Parts of an Ecosystem
Habitat-
The place where an organism lives and that provides the
things it needs.
Organism- A single member of a species, the smallest
unit of organization.
A single prairie dog
Species- A group of organisms that are similar and reproduce
to produce fertile offspring.
Polar Bears
Population- All the members of one species in a particular area
Many prairie dogs in the
same area represent a population
7. Community- All the different populations that live
together in an area.
All the populations in an area that
interact with one another
8. Ecosystem- All the living and nonliving things that interact in
an area.
The community and
Abiotic(nonliving) factors form
the ecosystem
Endangered Species – A species in danger of becoming extinct in the near future.
Very few Black Rhinoceros
remain
Conservation – The belief that people should use natural resources as long as they
do not destroy those resources.
Dodging Extinction
Predation- An interaction in which one organism kills and eats another.
Fox preying on a squirrel
Predator- The organism that does the killing in predation.
A lion eating his prey
Prey- An organism that is killed in predation.
A zebra being eaten by a lion
Adaptations- The behaviors and physical characteristics of species that allow
them to live successfully in their environments.
The fatty humps of a
camel helps to minimize
fat in body to help keep
cooler hot desert conditions.
Competition- The struggle between organisms for the limited resources in a habitat.
Fighting for limited food source
Poaching – Illegal hunting of wildlife
Killing elephants for their tusks
Extinction – The disappearance of all members of a species from Earth.
• Dodo Bird no longer exists
Another View – “Dodging Extinction”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
C
B
D
A
A
C
Yes, the villagers are the ones killing them if they eat their livestock. That is the number one
reason for the decline. If they stop killing them, the numbers should increase.
8. D
9. B
•
•
Villagers killing the snow leopard.
Poaching for their fur and using the bones for medicine.
1. Villagers killing the snow leopard.
Poaching for their fur and using the bones for medicine.
2. They live in their range and they are trusted.
3. Educating villagers, livestock insurance
4. For the DNA – a genetic fingerprint
5. They have a long furry tail, and a thick coat.
Gaining Ground vocabulary
Biodiversity – the number of different species in an area.
Earth’s biodiversity:
mammals – 2%, amphibians – 2%, fungi 17%,
algae 10%, roundworms and earthworms – 9%,
crustaceans – 14%, other arthropods and minor
Invertebrates – 46%
Niche – An organism’s particular role in an ecosystem, or how it
makes its living.
Drone– main job is to fertilize queen
Queen bee - two primary jobs are to produce
chemical scents that help regulate the unity of the
colony and to lay lots of eggs.
Worker bee - do just about everything else.
A food chain is a series of events in which one organism eats another and
obtains energy.
Grass
mouse
hawk
Food chains and webs always start with a producer (arrows show
direction of energy flow)
A food web is a pattern of overlapping food chains in an ecosystem.
snake
frog
hawk
shrew
Marsh grass
grasshopper
cricket
cattails
Energy Pyramid – a diagram that shows the amount of energy that
moves from one feeding level to another in a food web
The most energy is available at the producer level. At each level in the pyramid, there is less
available energy than at the level below. Almost 90% of the energy is used or lost as heat.
Producer - An organism that can make its own food like the grass.
All food chains start with a producer.
Consumer -An organism that obtains energy by feeding on
other organisms like the mouse or kestrel.
Herbivores - Consumers that eat only plants.
elephants,
giraffes,
pandas, rabbits
Carnivores -Consumers that eat only animals.
lynx,
cougar,
wolf,
badger,
hyena
Omnivores –Consumers that eat both plants and animals.
bears,
human,
raccoons,
monkeys
scavengers - carnivores that feed
on the bodies of dead organisms.
Turkey vulture
eating a dead
deer.
Decomposers - Organisms that
break down wastes and dead
organisms and return the raw
materials to the environment.
Mushrooms
decomposing a
log.
Symbiosis- A close relationship between species that benefits at least one of the
species. There are 3 types of symbiotic relationships: mutualism, commensalism, and
parasitism.
Mutualism- A relationship between two species in which both species benefit.
