Healthy Ecosystem

• A healthy ecosystem is composed of: Producers Consumers Decomposers •

Biodiversity• Biodiversity maintains the

health of the earth and its people.

• It provides us with food and medicine and contributes to our economy.

• It tells us a lot about the health of the biosphere.

• The greater the variety of species, the healthier the biosphere.

Sustainable Ecosystems

Sustaining an Ecosystem

• If you are healthy, you will probably live a long life. The same thing applies to ecosystems.

A healthy ecosystem can sustain itself and stay intact (or stable) for a long time.

People have a responsibility to regulate their impact on the

sustainability of ecosystems in order to preserve them for future

generations

Ecosystems are dynamic and have the ability to respond to change,

within limits, while maintaining their ecological balance.

Food Web A pictorial representation of the feeding relationships

among organisms in an ecosystem Consists of various food chains

• The more links in a food web, the more stable it is.

The Niche

• A niche is the full range of physical and biologicalconditions in which an organism lives and the way inwhich the organism uses those conditions

NICHE

• No two species can share the same niche in the same habitat.• Different species can occupy niches that are very similar.

Community Interactions

• When organisms live together in ecological communities, they interact constantly.• Community interactions, such as competition, predation, and various forms of symbiosis, can affect an ecosystem.

Community Interactions/ Competition

Other factors that affect population growth

Limiting factor- any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the existence of organisms in a specific environment. EX.- Amount of water

Amount of foodTemperature

What is a Limiting Factor?Populations would continue to

increase if they had all of the resources they require in unlimited amounts, but there are always factors that limit their increase.

Limiting factors control population growth.

What is Carrying Capacity?Because of these limiting factors,

each ecosystem has a finite capacity for growth connected to its carrying capacity.

What is Carrying Capacity?

Carrying

capacity is the

number of

individuals of a

species that an

ecosystem can

support.

Ecological Succession

• Ecosystems are constantly changing in response to natural and human disturbances. As an ecosystem changes, older inhabitants gradually die out and new organisms move in, causing further changes in the community.

• This series of predictable changes that occurs in a community over time is called ecological succession.• Sometimes, an ecosystem changes in response to an abrupt disturbance. At other times, change occurs as a more gradual response to natural fluctuations in the environment.

Primary Succession

• On land, succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists is called primary succession. For example, primary succession occurs on rock surfaces formed after volcanoes erupt. The first species to populate the area are called pioneer species

Primary Succession

Secondary Succession

• Components of an ecosystem can be changed by natural events, such as fires.

When the disturbance is over, community interactions tend to restore the ecosystem to its original condition through secondary succession