Chapter 4

Ecosystems &
Communities
 4.1Climate

• What is the difference between weather

and climate?
 Thethree main zones are the polar,
tropical, and temperate climates.

 polar
climate: the far northern and
southern regions of Earth

 tropical zone: surrounds the equator

 temperate zone: the wide area in

between
the polar and tropical zones
 The Greenhouse Effect

• Greenhouse gasses such

as carbon dioxide trap
heat in the Earth’s
atmosphere.
 4.2 Niches and
Community

Interactions
Every Organism
and Niche
has a habitat

A habitat is the general

place in which an organism
lives.
A niche describes not only
the place an organisms
lives, but the range of
physical and biological
conditions in which it lives
and interacts.
 The Competitive
Exclusion Principal
• If two species attempt to
occupy the same niche, one
species will be better suited
to obtain limited resources
and will eventually exclude
the other.

What would happen if two of these warbler species tried to occupy the
same niche at the same time?
 Community
Interactions
 Predator-Prey

 Herbivore-Plant
Symbiotic Species
 Two or more species living together
in a close, long-term association.

Parasitism – the host is harmed and

the parasite benefits

Ex: lice, hookworm, roundworms

Braconid
wasp
0 Braconid
Parasitism
larvae feed
_ + on their host
Hornworm and release
caterpillar themselves
The host shortly
hornworm will before
eventually die reaching
as its organs are the pupae
consumed stage of
by wasp larvae. development
.

_ Organism is harmed 0 Organism

benefits
 Mutualism – benefits both
participating species

Ex: Clownfish and sea anemone

 Commensalism – one species benefits,

and the other is neither harmed nor
helped

Ex: Barnacles on a blue whale

 4.3 Succession

 When new land is created, or a

habitat is destroyed by disaster a
new habitat will be created.

 Succession is a regular progression

of species replacement.
 Primary succession occurs where life has
not existed before.

Ex: A new volcanic island

 Secondarysuccession occurs where there

has been previous growth.

Ex: A forest that has been burned

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4.4 Biomes
 Biomes are described in terms of abiotic
and biotic factors.
 Tropicalrain forest
biomes produce lush
forests.
 warm temperature

Source: World Meteorological Organization

 abundant precipitation all year
 Grassland biomes are where the primary
plant life is grass.

Temperate grasslands are dry and warm

during the summer; most precipitation
falls as snow.
 Tropical grasslands (savanna) are warm through the
year, with definite dry and rainy seasons.
 Desert biomes are characterized by a very
arid climate.
 very low amount of precipitation

 four types: hot, semi-arid, coastal, and cold

 Temperateforest biomes include
deciduous forests and rain forests.
 Temperate deciduous forests have hot summers and cold winters.

 Deciduous trees are the dominant plant species.

 Thetaiga biome is located in cooler
northern climates.
 boreal forest

 long winters and short summers

 small amount of precipitation

 Thetundra biome is found in the far
northern latitudes with long winters.
 winter lasts 10 months

 limited precipitation

 permafrost
 4.5 Aquatic
Ecosystems
• Nearly ¾ of Earth’s surface is covered
with water.

• Aquatic organisms are affected

primarily by water depth, temperature,
flow, and amount of dissolved
nutrients.
• Freshwater ecosystems include moving
and standing water (wetlands, lakes and
ponds, and rivers and streams).
 Estuaries
are dynamic environments
where rivers flow into the ocean.

Mixture of fresh water with salt water

Serve as spawning and nursery grounds

for many fish and shellfish

Chesapeake Bay

Louisiana bayous

Florida Everglades
Estuaries are highly productive ecosystems.

 Estuaries provide a protected refuge for many

species.

 Estuaries
are primarily threatened by land
development.
 Marine Ecosystem
 Intertidal
Zone
 Affected by tides

 CostalOcean
 Coral reefs and kelp forests

 Open Ocean
 90% of ocean
 Photic and Aphotic zones