Ecosystem

Unit II: Ecosystems


I. Components of an Ecosystem

A. Ecosystem: All of the organisms and abiotic factors in a given area.

Example: A soil ecosystem includes the amount of rainfalland sunlight it get.

B. Living and Nonliving parts
1. Biotic factors: any living within an ecosystem. Living trees, birds, bacteria, and insects are all biolic.

2. Abiotic factors: All ofthe non-living factors within an ecosystem. Soil, sunlight, and precipitation are all abiotic factors.

C. Levels of Organization
1. Organism: a single living member of a given species.

2.Population: a group of organisms of the same especie living in a particular place at a particular time. All of the grey squirrels in a park would represent a population.

a. Species: any twoorganisms that are genetically similar enough to be able to produce offspring who can breed.

Example 1: All dogs belong to the species Canis familiaris because they can produce with each other andproduce fertile offpring.

(all birds are not of the same species because they can’t reproduce with each other and produce fertile offspring)

Note: species is always with an “s” at the end. Onespecies, many species

3. Community: A group of populations of different species that live in the same place at the same time. (Does not include abiotic factors) Ex. The coral reef communityincludes all of the populations of fishes, aquatic plants.

4. Ecosystem: The community of living things in an area that interact with each other and with the abiotic components of that area.Example: Chinquapin Ecosystem includes all living things plus all non-living things like water, wind, plants, insect, etc.

D. Niche and Habitat

1. Niche: the way of life or role of a species in anecosystem.

Includes:
a. how it gets energy
b. what it consumes
c. when it is active.

2. Habitat: The actual place that a species lives.

Example: A lion’s habitat is the...