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JOHN

An ecosystem is all the living and non-living things in an area interacting with each other. Ecosystems have producers, consumers, and decomposers that interact and are important parts. Factors like precipitation and temperature determine the ecosystem and affect the types of plants and animals.

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Fasiko Asmaro
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12 views

JOHN

An ecosystem is all the living and non-living things in an area interacting with each other. Ecosystems have producers, consumers, and decomposers that interact and are important parts. Factors like precipitation and temperature determine the ecosystem and affect the types of plants and animals.

Uploaded by

Fasiko Asmaro
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ECOSYSTEM

 What is an ecosystem? What are the components of an ecosystem?

An ecosystem is all the living and non-living things in an area interacting with each
other. Ecology is the study of how all these things interact in order to survive.
An ecosystem is a community of living things and their non-living environment. It is
a basic functional unit of biosphere, consisting of organisms (plants and animals) and
their environment (air, water, soil and rock).
The non-living features of the environment are the abiotic factors, and the organisms
in the environment are the biotic factors. Populations and communities make up an
ecosystem. An ecosystem may be small organisms in a drop of water, or even the
whole earth as one system. There are many types of ecosystems, even within a
relatively small area. Some are on land, others are aquatic. All components of an
ecosystem function together as a closed unit of biological community or association.

All ecosystems require energy in order to exist. This is provided by sunlight, with
only minor contributions from other sources. Energy from the sun reaches the earth’s
surface in two forms. These are heat energy and light energy. Heat energy cannot be
used directly by plants and animals. Light energy can be captured only by green
plants during the process of photosynthesis.
Only about one percent of light energy falling on leaves is converted into food energy
and stored as carbohydrate molecules. Ecosystems have lots of different living
organisms that interact with each other. The living organisms in an ecosystem can be
divided into three categories: producers, consumers and decomposers. They are all
important parts of the ecosystem.

 Producers are the green plants. They make their own food by means of
photosynthesis. Green plants are the primary passage from one organism to
another along the food chain. A food chain is a simple way of showing how
energy in the form of food passes from one organism to another.
 Consumers are animals, which get their energy from the producers or from
organisms that eat producers.

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There are three types of consumers:
a) Herbivores (primary consumers) are animals that eat plants.
b) Carnivores (secondary consumers) are animals that eat herbivores and sometimes
other carnivores.
c) Omnivores are animals that eat both plants and other animals.

Factors that Affect the Distribution of Ecosystems

Two primary non-biological factors have major impacts on the kind of ecosystem that
develops in any part of the world:
 Precipitation
 Temperature
 In turn, elevation (altitude) affects these primary factors.

 How does temperature influence the distribution of vegetation?


 Precipitation and temperature are major factors that determine the vegetation in
an ecosystem, In turn, the types of vegetation that result affect everything else in
the ecosystem eventually.
 Precipitation might be evenly spaced throughout the year or it might be
concentrated at particular times, creating wet and dry seasons.
 Temperature patterns are also important. They vary considerably in different parts
of the world. For example, tropical areas have warm, relatively unchanging
temperatures throughout the year, whereas the poles have long winters, with
extremely cold temperatures, and relatively short, cool summers.

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The Effect of Elevation on Climate and Vegetation

 What makes higher altitudes cool?


As height above sea level increases, the average temperature decreases. As one
proceeds from sea level to the tops of mountains, it is possible to pass through a series
of ecosystems that are similar to what would be encountered if one traveled from the
equator to the north pole.

Diversity of Fauna, Flora and Soil of Ecosystems

Among many factors that shape the type of fauna, flora and soil type of an ecosystem,
climate plays a decisive role in their distribution and activities. The land on earth is
divided into six major kinds of large ecosystems called biomes.
The six biomes are: desert, tundra, grass land, decidious forest, taiga and tropical rain
forest. Each biome has its own kind of climate, soil, plants and animals. Each biome
can be found in different parts of the world. For example a desert biome is found in
North America, Africa, South America, Asia and Australia.

1) Desert
 What is desert?
A lack of water is the primary factor that determines that an area will be a desert.
Deserts are areas that generally average less than 25 centimeters of precipitation per
year. They are also likely to be windy.
2) Tundra
 Why is tundra called a treeless region?
The harsh climate of the high latitudes around the Poles prevents the growth of most
plants. Indeed, the very word tundra means’ a treeless plain.
3) Grass Lands
 Why do grasses become dominant in the region?
Temperate grasslands are also known as prairies or steppes and typically savannas are
tropical grass lands.

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4) Deciduous Forest
 Why do trees shed their leaves during winter in deciduous forest?
This is a forest biome with many trees that lose their leaves each year. This is where
broad-leaved trees grow.
5) Taiga, (Coniferous Forest)
 How does coniferous forests differ from deciduous forests?
The climate is one of short, cool summers and long winters with abundant snowfall.

6) Tropical Rainforest
 In which biome do we find Earths tallest trees?
Tropical forests are located near the equator. The temperature is normally warm and
relatively constant.

THANK YOU!

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