community: Different populations that interact : Aquatic life, farm life, jungle life
4. Ecosystem: The groups of populations interacting with their environment,
including abiotic factors...rocks, water, sun, etc.....
5. Biosphere: EVERYTHING!!!!!
To do now.......
Using the prefolded foldable :) Draw pics, color, and
label....NEATLY!!!!! This is a TEST grade!!
You will create the biosphere in its levels of organization, one
per flap!
The levels: Organism, Population, Community, Ecosystem,
Biosphere
For Example: