Chapter 9 Habitats and Environment

WEEK 8: Habitats and Environment LEARNING OUTCOMES By the end of this week, you should: have developed a knowledge and understanding of habitats and environments that exist in them, be able to identify major factors that produce the environments of various habitats and distinguish between biotic and abiotic factors, have explored technologies used to record environmental factors and track distribution of species within their habitats.

Key Terms 1. Habitat 2. Microhabitat 3. Range 4. Community 5. Niche 6. Biotic factors 7. Abiotic factors 8. Qualitative 9. Quantitative 10. Micro-environment 11. Tolerance range 12. Limiting factor Complete the card sort of key terms Now use your textbook to find and describe some examples for each of the definitions to fill out your knowledge!

Habitat: The location or place where an organism lives at any given time is known as its habitat. Many habitats can be described in general terms as being Terrestrial (e.g. deserts, grasslands, forests etc) Aquatic, which includes freshwater, marine and estuarine. Members of one species do not live in isolation in a habitat. For example: Ragged-Finned Lionfish – tropical waters around coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef.

Microhabitats A microhabitat is a more localised or specialised part of a general habitat. For example, in a freshwater pond, some organisms may occupy the soft sediment at the bottom, while others may live among the aquatic plants. These are two different of many microhabitats

NICHE refers to the ‘way of life of a species’ OR the role of a species in a community OR the status or role of an organism in its habitat A niche can be explained using the example of a human population within a city. - groups of people are identified by their way of life, e.g. educator, surgeon, security guard, etc - each group can then be subdivided, e.g. the educator role includes: pre-school teachers, biology teachers, etc A niche can be identified in terms of the degree of use of resources e.g. where it lives, what it eats, when it feeds Niche

Environmental Factors The various factors that produce the particular conditions in a habitat are called environmental factors. BIOTIC or living factors relate to other living organisms in the environment and include factors such as the presence of predators, parasites and competition between members of one species. ABIOTIC are non living factors relating to aspects of soil, water, light, shelter, temperature etc.

Biotic & Abiotic Factors Affecting A Crocodile Soil and water chemistry SalinityCompetitors Humans Air temperature Relative humidity Solar radiation Atmospheric gases Day length Parasites Prey

Environmental factors in water

Micro-environments Conditions in a small region of habitat Many of these can be found within an environment For example In Arctic winter air temp above snow-covered may be colder than the temp within the snow layer... forming different micro-environments

Range The geographic area that encloses all the habitats where the species lives denotes the range or distribution map of the species. Present range of the Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus). Their range is shrinking because of feral predators.

Tolerance Range Conditions in which an organism can survive. Beyond these conditions are detrimental. The tolerance range of organism affects an organisms distribution.

Tolerance Range

Limiting Factors A requirement that is in short supply can affect the organisms survival and reproduction of an organism. E.g. Light, water, oxygen, carbon dioxide

Describing environmental conditions An environment can be described in qualitative terms, such as ‘warm and humid’ where ‘warm’ refers to the air temperature and ‘humid’ refers to the water vapour content of the air. An environment may also be described in quantitative terms where a numeric value is stated, such as, ‘the air temperature is 23°c’. When scientists measure environmental factors in a habitat, they usually express their findings in quantitative term. Some of the devices are shown on the next slide.

Devices for measuring the physical factors in the field include the following meters: Quantum light meter Dissolved oxygen Oxygen meter pH meter Total dissolved solids (TDS) meter Current meter Multi-purpose meter Hygrometer Wind meter Other equipment includes: Secchi discs Nansen bottles Monitoring Physical Factors Pasco datalogger with attached sensor Photo: Courtesy PASCO scientific

Testing Water Why is water important? Why test water? Research the following water qualities and why we need to test them: Turbidity Sulfates Nitrates Temperature pH

FOR THE NEXT SLIDES: What is the habitat? Microhabitat? Community? Niches? Biotic factors? Abiotic Factors? Limiting factors? FOR THE NEXT SLIDES: What is the habitat? Microhabitat? Community? Niches? Biotic factors? Abiotic Factors? Limiting factors?

Ecosystems An ecosystem consists of a community, its physical surroundings and the interactions within and between them. The living community in every ecosystem differs in their physical, biochemical and behavioural adaptations.

A biome is a large geographical region comprising natural units called ecosystems. An ecosystem encompasses the physical environment and the community. Components of an Ecosystem Community Physical environment

Community Abiotic factors atmosphere, soil, water, wind speed wind direction, current velocity Biotic factors competitors, symbionts, predators, parasites, pathogens Ecosystem

Ecosystems Light intensity varies Flow rate varies Rainfall level varies There are many different sorts of ecosystems from natural to artificial, and they range in size from large to small. Still water habitat Fast flowing water habitat Rock habitat Stream bank habitat

Australian Ecosystems 1 Shrublands are widespread over much of inland Australia, in arid and semi-arid regions. There are several different types including mulga, mallee, and bridalow, each with different dominating species. Heathlands are found in highland areas where the increase in altitude creates conditions that lowland species find difficult to tolerate. Mulga scrubland Heathland, Tasmania

Australian Ecosystems 2 Deserts are rich and varied in Australia. They are generally defined as having an annual rainfall of less than 250 mm in the south and less than 500 mm in the north. The desert regions range from large areas of active dunes to eroded outcrops, such as Uluru.

Australian Ecosystems 3 Sclerophyll forests (top, right) in regions of higher rainfall on the east coast of Australia possess a single canopy layer of eucalyptus trees with a lush undergrowth. Rainforests (bottom, right) are found in warm regions of high rainfall. With fewer eucalypts, the trees form a dense canopy with several understorey layers.

Australian Ecosystems 4 Rock platforms occur on exposed coasts where wave action erodes the rock strata. Coral reefs are found in the warm waters of the northern Australian coastline. The Great Barrier Reef extends 2000 km along Queensland’s coast and encompasses many individual reefs and islands. The reefs, composed of hard corals, provide an immensely diverse range of habitats for many other kinds of marine organism.

Groupings Find definitions and examples for the following: Autotroph Producer Heterotroph Consumer Herbivore Carnivore Omnivore Detritivore Decomposer

Producer? Consumer? Detritivore? Producer? Consumer? Detritivore?

Producer? Consumer? Detritivore? Producer? Consumer? Detritivore?

Producer? Consumer? Detritivore? Producer? Consumer? Detritivore?

True or false? 1. A producer organism in an ecosystem must be a flowering plant. 2. Different ecosystems have different communities. 3. Ecosystems can function without producer organisms. 4. Decomposer organisms are important in breaking down organic matter to its more simple constituents.    

Interactions within Ecosystems

Fill in the table for interactions within ecosystems using your textbook and the Internet.

Videos Symbiosis Predator-prey: Lions Vs Elephant Predator-prey: Chimpanzee Hunting Monkeys Parasitoid Human Parasites: Scishow (9 mins)

Habitat Community Population Ecosystem Niche Biotic Abiotic Quantitative Qualitative Autotroph Heterotroph Decomposer Detritivore Parasitism Competition Commensalism Mutualism Predator- prey