The Important Thing About Ecosystems

Big Book 5th Grade GLAD Unit

The important thing about ecosystems is that the organisms within them exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment.

• Energy enters ecosystems as sunlight.

• Photosynthesis is the process of transforming solar energy into chemical energy.

• Green plants and photosynthetic microorganisms, also called producers, are the foundation of energy flow in most ecosystems because they are capable of producing their own food by photosynthesis.

• A food web depicts how energy is passed from organism to organism.

But, the important thing about ecosystems is that the organisms within them exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment.

The important thing about ecosystems is that the organisms within them exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment.

• Energy and matter transfer from one organism to another organism through consumption.

• Plants are eaten by primary consumers (herbivores); herbivores are eaten by secondary consumers (carnivores); all are eaten by scavengers and decomposers when dead.

• Energy is transferred from organisms to the physical environment through heat loss.

• Carbon, nitrogen, and water are also cycled and returned to the physical environment.

But, the important thing about ecosystems is that the organisms within them exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment.

The important thing about ecosystems is that the organisms within them exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment.

• Organisms in a population may be categorized by whether they are producers of chemical energy from solar energy or consumers of chemical energy.

• Consumers can be categorized as herbivores, predators, scavengers, or decomposers.

• Consumers may also be categorized in multiple ways, such as omnivores that eat both plants and animals and opportunistic consumers that act as both predators and scavengers.

But, the important thing about ecosystems is that the organisms within them exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment.

The important thing about ecosystems is that the organisms within them exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment.

• Different kinds of organisms may play similar ecological roles in similar biomes.

• Ecological roles are defined by the environment and not by any particular organism.

• For example: Australia has plants that are unique to that continent yet play the same role as other kinds of plants in similar environments elsewhere.

• Another example is in the rain forests of South America, the mammalian consumers and predators are placental (nonmarsupial) sloths, deer, monkeys, rodents, and cats, and in the rain forests of Australia, marsupial kangaroos, wallabies, bandicoots, play the same ecological role.

But, the important thing about ecosystems is that the organisms within them exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment.

The important thing about ecosystems is that the organisms within them exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment.

• The number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources available and on abiotic factors, such as quantities of light and water, a range of temperatures, and soil composition.

• The richer the plant growth, the more diversity of life types and number of organisms can be supported in an ecosystem.

• The richness of plant growth depends on abiotic factors, such as water, sunlight, moderate temperatures, temperature ranges, and composition of soils.

• The number of plant-eating animals in an ecosystem depends directly on the available edible plants.

• The number of predators in an ecosystem depends on the amount of prey available.

But, the important thing about ecosystems is that the organisms within them exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment.

Credits• Cover Photo: http://innovationmanagement.se/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/innovation-ecosystem.jpg

• Energy: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/74403000/jpg/_74403107_177855738.jpg

• Photosynthesis: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Photosynthesis.gif

• Food Web: http://ed101.bu.edu/StudentDoc/Archives/ED101fa09/tje50/Images%20WS/foodweb-1.gif

• Herbivores & Carnivores: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/8b/d0/a3/8bd0a351a5acc71de04004301696b152.jpg

• Carbon, Water, Nitrogen: http://mbm.net.au/b100/carbon/fig1.jpg

• Food Chain: https://producersconsumers.wikispaces.com/file/view/salric.jpg2.jpg/37084859/salric.jpg2.jpg

• Cycle: http://anadavidson.weebly.com/uploads/1/4/7/3/14734220/8113939_orig.jpg?512

• Ecology: Energy Flows Through Ecosystems Level 4 CA K. Woodward/A. Rosendin - Project G.L.A.D (01/07 JB)