Ecosystem and Community Interactions Chapter 4 Sections 4-1, 4-2, 4-3

Climate Section 4.1 Learning goals I can differentiate between weather and climate I can identify the factors that influence climate

Private thinking time: what is climate? What is weather? Share your thoughts with your elbow partner. Whole class sharing time

Scientists 'definitions Weather: day to day conditions of the Earth’s atmosphere. Climate: average conditions over long periods of time, defined by year-after-year patterns of temperature and precipitation

Private thinking time: a person living in San Diego CA is wearing shorts and T-shirts in January, while it is cold and rainy in Seattle. What would cause these differences in climate? Share your thoughts with your elbow partner. Whole class sharing

Global climate is shaped by many factors, including solar energy trapped in the biosphere, latitude, and the transport of heat by winds and ocean currents. https://d32ogoqmya1dw8.cloudfront.net/images/eslabs/climate/global_currents.gif http://www.ces.fau.edu/ces/files/education/teachers/coet/global_winds.gif

Greenhouse Effect

Latitude and Solar Energy Tilt of the Earth axis causes the distribution of sunlight to change over the course of the year

In your notebook, tape the tables for the average monthly temperature and precipitation for Seattle and San Diego. Make a graph for the temperatures and a graph for the precipitation comparing Seattle and San Diego.

A climatograph shows the average temperature and precipitation for a location over a period of 30 years or more. Graphs from en.climate-data.org

Niches and Community Interactions Section 4.2 Learning Goals Define niche and habitat Describe the role competition plays in shaping communities. Describe the role predation and herbivory play in shaping communities. Identify the three types of symbiotic relationships in nature

Graph the following data from a stream Temperature of the stream (oC) Number of fish in the stream 5 10 2 15 20 13 25 3 30 35

Private thinking time: what do you notice about the shape of your graph? Share your thoughts with your elbow partner. Whole class sharing

Range of tolerance Tolerance: The ability of any organism to survive when subjected to abiotic or biotic factors. Organisms have an upper and lower limit of tolerance for every environmental factor. Habitat: the general place where an organism lives. Determined by a species’ tolerance for environmental conditions.

Private thinking time: what other factors besides habitat are important for an organism? Share your thoughts with your elbow partner. Whole class sharing

Habitat: area where an organism lives Niche: the role of a species in its community; the sum total of a species’ use of the biotic and abiotic resources of its environment.

Private thinking time: what would happen if in the stream featured in the last graph, we introduce another species of fish? Share your thoughts with your elbow partner. Whole class sharing

Competitive Exclusion Principle 1934 Russian microbiologist Gause, in another experiment replaced P. caudatum with P. bursaria that feed at the bottom of the flask, coexisted indefinitely.

Competitive Exclusion Principle: No two species can occupy the same exact ecological niche, in exactly the same habitat at exactly the same time.

Resource Partitioning Ecologist R. MacArthur tested Gause’s hypothesis under natural conditions. Studied North American warblers.

Check for understanding Write a one-minute response explaining how competition for some, but not all resources defines the different niches that two competing species occupy. Share your thoughts with your elbow partner. Whole class sharing

Predation, Herbivory, Keystone species Predation: a predator kills and eats another living organism. Predators can affect the size of prey populations in a community and determine the places prey can live and feed. Herbivory: Herbivores can affect both the size and distribution of plant population in a community and determine the places that certain plants can survive and grow. Keystone species: changes in a single species can cause dramatic changes in a community.

Symbiosis Living together Parasitism: one organism hurts the other but doesn’t kill it. Examples:? Usually parasites are smaller than the host. Guest Host

Commensalism: benefits one species but doesn’t affect the other. Examples ? Guest Host

Mutualism: both species benefit. Examples? Guest Host

Succession Chapter 4, section 4-3 Learning Goals I can differentiate between primary and secondary succession. I can sequence the stages of primary and secondary succession.

Big Ideas Ecological succession is the change in an ecosystem that happens when one community replaces another. There are two types of ecological succession: primary and secondary

Primary Succession Development of a community where none was before. Starts on bare rocks. Pioneer species (Moss and Lichens) appear and create soil. Small weedy plants Shrubs and trees Climax community: mature community with little change (unlikely) This process takes 1,000 years.

Mt. Rainier Lichens are the first to appear (although they are hard to spot here).  More obvious are the mosses, grasses and small plants like flowers. 

Each stage accumulates soil and organic material that facilitates the growth of the next stage.  On this mountainside, the coniferous forest is the climax community.

Mt St. Helens

Blast was so powerful and lava flow so extensive that we are now seeing primary succession

Mt St. Helens today.

Secondary Succession Happens after a disturbance such as a fire, flood, farming or clear cutting. Soil remains intact. Faster than primary, 100 years. Climax community less diverse than in primary succession.

Fire and Succession: In the drought year of 1988, huge fires swept through Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone today!