Unit 4 - Dependence of Organisms

Different types of Ecosystems:
There are two major differences between all of the ecosystems of the world, whether it is terrestrial or aquatic.
The aquatic ecosystems include: Marine (Ocean), Freshwater (Lakes, Rivers, Ponds, etc.), Estuary (part salt water and part freshwater), and Wetlands (swamps and marshes).
Terrestrial biomes include: the Tundra (Arctic), Taiga (Coniferous Forest), Alpine (mountains), Temperate Rainforest, Tropical Rainforest, Desert, Temperate Grasslands (prairie), and the Savanna (where lions and cheetahs live).

Components of an Ecosystem:
     Biotic Factors:

• Organisms
• Species
• Populations
• Communities

     Abiotic Factors:

• Sunlight
• Water
• Oxygen
• Temperature
• Soil

     Limiting Factors:

• Disease
• Weather
• Loss of Habitat
• Human Disturbance
• Old Age

     Carrying Capacity:

• amount of available resources an environment has to support the biotic factors
• competition for food, space, etc.

Transfer of Matter:

there are three ways to show the transfer of matter in a diagram. You can use a food web, food chain, or energy pyramid. A food chain shows a single line of organisms while a food web shows the levels of all the organisms of the ecosystem. An energy pyramid shows how much energy each trophic level gets.

The sun is the source of all energy. Since the producers get their energy from the sun, they get the most energy. The producers are the plants and they produce their own food. Second, you have your primary consumers, they are the herbivores of the ecosystem. The primary consumers only get 10% of the energy that the plants get. The secondary consumers are the omnivores/carnivores (depending on the ecosystem). They get 10% of the primary consumer's energy. Then you might have the tertiary consumer (third level consumers), they are carnivores and get 10% of the energy of the secondary consumers. There can be more levels of consumers but most ecosystems only two or three. Lastly, you have the decomposers and scavengers. The scavengers eat the already dead animals; vultures are scavengers. The decomposers are like your mushrooms and fungi. They get rid of the dead matter in the ecosystem, kind of like the clean up crew of the ecosystem.

Energy Pyramid