Slide 1 / 115 Slide 2 / 115 6th Grade Ecosystem Dynamics 2015-08-27 www.njctl.org Slide 3 / 115 Table of Contents: Ecosystem Dynamics Click on the topic to go to that section · Intro to Ecology · Ecological Interactions · Population Dynamics · Energy in Food Webs
Slide 4 / 115 Breaking It Down Lab What environmental factors affect the rate of decomposition? Make careful observations for the next 10 days. Slide 5 / 115 Introduction to Ecology Return to Table of Contents Slide 6 / 115 Ecology Ecology is the study of the interactions between organisms and their environment. This picture includes one squirrelfish (red), two cleaner wrasse (little blue-striped fish) and some coral. What interactions can you observe in this picture?
Slide 7 / 115 Ecology The squirrelfish is being cleaned by the cleaner wrasse. The cleaner wrasse are being protected by the squirrelfish. All of the fish are being protected by the coral. Organisms are able to interact with living and nonliving aspects of their environment. Slide 8 / 115 Levels of Organization Species (smallest) Scientists often classify living things into different kinds of Population groups. Community In an ecosystem, classifications are known as levels of Ecosystem organization. Biome (largest) Biosphere Slide 9 / 115 Species Species is a group of organisms that share common characteristics. Individuals within a species are only able to breed with others from the same species. Examples of different species include the following: Panda Bald Eagle Blue Spruce Pandas cannot breed with eagles because they are different species.
Slide 10 / 115 Population A population is a group of the same species living in the same place, at the same time. Blue and gold snappers are found in the Pacific, from Mexico down to Ecuador. Although they are all the same species, a group of snappers that live off the coast of Ecuador is a different population than a group that live off the coast of Mexico. Slide 11 / 115 Community A community is composed of all the different populations of species that live together in a given area. This deciduous forest community is composed of lots of different populations: trees · deer · fungus · insects · birds · bears · What are some ways that the organisms in this community interact with each other? Slide 12 / 115 Ecosystem An ecosystem includes all of the living and nonliving factors that exist in a community. What living factors do you see in this ecosystem? What nonliving factors do you see in this ecosystem?
Slide 13 / 115 Factors Abiotic factors are physical, nonliving factors that shape an ecosystem. · Sunlight · Precipitation · Temperature · Wind Temperature Wind · Soil type · Nutrient availability Nutrients Soil Slide 14 / 115 Factors · Plants Biotic factors are the living things that · Animals make up an ecosystem. · Fungi · Bacteria Slide 15 / 115 Biome A biome is a set of ecosystems that share similar characteristics. Biomes are often defined by abiotic factors such as climate, geology, moisture, and soil type. This is the tundra, the world's coldest and driest biome. The average annual temperature is -28 C. It is very windy and receives about the same amount of precipitation as the desert.
Slide 16 / 115 Biome Look at the map. How is a biome related to the climate of its area? Slide 17 / 115 Biome There are also marine biomes. What type of marine biomes are located near you? Source: US Dept. of Agriculture Click here to watch a video of beautiful imagery of different biomes. Slide 18 / 115 Biosphere All of the terrestrial and marine biomes blend into each other on Earth. The biosphere is the sum of all the ecosystems established on Earth.
