ECOSYSTEMS

Terms and Types

Lecture 1
Ecological Management
B.Sc. Environmental Engineering
 WHAT ARE ECOSYSTEMS?
an ecosystem is a group of interacting living and
nonliving things.
 How would you define a living thing?
A living thing is something that shows or has
shown the signs of life. That is, anything that is
either alive or dead is classified as a living thing.
 All living things:
Grow

Reproduce

Move

Take in or produce food

React to things in their environment
Have cells
Have a special chemical make-up
How would you define a non-living
thing?
A non-living thing is something that will never show
the signs of life.
 Examples:

What is the difference between a

rock and a dead rabbit ?
A rock NEVER showed the signs of life and never will.
A dead rabbit, however, was once alive and
therefore showed the signs of life.
 To distinguish between these, scientists classify
living things as either dead or alive. So, the dead
rabbit is actually a living thing!
Using your imagination, describe how the living things
interact with each other, the non-living things, and the local
conditions. An example is done for you.

Living vs. Living Living vs. Non- Living vs.

living Local Conditions

A bird builds a nest A bird perches on a Some birds fly

in a tree. rock. south in the winter
(too cold).
 Various Terms Used in
Ecosystem Explanation
 An organism is
 any living thing.
 Adaptations are…
 Inherited characteristics that help organisms survive
in their environment.
 An habitat is..
 The particular place that an organism lives.
 Biotic Factors are…
 The living parts of an organism’s environment.
 Abiotic Factors are…
 The non-living parts of an organism’s environment.
Various Terms Used in
Ecosystem Explanation
 The living and nonliving things that surround a living
thing make up its environment.
 An ecosystem is made up of all the living and nonliving
things in an environment.
 A group of organisms of the same kind living in the same
place is a population.
 All the population that live in an ecosystem at the same
time form a community.
 All members of a community live in the same ecosystem
but they do not all live in the same part of the
ecosystem.
Where Things Live

Living things need a place to live and

grow.
Fish live in water.
Birds live in trees and fly through the air.
Plants grow where there is soil, water
and sun.
Where Plants and Animals Live

Habitat is a place where plants

and animals lives. It is a place
where they can meet their
needs.
Animals get food, water, and
shelter from their habitat,
What do living things get
from their environments?
 Many living things share their
environments and its
resources.
1. Food
2. Water
3. Oxygen
4. Space
Organisms and their Habitats

 Some organisms can survive only in

certain habitats.
 Forexample, a polar could not find
the water it needs in a desert.
Types of Ecosystems

 An ecosystem is not defined by

its geographic size; they can be
very small (e.g., a rotting log)
or very massive (e.g., Atlantic
Ocean).

 Therefore, there are many,

many different ecosystems
throughout the province,
country and world.
Types of Ecosystems

 Deserts are very dry

ecosystems.

 Desert plants and

animals can survive
with very little
water.
Grassland Ecosystems

 Grasslands are dry,

often flat areas of
land that are hot in
the summer and cold
in the winter.
 They get more rain
and snow than deserts
but less that most
other ecosystems.
Saltwater Ecosystems

 Saltwater ecosystems are oceans.

 Oceans cover about three –fourths of Earth’s
surface, so there are more saltwater
ecosystems than any other.
Freshwater Ecosystems

 Rivers, ponds, lakes and

streams have fresh water.
 Lakes and rivers are closely
tied. Some lakes are the
source for some rivers.
Important rivers, most often,
originate from lakes. Some
rivers end in lakes.
 Since both rivers and lakes are
freshwater and flow in and out
of each other, they share
similar characteristics and
many species reside in both
habitats.
Forest Ecosystems

Forest are ecosystems

in which many trees
grow.
Tropical Rain Forest

A tropical rain forest

grows where it is hot
and wet all year long.
 Animals such as
jaguars and monkeys
live there.
Deciduous Forest

What's A Temperate Deciduous

Forest Like?
 One of the most interesting
features of the temperate
deciduous forest is its
changing seasons.
 The word "deciduous" means
exactly what the leaves on these
trees do: change color in autumn,
fall off in the winter, and grow
back again in the spring. This
adaptation helps trees in the
forest survive winter.