Ecology, Ecosystem and Biomes

Ecology• Ecology is a scientific study of the interaction

of the organisms that existed on the earth with each other and their abiotic environment.

Ecology Study ( not very important)• To study ecology u need to identify 4 things:

1-diversity (most important)

2- distribution3-amount (biomass)4- number (population) of organisms

Ecology

• Example: if a gardener is having a problem with insects that eat his crops, so he has to use insecticide. While using this insecticide, it may hurt the soil. So this also ecology

Ecosystem• the community that the gardener is living in

and dealing with and the community that we also live in is called Ecosystem.

Ecosystem• Ecosystem is typically the community or the

environment that all the living and nonliving organisms work together.

Ecology Sustainable • Ecosystem can be sustainable if it can support

diversity

Biomes• Biomes are large, distinctive complex of plant

communities created and maintained by climate.

Biotic and Abiotic Factors

• Biotic Factors: the biological influences on organisms within an ecosystem

– Birds, Trees, Mushrooms, Bacteria

• Abiotic Factors: physical, or nonliving, factors that shape ecosystems

– Climate (temperature, precipitation, humidity, etc.)

– Wind, Nutrient Availability, Soil Type, Sunlight, etc.

Hawk Plants Insects Fish Snake Bacteria

Sunlight pH Temp HumidityAcid Rain

Soil Type

Biomes study• A study published in 1999 concluded that there are

150 different "Eco regions" in North America alone. But the main regions of biomes are 8 biomes:

AQUATIC BIOMES•Freshwater•Freshwater wetlands•Marine•Coral reef•Esturaries

TERRESTRIAL BIOMES:Deciduous forestforestTropical rain forestDesertTundraGrassland

Tropical Rainforest

• Typically found near the equator

• Receives more than 200 cm of rain annually

• Temperatures typically fall between 20oC and 25oC for the entire year

• As many as 50% of all the world’s animal species may be found here

Tropical Savanna

• Grasslands with a few scattered trees

• Experience a wet and dry season

• Hot temperatures

• Annual rainfall is between 50 and 127 cm

• More species of grazing mammals than any other biome

Desert

• Typically found between 25o and 40o latitude

• Receives less than 25 cm of rain each year

• Temperatures typically range between 20oC and 25oC but some extreme deserts can reach temperatures higher than 38oC and lower than –15oC

Chaparral

• Found between 32o and 40o

latitude on the west coast of continents

• Receives between 35 and 70 cm of rain, usually in the winter

• Extremely resistant to drought and weather events

Grassland

• Because of the dry climate, trees are found only near water sources such as streams

• Usually receives between 50 and 90 cm of rainfall each year

• Summer temperatures can reach up to 38oC, and winter temperatures can fall to –40oC

Temperate Deciduous Forest

• Moderate climate

• Most trees will lose their leaves in the winter

• Temperatures range between –30oC and 30oC

• Averages from 75 to 150 cm of precipitation

• Well developed understory

Temperate Boreal Forest

• Also known as Taiga

• Typically found between 45o and 60o

North latitude

• Cold climate with summer rains

• Very few reptiles

• Limited understory

• Snow is primary form of precipitation (40 – 100 cm annually)

Tundra

• Means treeless or marshy plain

• Characterized by permafrost –permanently frozen soil starting as high as a few centimeters below the surface – which severely limits plant growth

• Winter temperatures average –34oC while summer temperatures usually average below 10oC

• Low precipitation (15–25 cm per year) but ground is usually wet because of low evaporation

• Location: Eastern United States, Canada, Europe, China, and

Japan

• Description: Temperate forests go through four distinct seasons.

Leaves change color in autumn, fall off in the

winter, and grow back in the spring. This adaptation

allows plants to survive the cold winters.

• Plants: Broadleaf trees (oak, maple, beech), shrubs, and mosses

• Animals: Animals living within this biome must adjust to cold winters and hot summers by hibernating, migrating, or keeping active all winter.

Click here to see more examples of Temperate

Forest Plants and Animals

Temperate Forest

RaccoonWhite Tailed Deer

EXIT

• Location: North & South America, Africa, Middle East, Australia, and Asia

• Description: Extremely hot and dry (less than 10 inches of

rain a year). Some deserts can be cold at night (40s or 50s)

• Plants: Cacti, small bushes, and short grasses. Desert

plants are adapted to collect and store water, and/or reduce water loss.

• Animals: Animals in this biome must adapt to intense heat and lack of water. Some animals never drink water, instead they get water from the seeds and plants that they consume. Many animals are nocturnal so that they do not have to combat the sun’s heat.

Click here to see more examples of Desert plants and animals

Gila Monster Sidewinder

EXIT

• Location: Regions south of the ice caps in the Artic. In North America, Europe, and Siberia.

• Description: Coldest biome and also covers 1/5 of the Earth’s surface.

• Plants: lichens, mosses, grasses, sedges, shrubs. Almost no trees due to short growing season and permafrost

• Animals: Every animal must adapt in order to survive. Some have grown thick fur which turns white in the winter. Others find a place to hibernate during the winter months.

Click here to see more Tundra Plants and Animals

TundraArtic Fox Polar Bear

EXIT

• Location: Every continent except Antarctica

• Description: Grasslands are big open spaces. There are not many bushes in the grassland. Trees are found only by rivers and streams.

