Intro to Ecology Part 2

Climate vs. Weather  Weather  Day-to-day conditions of Earth's atmosphere  precipitation, humidity, temperature, etc.  Changes every day  Climate  The average, year-after-year, conditions (temperature and precipitation) that prevail in a specific region  Microclimate  Climate in a specific area that varies from the surrounding climate region  Ex. The burrow of a Kangaroo rat in the New Mexico desert (dark and cool)

Biomes  Terrestrial ecosystems that cover a large region of Earth  Characterized by communities of plants and other organisms adapted to the climate and other abiotic factors

Major Terrestrial Biomes  Tropical Rainforest  Tropical Dry Forest  Tropical Savannah  Desert  Temperate Grasslands (Prairie)  Temperate Woodland/shrubland (Chaparral)  Temperate forest  Northwestern Coniferous  Boreal Forest/Taiga  Tundra

Tropical Rainforest  Canopy: dense covering of tree tops  Understory: 2 nd story of shorter trees and vines under the canopy  Fern Gully/Medicine Man

Tropical Dry Forest  Deciduous trees: broad leaves that fall  Wet/Dry season  “Jungle Book” forest

Tropical Savannah  In the tropics  Wet/dry season  Less rainfall than trop. Dry forest  Think “Lion King”

Desert  Around o Latitude N and S  Plants and animal adaptations  Spines, waxy cuticles, scales  Think “The Mummy” and “The Sahara”

Temperate Woodland/Shrubland/Chaparral  Dense shrubs  Mediterranean, California coast  Brush fires

Temperate Grassland  prairies  Midwest (Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri)  Brush fires  Think movie “Twister” “Wizard of Oz” and “Little House on the Prairie”

Temperate Forest  Mix of coniferous and deciduous trees  Humus (HUE-Mus)  material formed from decaying leaves….very fertile!!!  Forests with leaves that change colors  Think fairy tale forest “Snow White” and “Sleeping Beauty”

Northwestern Coniferous  “Rainforest” of the temperate climate zone…very DIVERSE vegetation  Mild, moist temperatures  Think “Twilight” “New Moon” “Eclipse”

Boreal Forest/ Taiga  Bitter cold winters  Coniferous trees  Make the timberline…border between taiga and the tundra  Think “X-Men Origins”…Wolverine’s home

Tundra  Permafrost: layer of permanently frozen subsoil  “Ice Age”

Other interesting ecosystems…  Mountain Ranges  On all continents  Abiotic and biotic factors change with ELAVATION (as u go up)  Therefore plants and animals change VERTICALLY  Grassland at base  woodland/pines  spruce/conifer forest  tundra like open area at summit with wildflowers  Polar Ice Caps  Border the Tundra  Cold year round  Characterized by ice and snow  Plants and algae are few but include Mosses and Lichens  North Pole  Sea ice and ice cap that covers Greenland  Polar bears, seals, insects and mites  South Pole  5 km thick layer of ice  Penguins and marine mammals

COPY!!!

Define!  Producer:  Consumer:  Autotroph:  Heterotroph:  Food Chain:  Food Web:  Trophic Level:

Energy is transferred in ecosystems  Producers give E to Consumers  Food chains show flow of energy (arrows  show where energy is going)  Trophic level  a single step in the food chain  A step in the transfer of energy and matter in an ecosystem  Primary Producers  AUTOTROPHS  make their OWN food  Use Photosynthesis and Chemosynthesis to change inorganic chemicals into molecules that they use for ENERGY!!!  Plants and bacteria  Consumers  HETEROTROPHS  must eat different things to get their E…canNOT make their own GLUCOSE  Primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers  Herbivores: eat plants  Omnivores: eat plants and animals (bears, humans)  Carnivores: eat other animals (wolves)  Detritivores: eat dead plants and animals (earthworms, mites, crabs)  Decomposers: get energy from decaying organic matter (bacteria and fungus aka mushrooms)

Trophic Levels Each link in a food chain is known as a trophic level. Each link in a food chain is known as a trophic level. Trophic levels represent a feeding step in the transfer of energy and matter in an ecosystem. Trophic levels represent a feeding step in the transfer of energy and matter in an ecosystem.

Trophic Levels Producers- Autotrophs Primary consumers- Herbivores Secondary consumers- small carnivores Tertiary consumers- top carnivores ENERGYENERGY

Food chain- simple model that shows how matter and energy move through an ecosystem

Food web- shows all possible feeding relationships in a community at each trophic level Represents a network of interconnected food chains Represents a network of interconnected food chains

Food chainFood web (just 1 path of energy) (all possible energy paths)

Biome Projects  Tropical Rainforest  Tropical Dry Forest  Tropical Savannah  Desert  Temperate Grasslands (Prairie)  Temperate forest  Chaparral /shrub land  North Western Coniferous  Boreal Forest/Taiga  Tundra  Everglades  Deep Sea Hydrothermal Vents  Tropical Coral Reefs

Biome Project Guide Lines  Children’s book using your biome as a setting and showing interactions between organisms  Must be NEAT, SIMPLISTIC, yet INFORMATIVE  Report  Abiotic Factors of biome  Climate and Precipitation  Countries in which biome can be found  Dominant animals (at least 9)  Dominant plants (at least 9)  Problems/issues threatening this biome  3 interesting facts  3 different food chains  Name of organism  Primary producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer and tertiary consumer labeled in each  Type of consumer (herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, detritivore, decomposer) labeled in each  One of the food chains MUST be present in and numbered/labeled in 3D model  1 food web (pictures and names of organisms)  Model  3-D CREATIVE model of biome  Model must include one of the food chains listed in your Report  Model must include accurate plants and animals  No candy/edible items and No living organisms