1. Ecosystems and interactions

2. Re-cap - definitions Use the find out sheet to find a person who
can tell you what one of these means and
get them to sign the box:
species, biodiversity, population,
producer, consumer, herbivore,
carnivore, omnivore, predator,
prey, food chain, food web

3. Today we are learning about Ecosystems
By the end of the lesson you should:
Know and be able to state the definition of an ecosystem
Know that organisms interact with each other in ecosystems
Know and explain how organisms affect each other in food webs

4. 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.

5. There are many ecosystems in the world

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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 share your
information with other people.

9. 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

10. The feeding relationships in an ecosystem can be
represented by drawing food chains and food webs.
A food chain could look like this
Grass Rabbit Fox
The arrows represent the flow of energy
between the different organisms.
Food webs are just many food chains from an
ecosystem linked together.
They show how complex and interlinked the relationships
are between organisms in an ecosystem.

11. A typical ocean food web
Pick out some food
chains from this food web

12. Using the Scottish Highlands you will now construct some
food chains and a food web.
Each group or pair needs the organisms cards,
the organisms feeding information and a piece of A1 paper.
Read the organism feeding information sheet.
Use as many cards as possible to construct a food web.
You will need to add arrows to connect the organisms.
(The organisms cards should be put on the A3 paper and
the arrows drawn in with a marker)

13. A typical Scottish Loch ecosystem food web
Look at this and write1 food chain from it

14. 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?

15. 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?

16. Interactions in food webs
From the following food web answer these questions.
What would happen if pollution stopped the plants
from growing very well?
Dolphins are getting caught in Tuna fishing nets
and reducing the dolphin population.
What effect will this have on the food web?
Herring are being overfished reducing the number
Reproducing.

18. You will be given a summary note with gaps.
Fill them in using your knowledge,
check with the master below
An ecosystem is made up of all the organisms living in a particular habitat and the non-living components with which the organisms interact.
Organisms in a food web interact with each other and are dependant on each other.
If one factor changes in an ecosystem it will affect other parts of the ecosystem.