ECOSYSTEMS

AND
BIOMES!
 YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!

 Producer:
 An organism that can produce its own food or nutrients to
survive
 Consumer:
 An organism that consumes only animals
 Omnivores:
 An organism that eats both plants and animals
 OTHER TYPES OF CONSUMERS
 Scavengers:
 A carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms
 Don’t necessarily hunt for the other organism
 Ex: Vultures and Catfish

 Decomposers:
 Organism that breaks down biotic wastes and dead
organisms
 Nature’s recyclers
 Ex: Mushrooms, Bacteria, Mold
 CHAINS AND WEBS!

Food Chains:
A series of events where one organism eats
another organism to gain energy.
 Grass -> Grasshopper -> Frog -> Red Fox
Grass = Producer
Grasshopper = Herbivore
Frog/Red Fox = Carnivore
 CHAINS AND WEBS! PT. II
 Food Web:
 A food web consist of many overlapping
food chains in an ecosystem.
 Ex: Grass -> Grasshopper -> Frog -> Red Fox
 Grass -> Cricket -> Lizard -> Snake -> Bird
 Lizard = eats both crickets and grasshoppers
 Frog = eats both crickets and grasshoppers
 Snake = eats both frogs and lizards
 Bird = eats cricket, grasshopper, and sometimes
snake
 Red Fox = eats frog, lizard, and sometimes snake
 NOWHERE BUT UP!

 Energy Pyramid:
 Displaysthe amount of energy that
moves from one feeding level to another
in a food web/food chain
 Most energy is at the producer level
 As energy moves up, each level has less and
less energy available
 CYCLES OF MATTER
 The Water Cycle
 Theprocess of the water cycle consists of
the stages of:
 1.) evaporation
 Water is evaporated from plants, lakes, and
oceans from the heat of the sun
 2.) Condensation
 Water droplets are collected around dust
particles to create clouds
 3.) Precipitation
 Water droplets become too big and heavy to
stay in the air and falls as rain, snow, sleet, or hail
 CARBON VS. OXYGEN!

 The Carbon and Oxygen cycles are

related by following similar cycles but have
different steps in the formation of oxygen in
the oxygen cycle compared to the
additional steps in the carbon cycle.
 BIOMES OF THE EARTH
 Biomesis a group of ecosystems that have similar
climates and organisms where the climate, average
annual temperature and amount of rainfall, are
determiners of what biome it belongs to.
 Types:
 Desert
 Rainforest
 Grassland
 Savanna
 Deciduous Forest
 Boreal Forest
 Tundra
 Deserts:
 An area that receives less than 25cm of rain per year
 Tend to go through large shifts in temperature through
a full day
 Animals/plants in this biome:
 Cactus
 Gila Monster

THE DESERT
 Rainforests:
 Areas with large amounts of rain fall year-round
 Two forms of Rainforests:
 Temperate Rain Forests
 Forests that consist of moderate temperatures
 Plants/Animals: Redwood Trees, Cedar Trees
 Tropical Rain Forests
 Forests that consist of a warm or humid climate typically near
the equator

THE RAINFOREST
 Grasslands consist of areas that are predominantly covered in
grass and non-woody plants.
 Typically receives 25 to 75cm of rain per year

GRASSLANDS
 Savannas consist of scattered shrubs and small trees along with
grass
 Receives as much as 120cm of rain per year.

SAVANNAS
 Deciduous Forest consist of trees that shed their leaves and grow
new ones annually.
 Receives at least 50cm of rain per year enough to sustain growth
of trees and other plants.

DECIDUOUS FORESTS
 Boreal Forests are dense forests found in colder regions
 Consist of coniferous trees which are trees that produce seeds in
cones or have leaves in the shape of needles
 Sometimes referred to its Russian nickname the Taiga.

BOREAL FORESTS
 Tundra is extremely cold and dry which it may not receive any
rain at all similar to the desert.
 Consist of permafrost which is frozen soil
 Frozen soil tends to be year-round

THE TUNDRA
 AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS

 There are two types of Aquatic Ecosystems:

 Freshwater ecosystems
 Ex: Streams, Rivers, Ponds, Lakes
 Marine (Saltwater) Ecosystems
 Ex: The Ocean
 Locations of Fresh water:
 Lakes:
 The Great Lakes
 Ponds
 Carmen Hall Pond or Stevenson Hall Pond
 Streams
 Found in forest preserves near rivers, higher altitude locations
 Rivers
 The Mississippi River or The Amazon River

FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS
 Ocean Zones:
 Layers within the Ocean that represent different
 Deep Sea vs. surface sea
 Estuary:
 Estuaries are locations where fresh water and salt water meet

MARINE ECOSYSTEMS
THE END! TEST FEBRUARY 27TH