ACT Ecosystem Notes

Ecosystems
Definition:

An ecosystem is a community of living organisms (plants, animals, and microorganisms)

interacting with their nonliving environment (air, water, minerals, and nutrients).
Components of Ecosystems:

Biotic Factors:

Producers (Autotrophs): Organisms that produce their own food through photosynthesis or
chemosynthesis (e.g., plants, algae).
Consumers (Heterotrophs): Organisms that obtain energy by consuming other organisms. They
are classified into:
Primary Consumers: Herbivores that eat producers (e.g., rabbits, deer).
Secondary Consumers: Carnivores that eat herbivores (e.g., wolves, snakes).
Tertiary Consumers: Carnivores that eat other carnivores (e.g., eagles, sharks).
Omnivores: Organisms that eat both plants and animals (e.g., bears, humans).
Decomposers (Detritivores): Organisms that break down dead material and waste (e.g., fungi,
bacteria).
Abiotic Factors:

Nonliving components that affect living organisms. Examples include sunlight, temperature,
water, soil, and nutrients.
Energy Flow:

Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction: from the sun to producers, then to
consumers, and finally to decomposers.
Food Chain: A linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass.
Food Web: A complex network of interconnected food chains within an ecosystem.
Nutrient Cycles:

Water Cycle: Movement of water through the environment via evaporation, condensation,
precipitation, and runoff.
Carbon Cycle: Movement of carbon through the atmosphere, organisms, soil, and water.
Includes processes like photosynthesis and respiration.
Nitrogen Cycle: Conversion of nitrogen into various chemical forms as it circulates among the
atmosphere, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems.
Phosphorus Cycle: Movement of phosphorus through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and
biosphere, primarily via rock weathering and uptake by organisms.
Ecological Relationships:

Symbiosis: Interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association.
Mutualism: Both organisms benefit (e.g., bees and flowers).
Commensalism: One organism benefits, the other is unaffected (e.g., barnacles on whales).
Parasitism: One organism benefits at the expense of the other (e.g., ticks on dogs).
Predation: One organism (predator) kills and eats another (prey).

Competition: Organisms compete for the same resources (e.g., food, space).

Ecological Succession:

The process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time.
Primary Succession: Occurs in lifeless areas where there is no soil (e.g., after a volcanic
eruption).
Secondary Succession: Occurs in areas where a disturbance has destroyed an existing
community but left the soil intact (e.g., after a forest fire).
Biomes:

Large regions characterized by specific types of climate and ecosystems.

Tundra: Cold, low biodiversity, permafrost.
Taiga (Boreal Forest): Cold, coniferous forests.
Temperate Forest: Moderate climate, deciduous trees.
Grassland: Dominated by grasses, few trees, rich soil.
Desert: Dry, sparse vegetation.
Tropical Rainforest: Warm, high biodiversity, high rainfall.
Human Impact on Ecosystems:

Pollution, deforestation, climate change, habitat destruction, and overexploitation of resources

can negatively impact ecosystems.
Conservation efforts aim to protect and restore ecosystems