UNIT 4.

ECOSYSTEMS

5 primary / Natural Science

Pedro Antonio López Hernández
 What do we need to live?

Earth is the only planet in the solar system that can support life and this is due to the non-living things that make our planet habitable, as
well as the living things that interact with the environment

Each element f an ecosystem plays

Living things in an an important role. Look at how living
What is an ecosystem? ecosystem things are organised in an ecosystem

SPECIES
An ecosystem is a group of living and non- COMMUNITY
A group of organisms that
living things that live in the same area. All A group of different POPULATION
can reproduce with other
elements of an ecosystem interact. populations that live It is made up of all the individuals that
individuals that make up
together. belong to the same species.
the species and produce
fertile offspring.
ECOSYSTEM
ECOSYSTEM

Air
Water Animals
Temperature Organisms
Weather Plants
Soil / Rock
Sun
 How living things interact in an ecosystem?

Depending on how living things get their food in an ecosystem, they can be classified into three main groups:

3. CONSUMERS

They are animals and organisms that eat other

living things.

1. Primary consumers that eat producers are

called herbivores. For example, rabbits eat
grass.
1. PRODUCERS
2. Secondary consumers that eat other
consumers are called carnivores. For
They are plants. First, they take
example, eagles eat rabbits.
nutrients from the soil and energy
from the sun.
3. Tertiary consumers that eat both
producers and other consumers are
Then, they carry out
called omnivores. For example birds eat
photosynthesis to make their own
fruit and worms.
food.

Animals and other organisms use

plants as food.

2. DESCOMPOSERS

They are bacteria and fungi (singular fungus) that feed off the remains of dead animals and
plants.
First, they break down the nutrients into small pieces. Then, they return these nutrients to the soil,
where plants use them.
 FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEBS

FOOD CHAINS FOOD WEBS

Living things in an ecosystem eat each other. This is how energy When we connect the different chains, we make a food web.
passes from one living thing to another. If we draw a line
between them to illustrate this, we have a food chain. For example: many species live in forests. Foxes eat birds and
mice. Frog eat insects and so do mice. Owls and cats eat mice.

Eaten by Eaten by Eaten by Eaten by

Eat Eat Eat Eat

 THE BALANCE OF NATURE

Ecosystems can experience changes over time. Some of then do not affect the ecological balance, for example,
transformations due to the seasons.

When a big chang affects the balance of living things, it can lead to the extinction of a species.

A lack of food means

there is a decrease in
herbivores.

ECOLOGICAL As a result of the

Producers are decrease in prey the
reduced by a fire. BALANCE carnivore population
is reduced.

All components in an
ecosystem help to
keep the ecological
balance.
 Animals need plants to live and plants need ligh and heat from the sun to live, as well as

TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS water. However, some parts of the planet receive little sunligh or rain. That´s why there are
different types of terrestrial ecosystems.

COLD DESERTS (Antarctica and Greenland)

• Temperatures are freezing and there is little precipitation.
• The land is covered in snow and ice and there is very little vegetation.
• Animals have a thick layer or fat to keep warm.

TAIGA (It is a Russian Word that means dense evergreen forest. Europe, Asia and America)
• Temperatures are very cold and it snows in winter.
• There are many evergreen trees such as pine and fir trees.
• Herbivores and carnivores live there.

TEMPERATE FORESTS (Canada, United States, Europe and China)

• Temperatures are cold in winter and mild in summer. Rain is moderate.
• Trees are mostly deciduous.
• There is a wide variety of animals, which often migrates during the cold winters.

WARM DESERTS (Sahara and Atacama deserts are hot and dry)
• Temperatures are very high during the day and cool at night. Precipitation is scarce.
• There is very little vegetation.
• The animals that live there, such the camel, survive on very little water.

SAVANNAHS (Africa, Australia, America and India)

• Temperatures are high all years long. There is a dry season (no rain) and a wet season
(rain).
• The land is covered mostly in Grass and a few trees and shrubs.
• There is a wide variety of animals.

RAINFORESTS AND JUNGLES (The Amazon and Congo rainforests)

• Temperatures are high and it rains all year long.
• Vegetation is abundant.
• There are many different types of living things.
 TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS: FROM THE PLAINS TO THE MOUNTAINS
Terrestrial ecosystems vary according to altitude, due to a drop in temperature and increase in rainfall.

