Ecosystems

What is a system? A system is a set of connected things or parts which link together to make it work. There are inputs, processes, stores and outputs.

Flour, water, yeast, butter, salt Dough Mixture Mixing Bread Baking

What is an Ecosystem? An ecosystem is a community of living things, plus the non-living things they need. Living things e.g. plants and animals are known as BIOTIC. Non-living things e.g. climate, relief and soil are known as ABIOTIC. Parts of the ecosystem are linked together.

A Pond System Inputs Solar Radiation Water Nutrients Oxygen Processes Reproduction Photosynthesis Decay Outputs Evaporation Oxygen Recycling of nutrients

1. Copy and complete the table below. Identify whether each system is artificial or natural. Then give an example of an input, a process and an output in each system. System ArtificialNatural Example of an input Example of a process Example of an output (Please tick) Television Pond Factory Car Ocean

Scale? There are a number of different scales that ecosystems can exist at. MICRO – Small e.g. a plant, or a pond MESO – Medium e.g. a forest. There are also large ecosystems normally called BIOMES e.g. Tropical Rainforest.

What comes first? Within an ecosystem there is a complex system of energy flows. This can be shown within a food chain or food web. PRODUCER – Tree PRIMARY CONSUMER – Herbivore SECONDARY CONSUMER – Carnivore TERTIARY CONSUMER - Carnivore

Local Wood Design your own food web for a local woodland. What would happen if your top predators died? Add other factors to make your food web show other aspects of an ecosystem

Final Note How does BIODIVERSITY influence the stability of an ecosystem? How are humans influencing this? SUSTAINABILITY IS THE KEY!