Climate is important in shaping ecosystems and in understanding ecology

1
Climate is important in shaping ecosystems and in
understanding ecology

• It refers to the average, year to year conditions
  of temperature and precipitation in a certain
  region
• Weather is the day to day condition of the
  atmosphere at a particular time and place
• Climate can take hundreds to thousands of years
  to change
• Weather can change in a matter of hours
• What kinds of things effect weather and climate
  on Earth?

2
The earth has a natural insulating blanket of
atmospheric gases
Carbon dioxide
Methane
Water vapor
These gases trap heat energy and maintain Earths
temperature range
This natural situation of retaining heat is
called the greenhouse effect and works much like
this man made greenhouse
3
Another factor that affects climate is changing
latitude, the distance N or S from the equator on
the Earths surfaceThe increasing angle of
sunlight causes a decrease of heating by the sun
and temps get colder as we go further N or S
4
Ecosystems are influenced by a combination of
biological and physical factors that interact in
an area

• Communities are affected mostly by predator-prey
  relationships
• Ecosystems are affected by biological
  (livingbiotic) and physical (nonlivingabiotic)
  factors
• Biotic may include birds, trees, mushrooms,
  bacteria, etc.
• Abiotic may include sunlight, rocks, water, and
  climate such as temp, precipitation, humidity

5
The area an organism lives is called its habitat
The way an organism interacts with its ecosystem
is called its niche (kind of like a need required
for survival)
The role of the predator here is called its niche
It may interact as a predator
It may act as a host for parasites
6
Community Interactions

• When organisms live together in communities, they
  interact all of the time and they shape the
  ecosystem
• Competition, predation, and symbiosis (mutualism,
  commensalism, parasitism), powerfully affect an
  ecosystem

7
No two species can share the same niche in the
same habitat

• Different species can share the same habitat but
  competition will occur
• Competition organisms of the same or different
  species attempt to use a resource in the same
  place at the same time
• Resource a necessity in life such as water,
  nutrients, light, food, or space/shelter
• In a forest, oak/hickory trees compete for
  sunlight by growing tall, spreading their leaves,
  and blocking thse sun from shorter trees
• Two lizards may compete for the same insect which
  results in a winner and loser

8
COMPETITION
If two species occupy the same niche in the same
habitat, they will compete until one is excluded
9
Predation

• One organism captures and feeds on another
  organism
• The organism that kills and eats is the predator
• The one killed is the prey
• What are a few examples of predators?

10
Symbiosis

• Any relationship in which two organisms live
  close together
• Includes mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism
• Mutualism is when both species benefit
• Bees get nectar while the flower gets pollinated
• The army ants get food and protect the acacia
  tree from herbivore mammals
• The bird gets food and spreads seeds for the
  plant
• The rhino gets cleaned of parasites and the birds
  get a meal

11
In Commensalism

• One member benefits and the other is neither
  helped nor harmed
• Remora fish ride the shark but dont harm or
  benefit the shark
• The clownfish gets food and protection from the
  sea anemone but the anemone is neither helped nor
  harmed
• Small marine animals called barnacles dont help
  nor harm the whale but benefit by getting a ride
  to the best feeding grounds

12
Parasitism

• One organism lives on or inside another and harms
  it
• Parasite obtains nutrition from the other
  organism which is called its host
• Parasites weaken the host but usually will not
  kill it
• Mistletoe on a tree
• Tapeworms, fleas, ticks, lice
• Leeches on a fish