HOLM OAK FOREST

This is an ecosystem which is most MOUNTAIN PINE FORESTS
representative of the Iberian peninsula. The trees grow up to 40 metres
tall and have needle-shaped
At one time, most of the peninsula was leaves that allow them to
covered with holm oaks. This is an evergreen withstand low temperatures.
forest which is well-adapted to summer
drought.

CITY
Most people live in cities. This special ecosystem doesn´t SCRUBLAND
have many producers or decomposers. The only consumer Trees can´t grow her due to the
organism is really human being and in order to feed they low temperatures. Only grasses
must bring food produced in other areas into the city. and shrubs can survive and they
spend much of the year under
The city also generates a large amount of waste that must snow.
be taken away and disposed of outside the city.
OAK GROVE
The holm aks give way to oak
tres whose leaves fall off in th
autumn.

PASTURE
On the outskirts of cities, the natural vegetation
was once cleared so that crops could be grown RIPARIAN FOREST
and livestock could .graze, in order to feed the This is an area of wooded land next to banks of a
inhabitants of the city. river. Even when it doesn´t rain in the summer,
these areas are never dry, so instead of soaks,
Today, many of these areas have been turned deciduous trees grow here.
into industrial or residential areas.
 AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS

They are living things that live underwater. These can be:

MARINE They are found in oceans and seas.

ECOSYSTEMS They can be: FRESHWATR ECOSYSTEMS

They are found in lakes, ponds,

Producers Decomposers rivers and streams.
Consumers

Phytoplankton Algae They obtain energy from dead

Coral and Organisms organims. Then, they turn the
anemones that swim remains of these dead
organisms into nnutrients for
producers.
- They carry out
the - It is a type of - They are For example:
photosynthesis. phytoplankton consumers that Sharks.
- They are - It grows in live attached to Aquatic fungi Bacteria
microscopic. shallow water, the ocean floor. - They move
- They float on attached to the through the
the Surface of ocean floor. water lokking They are important They are some of the
the water. for food. descomposers of smallest and oldest
plant matter. organisms on Earth.
 DISTRIBUTION OF LIFE IN MARINE ECOSYSTEMS
Depending on how deep the water is and how much light there is, we can classify marine ecosystems into three main
zones.

COASTAL ZONE
It is the top area of the ocean that extends from the
land to where sunlight can penetrate the water at
around 200 metres deep.
MIDDLE ZONE
Most producers live here because they need light to
carry out photosynthesis. It is between 200 and 1.000 metres
deep. There is very little light in this
Most fish and marine mammals live here, too. zone, so photosynthesis is not possible.

Plants don´t live in this zone, but many

fish do.

DEEPEST ZONE

It is all the ocean below 1.000 metres deep. There is no sunlight here, so
it is in total darkness.

Squid live in this zone. Fish in this zone eat the remains of organisms that
fall from above.
 HOW HUMAN BEINGS CHANGE THE ENVIRONMENT

Scientists believe that life on Earth started at least three billion years ago. But our species, HOMO SAPIENS, originated only
200.000 years ago. Let´s look back in time and see how human activity has changed the planet.

10.000 years ago, the human population was very small, with only
around two or three million people. Human activity didn´t change the
environment much. Human hunted animals and collected fruits and
seeds for survival.

Negative effects on the

environment
2.000 years ago, humans had big farms for plants and animals. The
human population grew to 300 million because there was more food.

Agriculture and farming changed the ecosystem.

Negative effects on the

environment
200 years ago, the Industrial Revolution began, which led to a
population explosion. Waste from industry polluted the air, water and
land.
 SOLUTIONS TO PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT

At the beginning of the XXI century, the human population reached seven billion inhabitant. This mean we urgently need to
control human activity in order to protect our planet, or many species of plants and animals will become extinct. Natural
resources will disappear. The solution is to reduce the negative effects our actions have on the environment.

SOLUTIONS
REPOPULATE the
forests we have cut
down. REUSE and RECICLE
WATER PURIFICATION
materials.