Ecosystems Flashcards
Ecosystem
All the biotic and abiotic features of an area and how they are interrelated.
Interrelationship
How multiple things are connected to each other.
Interdependence
How two or more things depend on each other.
Give some examples of abiotic features of an ecosystem.
Soil
Climate
Rivers
Sun
Minerals
Biome
An ecosystem on a global scale.
What does the nutrient cycle show?
How nutrients move through an ecosystem.
Nutrients
A substance that provides nourishment essential for organisms to live and grow.
Leeching
When water washes nutrients out of the soil.
What factor determines which type of ecosystem forms?
Climate (the long term pattern of weather, based on an average over 30 yrs, such as the av. rainfall or temp we expect each month).
Tundra ecosystems
-High latitudes
-Countries like Canada and Alaska
-Cold winters
-Brief summers
-Little rainfall
Boreal forest ecosystems
-50 to 60° N
-Winters are cold and dry
-Summers are mild and moist
-vegetation = coniferous trees
-Also known as ‘taiga’ ecosystems
Temperate Deciduous Forest ecosystems
-Mid-latitudes
-Countries include the UK
-Warm summers
-Relatively mild winters
-4 distinct seasons
-Rainfall all year round
-Deciduous trees
Hot deserts
-Between 15 and 35° N and S of the equator
-Little rainfall (under 250mm of rainfall per year)
-Hot during the day, cold at night (extreme diurnal range)
-vegetation = shrubs and trees which are sparsely distributed
-infertile, sandy soil
-Savannah grasslands
-Located between the tropics
-Distinct dry and wet seasons, though rainfall is still relatively low
-most vegetation = grasses, with a few scattered trees
Tropical rainforest ecosystems
-Located around the equator, between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn
-Hot and wet all year round
-Areas of lush forest with dense canopies forming distinct layers
Polar ecosystems
-Found around the North and South poles.
-Cold, icy, and dry
-not much grows at all
-Remains dark for several months a year
-This means the growing season is very short (about 2 months)
What can the organisms in an ecosystem be classed as?
-Producers
-Consumers
-Decomposers
What is a food chain?
An arrangement of the organisms in an ecosystem to show what eats what, and thereby the direction in which energy transfers in an ecosystem.
Why does the biomass decrease as you move up a level in a food chain?
-Each organism is expending energy through exertion (movement, respiration).
-Only parts of the organism is eaten.
Biomass
Organic material from plants and animals.
This can be used as energy.
All the organisms in a food chain/web are interrelated.
This means that…
Which means that…
…if one part changes, it affects all the other parts that are dependant on it…
…any change to an ecosystem can have a (potentially critical) knock-on effect .
Where is Slapton Ley located?
Slapton Ley is located in South Devon, in the South West of England.
What is an example of a food chain in Slapton Ley reed bed?
Waterlily → Water Boatman → Stickleback →Heron
What is an example of a food web in Slapton Ley river bed?
Common reed
↙ ↘
Moth Larva Water
Beetle
↓ ↓
Dragonfly larva
Dragonfly
↘ ↙
↳ Eel Frog ↲
↘ ↙
Bittern
What is the nutrient cycle?
A repeating cycle showing the movement of nutrients through an ecosystem.
Interdependence in the Slapton Ley Reed bed ecosystem.
-The reed beds of Slapton Ley are an interdependent ecosystem.
-This means that all its components depend on one another
-Which means that any change to one component can have a knock- on effect on the rest of the ecosystem
-It could be a human action, or a natural event that causes this change.
Natural changes to the Slapton Ley ecosystem. (temperature)
-High average temperatures in the last 10 years have increased algae growth on the surface of the lagoon.
-This means that the amount of light entering the lagoon has decreased
-Which means that waterweed plants cannot photosynthesise as efficiently as before and are more likely to die.
Natural changes to the Slapton Ley ecosystem. (erosion)
-The shingle bar of Slapton Ley is being eroded by the sea.
-If it breaks through, the freshwater lagoon will be contaminated by seawater.
-This means that sticklebacks will die out as they are not well adapted to the saline water
-Which means the population of perch may also decline.
Human-induced changes to the Slapton Ley reed bed ecosystem.
(overfishing)
People used to overfish stickleback here.
This meant that the population of perch declined as their food source was reduced dramatically.
However, the number of water boatman may have risen as there were fewer stickleback to hunt them.
How many major biomes are there?
7
What does the vegetation of a tundra ecosystem include?
Mosses, grasses, and low shrubs as growing conditions are difficult.
There is also a permafrost.
Permafrost
A layer of permanently frozen ground.
What are coniferous trees?
Trees that are evergreen, and have needles.
Deciduous trees
Trees which loose their leaves in the winter months to cope in colder weather (no photosynthesis).
How many types of grassland ecosystems are there?
2
What are producers?
Organisms that use sunlight energy to produce food (via photosynthesis).
Temperate grasslands
-Found at higher latitudes than savannah grasslands
-Less rainfall
-vegetation = just grasses
What are consumers?
Organisms that get their energy by eating other organisms.
These be either producers or other consumers
Hence primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary consumers all exist
What are decomposers?
Organisms that get their energy by breaking down dead material e.g. bacteria, worms, fungi
This can be dead producers like fallen leaves or dead consumers like animal remains.
What is a food web?
A more complex diagram showing how lots of food chains overlap, and thereby the many ways in which energy is transferred throughout an ecosystem.
What is Slapton Ley?
Slapton Ley is a freshwater lagoon, separated from the sea by a shingle barrier (bar).
What is our example of a small scale UK ecosystem?
The Slapton ley Reed Beds.
How come Slapton Ley is protected?
-The lagoon is a Site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a National Nature reserve (NNR).
-This means that the government has recognised it as a vulnerable ecosystem
-Which means that it is protected from over- development.
What do the Slapton Ley reed beds provide?
The reed beds provide a habitat for many plants and animals, which means it is a highly biodiverse ecosystem.
Nutrient cycling step 1
Energy from biomass releases into the litter (layer/) store when biotic parts of the ecosystem die.
Nutrient cycling step 2
The nutrients are then released into the soil as decomposers break down the litter.
Nutrient cycling step 3
The nutrients are then up -taken by more biotic parts of the ecosystem, and the cycle starts again.
What would the death of waterweeds lead to?
This may lead to a decrease in water beetle numbers, as they’d have less food to eat, which may lead to a decline in fish and eel populations also.
What could the fishing ban at Slapton Ley have led to?
In 2005, fishing was banned at Slapton ley.
The number of sticklebacks would’ve risen.
This means that perch numbers would’ve inclined.
However its prey, water boatman, would’ve declined in number.
