Biodiversity and the distribution of life on planet earth

Re-cap - biomes What are biomes? What is fauna? What is climate? What is flora? Name 2 factors that influence biome distribution

Today we are learning about Ecosystems An ecosystem consists of all the organisms living in a particular habitat and the non-living components with which the organisms interact

An ecosystem is a community of plants, animals and smaller organisms that live, feed, reproduce and interact in the same habitat or environment. The non-living components include temperature, pH, CO2 , O2 and other chemicals. Some ecosystems are very large. For example, many bird species nest in one place and feed in a completely different area. On the other hand, some ecosystems may be physically small, like in a meadow at the edge of a forest, or in a coral reef in the ocean.

There are many ecosystems in the world

And there are a variety of ecosystems in Scotland such as: Woodland Urban green spaces & gardens And in each of these big areas there are many different smaller ecosystems

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) are one of Scotland’s national organisations that have documented the ecosystems found in Scotland including: Mountain heaths & willow scrub Inland rock Ponds Heaths Wood pasture and parkland Arable fields Gardens and allotments Seabed Atlantic hazel Traditional orchards and wood pasture Peat bogs Oak woods Lowland wetlands Minor woodland types Birch woods Caledonian pinewoods Grasslands Rivers, streams and headwaters Ash woods Lowland grassland Lowland heaths Coastal habitats Wet woods Freshwater lochs

On the SNH website many of these ecosystems are described in detail. You will pick one of these ecosystems to research further from the SNH website. (This is a very short research task) You will need to fill in the ecosystem sheet provided. You will need to be prepared to pair up and share your information with other people.

In ecosystems the organisms are inter-linked in many ways: Shelter is provided by plants for animals Plants are food for animals Animals are food for other animals If ecosystems are disturbed or changed by natural or man-made events then this can have serious consequences for the ecosystem

A typical Scottish Loch ecosystem food web Look at this and write down 3 things about it

Look at the web again. It has been a very cold winter and all the frog spawn was killed meaning no tadpoles. What changes will this make and why?

Look at the web again. A pesticide has been used to kill the snails as they can spread diseases to sheep like Liver fluke What changes will this make and why?

What are ecosystems? An ecosystem consists of all the organisms living in a particular habitat and the non-living components with which the organisms interact