I. WHAT SHAPES AN ECOSYSTEM?

A. Biotic and Abiotic Factors

B. The Niche
C. Community Interactions
1.- Competition
2.- Predation
3.- Symbiosis
a. mutualism
b. commensalism
c. parasitism
D. Ecological Succession
1. Primary Succession
2. Secondary Succession
3. Succession in a marine ecosystem

VOCABULARY WORDS PICTIONARY

Biotic Factor
abiotic factor
habitat
niche
resource
competitive exclusion principle
Predation
Symbiosis
mutualism
commensalism
parasitism
ecological succession
primary succession
pioneer species
Resource
secondary succession
GUIDE FOR READING

● How do biotic and abiotic factors influence an ecosystem?

● What interactions occur within communities?
● What is ecological succession?

SECTION ASSESSMENT
● What is the difference between a biotic and an abiotic factor?
● Name three types of community interactions that can affect an ecosystem
● What is the difference between primary and secondary ….?
● How is an organism’s niche determined?

Critical thinking:
Compare and contrast
How are the three types of symbiotic relationships different? similar?

● Summarize the role of organisms, including microorganisms, in maintaining the

equilibrium of a marine ecosystem while a dead whale decays on the ocean floor.

● Creative Writing:
● Use the information from this section to write a short story about an ecosystem that
is disturbed and undergoes succession.:
● Include: Flowchart with your story
4.2 What shapes an ecosystem?

Biotic and Abiotic Factors?

Ecosystems are influenced by a combination of biological and physical factors.

Biotic factors.- The biological influences on organisms within an ecosystem.

Biotic factors are:

living cast of characters with which an organism might interact.
Eg.: birds, trees, mushrooms and bacteria
(Ecological community)

Abiotic factors: Physical or nonliving factors that shape an ecosystem are

● Eg. Climate of an area: temperature, precipitation and humidity
WIND, NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY, SOIL TYPE and sunlight

The area where an organism lives is its habitat.

THE NICHE

Organism’s address or habitat is where it lives.

Its niche is its occupation.

Eg.: its place in the food web

● Range of temperatures
that the organism
needs to survive
● The combination of
biotic and abiotic
factors in an ecosystem
often determines the
number of different
niches in that
ecosystem.

● Niche includes:
type of food
● h
ow it obtains this food
● and which other species use the organism as food
Eg.: A bullfrog catches insects, worms, spiders, small fish
Predators such as herons raccoons, and snakes prey on bullfrogs
Physical conditions: When and how it reproduces

NO TWO SPECIES CAN SHARE THE SAME NICHE IN THE SAME HABITAT.
DIFFERENT SPECIES CAN OCCUPY NICHES THAT ARE VERY SIMILAR.

COMMUNITY
INTERACTIONS

It is the living
together of
organisms in an
ecological
community, and
interact constantly.
The interactions help
shape the
ecosystem too.

COMPETITION.- Organisms of the same or

different species attempt to use an ecological
resource in the same place at the same time.
Eg.:Two species of lizards in a desert might
compete by attempting to eat the same type of
insect
Direct competition.- winner and loser. The
losing organism failing to survive. A fundamental rule in ecology.
PREDATION.- An interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another
organism.
Prey and predator.

SYMBIOSIS.- Any relationship in which two species live closely together.

Living together.

Kinds o symbiotic relationships

● mutualism.- both species benefit rom the relationship.
■ Example: flowers and pollinating insects

● commensalism.- one member beneists and the other is neither helped nor harmed
 Example.- barnacles stay on whales’ backs. No harm, but benefit by moving.

● Parasitism.- One organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it.
The parasite benefits from the host, weaken it.

ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION.-

Ecosystems and communities are always changing. Eg. a severe storm

Series of predictable changes over time is known as ecological succession.

Primary succession.- On land, succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists.
Eg.: surfaces of volcanic eruptions
The first species to populate the area are pioneer species. Eg.: Lychens, fungus, algae.

Secondary succession.- When a disturbance of some kind changes an existing

community without removing the soil. Occurs when land cleared and plowed for farming is
abandoned, or burnt lands.

Climax community.-

LOOK FOR THE DEFINITION AND

EXAMPLES

Succession in a Marine Ecosystem.-

In natural environment, succession

occurs in stages.

The example of a dead whale. (Draw a

flow chart)

1.- The disturbance that causes this kind

of succession begins when a large whale
dies.
Sinks to the floor.
The whale carcass attracts host of
scavengers and decomposers
inset (amphipods, hagfish, sharks).

2. Within a year, whale tissues were eaten.

carcass supports a smaller number of fish: crabs, marine snails,
Decomposition enriches surrounding sediments with nutrients
3. Whale’s skeleton remains a third community
Heterotrophic bacteria
Decompose oils inside the whales releases chemical compounds
Chemical compounds serve as energy sources for other bacteria
(chemosynthetic autotrophs)
Chemosynthetic bacteria support community of mussles, limpets, snails
worms, crabs, clams
These live on the bones and within the nearby sediments.
PICTIONARY
Biotic Factor abiotic factor

habitat
niche
resource

competitive exclusion principle

Predation

Symbiosis
mutualism
commensalism
parasitism
ecological succession
primary succession
pioneer species
secondary succession