Tick bird eats bugs for
food, and rhino gets
cleaned.
Commensalism- A relationship between two species in which one species benefits and
the other is neither helped nor harmed.
The birds are provided with a place to put there
nest but do no harm to the tree.
Parasitism- A relationship in which one organism lives on or inside another and harms it.
Mosquito biting human’s
arm for blood meal
Wasp larva eating caterpillar
and the caterpillar dies.
Parasite – the organism that benefits by living on or in a host in parasitism.
tick
heartworms
Host- The organism that a parasite lives
in or on in parasitism.
dog, human,
deer, bear
“Gaining Ground”
Floppy nose – heat air and keep dust out - anatomical
Summer coat – provides camouflage – anatomical, physiological
Winter coat – provides warmth and helps to camouflage – anatomical, physiological
Reproduction – quickly reproduces to increase population – physiological
Camouflage – blend in with the environment, harder to spot – anatomical
Run fast – avoid predators – behavioral, physiological
1.
2.
3.
4.
The red fox, eagle, and gray wolf eat the ground squirrel.
The steppe wolf (gray wolf) preys on the marmot, saiga, and ground squirrel.
The producers are the wild tulip and sage brush.
There are six consumers, the red fox, eagle, gray wolf, marmot, saiga, and
ground squirrel.
5. The population would decrease because there is less food to eat.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Antelope
Eurasian steppe
Nose
Hunting
Camouflage
Horns
Collars
Run
Predator
Central Kazakhstan
Putting satellite collars on them to track their migration to see what habitats they
use.
Use ex-poachers in jobs that monitor saigas and serve as guides.
Brain Pop - Ecosystems
Organism
A scorpion
Population
All scorpions in the area
Community
Cacti, kangaroo rats, owls, scorpions
All living things in the area
Habitat
Kangaroo rat – sleeps underground,
hunts above ground
Ecosystem
Desert- living and nonliving things
A.
B.
C.
D.
D
A
B
C
D
C
A
B
C
A
Community – kangaroo rats, owls, lizards, cacti in the area
Ecosystem – desert
Habitat – the sand the lizard lives on
Population – all the owls in the area
Brain POP – Food Chains
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
D – fungi
C – bear
P – palm tree
C – grasshopper
P – ferns
P – oak trees
C – dog
D – bacteria
P – bamboo
C – praying mantis
•
Grass
•
The grasshopper population would increase and the snake population would
decrease.
grasshopper
frog
snake
hawk
BrainPOP – Energy Pyramid
•
Sources of Energy – producers – sunlight,
consumers – sunlight, other organisms,
decomposers – sunlight, other organisms
•
Types of organisms – producers – grass, trees, algae, phytoplankton
consumers – rabbit, bear, tiger, grasshopper
decomposers – mushrooms, mold, fungus
•
How energy is obtained – producers – produce their own food,
consumers – eat other organisms,
decomposer – from other organisms
Top predator
Location - field
hawk
owl
Secondary consumer
snake
mole
Primary consumer
bunny
grasshopper
Producers
grass
clover
“Puffin Up”
Population density – The number of individuals in a specific area.
Calcutta – 24,718/sq km
New York City – 10,641/sq km
Paris – 20,246/ sq km
Birth rate – the number of births in a population in a certain amount of time
Birth rate = number of live births/ 1,000 of a population
Death rate – the number of deaths in a population in certain amount of time
Sampling – This method estimates the number of members in a population.
•
There are 12 salamanders in an acre of land. If I have 20 acres, then 12 x 20 = 240
salamanders. I estimate there are 240 salamanders on the 20 acres.
Direct observation – This method counts, one-by-one, all of its members.
Counting all of the penguins
in the area.
Indirect observation – This method counts the signs of the members of a population
like tracks, nests…
•
Counting all the nests in the area.
Mark-and-recapture – This method captures, marks, and releases the members.
Tagging birds with a leg band
Biometrics – the process by which an organism’s physical and other traits are
measured and analyzed for identity
•
Taking measurements for weight,
height, fingerprints…
Census – an official process of counting different organisms
Wreck – a single incident when thousands of organisms die
•
BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
Bioaccumulation – the buildup of a substance in living organisms. The higher up on
the food chain, the more it tends to bioaccumulate.