Slide 19 / 115 1 Which is not a level of organization in an ecosystem? A Population B Neighborhood C Community D All are levels of organization in an ecosystem Slide 20 / 115 2 A chipmunk and a ground squirrel are two different species. This means that they cannot A live in the same area. B interact in any way. C breed. D eat the same food. Slide 21 / 115 3 There are many types of populations within a given community. True False
Slide 22 / 115 4 Which is not true of ecosystems? A Ecosystems only contain living things. B Ecosystems contain both living and non-living things. C Ecosystems are found on both land and in water. D Ecosystems only contain several communities. Slide 23 / 115 5 Which of the following is not an abiotic factor? A rocks B water C soil D All are abiotic factors Slide 24 / 115 6 Which is not a biotic factor? A people B plants C sunlight D All are biotic factors
Slide 25 / 115 7 All biomes have similar climates. True False Slide 26 / 115 Stranded! Activity You are stranded in your biome! Conduct research and think carefully in order to determine what items you need in order to survive? Slide 27 / 115 Ecological Interactions Return to Table of Contents
Slide 28 / 115 Ecological Interactions Organisms in an ecosystem interact with their surroundings in numerous ways. They can interact with both biotic and abiotic components. Remember this squirrelfish? List a biotic and abiotic interaction of the squirrelfish with its environment. Slide 29 / 115 Habitat The term habitat describes the specific area where an organism lives within an ecosystem. A habitat is like an organism's home within an ecosystem. An organism's habitat answers the question "Where do you live?". Slide 30 / 115 Habitat This penguin's habitat is the ice shelves of Antarctica. The saguaro cactus's habitat is the desert of the southwestern US.
Slide 31 / 115 Niche An organism's niche is a description of the role it plays in its habitat. A niche includes all aspects of where and how an organism lives including: * the type of food it eats * how it obtains food * where it lives in its environment (tree, nest, hive, etc.) * when and how it reproduces Slide 32 / 115 Niche An organism's niche answers the question "How do you make a living?". Komodo Dragon Niche Komodo dragons live in the Indonesian Islands. They hunt and ambush invertebrates, birds and mammals. They lay up to 20 eggs at a time in self-dug holes. The eggs incubate for eight months. Komodo dragons take nine years to mature and can live up to 30 years. Slide 33 / 115 8 The Venus flytrap lives in subtropical wetlands where the soil is low in nitrogen and phosphorus. This is a description of the Venus flytrap's A habitat. B niche.
Slide 34 / 115 9 The Venus flytrap is a carnivorous plant that catures insects and arachnids that crawl on its leaves. Although they produce food via photosynthesis, their prey gives them nutrients that are lacking in their environment. They are perennial plants, meaning that they flower every year. This is a description of the Venus flytrap's A habitat. B niche. Slide 35 / 115 Needs of Organisms All organisms need certain things to survive. How many can you think of? Write your ideas below. Slide 36 / 115 Organisms need... Food Water Shelter Air
Slide 37 / 115 Importance of the Environment Organisms are constantly interacting with biotic and abiotic factors in their ecosystems in order to obtain food, water, shelter and air. This beaver gets food by eating plant life. He gets water from the local river or stream by which he lives. He gets air from the surrounding atmosphere. He makes their own shelter by building a den out of wood. In what ways does this beaver interact with biotic factors in the environment? How about abiotic factors? Slide 38 / 115 Ecological Interactions Every organism in an ecosystem survives by obtaining their needs from the environment. The act of obtaining these needs leads to different types of interactions within an ecosystem. Competition · Predator/prey · Mutually beneficial · Clownfish receive shelter from the anemone and the anemone receives nutrition from the presence of the clownfish. This is a mutually beneficial interaction. Slide 39 / 115 Obtaining Needs As organisms try to survive in an ecosystem, their needs sometimes overlap with other organisms. Consider the beaver again. The beaver eats plant life. Many other rodents, however, also eat plant life. If there are more beavers and rodents than there are available plant life, what will happen? Write your thoughts below:
Slide 40 / 115 Competition Organisms in ecosystems often have needs that overlap with one another. Perhaps they eat the same food or they use the same type of shelter. When there are more organisms than there are resources, this leads to competition. Organisms must compete, or fight, for resources in order to survive. In this picture, three different types of animals are competing to eat the dead zebra. Can you find all three? Slide 41 / 115 Competition in Plants Although we often think of animals when we talk about competition, plants also compete for resources Plants compete for water, access to light, the minerals in the soil and attention of certain animals for pollination and seed dispersion. Slide 42 / 115 Interspecific Competition Competition can occur between different species or between members of the same species. Interspecific competition occurs between members of different species. (Hint: "inter" means between) Different plants on the forest floor must compete for sunlight in order to survive.
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