ECOSYSTEMS VOCABULARYNOTES PART 3

HABITAT

• An environment that provides the things that organisms needs to live, grow, and reproduce.

• An organism obtains food, water, shelter, and other things it needs to live, grow and reproduce from its environment.

BIOTIC FACTORS

• The living parts of a habitat.

• Example: A prairie dogs’ habitat includes biotic factors

• Grass and plants that provide food

• Predators (hawks and eagles) that hunt prairie dogs

ABIOTIC FACTORS

• The nonliving parts of an organisms’ habitat. They include:• Water – All things require water to carry out their

life processes (needed for photosynthesis).

• Sunlight – also needed for photosynthesis.

• Oxygen – Required by most organisms to carry out life processes.

• Temperature – The temp. that is typical of an area determines the type of organisms that can live there.

• Soil – Different areas have different soil (varying amounts of nutrients, air, water, etc.) that influences what kinds of plants that can grow there.

LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION

• Ecosystem

• Community

• Population

POPULATIONS

• All members of one species in a particular area.

• Species is a group of organisms that are physically similar…

• AND can mate with each other…

• AND produce offspring that can also mate and reproduce successfully.

• Example: The 400 million prairie dogs in a Texas town are one example of a population.

COMMUNITIES

• All the different populations that live together in an area.

• Must live close enough together to interact.

• Example: The prairie community includes these populations:

• Prairie dog

• Hawk

• Grasses

• Snakes, etc.

ECOSYSTEMS• The community (or

communities) of organisms that live in a particular area

• Includes nonliving surroundings

• Not an ecosystem without abiotic factors!

• A forest is just one of many different ecosystems on the planet.

NICHE (PRONOUNCED: NITCH)

• The role of an organism in its habitat, or how it makes its living.

• Includes:

• Type of food the organism eats

• How it obtains this food

• Which other organisms use the organism as food

• Every organism has a variety of adaptations that are suited to its specific living conditions.

NICHE EXAMPLES

OAK TREE1. Absorb sunlight by

photosynthesis2. Absorb water and mineral

salts from the soil3. Provide shelter for many

animals and other plants4. Act as a support for

creeping plants5. Serve as a source of food

for animals6. Cover the ground with

their dead leaves in autumn.

DUNG BEETLEThree basic groups:- Rollers shape pieces of dung into

balls and roll them away from the pile. They bury the dung to either munch on later or to use as a place to lay their eggs.

- Tunnelers bury their dung treasure by tunneling underneath the pile.

- Dwellers actually live inside dung piles.

FROG- Eat insects and other invertebrates in

the water or on land.- Become food for snakes, large fish,

raccoons, etc.