• Mercury levels in fish get higher
as you go up the food chain
Lionfish Vocabulary
Native species – species that have naturally evolved in an area
Mountain Laurel in PA
Exotic species – species that are carried to a new location but may not
cause problems
•
Red Fox in North America
Invasive species – a species that is not native to the area and causes economic or
environmental harm or harm to human health.
•
The Lionfish invading Florida’s waters
eating and destroying many species
of native fish.
Zoo Breeder Vocabulary
Genetic diversity – the total number of genetic characteristics in a species
(the more diversity the better).
more diversity with the
managed bees
Captive breeding – the mating of endangered animals in zoos or preserves.
Pandas bred in a zoo
BrainPOP - Extinction
•
•
•
•
Species – Group of organisms that share similar traits and can breed together
Evolution – Scientific theory that describes how organisms change and adapt over time
Mass extinction – When a large number of species go extinct in a short period of time
Food chain – The eating habits of organisms sharing an ecosystem
1. 50%
2. 10 and 100
3. 11
Many organisms would be driven to extinction
Break it Down – “Puffin Up”
1. Write definitions or descriptions for the following terms:
a. Farne Islands: a cluster of islands located off England’s northeastern
coast
b. burrow: holes where the puffins breed
c. wreck: when thousands of organisms die in a single incident
d. biometrics: measuring and weighing the birds, and other vitals statistics
2. Explain the following:
a. Atlantic Puffins died in a wreck and rains flooded their burrows
b. indirect observation – grass, feathers, leaves and bird droppings are
indications that a burrow is occupied
c. They protect their egg or chick from predators and weather.
d. They are making a comeback – 40,000 up by 8%.
3. Yes, there still could be risks for puffins like the weather or toxins.
4. No, it seems they are making a comeback.
Toxic Buildup
A. 50 molecules of toxin x 5 small plankton = 250 molecules in copepod
B. 250 molecules of toxin x 5 copepods = 1250 molecules in anchovy
C. 1250 molecules of toxin x 10 anchovies = 12,500 in puffin
1. 12,500 molecules in puffin/50 molecules in environment = puffin has 250x more
toxins accumulated in his tissues
2. Adult puffins probably contain more because they’ve eaten more fish over their
life time.
3. If humans they eat organisms with a toxic buildup, it would bioaccumulate in us.
Home Sweet Home
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Open ocean biome
The ground remains permanently frozen.
The open ocean
The Artic tundra has long cold winters, and short warmer summers. Generally
dry with little precipitation.
The Artic tundra because it is very cold for long periods of time. Little food
for survival.
England
Three
Burrows
Winter
Dropped
Wreck
Breed
Fish
Video camera
Comeback
They count the Puffins to make sure their population is stable.
Atlantic’s Most Wanted
Description: candy cane stripes and fanlike tail
Known Hangouts: Warm waters with coral reefs, Native lands – Indian and Pacific Oceans
Invaded areas – Atlantic Ocean
Crimes:
1. They have venomous spines that deliver a painful sting.
2. They keep hunting and eating even when full.
3. They are fearless predators that devour everything in sight.
Caution: They have venomous spines that delivery a painful sting
Dead of Alive: Kill the Lionfish on sight, promote Lionfish derby’s, and you can eat them.
Stop the Invasion
1. Controlling the spread if the invasive Zebra mussels.
2. Chemicals can be used to control these invertebrates, but the chemicals pose dangers of
their own.
Scientists are researching new ways to prevent the spread of Zebra mussels.
3. Native to fresh waters in Russia.
4. It slows the growth of the mussel and prevents them from attaching to the boat’s hull.
5. The new paint is similar to Teflon and may prevent them from sticking to a moving boat.
Lionfish Invasion
•
The pet industry. People buy them for aquariums and then release them in the
waters when they don’t want them.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Diver
Fins
Atlantic
Pacific and Indian
invasive species
Poisonous
Prey
Obese
Lionfish derby
Gray Reef sharks