1. Interactions within Ecosystems

2. What is an Ecosystem? What is found in an ecosystem?
Animals and Plants
An organism is any living thing, such as a plant or animal.

3. What is an Ecosystem? Places where organisms live are called habitats.
Everything that is needed for an organism to survive would be found in a habitat.

4. What is an Ecosystem?
Non-living things that affect organisms are called abiotic factors.
What are some examples?
Water, rocks, sunlight, and air

5. What is an Ecosystem?
Living things that are found in an environment are called biotic factors.
Organisms are biotic factors.
How do animals affect each other?
Feed each other
Compete with each other
Help each other

6. What is an Ecosystem?
An ecosystem is all the living and non living things in a particular place.
How large is an ecosystem?
Ecosystems can be very large, like the ocean or forest,
or they can be very small, like under a log or a nest in a tree.

7. What is an Ecosystem? There are four ecosystems in Atlantic Canada:
Coastlines and oceans
Brown seaweeds, barnacles, mussels, starfish, rock crabs
Water currents affect temperatures and climate
Larger animals include cod, seals, and whales
Salt content affect organisms
Deep water prevent sunlight from reaching bottom

8. What is an Ecosystem? Freshwater: Rivers, Lakes and Ponds
Fish such as whitefish and sticklebacks
Beavers, muskrats, ducks, and geese
Frogs, insects, snails
Water plants
Rain and snow supply water

9. What is an Ecosystem? Arctic Northern Labrador
Very low temperatures and little precipitation
Permafrost: soil is always frozen one metre below the surface
Low shrubs, mosses, lichens and small flowers
Caribou, musk ox, wolves, arctic foxes, arctic hares, lemmings
Birds during spring and summer

10. What is an Ecosystem? Forests Much of Newfoundland and Labrador
Summers cool and winters wet
Balsam fir, white birch, black spruce, mountain ash
Moose, caribou, black bear, lynx, red fox, pine marten, mink
Sometimes bogs and marshes
Peat (buildup of decaying plant matter)

11. Activity: Foldable
Create a foldable showcasing the ecosystems found in Newfoundland.

12. What is an Ecosystem?
Most plants and animals have a range of tolerance.
Range of Tolerance is the range of conditions within which an organism can live.
Ex: heat, light, water, etc.
Range of tolerance is the factor that determines where organisms live.

13. What is an Ecosystem? Abiotic Factors: 1. Light and light intensity
All plants need light to survive.
Some plants need more light than others.
Animals can survive in dark and light areas.

14. What is an Ecosystem? 2. Temperature
All animals and plants have a certain temperature that they need to survive.

15. What is an Ecosystem? 3. Soil Plants get nutrients from the soil.
Plants grow roots into soil.
Animals form tunnels for air and water to move through.

16. What is an Ecosystem? 4. Air and Wind
Windy areas can affect plant growth since these areas tend to be dry.
Plants usually grow shorter than normal.
Animals that fly can also be affected by the wind.

17. What is an Ecosystem? 5. Water All organisms need water to survive.
Some organisms can survive with smaller amounts of water.

18. What is an Ecosystem? What are biotic factors?
Ecologists study ecosystems by first studying a species.
A species is a group of organisms that can reproduce to produce similar, fertile organisms.

19. What is an Ecosystem?
When only one organism is studied, that is an individual.
When many organisms of the same species live in the same ecosystem, they make a population.
A group of populations which interact and share a common ecosystem form a community.

20. Habitat versus Niche
Habitat: the organism’s address; where does it live?
Ex. A moose’s habitat is the boreal forest.

21. Niche
Niche: the organism’s job; what role does the organism play in its environment. It includes:
where it lives
how it obtains food
how it affects its environment

22. Niche
Ex. A moose lives in the boreal forest, it is a herbivore (plant eater), it provides a home for parasites and it provides food for coyotes.