Ecosystems and

Communities

Climate vs. Weather

• Weather – day to day conditions in a particular place at a particular time.

• Climate – avg. of temperature and precipitation in a region from year to year.

Greenhouse Effect

• Where heat is retained in the earths atmosphere by greenhouse gases (CO2)

Global Warming

• Term used to describe an increase in the average temperature of the biosphere

• Cause is believed to be human activities

What shapes an Ecosystem?

• Biotic factors – living parts of an ecosystem

• Abiotic factors – nonliving parts of an ecosystem

What shapes an Ecosystem con’t

• Habitat – where an organism lives.

• Niche – an organisms purpose (includes food, space, reproduction, & how it interacts with other organisms)

Community Interactions

• Competition – occurs when members of the same or different species attempt to use resources in the same place at the same time.

Community Interactions

• Predation Predator

organism that kills (hunts)

• Prey organism that is

the food– Ex. Cat and

mouse

Community Interactions

• Symbiosis – 2 species living closely together– Mutualism

both species benefit •Ex. Flower & insect

Community Interactions

– Commensalism when one member benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed.•Ex barnacles on whales skin

– Parasitism when one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it.•Ex. Flea, tick