• Plants: Grasses (prairie clover, salvia, oats, wheat, barley, coneflowers)

• Animals: Many large herds of grazing animals such as zebras or bison. Animals live in herds for protection, because there are few trees and bushes to camouflage themselves.

Click here to see more Grassland plants and animals

American Bison Zebra

EXIT

• Location: Near the equator between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. South America, Asia, Pacific Islands, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa

• Description: Two types of rainforests, tropical and temperate. Several varieties of exotic plants and animals. Lush greens and vibrant colors.

• Plants: Vines, palm trees, orchids, ferns. Most plants must compete for sunlight and nutrients due to their dense population. The majority of common houseplants come from the rainforest.

• Animals: Life inside the wet tropical rainforest is bustling with slithering snakes and chirping birds. An animal must be both smart and strong to survive in this environment.

Click here to see more examples of Rainforest Plants and Animals

Jungle PythonGreen Winged Macaw

EXIT

Biomes cases• Here is a link about the cases study of the

main biomes I the worldhttp://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/B/Biomes.html

•Section 2 of

Biology

Tragedy of commons• "The Tragedy of the Commons" is a

term used to describe what happens to common resources as a result of human greed.

• It was first coined in an article in Science in 1968 by Garrett Hardin.

• The commons dilemma was seen long before Hardin, but he brought widespread attention to it.

Ecosystem services • Humans use the ecosystem services

• Ecologists grouped ecosystem services into four broad categories:

• provisioning, such as the production of food and water.

• regulating, such as the control of climate and disease.

• supporting, such as nutrient cycles and crop pollination.

• cultural, such as spiritual and recreational benefits.

Example of Hardin• The example Hardin uses to illustrate the Tragedy of

the Commons is of a group of ranchers and a shared land area. Each farmer is assumed to be keeping their own cattle on the land, from which they yield a personal profit, but the land is assumed to be collectively shared, or leased from a government. Each additional head of cattle has a cost and a gain associated with it: the cost is in land use and wear on the land, while the gain has to do with the profit that can be reaped from that cattle. The trick is, when a rancher adds a cow to his herd, he gains all the benefit of the extra cow, while sharing only a small portion of the cost in terms of land use.

Energy flows in an ecosystem

• The biotic community of any ecosystem can be divided simply into producers, consumers and decomposers.

producer• A: Producers: Photosynthesizing organisms

• Producers are any kind of green plant. Green plants make their food by taking sunlight and using the energy to make sugar. The plant uses this sugar, such as wood, leaves, roots, and bark. Trees, such as they mighty Oak, and the grand American Beech, are examples of producers.

Consumers • B. Consumers: any organism that can’t make its

own food• Consumers have to feed on producers or other

consumers to survive. Deer are herbivores, which means that they only eat plants (Producers). Bears are another example of consumers. Black bears are omnivores and scavengers, like skunks and raccoons, which means that they will eat just about anything. In a forest community, Black Bears will eat blueberries, bugs, acorns, and many kinds of nuts.

Decomposer • C. Decomposers: An organism that primarily feeds

on dead organisms or the waste from living organisms

• Decomposers are the garbage men of the animal kingdom; they take all the dead animals and plants (consumers and decomposers) and break them down into their nutrient components so that plants can use them to make more food. Decomposers in the forest come in many different shapes and sizes. Shelf fungus is a fungus that grows on the sides of trees. It grows into the tree and decomposes it slowly.

Producer, consumer and decomposer

Food chain and food web

plankton• Plankton (singular plankter) are a diverse group of

organisms that live in the water column and cannot swim against a current.[1] They provide a crucial source of food to many large aquatic organisms, such as fish and whales.

• These organisms include drifting animals, protests, archaea, algae, or bacteria that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water; that is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification.

phytoplankton• One of the most important plants in the sunlit

zone is also the smallest. Phytoplankton are organisms that float on or near the surface of the water. Most are rounded and single-celled. All phytoplankton use photosynthesis for their energy, but some get additional energy by consuming other organisims.

zooplankton• Zooplankton are ocean animals that don't swim

at all or are very weak swimmers, and they drift or move with ocean currents. They can be found in the sunlit zone and in deep ocean waters. Zooplankton range in size from tiny microbes to jellyfish.

• Zooplankton, or animal plankton, may spend their entire lives as plankton at the mercy of the currents (holoplankton); or as meroplankton, existing as plankton for a short time during their development. are tiny, single-celled organisms.

Measuring the biomass• Ex: (in book) :

• If we have the total biomass of a kind of fish we divide it by the mass of each one to get the number of fish that is exist in the world

Measuring the consumption

• If this number of fish consume a specific mass of plankton, we need to multiply this number of fish by the mass that each on consume to get the total mass that the kind consume

Measuring and Ecology • If human affected on the food chain by any

effect, this will make some organisms increase and the other decrease.

Amana 3lmya

• http://sciencebitz.com/?page_id=1202• http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/forsite/2004presentations/t

aylor/forsite/forsite.html• http://www.whoi.edu/science/B/people/kamaral/plan

kton.html• http://www.tclauset.org/20_ESbk/ch16.pdf• http://www1.broward.edu/~arodrigu/Environmental/B

erg_Visualizing/biomes_summary.pdf• http://www.mpc.edu/FacultyStaff/RebeccaHoover/Doc

uments/Bio31_Summer09_Lectures/Sum09_Ch5_BiomesBiodiversity.pdf

•Made By :

Mohamed Samara