1.

1
Ecosystems
Objectives/EKs/Skills
Ecosystem Basics ● Community = all
living organisms in
● Individual = one organism (elk) an area
● Pop. = group of individuals
of same species (elk herd) ● Ecosystem = all
living & nonliving
things in an area
(plants, animals,
rocks, soil, water, air)
⛰ Biome = the plants and
animals found in a given
region (determined by
climate)
Ex: (tropical rainforest)
Organism Interactions ● Mutualism:
relationship that
benefits both
organisms (coral
reef)

● Commensalism:
relationship that
● Competition: organisms fighting over a resource benefits one
like food or shelter; limits pop. size organism & doesn’t
● Predation: one organism using another for energy impact the other
source (hunters, parasites) (birds nest in trees)
Predation (+/-)
● Herbivores: (plant eaters) eat plants for energy
(giraffe & tree)
● True predators: (carnivores) kill and eat prey for
energy (leopard & giraffe)
● Parasites: use a host organism for energy, often
without killing the host & often living inside host
○ Ex: mosquitoes, tapeworms, sea lamprey
● Parasitoids: lay eggs inside a host organism; eggs
hatch & larvae eat host for energy
○ Ex: parasitic wasps, bot fly
Symbiosis sym = together | bio = living | osis = condition
⛰ Any close and long-term interaction between two organisms of
different species
○ Mutualism (+/+), commensalism (+/0), and parasitism (+/-) are all
symbiotic relationships
● Mutualism: Organisms of diff. species living
close together in a way that benefits both
● Coral (animals) provide reef structure &
CO2 for algae; algae provide sugars for
coral to use as energy
● Lichen = composite organism of fungi
living with algae; algae provide sugars
(energy) & fungi provides nutrients
Competition
⛰ Reduces population size since there are fewer
resources available & fewer organisms can survive
● Resource partitioning: different species using the
same resource in diff. ways to reduce competition
● Temporal partitioning: using resource @ different
times, such as wolves & coyotes hunting @
different times (night vs. day)
● Spatial partitioning: using different areas of a
shared habitat (different length roots)
● Morphological partitioning: using different
resources based on diff. evolved body features
Practice FRQ 1.1
Identify two organisms that
compete for a shared food
resource. Describe how
resource partitioning could
reduce the competition
between the two organisms
you identified.
 1.2
Terrestria
l (Land)
Biomes
Objectives/EKs/Skil
l
 ⛰ The community of
Biome: the plants & organisms (plants &
animals found in a region; animals) in a biome are
based on yearly temp. + uniquely adapted to live in
precipitation (climate) that biome

Examples Ex: camels & cacti have water

preserving traits for desert;
shrubs & wildflowers store
lots of energy in roots to
recover quickly from fire in
grasslands
 Biome
Characteristics Tundra & Boreal =
higher lat. (60o +)
Temperate = mid
lat. (30o - 60o)
Tropical = closer to
equator

Biomes are defined by

average annual temperature
⛰ Latitude (distance from equator) & precipitation
determines temperature & ● Biome chart can also
precipitation which is why biomes predict where on earth
exist in predictable pattern on earth biomes are found
 Nutrient
Availability Plants need soil nutrients to
grow, so availability
determines which plants can
● Tropical RF = nutrient-poor soil survive in a biome
(high temp. & rainfall → rapid
⛰ Ex: frozen soils of tundra
decomposition of org. matter; acidic
soil + high rainfall → nutrient leaching) don’t allow nutrients in dead
organic matter to be broken
● Boreal forest = nutrient-poor down by decomposers, causing:
soil (low temp. & low decomp. - Low soil nutrients
rate of dead organic matter) - Low water availability
● Temp. forest = nutrient-rich soil - Few plants survive here
(lots of dead organic matter -
leaves & warm temp/moisture
for decomposition)
Shifting Biomes ⛰ Biomes shift in location on
earth as climate changes
- Ex: warming climate will shift
boreal forests further north as
tundra permafrost soil melts &
lower latitudes become too
warm for aspen & spruce
Practice FRQ 1.2
Identify one characteristic of a
biome and explain how that
characteristic determines the
community of organisms
found in the biome.
 1.3
Aquatic
Biomes
Objective/EKs/Skil l
 Characteristics of
Aquatic Biomes
Salinity Flow
How much salt there is in a body of Determines which plants &
water, determines which species organisms can survive, how much
can survive & usability for drinking O2 can dissolve into water
(Fresh water vs. estuary vs. ocean)

