Environmental Science
Name __________________________________ Period __________ Date ________________
Chapter 4 Section 1, Ecosystems: Everything is Connected – Notes
Objectives
•
•
•
Distinguish between the biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem.
Describe how a population differs from a species.
Explain how habitats are important for organisms.
Defining an Ecosystem
• Ecosystems are communities of _____________________ and their abiotic environment.
• Examples are an __________________________________________ or a coral reef.
• Ecosystems do not have _______________________________________________.
• Things move from one ecosystem to another. __________________________ can blow
from a forest into a field, soil can wash from a __________________________ into a
lake, and birds migrate from state to state.
The Components of an Ecosystem
• In order to survive, ecosystems need _________________________________________:
energy, mineral nutrients, water, oxygen, and living organisms.
• Plants and rocks are components of the ______________________________________,
while most of the energy of an ecosystem comes from the ____________________.
• If one part of the ecosystem is ___________________________________________, the
entire system will be affected.
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
• Biotic factors are environmental factors that are ______________________ with or
results from the activities of _________________________________ which includes
plants, animals, dead organisms, and the ___________________ products of organisms.
• Abiotic factors are environmental factors that are ____________________________
with the activities of ____________________________________ which includes air,
water, rocks, and temperature.
• Scientists can organize these living and nonliving things into ______________________.
Organisms
• Organisms are living things that can carry out __________________________________
independently.
• You are an organism, as is and ant, and ivy plant, and each of the many bacteria living in
_________________________________________________.
• Every organism is a member of a _____________________________________.
• Species are groups of organisms that are ____________________________ can can mate
to produce fertile _______________________________________.
Populations
•
•
•
•
•
Members of a species ______________________________ all live in the same place.
Field mice in Maine will ________________________________ with field mice in
Texas. However, each organism lives as part of a population.
Populations are groups of organisms of the ________________________________ that
live in a specific __________________________________________ and interbreed.
For example, all the field mice in a ____________________________ make up a
population of field mice.
An important characteristic of a population is that its __________________________
usually breed with one another rather than with members of other ________________
For example, bison will usually mate with ____________________________ of the same
herd, just as wildflowers will usually be ________________________ by other flowers
in the same field.
Communities
• Communities are groups of ______________________________________ that live in
the same habitat and interact with each other.
• Every ____________________________ is part of a ___________________________.
• The most obvious difference between communities is the types of _________________
they have.
• Land communities are often dominated by a ____________________________ of plants.
These plants then determine what other organisms _______________ in that community.
Habitat
• Habitats are places where an organism __________________________________.
• Every habitat has ____________________________ that the organisms that live there
need to survive. If any of these factors change, the _____________________________.
• Organisms tend to be very well suited to their _______________________________. If
fact, animals and plants usually ________________________________ for long periods
of time away from their _____________________________________________
Questions
_____ 1. Which of the following is an ecosystem?
a. vacant lot
b. oak forest
c. coral reef
d. all of the above
_____ 2. The energy in most ecosystems comes from
a. green plants.
b. the sun.
c. wind.
d. the soil.
_____ 3. The organisms most likely to belong to the same species are
a. people at a football game.
b. bacteria inside a person’s body.
c. birds in a forest.
d. organisms in a pond.
_____ 4. Which of the following statements about an organ-ism’s habitat is not true?
a. Most organisms can survive if they are taken away from their habitat.
b. An organism’s habitat is the place where it lives.
c. A habitat has specific characteristics that an organism needs to live there.
d. A habitat contains biotic and abiotic factors.
_____ 5. The community of a pond is made up of all the
a. biotic and abiotic factors.
b. resources organisms need.
c. habitats in and around the water.
d.populations of fish, insects, and other living organisms