1. Ecosystems What is an ecosystem? Energy Flow in Ecosystems Cycling of matter

2. Why it matters….. Humans are apart of a community of organisms Humans are dependent on healthy ecosystems Humans can disrupt ecosystems harming the organisms and themselves

3. What is an ecosystem? An ecosystem includes a community of organisms and their physical environment. Web of relationships – Predator/prey – Symbiotic – Competition Biotic and Abiotic factors

4. Habitat – Food, shelter, water, space Biodiversity – Variety of organisms in a given area – Abiotic factors – When biodiversity decreases in an ecosystem, health of the ecosystem decreases.

5. Energy Flow in Ecosystems Trophic levels – Each step in the transfer of energy in an ecosystem – Primary source, Sun – Producer – Consumer – Decomposer

6. Food Chain VS Food Web Food Chain – Producer to herbivore to carnivore – Omnivore Food Web – Interconnected food chains – Complicated – Loss of energy/10% Rule

7. Energy Pyramid Demonstrates the amount of energy transferred to each level 10% Rule

8. Succession Replacement of one kind of community by another at a single place over a period of time – Change in an ecosystem – Volcano, fire, mudslides – Pioneer species Equilibrium – Ecosystems respond to change so that equilibrium is restored

9. Rock succession

10. Major Biological Communities Climate – Helps determine the types of organisms found in a particular place – Average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time (temp and precipitation) Biome – Large region characterized by specific climate, plants, and animals

12. Terrestrial Biomes Tropical Biomes Temperate Biomes High – Latitude Biomes

13. Aquatic Ecosystems Freshwater Wetlands Estuaries Marine ecosystems

14. Cycling of Matter Organisms are made up of – Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Matter needs to cycle through ecosystem – Water Cycle – Carbon and Oxygen Cycles – Nitrogen Cycle – Phosphorus Cycle

16. Water Cycle Continuous movement of water between the atmosphere, the land, and the oceans Condensation Precipitation Percolates Evaporation Transpiration

17. Carbon Cycle

18. Continuous movement of carbon from nonliving environment into living things and back Photosynthesis; carbon dioxide, organic molecules, water, oxygen Animals; oxygen, breakdown organic molecules, carbon dioxide Respiration is the exchange of O 2 and CO 2 Combustion, burning of a substance

19. Nitrogen Cycle Process in which nitrogen cycles among the air, soil, water, and organisms in an ecosystem Organisms use nitrogen to make proteins Atmosphere is about 78% Nitrogen gas Nitrogen fixation is the process of combining nitrogen with hydrogen to form ammonia – bacteria, lightning, combustion

21. Phosphorus Cycle Movement of phosphorus in different chemical forms from the surroundings to the organisms then back to the surroundings Found in soil, rocks which break down and plants absorb through roots Animals eat plants, when animals die phosphorus is released back into the soil