what is an ecosystem?
- Is a community made up of living organisms and non-living organisms that live together with their physical environment.
- In a ecosystem each organism has its own role to play.
- ECOSYSTEM- means "ecologycal systems", ecology is the estudy of ecosystems.
- The ecosystems can be marine, acuatic or terrestrial.
- The ecosystems are very diversed. They are differents in size and in every biotic and abiotic feature of the place that they are.
The ecosystem is formed by the biotope and the biocenosis:
BIOTOPE:
It is formed by the non-living components of the ecosystem, like water, temperature, light.... This ones are known as abiotic factors. |
BIOCENOSIS:
Is formed by the living components of the ecosystem. This one are known as biotic factors. |
The relationships in the biocenosis could be:
INTRAESPECIFIC RELATIONSHIPS: Are those which occur between individuals of the same species and could be:
Familiar: between individuals that are related just like elephants.
Gregarious: between individuals that dont have to be related to each other necessarily just like the migratory birds.
Social: between individuals that formed hierarchy and have a division of labour just like bees.
Colonial: between individuals that have the same progenitor just like the corals.
INTERSPECIFIC RELATIONSHIPS: Are those which occur between individuals of different species. Sometimes could be beneficial to the specie, or to both, or harmful to one of the two. The most important interactions here are:
Interspecific competition: here both species are harmed. Occurs between species that use the same resource when it is in short supply just like the foxes and coyotes that compete for the same food.
Predation: here the predator (beficial) captures and kills the other specie(harmful) to eat it just like the lions to gazelles.
Parasitism: here the parasite is beneficial, because this one eats the other without killing it, not inmediatily just like aphids to rose bushes.
Mutualism: here each one is benefited. Is between organisms of different species just like birds who remove parasites of the rhinoceros.
Commensalism: here one specie is benefited and it does not affect the other just like a vulture aeting the remains of a prey killed by a lion.
Familiar: between individuals that are related just like elephants.
Gregarious: between individuals that dont have to be related to each other necessarily just like the migratory birds.
Social: between individuals that formed hierarchy and have a division of labour just like bees.
Colonial: between individuals that have the same progenitor just like the corals.
INTERSPECIFIC RELATIONSHIPS: Are those which occur between individuals of different species. Sometimes could be beneficial to the specie, or to both, or harmful to one of the two. The most important interactions here are:
Interspecific competition: here both species are harmed. Occurs between species that use the same resource when it is in short supply just like the foxes and coyotes that compete for the same food.
Predation: here the predator (beficial) captures and kills the other specie(harmful) to eat it just like the lions to gazelles.
Parasitism: here the parasite is beneficial, because this one eats the other without killing it, not inmediatily just like aphids to rose bushes.
Mutualism: here each one is benefited. Is between organisms of different species just like birds who remove parasites of the rhinoceros.
Commensalism: here one specie is benefited and it does not affect the other just like a vulture aeting the remains of a prey killed by a lion.
food chains and food webs:
The food webs consist of many interconected food chains and they are a more realistic representation in the ecosystems.
A food chain is a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass when one organism eats another. Here each individual occups a different trophic level defined in how many energy does it transfer.
A food chain is a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass when one organism eats another. Here each individual occups a different trophic level defined in how many energy does it transfer.
1.Primary producer (algae)
2.Primary consumer (mollusks)
3.Secondary consumer (slimy sculpin)
4.Tertiary consumer (chinook salmon)
2.Primary consumer (mollusks)
3.Secondary consumer (slimy sculpin)
4.Tertiary consumer (chinook salmon)
In the trophic levels an organism can be clasificated in diferent groups:
- Producers: this ones are autotrophic individuals that do photosynthesis and convert inorganic matter in organic by energy of the light. These ones use to be the plants and some bacterias.
- Consumers: this ones are heterotrophic individuals that eat other living things to survive. The primary consumers feed on producers, secondary consumers feed on primary consumers and tertiary consumers on secondary consumers.
- Decomposers: this ones are heterotrophic organisms thatfeed on the leftovers of the other trophic levels. They use to be bacteria and fungi.
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
Types:
Estuaries: are places where rivers meet the sea. Areas where salt water is diluted with fresh water.
Oceans: Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Southern Ocean. They are conected and each of them has unique species and features.
Coral Reefs: This is the second richest ecosystem. It has a wide diversity of plants and animals.
Coastal: Is where the land and the water join and form it. It has a diferent structure, diversity and flow of energy.
Lotic: this is an ecosystem with rapid flowing waters that move in a unidirectional way.
Lentic: include all standing water habitats such as lakes and ponds.
Wetlands: are marshy areas and are sometimes covered in water which have a wide diversity of plants and animals.
Estuaries: are places where rivers meet the sea. Areas where salt water is diluted with fresh water.
Oceans: Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Southern Ocean. They are conected and each of them has unique species and features.
Coral Reefs: This is the second richest ecosystem. It has a wide diversity of plants and animals.
Coastal: Is where the land and the water join and form it. It has a diferent structure, diversity and flow of energy.
Lotic: this is an ecosystem with rapid flowing waters that move in a unidirectional way.
Lentic: include all standing water habitats such as lakes and ponds.
Wetlands: are marshy areas and are sometimes covered in water which have a wide diversity of plants and animals.
what is an acquatic ecosystem?
An ecosystem is a comunity of individuals that live together in a partcular enviroment in this case, water. They could be marine ecosystems andf freshwater ecosystems (lentic and lotic).
Terrestrial ecosystems
COLD ZONES:
Polar Desert:
Is in the polar circles and there is always ice around. There is no vegetation and the life is near the sea. |
Tundra:
This ones are around the Artic Ocean. In summer the upper part of the ground thaws and helps to grow bushes. |
Taiga:
They are located in the north. There the conifer forests are comon because they stand the cold very well. |
TEMPERATE ZONES:
Decidous forests:
It has an oceanic climate and there winters are cold and summers are warm. The precipitations are abundant, normaly all the year. |
Mediterranean forests:
This ones are located in the mediterranean, in parts of California and Chile. The temperature here is variable, the winters are warm and the summers hot or very hot. There is lack of precipitations. |
Steppe:
They ara at the same latitudes as the decidous forests but with continental climate. The winters are very cold and summers are hot. Precipitations could be abundant and irregular, it depends on the season. |
WARM ZONES:
Desert:
They are close to the tropics. The temperatures chage a lot between day and night just like 40ºC. There is no vegetation because of the lack of water. |
Savannah:
They are between tropics. In the climate there is a little variation during the year but the precipitations are abundant and irregular. There is tall vegetation, herbaceous plants. |
Tropical forest:
They are in the north and south of the Equator. There are not big changes in temperature over the year and the precipitations are abundant and regular. There is a lot of vegetation. |
songs:
|
|