AN ECOSYSTEM consists of all living things (birds, insects, plants...), the surrounding medium (water, air, soil, sun...THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT) and relations between them.
The components of an ecosystem are:
-BIOTIC FACTORS:all the living parts of an ecosystem, including plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms.
-ABIOTIC FACTORS: are non living parts. These factors are temperature, air, water, soil and sunlight.
TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS:
1.Terrestrial ecosystem:
a)desert: plants and animals adapted to survive on little water. (cactus, camels, scorpions, lizards...)
b)Grassland: extensive grasses, the largest land animals live in grasslands( American bison, elephants, giraffes...)
c)Tropical rainforest: locations that receive amounts of precipitation. There are trees, plants like ferns, insects, spiders, snakes, monkeys...
d)Tundra: adapted to survive the long cold winters( seals, polar bears, arctic hares, arctic foxes ... live there)
2.Aquatic ecosystem:
a) salt water: OCEAN: a variety of plants and animals live there (crabs, starfish, worms, coral, whale, dolphins...)
b) fresh water: RIVER: flora and fauna of the rivers are different from the oceans because the water has different salinity. the species are adapted to the streams and slopes.(salmon, trout,....)
NUTRITION AND INTERACTION PROCESS IN THE ECOSYSTEMS
1. PRODUCERS: autotrophic living things make their own food from inorganic substances. Plants, algae and some bacteria are autotrophic living things. They are the base of all the food chains in all ecosystems.
2. CONSUMERS: heterotrophic living things get food by eating other living things.
They can be:
A) PRIMARY CONSUMERS. Herbivores: feed on plants (rabbits eat grass)
B)Carnivores: feed on other animals
b1. SECONDARY CONSUMERS: feed primary consumers(foxes eat rabbits)
b2. TERTIARY CONSUMERS:feed secondary consumers ( eagles eat foxes)
C)omnivores: feed on both animals and plants
d)Scavengers: feed on dead animals.
e) Parasites: feed on other living things without killing them. For example, mosquitoes feed on blood from mammals.
3. DECOMPOSERS: heterotrophic living things who transform remains of living things into inorganic substances.(Fungi and many bacteria)
Food chains and food webs show how living things in an ecosystem are connected.
>>>>>>>animals endangered_game
FOOD CHAIN GAME
Tropicmind.com: ecosystems and food chain
FOOD CHAINS: Certain species eat other species. The food chain represents these relationships.
FOOD WEBS are better at showing how plants and animals are interconnected because they are a combination of various food chains.
COMPETITION: This is when species have the same needs(use the same food, territory, water...) and compete for them to survive. For example, cheetahs, lions and hyenas
MUTUALISM OR COOPERATION: This is when species interact and obtain a mutual benefit. For example, the relationship between bees and flowers. The bees obtain nectar from the flowers, and the flowers are pollinated by the bees.
PARASITISM is the relationship between two species where one benefits while the other suffers as a result. For example, fleas live on the skin of dogs and suck their blood. The fleas benefit, but the dogs get weak and their skin itches.
A POPULATION is all the members of one species living in the same ecosystem.
A HABITAT is the place within an ecosystem where a population lives.
A COMMUNITY is made up of all the populations that interact in an ecosystem.
