Ecosystems

biocenosis

biotope

ECOSYSTEM

There are many different relationships between the living and non-living things in an ecosystem.

• The biotope (physical environment) includes the non-living things: relief, soil, light, temperature…
• The biocenosis includes all the living things: plants, animals and other organisms.

ECOSYSTEMS

Collection of different populations that live together in one place.

COMMUNITY

Group of organisms that live together and belong to the same species.

POPULATION

There are many different organisms in an ecosystem.

ORGANISMS

BIOCENOSIS

Interspecific relationships exist between members of different species.

Intraspecific relationships exist between members of the same species.

In an ecosystem, we can classify the relationships between individual organisms.

BIOCENOSIS

ordered work

ex: ant colonies,

which have an

system.

young.

take care of the

monkeys, which

ex: families of

forms

Colonial

associations

Family

associations

Gregarious

get the female.

which fight to

ex: roosters,

INTRASPECIFIC RELATIONSHIPS

live together.

colonies, which

ex: coral

Social

food together.

search for

ex: fish, which

Cooperative relationships

Competitive relationships

humidity.

fungi provide

nutrients and

algae produce

ex: lichen -

protection.

shark for

ex: fish which

hide under

order to feed.

ex: ticks, which

suck blood in

sticky tongue.

prey with their

which capture

ex: chameleons,

same food.

compete for the

hyenas, which

ex: vultures and

Mutualism

Commensalism

Parasitism

Predation

Competition

RELATIONSHIPS

INTERSPECIFIC

The most important relationships in an ecosystem relate to food: feeding relationships. We classify the living things in an ecosystem into different categories:

• Producers are living things that make their own food. Plants or algae.
• Primary consumers are animals that eat plants. Herbivores.
• Secondary consumers are animals that eat primary consumers. Carnivores.
• Tertiary consumers are animals that eat secondary consumers.
• Decomposers feed on the remains of organic matter and produce mineral salts. Bacteria and fungi.

TROPHIC RELATIONSHIPS

Fox

CONSUMER

SECONDARY

Grass

PRODUCER

Eagle

CONSUMER

TERTIARY

Rabbit

CONSUMER

PRIMARY

A food chain shows the trophic relationships between different organisms.

TROPHIC RELATIONSHIPS

TROPHIC RELATIONSHIPS

Food webs represent the complicated interconnections between food chains that exist in an ecosystem. Several animals feed on the same living thing.

TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS

City ecosystems

grass, bushes, trees, sparrows, pigeons, mice, lizards…

can be flat or hilly, with buildings and roads

Prairie ecosystems

grass, shrubs, zebras, rabbits, owls, insects…

large and flat areas

Coast ecosystems

seaweed, dune grasses, seagulls, fish, starfish…

land and water along the coast, beaches, cliffs, dune

ecosystems

Woodland

trees, shrubs, snakes, squirrels, birds, insects…

can be flat or hilly

Pond ecosystems

aquatic plants, ducks, turtles, dragonflies…

small areas of water and the surrounding land

Earth

includes all of the habitats on

the biggest known biome, which

Biosphere

Biome

an ecosystem with several types of habitat

Habitat

the place where a population lives

The biosphere is all of the ecosystems on the Earth. It includes the oceans, the land, the atmosphere and all the living things on the planet.

THE BIOSPHERE

down trees

by cutting

ecosystem

forest

natural

of the

destruction

fires

can cause

barbecues

and

cigarettes

broken

sea

from the

animals

marine

take a lot of

humans

soil

water or

into the air,

substances

dangerous

release of

changes

seasonal

conditions

environmental

variations in

caused by

deforestation

glass,

forest fires

overfishing

pollution

Human activity

development

natural

examples

Natural changes

ECOSYSTEMS

CHANGES IN

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Take pollutants to collection points

throw your litter in the bin

do not feed or disturb animals

do not take plants home

Respect animals and plants in the countryside

cleaning the forests

cleaning our coasts

Volunteer for environmental activities

protection

Environmental

Protecting the environment is the responsibility of all citizens. There are many ways we can contribute to protecting the environment.

PROTECTING SPECIES

There are many public and private organisations that work to protect living things. The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) publishes the “Red List of Threatened Species”, which includes the names of all species in danger of extinction on the planet. In Spain, autonomous communities have plans to protect certain species with two aims:

• To conserve the population in the wild of the most endangered species.
• To reintroduce the native species that no longer live there.