Name:
E - 1 Notes – Ecosystems & Biomes
I. Ecosystems support life.
A. Living things depend on the environment.
B. Biotic factors interact with an ecosystem. (alive)
C. Many abiotic factors affect ecosystems. (abiotic = nonliving)
1. Temperature
2. Light
3. Soil (minerals)
4. Water
II. Matter cycles through ecosystems.
A.
B.
C.
D.
All ecosystems need certain materials. (carbon, nitrogen, water)
Water cycles through ecosystems.
Carbon cycles through ecosystems.
Nitrogen cycles through ecosystems. (alfalfa and soy have nitrogen fixing
bacteria)
III. Energy flows through ecosystems.
A. Living things capture and release energy.
1. Producers (photosynthetic & chemosynthetic)
2. Consumers (like us, can’t make their own food)
3. Decomposers (Breaks down dead organic plant and animal materials.
Nature’s clean-up crew. Without them we would be walking around in
deep doo-doo!)
B. Models help explain feeding relationships. (Remember: -> indicates
energy flow direction)
1. Food chain (grass -> cow -> human)
2. Food web (interwoven food chains; better model)
C. Available energy decreases as it moved through an ecosystem. (or up an
energy pyramid)
IV. Biomes contain many ecosystems. (Terrestrial, aquatic)
A. Regions of Earth are classified into biomes.
1. Taiga (coniferous trees) and tundra (cold, permafrost)
2. Desert and grassland (dry)
3. Temperate forest and tropical forest (wet enough for tree growth)
B. Water covers most of the Earth’s surface.
1. Freshwater biomes (ponds, lakes, rivers, estuaries)
2. Marine biomes (salt water, coastal, open, deep)
“C” for Cone = “C” for coniferous (Christmas) trees
“D” for Drop (their leaves) = “D” for deciduous trees
Temperate Forest – Deciduous trees loose their leaves in fall.
Tropical Forest – Trees grow all year and don’t loose their leaves.
Name:
Six Major Land Biomes
1. Tundra – Has permafrost so trees cannot root there. Lichens will grow here****.
2. Taiga – More precipitation than the tundra. Coniferous trees = C = cone =
Christmas. Needles = modified leaf, produce food, photosynthesis all year.
3. Desert – Dry soil, not enough water for trees.
4. Grassland – Moderate rainfall, not enough for forests, but grasses grow here.
Grazing animals and grass eaters live here.
5. Temperate Forests – Deciduous trees live here = drop leaves as winter
approaches. We live in this (Temperate Forest) biome.
6. Tropical Forest – Most biodiversity on land. Wettest land biome.
*** Water covers most of the Earth, about 70%.
*** Plants produce oxygen (O2) for us!
Aquatic biomes – Fresh water or salt water (salt water = marine biome)
Fresh water biomes – Affected by surrounding landscape. Streams, rivers. In ponds
and lakes the water doesn’t move and they contain phytoplankton.
Estuary – “Nature’s nursery”. A mix of fresh and salt water. Marshes and wetlands =
estuaries. Calm water, great for young or larval stages of life.
Marine Biomes (3 general types; salt water)
1. Coastal – Beaches. Tides produce constant changing conditions. Crabs & clams.
2. Open – Less sun and colder than coastal biome due to the depth of the water. Fish,
seaweed, no plants.
3. Deep – Cold, dark. No sunlight for photosynthesis. Many organisms are
microscopic.