Depth Temperature
Influences how much sunlight Warmer water holds less dissolved O2
can penetrate and reach plants so it can support fewer aq. organisms
below the surface for
photosynthesis
 Freshwater: Rivers & Lakes
● Rivers have high O2 due to flow mixing water & air, also carry
nutrient-rich sediments (deltas & flood plains = fertile soil)
● Lakes = standing bodies of fresh H2O (key drinking water source)

○ Littoral: shallow water w/emergent plants

○ Limnetic: where light can reach (photosynthesis)
■ No rooted plants, only phytoplankton
○ Profundal: too deep for sunlight (no
photosynthesis)
○ Benthic: murky bottom where inverts (bugs)
live, nutrient-rich sediments
 Freshwater: Wetlands
● Wetland: area with soil submerged/saturated in water for at least
part of the year, but shallow enough for emergent plants
⛰ Plants living here have to be adapted to living with
roots submerged in standing water (cattails, lily pads,
reeds)
Benefits of Wetlands
★ Stores excess water during storms, lessening flood
damage to property
★ Recharges groundwater by absorbing rainfall into soil
★ Roots of wetland plants filter pollutants
from water draining through
★ Highl plant growth rates due to lots of water & nutrients
(dead organic matter) in sediments
 Marsh
Swamp

Cypress
Tree
Bog
Estuaries: areas where rivers empty into the ocean
⛰ Mix of fresh & salt water (species adapt to this ex: mangrove trees)
⛰ High productivity (plant growth) due to nutrients in sediments
deposited in estuaries by river

Salt Marsh:
● Estuary hab. along coast in temperate climates
● Breeding ground for many fish & shellfish species

Mangrove Swamps:
● Estuary hab. along coast of tropical climates

● Mangrove trees with long, stilt roots stabilize shoreline &

provide habitat for many species of fish & shellfish
 Coral Reef
● Warm shallow waters beyond the shoreline; most diverse
marine (ocean) biome on earth
● Mutualistic relationship between coral (animals) & algae (plants)
● Coral take CO2 out of ocean to create calcium carbonate
exoskeleton (the reef) & also provide CO2 to the algae
● Algae live in the reef & provide sugar (energy) to the coral
through photosynthesis

⛰ Both species rely on the

other:
- Coral couldn’t survive
without energy from algae.
- Algae need the home of the
reef & CO2 from the coral
 Intertidal Zones
● Narrow band of coastline between high & low tide
● Organisms must be adapted to survive crashing waves & direct
sunlight/heat during low tide
Ex: Barnacles, sea stars, crabs that can attach themselves to rocks
● Shells & tough outer skin can prevent drying out (desiccation)
during low tides
⛰ Different organisms are adapted to live in
different Zones
Ex: Spiral wrack (type of seaweed) curls up
& secretes mucus to retain water during
low tide
 Open Ocean
⛰ So large that algae & phytoplankton of ocean produce a lot of earth’s
O2 & absorb a lot of atmospheric CO2
● Low productivity per m2 as algae & phytoplankton can only survive in
photic zone
● Photic zone = area where sunlight can reach (photosynthesis)
● Aphotic zone (abyssal) = area too deep for sunlight
○ Species rely on detritus from photic zone or
chemosynthetic microbes @ hydrothermal
vents for energy
 Practice FRQ 1.3
Identify an organism found in
an aquatic biome and explain
how that organism is uniquely
adapted to live in that biome.