Biology 20 Unit 1 Ecology Part 1 What

Biology 20 - Unit 1: Ecology Part 1 - What is an Ecosytem?

ECOLOGY • Ecology – the study of the interactions between organisms and their biotic and abiotic environment.

Biotic vs. Abiotic • Biotic = the biological or living components. • Abiotic = the non-living components.

Biodiversity • Biodiversity refers to the number of species in an ecosystem. • The greater the number of species (biodiversity) the healthier the ecosystem.

Equilibrium • In order for a system to function properly, each component of Earth’s environment must be in a state of equilibrium or balance. • Earth is an example of a system in dynamic equilibrium. • Dynamic equilibrium – is a system in which changes are continuously occurring but the components can adjust to the changes without disturbing the entire system.

Order Activity • At your table (without looking in your textbook) rearrange the words to what you think is the correct order of organization: Population, Ecosystem, Biosphere, Ecotone Community, Organism, Biome

Levels of Organization in the Biosphere Biome Ecosystem Community Population Organism Ecotones

Biosphere • Whole living layer around the globe. http: //people. hofstra. edu/geotrans/eng/ch 8 en/conc 8 en/envisys. html

The Biosphere • - Earth has three basic structural zones: the lithosphere (land) the hydrosphere (water) the atmosphere (air) • Together, these three zones make up the biosphere. • The biosphere – is the narrow zone around Earth that harbours life.

The Biosphere

Biome • A biome is a region that is characterized by the dominant plant and animal life and the prevailing climate conditions.

Ecosystem • A biotic community plus the abiotic features.

Ecosystems • The world is full of many diverse and dynamic ecosystems each with unique soil, vegetation and animals. Humans have varying perspectives on how we are to interact with Earth’s ecosystems.

Barrier Reefs BBC article. BBC youtube-

Natural vs. Artificial Ecosystems • Artificial ecosystem – is an area that is planned or maintained by humans. Ex. Parks, farms and managed forests. • Natural ecosystem – is an area where the living community is free to interact with the physical and chemical environment. Ex. Lakes, rivers, forests and deserts.

Ecotones • Ecosystems rarely have sharp boundaries, and organisms can move back and forth from one ecosystem to another. • An ecotone is the transition area between ecosystems. • Because ecotones often contain species from both bordering ecosystems they tend to have greater biodiversity.

Ecotones Ecotone

Community • Several populations living together.

Population • A group of individuals of the same species living together.

Organism • Entire living things (organisms). • Usually made of systems. • May be a single cell. • Living.

Your response • Research one endangered or at risk ecosystem that you don’t know very much about yet. Tell us about: 1. The